I've just finished watching the HBO TV miniseries 'I Know This Much Is True' based on Wally Lamb's 1998 novel. Quite a 'harrowing' watch but highly rated at 8.2/10 on IMDB. It contained some great soul tunes in the soundtrack and one of them was The Soul Stirrers - Wade In The Water from 1960 on Sam Cooke's SAR label. I'll post the others up in a separate post.
Wade In The Water was a song that the slaves would sing as a code to show them how to be free. The 'children' are the runaway slaves and the song is telling them that the water is the way to freedom to hinder the pursuit of bloodhounds chasing them. 'Moses' was the code name for Harriet Tubman. The song also refers to Exodus in The Bible refering to the Israelites escaping from Egypt.
Cook had actually left the group in 1957 to pursue a secular career. The lead singer on Wade In The Water is Paul Foster and one Johnnie Taylor is the lead on the flip. The label credits Sam Cooke and J.W. Alexander as writers but this is a 'traditional' negro spiritual song that is so old that it is unknown who actually wrote it, however it is a completely different arrangement to the more well known traditional song with the same name recorded by Ramsey Lewis (instrumental) and Marlena Shaw and many other (hundreds) of versions. It may actually be a different song I can't quite work it out.
It was first published in New Jubillee Songs in 1901 by The Fisk Jubilee Singers. This gospel choir was formed in 1871 at Fisk University, Nashville to raise funds for the university, and is still perfoming today ... but obviously not the same members!
The earliest recording of the song by The Sunset four Jubilee Singers on Paramount is tagged onto the end of this clip.
Mid 60s gospel version.
Another mid 60s deeper gospel version.
The 'original' jazz instrumental version that has been an evergreen on the NS scene since the very early days of The Twisted Wheel club in Manchester.
He also re-recorded it in 1973 as The Ramsey Lewis Trio, and I made the 'schoolboy error' of buying this version thinking it was going to be the same as the 1966 version, but it's a slightly faster, more jazzy version. However, at the same time, it was also released on 12" - see next entry.
It was released in UK as a mix of both tunes on 12". The mix is credited to T. Rutherford / M. Davies (Special Segue by T. Rutherford/M. Davies)
It is something to behold at a Northern Soul event if a DJ drops the needle on Marlena Shaw's version, you'll see people drop everything and climb over chairs and tables if necessary to get on the dancefloor to this tune the beat is so infectious.
Rather than just post up a boring video with a label scan here's a fun video (although rather grainy quality) with vintage film clips of Eleanor Powell and the Berry Brothers dancing in synch to the record.
The backing on this sounds very familiar!
Translates as The Sounds of F.M. - Teen's Theme, this latin soul instrumental version (shall we say 'inspired by WIW) has been big on the NS scene recently and hence the price tag is well into 3 figures.
Now here's a 'groovy' jazz version from 1970, funky orchestrated and sounding like a movie theme. I think this outfit was from Germany.
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