Drifting Too Far From the Shore

Drifting Too Far From the Shore

written by Charles Ernest Moody

as recorded by Jerry Garcia with Old and In the Way

Out on the perilous deep
Where danger silently creeps
And storms so violently sweep
You're drifting too far from the shore

Drifting too far from the shore
You're drifting too far from the peaceful shore
Come to Jesus today, let him show you the way
You're drifting too far from the shore

Today the tempest rose [blows] high
And the clouds overshadow the sky
Sure death is hovering nigh
You're drifting too far from the shore

Why meet a terrible fate
Mercies abundantly wait
Turn back before it's too late
You're drifting too far from the shore

Charles Ernest Moody was born in Calhoun, Georgia, October 9, 1891. He grew up in a musical environment and as a youngster, made a very good deal when he traded a shotgun for his first fiddle. He joined up with Bill Chitwood, Bud Landress, and Phil Reeves, and formed the Georgia Yellow Hammers, a very popular string band. One of their biggest hits, "Picture on the Wall"  sold more than sixty thousand copies in 1928. In addition to playing guitar for the band, Moody developed a talent for song-writing for which he is still remembered.

After the Yellow Hammers disbanded, Moody was the choir director of the Calhoun First Methodist Church for many years. As a gospel songwriter, he is most widely known for soul-searchers such as "Kneel at the Cross" and "Drifting too Far From the Shore" (1924).

Moody died in 1977 at the age of 87.

The first known recording of Drifting was by the Carolina Gospel Singers in 1929 but it was the Monroe Brothers recording in 1936 that popularized the song.

Moody's pointed altar call has been recorded by many, including Emmy Lou Harris, Hank Williams, Porter Wagoner, Rose Maddox, the Stoney Point Quartet, the Blue Dogs, and Jay Buckey.

Jerry Garcia recorded this song on four separate albums; Breakdown*; (with Old and In the Way); Pure Jerry: The Best of the Rest (disc 3)**; (with the Jerry Garcia Band); Ragged But Right***(with the Jerry Garcia Acoustic Band), and Pizza Tapes**** (Garcia/Grisman/Rice).

*Breakdown was recorded at the Boarding House in San Francisco, 1973. It includes: Vassar Clements (fiddle), Jerry Garcia (banjo-vocals), David Grisman (mandolin-vocals), John Kahn (acoustic bass), and Peter Rowan (guitar-vocals). The album was released Nov. 18, 1997. Incidentally, until dethroned by O Brother, Where Art Thou?, Breakdown was the best-selling Bluegrass album of all time.

**Pure Jerry is a series of years-after-the-fact recordings. The Best of the Rest (series volume 3) was recorded Oct. 31, 1987 and released 2004.

***Ragged but Right was recorded Oct/Dec 1987 and released 2010

****Pizza Tapes was recorded over two evenings in 1993 and released April 25, 2000. In this session is also an emotional rendering of Amazing Grace.

When I Lay My Burden Down

(Glory, Glory)

performed by the Byrds
written by Arthur Reynolds

Glory, Glory Hallelujah
Since I laid my burden down
Glory, Glory Hallelujah
Since I laid my burden down

I feel so much better
so much better
Since I laid my burden down
I feel so much better
so much better
Since I laid my burden down

Glory, Glory Hallelujah…

Thank you Jesus, Thank you Jesus
Help me lay my burden down
I wanna thank you Jesus,
thank you Jesus
Help me lay my burden down

Glory, Glory Hallelujah…



Furry Lewis



This old traditional song has evolved in many directions. It has been recorded by The Maddox Brothers & Rose (Chicago, Dec. 4, 1928), The Soul Stirrers (1948), Odetta (1956), Mississippi John Hurt (1966), Furry Lewis (1969), Mississippi Fred McDowell (1970), Roy Acuff (1970), The Byrds (1971), and Larry Sparks (2005).

It is known as “Glory, Glory,” “When I Lay My Burden Down” and “Since I Laid My Burden Down,” and is recorded in many variations. The difference in the two basic forms is the tense is which one’s burden is laid down.

