Voices Of Joy - Come By Here

Topic: Learning Music
The toddlers who watched the Voices of Joy in Moselle, Mississippi, in 2012 heard different vocal sounds than did the one in Steeple Ashton, England. The slightly older children absorbed different attitudes about music than did the two girls in the Wiltshire choir.

Darqueitta Cook said the Voices were singing at the The Gospel Upsetters 32nd anniversary. [1] There were enough people in the New Zion Missionary Baptist church pews for it to have been a concert, [2] but the five women were dressed informally in black skirts, bright colored tee-shirts, and running shoes.

The event was informal: people sat or stood or walked in the center and far aisles. No boundaries existed between them and the artists. Several women stood next to the soloist in the space between the front pews and the sanctuary with toddlers in their arms. Later, the soloist walked down the center aisle into the audience.

The video was made by someone standing next to the women with toddlers, probably with a telephone that had limited storage. It was filmed in two parts, with the end missing. The hand holding the camera was not always steady, so parts were blurred or jerky. The microphone picked up the three backup singers and the drummer who were on the right side of the church, but not the soloist or the other instrumentalists.

Toward the end of the first video, a young boy walked along the far aisle to stand by the empty front pew. A few seconds later he had advanced into the empty space and was bent at the waist to look more closely at the singers or musicians. In the second video two slightly taller children moved toward the center aisle on the left side to see better.

The voices they heard were poised between speaking and melodic singing. The backup singers were in their normal range, while the soloist used her upper register. More important than the way they sang were the ways they used pauses to establish a rhythm separate from that established by the drums. The soloist took a brief rest between "come by" and "here Lord." The trio did the same, but attacked "here" with greater force.

The toddlers then heard voices that were both melodic and rhythmic, and that used many tonal qualities in a wide range. Even when the three women sang harmony, the children heard distinct voices, not the submerged chord of Steeple Ashton. They saw women maintain their identities when they were members of groups supporting someone.

Performers
Soloist: woman
Vocal Accompaniment: three woman
Instrumental Accompaniment: guitar and organ heard
Rhythm Accompaniment: woman playing drum set

Notes on Lyrics
Language: English
Verses: come by here, crying

Vocabulary:
Pronoun: somebody
Term for Deity: Lord
Special Terms: none

Format: ritual prelude-denouement structure
Verse Length: 4 lines
Line Meter: iambic
Line Length: 7 syllables
Line Repetition Pattern: AAAB
Line Form: statement-refrain

Notes on Music
Opening Phrase: 1-5
Tempo: moderate
Basic Structure: call-response and soloist supported by group

Singing Style
Solo: melismatic with great uses of pauses. Her voice was more harsh then melodic.

Group: chordal harmony. They voices were closer to the shout tradition than the melodic one.

Solo-Group Dynamics
Prelude: in the first video, the soloist sang the statement, and the group followed with the refrain.

Denouement: in the second video, the group repeated "Oh Lord." The soloist could not be heard because she had moved too far from the camera’s microphone. At the end, she moved back to the group and they sang "come by here" together."

Vocal-Instrumental Dynamics: a guitar made some sounds, followed by an organ. Once the drum began, they could only be heard between verses.

Vocal-Rhythm Dynamics: drums set the pace for the women. The women’s phrasing created another rhythmic pattern.

Notes on Movement
As soon as the drums began, the backup singers may have begun shifting their weight from foot to foot. While they were singing, they held microphones in their right hands, and moved their left arms from the elbows. Toward the end, they moved closer to each other and put their arms around each other’s waists.

The soloist began with a mike in her right hand and a large white handkerchief in her left. Toward the end of the second verse she turned in different directions, and lifted her left arm high. At the end of the second video she returned to the trio, turned towards them, and took off her glasses. They she returned to the aisle, before coming back for the final line.

Notes on Audience
They began sitting in wooden bench pews. By the end, many who were on the left side of the church had moved toward the aisle where they stood. Some were dressed in suits or dresses, and others in slacks and casual tops. If any made responsive sounds or moved, they were not recorded by the camera.

Notes on Performers
Voices of Joy were middle-aged African-American women. The drummer was dressed like the rest of the members of the group. The other musicians never were seen.

The Gospel Upsetters who sponsored the event originally were from Chicago, but had moved to Hattiesburg, Mississippi. Their manager was Ella Cook. [3]

Availability
YouTube: uploaded in two parts by Darqueitta Cook, 26 November 2012.

End Notes
1. They brought together local gospel groups for a two-day festival. Clara Ward’s mother held her first anniversary concert in 1934; I do not know if she was the first or the most famous, but she may have established a precedent for other groups. (Willa Ward-Royster. How I Got Over: Clara Ward and the World-Famous Ward Singers. Told to Toni Rose. Philadelphia: Temple University Press, 1997. 31.)

2. "The Gospel Upsetters 32nd Anniversary." All Events In Moselle website.

3. "About Gospel Upsetters." Facebook.