2:57
single, 1956
Written by Josiah K. Alwood, 1879
Mavis Staples provides the main, soulful vocal on this song with a richness of tone and a maturity of deliver that belie her sixteen years. The vocals begin in unison, then the others tail behind Mavis' lead. A tremolo guitar lends the whole an eerie, magisterial quality. Bob Dylan said that hearing this slow, steady gospel was "the most mysterious thing I'd ever heard. It was like the fog rolling in." Dylan often speaks of his inspirations and those he admires in language cloaked in hyperbole, but I think here he's accurate. In 1956 it must have seemed to have come straight from the mouth of God.
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