One “future tense” version follows:

When I Lay My Burden Down

http://toneway.com/songs/when-i-lay-my-burden-down

Glory glory, hallelujah,

When I lay my burdens down
Glory glory, hallelujah,

When I lay my burdens down

All of my troubles will be over, When I lay my burdens down,... (×2)

I'll go home to meet my Savior, When I lay my burdens down,... (×2)

I will see, see my mother, When I lay my burdens down,... (×2)

I like the “future tense” version. Jesus said, “If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me.” Matt. XVI. 24. Christians bear that “burden,” after conversion, throughout the rest of their life in service to Christ. One day soon, Christ will come to take us home. At that time we will lay our burden at his feet and shout, “Heaven is cheap enough. Glory, Glory, Hallelujah.”

I sing it this way:

Glory, Glory Hallelujah,

When I lay my burden down;

Glory Glory Hallelujah,

When I lay my burden down.

I am going to see my father,

When I lay my burden down;

I am going to see my father,

When I lay my burden down.

Glory, Glory, Hallelujah,…

I am going to see my sister,

When I lay my burden down;

I am going to see my sister,

When I lay my burden down.

Glory, Glory, Hallelujah,…

No more cryin’, no more dyin’,

When I lay my burden down;

No more cryin’, no more dyin’,

When I lay my burden down.

Glory, Glory, Hallelujah…

I am going to meet my Jesus,

When I lay my burden down;

I am going to meet my Jesus,

When I lay my burden down.

Glory, Glory, Hallelujah…

In 1935, A.P. Carter reworked an old (1908) hymn by Ada R. Habershon and Charles H. Gabriel. Habershon’s song was entitled “Will the Circle Be Unbroken?” Carter tweaked the title ever so slightly calling it “Can the Circle Be Unbroken?” and wrote entirely new lyrics concerning the death, funeral, and mourning of the narrator’s mother. In

more modern renditions, it has taken on the original name of Habershon’s composition.

For his melody Carter took the tune of  “When I Lay My Burden Down.”

It seems that “Will the Circle…” has been recorded by almost everyone. An ever-so-partial list includes Blind James Campbell, Joan Baez, the Chieftains, John Lee Hooker, the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, Spacemen 3, Country Joe McDonald, Johnny Cash and Willie Nelson.

In 1972, the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band released “Will the Circle Be Unbroken,” a three-album (LP) collection of many of the greatest performers in Blue Grass music. The theme of the set was the establishment of a tie between the older musicians (Scruggs, Watson, Acuff) with the newer musicians (Clements, Blake), to name but a few.

Sometimes, since it adheres to the “future tense” format, I like to include Carter’s chorus before the last “Glory, Glory” chorus.

Will the circle be unbroken,

By and by, Lord, by and by;

There’s a better home awaiting,

In the sky, Lord, in the sky.

Doc Watson's singing touches my heart. Here he is with Michael Coleman and his son Merle singing "When I lay my burden down."

(Give me that) Old Time Religion

It is my great desire that I may possess, for my spiritual edification, the religion of faith in the saving power of Jesus Christ as practiced by my Christian forefathers.

In other words, “Give me that old time religion.”

This great old song has been vilified, scorned, abused, parodied and denigrated more than any other gospel song. And its harshest critics may just as soon be conservative Christians as evangelistic atheists. What a shame, because it is such fun to sing.

I sing it this way in a sort of chronological pattern.

   Give me that old time religion

   Give me that old time religion

   Give me that old time religion

   It’s good enough for me.

The succeeding verses are of similar repetition and end with “It’s good enough for me.” The refrain repeats after each verse.

   1. It was good for the Hebrew children…

   2. It was good for the prophet Daniel…

   3. It was good in the fiery furnace…

   4. It was good for Paul & Silas…

   5. It will take us all to heaven…

This song is a true folk song and sometimes changes occur with each singing as new verses are added in or deleted. To keep folk from saying “what comes next?” in a group sing, it’s kind of good if the leader will solo the first line and the group joins in after. The song is delivered in this manner in the famous conversion scene in the movie “Sergeant York” with Gary Cooper.

