‘Let’s Go Down to The River’

By, Brent Moore

You know that soulful gospel tune that we do, Down to the River to Pray?  Well, the other day on our OOTB Facebook page, Sharon Graham posted a wonderful version of this tune by Alison Krauss (who will be playing with Robert Plant at the Edmonton Folk Festival this summer). Her version was from the movie ‘O’ Brother Where Art Thou’ and was about being baptized in the river.  The tune got me to thinking about the rich musical tradition of gospel, which is mainly based on African American spirituals.

It is incredible how many famous American singers got their start by singing in a gospel choir!  You probably already knew about Marvin Gaye, Aretha Franklin, and Whitney Houston, among others. But more recently, how about Justin Timberlake, or Katy Perry?  Yup, they were big into gospel too, because it packs such an uplifting feeling, right down to your core….no matter what your religious inclination may be. 

Another cat that was huge into gospel was none other than the ‘King of Rock n’ Roll’ himself – Elvis!  He recorded three gospel albums in his career, for which he won several Grammys. Have a look at this classic clip of Elvis from the Ed Sullivan show, circa 1957.  The song was originally written for Mahalia Jackson (the Queen of Gospel) and has tons of feeling.  As a side note, it is quite amusing to hear Ed referring to Elvis as a ‘nice boy’!