(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.