Old Time Religion is an old song. One musicologist, Forrest Mason McCann, states the possibility of English roots with folk origins. ¹

In 1871, an accapella ensemble of black students was created as a fund-raiser at Fisk University in Nashville, Tennessee. This group called the Fisk Jubilee Singers completed a celebrated tour of eight northern states including Washington, D.C. This group did much to popularize the black spiritual genre.

A small book recounting this tour was published in 1873 and included the first printing of Old Time Religion. ²

Charlie D. Tillman was born in Atlanta, Georgia, the son of a Baptist minister. In 1887, after a series of entrepreneurial ventures, he focused his career more on his church and musical talents, singing first tenor in a church male quartet and establishing his own church-related music publishing company in Atlanta.

In 1889 Tillman was assisting his father with a tent meeting in Lexington, South Carolina. The elder Tillman lent the tent to an African American group for a singing meeting on a Sunday afternoon. It was then that young Tillman first heard the spiritual "The Old Time Religion." He quickly scrawled the words and the rudiments of the tune on a scrap of paper. Tillman published the work to his largely white church market in 1891.

Tillman’s published version reflects a modified text line and cadence which seems to have been just what the song needed to achieve a wider appreciation.

Tillman’s version follows:

   Give me that old time religion
   ’Tis the old time religion, (x2)
   And it's good enough for me.

   It was good for our mothers. (x3)
   And it's good enough for me.

   Makes me love everybody. (x3)
   And it's good enough for me.

   It has saved our fathers. (x3)
   And it's good enough for me.

   It will do when I am dying. (x3)
   And it's good enough for me.

   It will take us all to heaven. (x3)
   And it's good enough for me.

The importance of Tillman’s work is in the transference of Old Time Religion from the black spiritual genre to that of southern gospel.

The movie industry provided the last leg of the journey that placed this song in the national repertoire. The SATB arrangement in Tillman's songbooks became known to Alvin York and is thus the background song for the 1941 Academy Award film Sergeant York, which spread Old Time Religion to audiences far beyond the South.

The song has been recorded by Jim Reeves, Buck Owens, Jimmy Dean, Five Blind Boys from Alabama, Willie Nelson, Dolly Parton, Blind Willie McTell, Loretta Lynn and Woody Guthrie, and because of the folk nature of this song most of these versions are individual creations.

Jim Reeves’ version includes the verse

   It was good for dad and mother…

Buck Owens includes the verse,

   It was good enough for mother,

   It was good enough for papa,

   It was good enough for sister,

   And it’s good enough for me.

Woody Guthrie includes,

   It was good enough for Peter…

Dolly Parton includes,

   It will do when the world’s on fire…

Since this song has been so assimilated into the folk tradition, you must feel free to add your own verses. For a little inspiration on the message of this song, go get your KJV of the Holy Bible and read Hebrews, chapter 11, the faith chapter. Become a part of the history of this song and go share it with someone.

Have fun and Praise the Lord.

1. McCann, F.M., Hymns & History: An Annotated Survey of Sources. (Abilene, Texas: ACU Press, 1997) p. 595

2. Pike, G.D., The Jubilee Singers and Their Campaign for Twenty Thousand Dollars Nashville: Lee and Shepard, 1873, Item 198.

What a Friend We Have in Jesus

What a Friend We Have in Jesus

written by Joseph Scriven (1819-1886)

melody by Charles Converse

What a friend we have in Jesus,
All our sins and griefs to bear!
What a privilege to carry
Everything to God in prayer!
Oh, what peace we often forfeit,
Oh, what needless pain we bear,
All because we do not carry
Everything to God in prayer!

Have we trials and temptations?
Is there trouble anywhere?
We should never be discouraged—
Take it to the Lord in prayer.
Can we find a friend so faithful,
Who will all our sorrows share?
Jesus knows our every weakness;
Take it to the Lord in prayer.

Are we weak and heavy-laden,
Cumbered with a load of care?
Precious Savior, still our refuge—
Take it to the Lord in prayer.
Do thy friends despise, forsake thee?
Take it to the Lord in prayer!
In His arms He’ll take and shield thee,
Thou wilt find a solace there.

Blessed Savior, Thou hast promised
Thou wilt all our burdens bear;
May we ever, Lord, be bringing
All to Thee in earnest prayer.
Soon in glory bright, unclouded,
There will be no need for prayer—
Rapture, praise, and endless worship
Will be our sweet portion there.

