Youngblood Hart

The only song listed in Bob Dylan's The Philosophy of Modern Song that I've been unable to find on YouTube or iTunes is Alvin Youngblood Hart's version of Stephen Foster's Nelly Was A Lady.  I'd never heard of Youngblood Hart before and though I couldn't find Nelly I started to listen to some of his other recordings.  Turns out he's a terrific guitarist and vocalist.  This is his version of In My Time Of Dying, recorded in 2005, composed by Blind Willie Johnson who recorded it in 1928.

I've featured a couple of other Blind Willie songs previously, Dark Was The Night, Cold Was The Ground, and Trouble Will Soon Be Over.  In My Time of Dying has been covered by many artists, most notably Led Zeppelin.  I prefer the Youngblood Hart version.

Trouble Will Soon Be Over

Blind Willie Johnson (1897-1945) recorded in 1927, several years before other blues pioneers like Skip James and Robert Johnson. Blind Willie's Dark Was The Night, Cold Was The Ground is one of 27 songs selected to be on a music sampler aboard the Voyager spacecraft launched in 1977 and which is now somewhere in interstellar space.

This is Trouble Will Soon Be Over.  The information on the video does not indicate any details, but the person playing guitar and singing is not Blind Willie Johnson.  It is the original recording, synced with a 21st century film recreation designed to look like it is one hundred years old.  I believe the individual portraying Johnson is actually Chris Thomas King, the talented guitarist featured in O Brother, Where Art Thou?, where he played a haunting version of Skip James' Hard Time Killing Floor Blues..

Dark Was The Night, Cold Was The Ground

In 1927 Charles Lindbergh flew from New York to Paris and Babe Ruth swatted sixty home runs.  On December 3, 1927 Blind Willie Johnson (1897-1945) recorded Dark Was The Night, Cold Was The Ground at a studio in Dallas, Texas for Columbia Records.

The title comes from a 1792 hymn by an English clergyman.  Johnson's version does not use lyrics and he plays a slide guitar in a style that inspired generations of future musicians.  Dark Was The  Night is one of 27 musical samples chosen for the Golden Record placed on the Voyager space vehicle launched in 1977 and now somewhere in interstellar space.  If Voyager encounters aliens this is what they'll hear.  Wonder what they will think.

Blind Willie recorded 30 songs in five recording sessions between 1927 and 1930 and enjoyed some commercial success.  However, with the advent of the Depression the market for this music collapsed. Jefferson was one of many Negro musicians promoted by the Reverend Gary Davis in the late 50s and early 60s as part of the American folk revival.

Here's another Blind Willie tune, Nobody's Fault But Mine.