My Lord's Gonna Move This Wicked Race Explained

"My Lord's Gonna Move This Wicked Race" / "My Lord's Going to Move This Wicked Race" is a spiritual song that has been recorded by various groups.[1] It was recorded for the Ozark Folksong Collection in 1951.[2]

F. M. Askew is credited as the song's composer and lyricist.[3] He copyrighted the song in 1925.[4] The song was popular, and a version by Norfolk Jubilee Quartet recorded in 1923 or 1924,[1] continued to be printed nine years after its first recording; it was only removed from active printing when the printing company dissolved.[5] It was one of the quartet's most popular songs,[6] and unlike the version later produced by the Dixie Jubilee Singers, did not feature a sole woman singing the main lead.[7]

The Norfolk Jubilee Quartet's version was the 35th "race record" (records produced by racial minorities) by Paramount Records, and it was a commercial success.[8] The Selah Jubilee Singers produced a recording of the song in 1942 in a style consistent with their earlier barbershop-style songs; they moved to the jubilee style and the 1942 recording had an unusual style for popular music at the time.

Shortly before his death in 1965, Malcolm X gave a speech about African American history and said that the song was sung by slaves. He said the song, alongside "Good News, Chariot's-a-Comin'", were emblematic of black spiritual life of the time: That they wanted to escape from the harsh realities of enslavement.[9]

Recordings

Notes and References

  1. Book: Oliver . Paul . Yonder Come the Blues: The Evolution of a Genre . Russell . Tony . Dixon . Robert M. W. . Godrich . John . Rye . Howard . 2001-02-22 . Cambridge University Press . 978-0-521-78777-2 . 47 . en.
  2. Web site: My Lord's gonna move this wicked race . University of Arkansas Libraries & Digital Collections . 20 August 2022.
  3. Web site: Askew, F. M. . Discography of American Historical Recordings . University of California . 20 August 2022.
  4. Book: Catalog of Copyright Entries: Musical compositions . 1926 . Library of Congress . 1317 . 3.
  5. Book: Lornell . Kip . Rubin . Rachel . Melnick . Jeffrey . American popular music: New approaches to the twentieth century . 2001 . University of Massachusetts Press . Amherst, MA . 9781558492684 . 158 . One hundred years of black gospel quartet singing.
  6. Book: Heilbut . Anthony . The gospel sound: Good news and bad times . 1985 . Hal Leonard Corporation . New York . 9780879100346 . 42.
  7. Book: Dodge, Timothy . The school of Arizona Dranes . 2013 . Lexington Books . 123 . 9780739167120.
  8. The Mayo Williams era . 78 Quarterly . 1 . 4 . 1989 . 12.
  9. Afro-American History . Malcolm X . Malcolm X . International Socialist Review . March 1967 . 28 . 2.
  10. My Lord's gonna move this wicked race . New York Recording Laboratories . 1923 . 20 August 2022.
  11. Book: Heilbut, Anthony . The Gospel Sound: Good News and Bad Times . 1985 . Hal Leonard Corporation . 978-0-87910-034-6 . 42 . en.
  12. Web site: My Lord's gonna move this wicked race. August 20, 1934. Internet Archive.
  13. Web site: OKeh matrix S-72804 . Discography of American Historical Recordings . University of California . 20 August 2022.
  14. Web site: Complete Sister Rosetta Tharpe, Volume 3: 1947-1951 . Internet Archive . 20 August 2022 . 2003.
  15. Book: Allen . Ray . Singing in the spirit: African-American sacred quartets in New York City . 1991 . University of Pennsylvania Press . Philadelphia . 9780812230505 . 33.
  16. RCA Victor 48-0485

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