Music Notes 1-14-24
This week we welcome back the band for a service filled with joyous music. There’ll be a little something for everyone, from Latin rhythms to big band swing to modern classics.
We will be singing a couple of modern classics this Sunday. The first is Ten Thousand Reasons, by Matt Redman, a big powerful ballad, and the second is And All The People Said Amen by Matt Maher, a true foot stomper. Take a minute before Sunday morning to listen to these tunes - you’ll love them.
Take My Hand, Precious Lord is a classic gospel hymn written by Thomas A. Dorsey, who is generally considered to be the father of the gospel hymn. He wrote the words in his inconsolable grief after finding out that his wife, Nettie Harper, and infant son, August, had both died during childbirth in 1932. He later adapted the melody, drawing largely on the 1844 hymn tune Maitland. It was the favorite song of Martin Luther King, who frequently asked Mahalia Jackson to sing it at gatherings to help inspire the crowd. In fact, King’s last words, before being assassinated, were a request for it to be played at a Mass he was scheduled to attend that night. Leontyne Price sang it at the funeral of Lyndon B. Johnson, and Aretha Franklin sang it at the funeral of Mahalia Jackson.
Written by Bobby Scott and Bob Russell, He Ain’t Heavy, He’s My Brother was a hit in 1969 for the “British Invasion” group The Hollies (named for Buddy, and for Christmas), and in 1970 for Neil Diamond. The history of the unusual title goes back a long way, however. In 1884, James Wells, Moderator of the United Free Church of Scotland, in his book The Parables of Jesus, tells the story of a little girl carrying a big baby boy. Seeing her struggling, someone asked if she wasn't tired. With surprise she replied, "No, he's not heavy; he's my brother.” In a 1918 publication by Ralph Waldo Trine titled The Higher Powers of Mind and Spirit, he relates the following anecdote: "Do you know that incident in connection with the little Scottish girl? She was trudging along, carrying as best she could a boy younger, but it seemed almost as big as she herself, when one remarked to her how heavy he must be for her to carry, when instantly came the reply: 'He's na heavy. He's mi brither.'" Then, the first editor of Kiwanis magazine, Roe Fulkerson, published a column in September 1924 carrying the title "He Ain't Heavy, He's My Brother", the first use of the phrase exactly as it is rendered in the song title. In the 1940s, the words, adapted as "He ain't heavy, Father, he's my brother", were taken as a slogan for Boys Town children's home by founder Father Edward Flanagan.
Matt Redman is an English Christian worship leader currently based in Brighton. He has won 10 Dove Awards for everything from Worship Song of the Year 2005 (for Blessed Be Your Name) to Songwriter of the Year 2013. His album 10,000 Reasons was released in 2012 and the title track went on to be #1 on the Billboard Christian Songs chart, where it remained for 13 weeks. 10,000 Reasons also won Grammy Awards in 2013 for Best Contemporary Christian Music Song and Best Gospel/Contemporary Christian Music Performance.
Matt Maher is a Canadian Christian artist who was born in Newfoundland, studied jazz on a scholarship from Arizona State University in Tempe and now lives in Nashville. He’s written and released 7 studio albums to date, 3 of which have reached the top 25 of Billboard’s Christian Album chart, and 4 of his singles have reached the top 25 of Billboard’s Christian Songs chart. A practicing Catholic, he was asked to lead worship for crowds of thousands at the Rally for Youth and Seminarians in Yonkers, New York during the visit by Pope Benedict XVI in 2008, and in 2013 he sang Lord, I Need You for an audience of about 4 million, including Pope Francis, for World Youth Day in Rio de Janerio. His song And All The People Said Amen was the title track for his first compilation album, released in 2013. The album charted at #5 on Billboard’s Christian Albums.
Give Thanks With A Grateful Heart was written by Henry Smith in 1978. Following the introduction of the song during a worship service at the Williamsburg New Testament Church in Virginia, a military couple reintroduced it to a congregation in Germany. The song eventually caught the attention of executives at Integrity Music. When Integrity's Hosanna! Music copyrighted the song in 1986, the author was unknown.[8] After Don Moen’s Give Thanks album was released in 1986, the song was brought to the attention of Smith, who contacted Integrity with authorship information. Integrity later included songwriting credits on all subsequent releases, along with a writer-publisher agreement. As of 2010, the song has been recorded by over 50 companies and published in songbooks around the world.