River Of Jordan: A Song History

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"River of Jordan" is a song the Carter Family recorded for Victor in Camden, New Jersey, on May 10, 1928, with Maybelle Carter singing soprano and playing guitar, Sara Carter singing alto and playing autoharp, and A. P. Carter on bass vocal.[1] The Discography of American Historical Recordings takes its credit from the disc label and lists A. P. Carter as arranger.[1] It was one of twelve Victor masters the Carters cut on May 9 and 10, 1928, among them "Keep on the Sunny Side" and "Wildwood Flower."[2] The second take was issued on Victor 21434 and also appeared on the Bluebird, Electradisk, Sunrise and Montgomery Ward labels, as well as on Zonophone pressings in Australia and South Africa.[1] The Australian Zonophone disc paired it with "Keep on the Sunny Side," while the Bluebird disc put it opposite the Carters' "Where We'll Never Grow Old," recorded on February 24, 1932.[3][4]

Pale color lithograph of pilgrims gathered on the bank of the Jordan River below tree-lined water and cliffs

David Roberts, Banks of the Jordan, color lithograph, 1839. The Jordan River, named in the title; the print has no connection to the song.

Where the Carters found the song is not settled in the sources consulted here; the discography, citing a reference it calls Meade, adds "Some of These Days" as an alternate title.[1] A "River of Jordan" was also recorded, unaccompanied, by the Fisk University Male Quartette (a name used for the Fisk University Jubilee Singers) in New York on October 23, 1915, and issued on Columbia A1932 in 1916, but these sources do not establish whether it is the same song.[5][6] Jim Miller includes it in 15 Tunes In The Public Domain Recorded By The Carter Family, Volume 2, a 33-page Fingers Of Steel book of mountain dulcimer tablature that also supplies the lyrics and chord symbols.[7]

Our book that contains the song "River Of Jordan"

Sources

  1. Discography of American Historical Recordings: "Victor matrix BVE-45027. River of Jordan / Carter Family".
  2. Discography of American Historical Recordings: "Carter Family".
  3. Discography of American Historical Recordings: "Zonophone (Australia) EE-179 (10-in.)".
  4. Discography of American Historical Recordings: "Bluebird B-5058 (10-in. double-faced)".
  5. Discography of American Historical Recordings: "Columbia matrix 46146. River of Jordan / Fisk University Male Quartette".
  6. Discography of American Historical Recordings: "Columbia A1932 (10-in. double-faced)".
  7. Fingers Of Steel: "Jim Miller, 15 Tunes In The Public Domain Recorded By The Carter Family, Volume 2".
  8. Image: David Roberts, Banks of the Jordan, color lithograph, 1839. The Cleveland Museum of Art.

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