The Gospel - Kumbaya

Topic: Seminal Influences - Innovation
Once performers have become familiar with a seminal version of a song they may innovate within its boundaries. The simplest form is a substitution of one voice or instrument for another. This modification requires at least one member of a group be able to do transpositions of keys.

The Gospel recorded a version of "Kumbaya" in Oslo, Norway, in 1970 that vocally copied The Seekers with a soprano lead. Except for the first verse, she said the final Lord on one note like Judith Durham with no other ornamentation. On the second verse the group used a call-response form, but after that the group joined the soloist like the men in The Seekers had done with Durham.

The innovations were in the instrumentation. Instead of two guitars and a string bass playing the melody through once before the singing commenced, a pennywhistle was used with the bass. By then, the idea of using African drums had been introduced and one began when the soprano started singing. Since this was 1970, it probably was a bongo.

Instead of the group repeating the last line between sung verses, as The Seekers had done, the instruments played it. The most unusual was a trumpet which began in the third verse and began to add its own flourishes in the final iteration.

Performers
Vocal Soloist: soprano
Vocal Group: men and women
Vocal Director: not identified
Instrumental Accompaniment: pennywhistle, keyboard, trumpet
Rhythm Accompaniment: string bass, triangle, bongo

Credits
© 1970 Arne Bendiksen Records AS

Notes on Lyrics
Language: English
Pronunciation: Com bye yah
Verses: kumbaya, crying, praying, singing,

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

Basic Form: four-verse song
Verse Repetition Pattern: none
Ending: none
Unique Features: none

Notes on Music
Opening Phrase: 1-3-5
Tempo: moderate; last note sustained

Basic Structure: alternate sung verses with instrumental interludes; key changed between second and third verses

Singing Style: one syllable to one note; unison

Solo-Group Dynamics: verse 1 soloist only, verse 2 solo statement and group refrain, verses 3 and 4 soloist and group in unison

Vocal-Orchestral Dynamics: pennywhistle and string bass play the introduction. Bongo drum replace bass with verse 1 and keyboard replace pennywhistle on 2. Trumpet added with verse 3 that become louder and more ornamented in verse 4.

Vocal-Rhythm Dynamics: bongo drum constant from verse 2

Notes on Performers
No information was provided on the group. The album containing "Kumbaya" was recorded in Arne Bendiksen’s studios. He was a popular singer in the 1960s, who took over a recording company in 1964. He was interested in promoting melodic music in the years when the Beatles and Rolling Stones were ascendent. [1]

One side of the Jeg Vil Tro album was in Norwegian and the other in English. [2] It included American religious songs like "Just a Closer Walk with Thee." "All My Sorrows" was popularized by Joan Baez, while "This Train" was recorded by Peter, Paul and Mary and by The Seekers.

Availability
Album: Jeg Vil Tro. Triola TNLP 37. 28 October 1970.

End Notes
1. Norwegian Wikipedia. "Arne Bendiksen."
2. "Gospel (3) - Jeg Vil Tro." Discogs website.