Joseph Medicott Scriven was born Sept. 10, 1819 in Banbridge, County Down, Ireland. He graduated from Trinity College, Dublin in 1842 and adopted the faith of the Plymouth Brethren. He fell in love with a young lady named Eliza Roche and was to be married. But the night before they were to be wed she was thrown from her horse while crossing a bridge and was drowned. Stricken with grief, the young man moved to Canada.

In the New World, he once more met a young lady, fell in love and was due to be married. But once more, it was not to be. His fiancée, having been baptized in the cold waters of Rice Lake, fell ill of pneumonia and died.

Despite the sadness of his life, he remained faithful to Christ and spent the rest of his life living out the tenets of his Brethren faith and helping others.

It was said of Scriven, “He lived a truly unselfish life, going among the afflicted and comforting the sorrowing, sharing his little with the poverty-stricken.”

http://www.raymondscountydownwebsite.com/html/joseph_scriven.htm

In 1855, his mother in Ireland also became ill and to encourage her he wrote and sent to her a poem entitled, “Pray Without Ceasing.”

I believe this is the only composition attributable to him.

A neighbor, Mr. James Sackville, cared for Scriven when he was old and in poor health. While searching a drawer on behalf of his patient, he came across the poem. When asked how he came to write such a beautiful hymn, Scriven on his deathbed said, “The Lord and I did it between us.”

Shortly before Scriven’s death, the great musical evangelist Ira D. Sankey “discovered” the poem, renamed it and added music. The tune was an older one written by Charles C. Converse. In this format it was included in Sankey’s “Gospel Hymns Number One.

The tune has been kidnapped in numerous versions, notably the song “When This Bloody War is Over,” a bawdy type song sung by British troops during WWI. It can also be found in Japan and Indonesia written with more secular words. There is a German (Amish) version whose theme asks the question “Where is Jesus?”


The Spanish version, "O Que Amigo Nos Es Cristo," retains the poetry of Scrivens' original and is my favorite translation.

Originally published anonymously, it was almost thirty years before Scriven received credit for his work. The first recording of this song was by J.J. Fisher in 1899 as a brown wax cylinder recording. Around 1902 it was transferred to the improved hard black wax cylinders of the Edison Gold Moulded Record series and released as number 7014.

One of the first, if not the first, disk recordings of this poignant gospel song was recorded by Charles Hart (1884-1965). A veteran of opera, vaudeville and stage, Hart had a series of hit recordings both as a solo artist and 1^st tenor in the Shannon Quartet (1917-1923). Hart was a regular recording artist for Edison and Victor records. He recorded What a Friend We Have in Jesus in 1921 (Okeh label #70221-B).

Other notable recordings of What a Friend We Have In Jesus  include those by Elvis Presley (1973), Dolly Parton (1994), Brenda Lee, Merle Haggard, the Oak Ridge Boys, Alan Jackson (2006), Aretha Franklin, Mahalia Jackson, Burl Ives, George Jones, Brad Paisley, Doc Watson, and Ralph & Carter Stanley.


I'm including Doc Watson's Bristol recording of this song. The hooting in the crowd is regrettable but Doc's version is from the heart. His blindness since age one, surely Cross enough, did not keep him from becoming internationally famous and loved around the world. But at the height of his fame, his loved son and partner Merle was killed in a tractor accident. The fact that he can still sing this song is a testimony to his faith.

Jesus Walked This Lonesome Valley

Jesus Walked this Lonesome Valley

White Spiritual recorded by Elvis Presley, Little Richard, Pete Seeger, Mississippi John Hurt and the King’s Heralds.

Being a true “folk song,” versions vary somewhat. Most include the following verses.

Jesus walked this lonesome valley.
He had to walk it by Himself;
O, nobody else could walk it for Him,
He had to walk it by Himself.

We must walk this lonesome valley,
We have to walk it by ourselves;
O, nobody else can walk it for us,
We have to walk it by ourselves.

You must go and stand your trial,
You have to stand it by yourself,
O, nobody else can stand it for you,
You have to stand it by yourself.

