Go Tell It on the Mountain (song)

Go Tell It on the Mountain
by unknown
Genre Christmas, spiritual
Language English
Published 1909
HWW Go tell it on the mountain

"Go Tell It on the Mountain" is an African-American spiritual song, compiled by John Wesley Work, Jr., dating back to at least 1865, that has been sung and recorded by many gospel and secular performers. It is considered a Christmas carol because its original lyrics celebrate the Nativity of Jesus:

Recording artists

In 1963, the musical team Peter, Paul and Mary, along with their musical director Milt Okun, adapted and rewrote "Go Tell It on the Mountain" as "Tell It on the Mountain", their lyrics referring specifically to: Exodus and using the phrase "Let my people go," but referring implicitly to the Civil Rights struggle of the early 1960s. This version became a moderately successful single for them (US #33 pop, 1964).

According to Religious Studies professor and Civil Rights historian Charles Marsh, it was African American Civil Rights leader Fannie Lou Hamer who combined this song with the spiritual "Go Down Moses," taking the last line of the chorus, "Let my people go" and substituting it in the chorus of "Go Tell It on the Mountain."[1] Marsh does not document this claim, but notes that Hamer was highly active in civil rights work beginning in the 1950s, and that the use of the Exodus story and the singing of spirituals played a central role in her activities.

Little Big Town's 2006 non-album single version reached No. 35 on the Hot Country Songs chart.[2]

Other artists who have recorded the song (chiefly on either Christmas-themed music albums or collections of spirituals or folk songs) include:

Still more who have recorded the song are Dorothy Maynor 1942 (1st recording and release), Brook Benton 1961, Jimmie Davis 1964, Jim Nabors 1967, Johnny Nash 1969, Smokey Robinson & the Miracles 1970, Don McLean 1991, Garth Brooks 1992, Vanessa Williams 1993, Ann-Margret 2004, Randy Travis 2007, Ricky Skaggs 2011, Neil Diamond 2016, and Alabama 2017.

References

  1. ↑ Marsh, Charles (1997). God's Long Summer. Princeton. p. 47. ISBN 9780691130675.
  2. ↑ Whitburn, Joel (2008). Hot Country Songs 1944 to 2008. Record Research, Inc. p. 241. ISBN 0-89820-177-2.
  3. ↑ "Firestone Your Favorite Christmas Music - Volume Three - 1964". DLF Music Transfer. 2006.
  4. ↑ http://www.esther-ofarim.de/Disco.htm
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