We’ve updated our Terms of Use to reflect our new entity name and address. You can review the changes here.
We’ve updated our Terms of Use. You can review the changes here.
/

  • Streaming + Download

    Includes unlimited streaming via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.
    Purchasable with gift card

      $1 USD  or more

     

  • Buy the Full Digital Album

  • Compact Disc (CD) + Digital Album

    Includes unlimited streaming of Wide as Heaven: A Century of Song by Black American Composers via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.
    ships out within 3 days
    Purchasable with gift card

      $15.99 USD or more 

     

about

Before Marian Anderson came into the world’s consciousness on a cold
Easter Sunday in 1939 for performing in front of the Lincoln Memorial, after being refused permission by the Daughters of the American Revolution to sing in Constitution Hall, many African American opera and concert singers had already established themselves as artists of note. The first of these pioneering singers was Elizabeth Taylor Greenfield (1817–1876), a former slave. Many more followed, including Sisserietta
Jones (1868–1933), who sang in Carnegie Recital Hall with Harry Burleigh in 1892. Among the male singers was the lyric tenor, Roland Wiltse Hayes (1887–1977). Like Burleigh, Hayes arranged many of the spirituals and Negro folk songs he would present in concert with his pianist and fellow arranger, Percival Parham. In fact, it is difficult to know exactly who arranged which of the songs presented here. It is widely assumed that the simpler arrangements like “Lit’l Girl” were Hayes’ and those, like the more pianistically elaborate, “O Le’ Me Shine,” were Parham’s.

lyrics

O Le’ Me Shine
(Traditional)

O le’ me shine!
Shine, le’ me shine.
Shine like a morning star.
As Moses shine, O le’ me shine,
Shine!
As Moses shine, O le’ me shine
Shine like a morning star.

As David shine, O le’ me shine,
Shine!
As David shine, O le’ me shine
Shine like a morning star.

If you can shine, le’ me shine!

As I went down to the valley to pray,
Shine,
I met old Satan on my way
Shine like a morning star
O what do you reckon old Satan said to me?
“Go back old man, you’re too old to pray!”
Shine like a morning star.

“You’re too old to pray, but you’re too young to die.”
Shine.
“You’re too old to pray, but you’re too young to die.”
Shine like a morning star.

Oh, get out the way an’ a-let me shine!
Oh, get out the way an ’a-let me shine!
As Jesus shine, O le’ me shine,
As Jesus shine, O le’ me shine,
Shine like a morning star.

credits

from Wide as Heaven: A Century of Song by Black American Composers, released March 1, 2024

license

all rights reserved

tags

about

New World Records image

New World Records Brooklyn, New York

Anthology of Recorded Music, Inc., which records under the label New World Records, was founded in 1975.

We are dedicated to the documentation of American music that is largely ignored by the commercial recording companies.

contact / help

Contact New World Records

Streaming and
Download help

Shipping and returns

Redeem code

Report this track or account

If you like New World Records, you may also like:

Bandcamp Daily  your guide to the world of Bandcamp

On Bandcamp Radio

Featuring interviews with LA music scene pillar Kamasi Washington, and new London-based duo Mrcy.

listen now