Pete Seeger added the following verses in performance

Now Daniel was a Bible hero

Was a prophet brave and true

In a den of hungry lions

He showed what faith can do for you.

Now some folks say John was a Baptist

Some folks say he was a Jew;

But the Holy Bible tells us

That he was a preacher too.

And, bless his heart, he added another verse about "union" stuff, but you know Pete and I'm not going to be critical.

Mississippi John Hurt plays this song finger picking style, using the G position with fingers 2, 3 & 4 and sliding that position up and down the fretboard forming the chords, with his little finger tracing the melody on the first string. This is how he does it.

You got to walk that lonesome valley,

Well, you got to walk it for your self;

Ain’t nobody else can walk if for you,

You got to walk that valley for your self.

My mother had to walk that lonesome valley,

Well, she had to walk it for herself;

Nobody else could walk it for her,

Yes, she had to walk that valley for her self.

Oh, yes, you got to walk this lonesome valley,

You got to walk it for your self’;

Yes, nobody else can walk it for you,

You got to walk….

My father had to walk that lonesome valley,

He had to walk it for himself;

Yes, no body else could walk it for him,

He had to walk….

Oh, Jesus had to walk that lonesome valley,

He had to walk it for himself;

Yes, nobody else could walk it for him,

He had to walk that valley for his self.

Oh, yes, you got to walk that lonesome valley,

Yes, you got to walk it for your self;

Yes, nobody else can walk it for you,

You got to walk that valley for yourself.

Billy Ed Wheeler, (with Mike Stoller and Jerry Lieber) used “Lonesome Valley” as the core of a song he called “The Reverend Mister Black,” which was released by the Kingston Trio in 1963 becoming a top ten hit on the Billboard that year. “Mr. Black” was also recorded by Bobby Darin (1963), Faron Young (1963), and Johnny Cash (1981). Others who have recorded this song are Tex Ritter, Lonnie Donegan, John Stewart, Tim Grimm, and Sherwin & Pam Linton.

On a biblical note, the only version of the song that is delivered spiritually accurately is the rendition sung by Mississippi John Hurt. The simple insertion by others of the word “by” renders the song unbiblical. In using the word "for" John Hurt puts the song on a solid foundation.

A Christian must never, never think that he is walking this “Lonesome Valley” by himself. Jesus has told us that He will never leave us (John XIII. 18); “I will fear no evil for thou are with me.” (Psalm XXIII. 4); and He assures us that He will be with us even unto the end of the world, (Matt. XXVIII. 20).

"Fear thou not; for I am with thee; be not dismayed; for I am thy God: I will strengthen thee; yea, I will help thee; yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness."
                                      Isaiah XLI. 10

Jesus will always walk this “Valley” with us; but he cannot and will not walk it for us. He walked it for us once; now, in faith and trust, we must follow Him. No one can walk it “for” us; we must walk it “for” ourselves, but, praise the Lord, not “by” ourselves.”

                               GD

When the Ship Comes In

When the Ship Comes In

written and performed by Bob Dylan

Oh the time will come up
When the winds will stop
And the breeze will cease to be breathin'
Like the stillness in the wind
'Fore the hurricane begins
The hour that the ship comes in.

And the seas will split
And the ship will hit
And the sands on the shoreline will be shaking;
Then the tide will sound
And the waves will pound
And the morning will be breaking.

Oh the fishes will laugh
As they swim out of the path
And the seagulls they'll be smiling
And the rocks on the sand
Will proudly stand
The hour that the ship comes in.

And the words that are used
For to get the ship confused
Will not be understood as they're spoken
For the chains of the sea
Will have busted in the night
And will be buried at the bottom of the ocean.

A song will lift
As the mainsail shifts,
And the boat drifts on to the shoreline;
And the sun will respect
Every face on the deck
The hour that the ship comes in.

Then the sands will roll
Out a carpet of gold
For your weary toes to be a-touchin'
And the ship's wise men
Will remind you once again
That the whole wide world is watchin'.

Oh the foes will rise
With the sleep in their eyes
And they'll jerk from their beds and think they're dreamin'
But they'll pinch themselves and squeal
And know that it's for real
The hour that the ship comes in.

