"When the Saints Go Marching In", often referred to as simply "The Saints", is a traditional black spiritual. [1] [2] It originated as a Christian hymn, but is often played by jazz bands. One of the most famous jazz recordings of "The Saints" was made on May 13, 1938, by Louis Armstrong and his orchestra. [3]
The song is sometimes confused with a similarly titled 1896 composition: "When the Saints Are Marching In", by Katharine Purvis (lyrics) and James Milton Black (music). [4]
The origins of this song are unclear. [4] It apparently evolved in the early 1900s from a number of similarly titled gospel songs, including "When the Saints Are Marching In" (1896) and "When the Saints March In for Crowning" (1908). [5] The first known recorded version was in 1923 by the Paramount Jubilee Singers on Paramount 12073. Although the title given on the label is "When All the Saints Come Marching In", the group sings the modern lyrics beginning with "When the saints go marching in". No author is shown on the label. Several other gospel versions were recorded in the 1920s, with slightly varying titles but using the same lyrics, including versions by The Four Harmony Kings (1924), Elkins-Payne Jubilee Singers (1924), Wheat Street Female Quartet (1925), Bo Weavil Jackson (1926), Deaconess Alexander (1926), Rev. E. D. Campbell (1927), Robert Hicks (AKA Barbecue Bob, 1927), Blind Willie Davis (1928), and the Pace Jubilee Singers (1928). [6]
The earliest versions were slow and stately, but as time passed, the recordings became more rhythmic, including a distinctly up-tempo version by the Sanctified Singers on British Parlophone in 1931.
Even though the song had folk roots, a number of composers claimed copyright in it in later years, including Luther G. Presley [7] and Virgil Oliver Stamps, [8] R. E. Winsett. [9] The tune is particularly associated with the city of New Orleans. A jazz standard, it has been recorded by many jazz and pop artists.
As with many numbers with long traditional folk use, there is no one "official" version of the song or its lyrics. This extends so far as confusion as to its name, with it often being mistakenly called "When the Saints Come Marching In". As for the lyrics themselves, their very simplicity makes it easy to generate new verses. Since the first and second lines of a verse are exactly the same, and the third and fourth are standard throughout, the creation of one suitable line in iambic tetrameter generates an entire verse.
It is impossible to list every version of the song, but a common standard version runs:
Oh, when the saints go marching in
Oh, when the saints go marching in
Oh Lord I want to be in that number
When the saints go marching in.
Oh, when the drums begin to bang
Oh, when the drums begin to bang
Oh Lord I want to be in that number
When the saints go marching in.
Oh, when the stars fall from the sky
Oh, when the stars fall from the sky
Oh Lord I want to be in that number
When the saints go marching in.
Oh, when the moon turns red with blood
Oh, when the moon turns red with blood
Oh Lord I want to be in that number
When the saints go marching in.
Oh, when the trumpet sounds its call
Oh, when the trumpet sounds its call
Oh Lord I want to be in that number
When the saints go marching in.
Oh, when the horsemen begin to ride
Oh, when the horsemen begin to ride
Oh Lord I want to be in that number
When the saints go marching in.
Oh, brother Charles you are my friend
Oh, brother Charles you are my friend
Yea, you gonna be in that number
When the saints go marching in.
Oh, when the saints go marching in
Oh, when the saints go marching in
Oh Lord I want to be in that number
When the saints go marching in.
Often the first two words of the common third verse line ("Lord, how I want...") are sung as either "Oh how", "Oh, Lord" or even "Lord, Lord" as cue notes to the simple melody at each third line.
Arrangements vary considerably. The simplest is just an endless repetition of the chorus. Verses may be alternated with choruses, or put in the third of four repetitions to create an AABA form with the verse as the bridge.
Some traditional arrangements often have ensemble rather than individual vocals. It is also common as an audience sing-along number. Versions using call and response are often heard, e.g.:
The response verses can echo the same melody or form a counterpoint melody, often syncopated opposite the rhythm of the main verses, and a solo singer might sing another counterpoint melody (solo soprano or tenor) as a 3rd part in more complex arrangements.
The song is apocalyptic, taking much of its imagery from the Book of Revelation, but excluding its more alarming depictions of the Last Judgment. The verses about the Sun and Moon are often interpreted as Solar and Lunar eclipses; the trumpet is the way in which the Last Judgment is announced. As the hymn expresses the wish to go to Heaven, picturing the saints going in (through the Pearly Gates), it is sometimes played at funerals.
