Didn't It Rain

Song performed by Mahalia Jackson

"Didn't It Rain", sometimes given as "Oh, Didn't It Rain", is a spiritual about Noah's flood.[1][2] In 1919 it appeared as sheet music in an arrangement for voice and piano by Henry Thacker Burleigh (1866–1949).[3]

Modern versions

  • The Galilee Singers (1923-1929?)
  • Sister Rosetta Tharpe (1948)
  • Mahalia Jackson (1955)
  • LaVern Baker (1959)
  • Fern Jones (1959)
  • Dave van Ronk (1964)
  • Joe & Eddie (1964)
  • Marion Williams (1967)
  • Evelyn Freeman Roberts (1962)[4][5]
  • The Band (1973)
  • Rev. James Cleveland (1982)
  • Tom Jones (2010)
  • Johnny Cash (2012)
  • Hugh Laurie (2013)
  • Amy Helm (2015)
  • Glen David Andrews (2014)
  • In 2020, Vika and Linda cover the song for their album, Sunday (The Gospel According to Iso).[6][7]
  • Jake Blount reworks the song for his album "The New Faith" (2022)

References

  1. ^ The American Journal of Religious Psychology and Education 3, p. 350. Granville Stanley Hall, Alexander Francis Chamberlain - 1909: "The present-day song that apparently originated in the above song is less elaborate, having only portions of the old song, and not being much in demand. It, too, is called "Didn't it rain?" God told Noah 'bout de rainbow sign — Lawd, didn't it ".
  2. ^ Newman I. White, American Negro Folk-Songs, 1928, p. 141: "Did n't it rain" occurs in Negro work songs. Cf. Odum, 1925, p. 129. Old Jonah got mad cause de rain kept a droppin', Did n't it rain, O didn't it rain! It rained forty days; forty nights without stoppin', O did n't it rain, Did n't it rain! C Reported from ...
  3. ^ Duo-art piano music: a classified catalog of interpretations Aeolian Company - 1927, p. 438. OH, DIDN'T IT RAIN (Key G). Negro Spirituals. (Song Accompaniment). Burleigh Robert Armbruster.
  4. ^ “Didn't It Rain” by Evelyn Freeman & the Exciting Voices", 45rpm blog. Retrieved August 5, 2014
  5. ^ "Didn't It Rain", Discogs.com. Retrieved August 5, 2014.
  6. ^ "There Ain't No Grave (Gonna Hold My Body Down)". Apple Music. July 24, 2020. Retrieved July 24, 2020.
  7. ^ "Sunday (The Gospel According to Iso) (CD)". JB HiFi. Retrieved July 24, 2020.
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