Then they'll raise their hands
Sayin' we'll meet all your demands;
But we'll shout from the bow your days are numbered;
And like Pharaoh's tribe
They'll be drownded in the tide,
And like Goliath, they'll be conquered.

Wikipedia says that this is a “folk music song by Bob Dylan, released on his third album, The Times They Are a-Changin in 1964.” And I know, I know of the hotel scene that supposedly inspired the composition. ¹

In the early 1960’s I was thoroughly entrenched in the “folk music” craze sweeping the country.  I had played the guitar for six or so years and finally I could listen to newly released songs in which I could actually hear the guitar being played. My first affections went to Peter, Paul & Mary. From them I gravitated to Joan Baez and read on the back of one of her albums about this young mover and shaker named Dylan. I bought his first album, then his second and memorized all the songs I could. Wrote them in my spiral bound notebook. I bought his third album. Felt so in tune with the outside world. One of the many songs I memorized was “When the Ship Comes In.” I carried my guitar pretty much everywhere I went ready to play at a moment’s notice. Through four years in the USMC and into Vietnam.

When you memorize a song, and sing it long enough, it becomes your song. I always liked “When the Ship Comes In.” It played well. It sang well. Notice I didn’t say I sang well, but Dylan had proved that singing well was not necessary in the delivery of a song. I really didn’t understand the song, except maybe in a large overall picture that someday, not sure when, but someday, the oppressed would come out on top and wrongs would be righted.

In 1972, I read a book called “The Great Controversy.” It is a history of God’s church during the past 2000 years, and ends with a vivid biblical account of the second coming of Jesus. It is in some cases a life-altering book and it was so in my case.

Sometime afterward, I don’t remember exactly when, it occurred to me that my song “When the Ship Comes In,” was a remarkable allegory of Christ’s second coming. I have not since been able to shake that little revelation. Now I don’t push that around and I would never sing it for special music in church. It’s just my little thing.

Very little in the 60’s was as it seemed to be. P, P & M, put it well in I Dig Rock n Roll Music when they said “But if we really say it, the radio won’t play it, and so we lay it between the lines.” Many wordsmiths of the time employed this concept and their ever-so-hip audiences ate it up and spent much time looking for hidden meanings.

“When the Ship Comes In” is not about a young man being treated badly at a hotel. It probably was inspired by the incident but the song has a universal appeal that transcends pettiness and triviality.

When pressed for the “secret” meanings of his songs, Dylan would often withdraw as if he himself was not sure of the meanings. “Dylan himself has commented on more than one occasion that he felt the songs were coming through him as if he were channeling them, as if they were arriving from somewhere else.”²  Thomas Larson wrote, “They came to him with ease, as if he was channeling them from some unknown source. Tom Paxton said, ‘He felt he wasn’t writing songs, he was [just] writing them down. They were there to be captured.” ³

As a Christian, I believe that there are two powers on earth vying for my attention. Only two. Christ, for good; Satan, for evil. With Christ living in me, my thoughts are directed by Him. There is no middle ground. If one chooses to live without Christ, he has made a choice. If he rejects good, he has by default accepted evil. His thoughts are then directed by the evil one.

I do believe that there was a great deal of “channeling” going on during the 60’s and since the great majority of the so-called “folk music” of the period was promulgated by non-Christians, I have to assume that Christ was not doing the channeling.

That leaves me with two possibilities regarding my theory. When the Ship Comes In was either an overblown Calvinesque (re. Calvin & Hobbes) reactive fantasy toward an elitist hotel manager, or maybe God does have a sense of humour and occasionally does a little channeling Himself, sometimes even if the channelee doesn’t even understand what’s going on.

Chapter 40 of the Great Controversy can be found on the web.  

http://www.whiteestate.org/books/gc/gc40.html

I may be the only one that sees and feels the similar mood, sequence of events and the message “between the lines.” And I could be wrong. I've been wrong before - a couple of times.

1. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/When_the_Ship_Comes_In

2. http://open.salon.com/blog/mjwycha/2010/02/20/the_dylan_files_2_-_folk_years_1961-1964

3. Larson, Thomas History of Rock and Roll p. 78