"The Saints Rock 'N' Roll" | |
---|---|
Single by Bill Haley & His Comets | |
B-side | "R-O-C-K" |
Released | March 1956 |
Recorded | 23 September 1955 |
Genre | Rock and roll, Gospel |
Length | 3:28 |
Label | Decca Records |
Bill Haley & His Comets recorded a rock and roll version of the song titled "The Saints Rock 'N' Roll". Bill Haley started the song, which he learned through his mother, with the line "Rocking and rolling all the way". The song was recorded on 23 September 1955, [10] and released in March 1956 backed with "R-O-C-K" on Decca Records. [11] It reached No. 18 on Billboard's Best Sellers chart, and No. 5 in the UK chart. [12] A version of the song was included in the soundtrack of the 1956 film Rock, Pretty Baby . [13]
Chart (1956) | Peak position |
---|---|
UK Singles (OCC) [12] | 5 |
US Best Sellers in Stores ( Billboard ) [14] | 18 |
US Cash Box Top 100 [15] | 23 |
"When the Saints Go Marching In" is frequently sung as football chants by fans during association football matches and also rugby league (particularly by fans of St Helens RLFC), often with the name or nickname of the team in place of the word "saints". Examples include "When the Saints Go Marching In" (St Johnstone F.C., Southampton F.C., St Albans City F.C., and St Patrick's Athletic F.C.), "When the Reds Go Marching In (Liverpool FC)", "When the Posh Go Steaming In" (Peterborough United F.C.), "When the Greens Go Marching In" (Plymouth Argyle F.C.), "When the Spurs Go Marching In" or "When the Stripes Go Marching In" (Tottenham Hotspur), and "When the Blues Go Steaming In" (Chelsea FC and Bengaluru FC), “Oh when the beans come oot the tin”. [22] [23] [24] Liverpool fans may have been introduced the chant when they used it for their star player Ian St John in the 1960s. [25] However, Southampton fans claimed to have used it in the 1950s.[ citation needed ]
A version with edited lyrics is used as the club song for the St Kilda Football Club that compete in the Australian Football League.
Rock and roll is a genre of popular music that evolved in the United States during the late 1940s and early 1950s. It originated from African American music such as jazz, rhythm and blues, boogie-woogie, electric blues, gospel, and jump blues, as well as country music. While rock and roll's formative elements can be heard in blues records from the 1920s and in country records of the 1930s, the genre did not acquire its name until 1954.
Rhythm and blues, frequently abbreviated as R&B or R'n'B, is a genre of popular music that originated within African-American communities in the 1940s. The term was originally used by record companies to describe recordings marketed predominantly to African Americans, at a time when "rocking, jazz based music ... [with a] heavy, insistent beat" was becoming more popular. In the commercial rhythm and blues music typical of the 1950s through the 1970s, the bands usually consisted of a piano, one or two guitars, bass, drums, one or more saxophones, and sometimes background vocalists. R&B lyrical themes often encapsulate the African-American history and experience of pain and the quest for freedom and joy, as well as triumphs and failures in terms of societal racism, oppression, relationships, economics, and aspirations.
The origins of rock and roll are complex. Rock and roll emerged as a defined musical style in the United States in the early to mid-1950s. It derived most directly from the rhythm and blues music of the 1940s, which itself developed from earlier blues, the beat-heavy jump blues, boogie woogie, up-tempo jazz, and swing music. It was also influenced by gospel, country and western, and traditional folk music. Rock and roll in turn provided the main basis for the music that, since the mid-1960s, has been generally known simply as rock music.
"Blue Moon" is a popular song written by Richard Rodgers and Lorenz Hart in 1934 that has become a standard ballad. Early recordings included those by Connee Boswell and by Al Bowlly in 1935. The song was a hit twice in 1949, with successful recordings in the U.S. by Billy Eckstine and Mel Tormé.
The old hymn and jazz tune "When the Saints Go Marching In" is used by several teams in various sports. It may be used as the team's theme song or reserved for when they scored. Liverpool fans used it as a football chant to honour their player Ian St John in the 1960s, a song that was also adopted by other clubs. Southampton Football Club, for example, use it as a football chant as their nickname is The Saints; other football clubs use different variations of the song. It may be used with the standard lyrics, specialized lyrics, or no lyrics at all. When sung by a crowd, it is often started at a very slow tempo, around 70 beats per minute. The next verse is then dramatically sped up to somewhere around 140 beats per minute.
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Bo Weavil Jackson was an American blues singer and guitarist. He was one of the first country bluesmen to be recorded, in 1926, for Paramount Records and Vocalion Records. On the latter label he was credited as Sam Butler, which has become the name most commonly used to identify him. His 78-rpm records are highly sought by collectors and have been re-released on numerous LP and CD compilation albums. His technique is distinctive for its upbeat tempo, varied melodic lines, and impromptu instrumentals.
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This article includes an overview of the major events and trends in popular music in the 1950s.
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