And among the tunes was one that tickled the fancy of Philip Doddridge. His anthology was officially titled Geistreiches Gesangsbuch (the Spiritual Hymn Book), but was known in England as Freylinghausen's Songbook. Who? Well, Herr Doktor Freylinghausen was a German theologian, a pietist of the Halle School, but his relevance to our Song of the Week department is that he was a crackerjack hymnologist who collected and published a lot of European hymn tunes, including a few dozen he wrote himself. That's what happened to "Oh Happy Day": If you overlook the fact the tune was replaced and then near 90 per cent of the words, it goes all the way back to a melody composed in 1704 by Johann Anastasius Freylinghausen. He's replaced the blade three times and the handle five times, but it's still the same old trusty ax he's had for seventy years. When I say it's a "three-century-old" hymn, I'm sorta kinda thinking like the gnarled, leathery, plaid-clad Yankee oldtimer who tells you he's had the same trusty ax for seventy years. Among the eight songs they recorded was a three-century-old hymn. So in 1967 he arranged a recording session not at a studio but at the Ephesian Church of God in Christ at Berkeley. He figured it might sell 500 copies, all of them to church members and their friends. As a teenager he co-founded the Northern California State Youth Choir for the Church of God in Christ, which grew to almost fifty singers.Īnd then one day he got a yen to make an album - not because he was itching to be a big pop star, but just because it might be a good fundraiser for the church, and would additionally provide a permanent record of some of the group's best arrangements. At five he learned to play the piano, and by the age of seven became the accompanist for the family gospel ensemble. Edwin Hawkins was born in Oakland, California in 1943, and while still a toddler was singing in his church youth choir. The man who created this recording phenomenon died last week at the age of 74. On the other hand, if, like George Harrison with his "Hallelujahs" and Hare Krishna chants in "My Sweet Lord", you're into melding western and eastern religions, well, the only Number One hit to have been recorded in church was distributed by Buddah. In fact, I believe this to be the only Number One record (in France, Germany and the Netherlands) or even Number Two (UK) or Number Four (US) to have been made in church. And, unlike those of Harrison, McCartney, Simon, Rice & Lloyd Webber and even St Richard of Chichester, this one was recorded in an actual church. If any hit can be said to have started the ball rolling on this short-lived pop genre, it's this week's song. The former's lyrics were by Tim Rice, whose views on organized religion can fluctuate, but the latter's were by the 13th century English bishop St Richard of Chichester, who was made of sturdier stuff. "I Don't Know How to Love Him", Him being Jesus, was a hit from Jesus Christ Superstar, as was "Day by Day" from Godspell. Paul Simon is Jewish but was going through a gospel phase when he wrote " Bridge Over Troubled Water". Two of the Beatles - George and Paul - made contributions with "My Sweet Lord" and "Let It Be" (although the reference to "Mother Mary" comforting him is, says Paul, about his own mum, Mary). As the Sixties turned to the Seventies, there was a kind of laid-back revivalist fervor on the hit parade.
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