Roger Neumann - Kum Ba Yah

Topic: Religious Folk Music Revival
The cover of John Haag’s Super Pop Rock ’69 reflected the state of popular music that year. It had photographs of two Black men, one white woman, one Puerto Rican man, and four all-white, all-male groups. [1] None were folk-music revival singers, but it did contain two songs from that repertoire: "Greensleeves" and "Kum Ba Yah."

Haag established his publishing business in 1967. He had agreements with the owners of copyrights to reproduce their music, and worked with 15 rack jobbers to distribute his folios. [2] In addition, he produced his own anthologies that brought together the most current songs with full-page photographs of artists.

It is unknown if he commissioned the arrangement of "Kumbaya," or if the arranger sought him out. The company that copyrighted it was a division of Haag’s West Coast Publications. [3]

The immediate stimulant was Tommy Leonetti’s recording, discussed in the post for 12 April 2020. Neumann placed the verses in Leonetti’s ballad order: "crying," "praying," and "singing." However, he did not include the recitation. Instead, he used Leonetti’s "hears you" verse between "praying" and "singing."

Neumann wrote his arrangement in two keys, with no transition between the two. A singer or piano player could perform it as written, or use just one part for all the verses.

Performers
Vocal Soloist: single melodic line
Vocal Group: none
Instrumental Accompaniment: piano, guitar chords
Rhythm Accompaniment: none

Credits
Arranged and Adapted by Roger Neumann
© Copyright 1969 by Westport Music Corp., Los Angeles, Calif.

Notes on Lyrics
Language: English
Pronunciation: dropped the final "g"
Verses: kumbaya, cryin’, prayin’, hears you, singin’

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

Basic Form: 4-verse song framed by "kumbaya"
Ending: none
Unique Features: none

Notes on Music
Opening Phrase: 1-3-5
Time Signature: 3/4
Tempo: Slow

Part 1
Key Signature: two flats
Guitar/Autoharp Chords: B^b E^b F F⁷

Part 2
Key Signature: no sharps or flats
Guitar/Autoharp Chords: C F G⁷

Basic Structure: two parts, with strophic repetition within each
Singing Style: one syllable to one note, except for final "Lord"

Vocal-Accompaniment Dynamics: piano plays the melody in the right hand with chords struck on the first beat of each measure and on the first syllable of "kumbaya."

Ending: Last note held

Audience Perceptions
The Boy Scouts’ Philmont Ranch song book for 1979 included a version of "Kum By Yah" that was attributed to Neuman. It only published words, and did not drop the final "g." Its numbered verses were Neuman’s "crying," "praying," and "singing," plus "laughing" and "come by here." The "Kum Ba Yah" words were printed at the top, implying they were a burden. [4]

Notes on Performers
Neumann was a jazz musician stranded by the changes in musical taste in the middle-1950s. He was the son of a professional musician who settled in Spencer, Iowa, after World War II. Neumann studied music at the local college, then became a music teacher in Guthrie Center, Iowa. [5]

In 1965, when he was 24 years old, he moved to New York to study at the Berklee School of Music. After graduation, the saxophone player moved to Los Angeles where he worked as a session musician and pick-up sideman. To supplement his income, he provided arrangements for other performers. [6]

He told an interviewer the arrangements he created for his own ensemble, the Rather Large Band, began when he "hears music in his head."

"‘A tune, either an original or a standard, will stick, going around and around,’ says Neumann, who estimates that he’s concocted close to 400 charts. ‘I keep hearing it in different ways, and I’ve found I can’t get rid of it unless I write an arrangement. It kind of releases it’." [7]

He died in 2018. While he still was living in Los Angeles, his second home was Eagle County, Colorado, where he taught at the Vail Jazz Goes to School in the summers. A colleague there remembered:

"The kids looked at Roger like a big teddy bear who played the hell out of the saxophone. He was incredible as a musician and an educator. Just the love of this guy … it can’t be measured." [8]

Availability
Book: Roger Neumann. "Kum Ba Yah." In Super Pop Rock ’69. Produced by John L. Haag. Hollywood: West Coast Publications. 36–37.

Book: Roger Neumann. "Kum Ba Yah." In In the Groove. Los Angeles: West Coast Publications. 32–33.

Book: "Kum Ba Yah." In Some Folk. By John L. Haag. West Coast Publications, 1969. [9]

End Notes
1. The photographed artists were: Otis Redding and O. C. Smith; Janis Joplin; José Feliciano; and The Beach Boys, The Grassroots, The Turtles, and Sparky and Our Gang.

2. "W. Coast Publications Gives Graphics a Creative Spirit." Billboard. 2 January 1971. 26. It said the firm was four years old.

3. Entry for Roger Neumann. "American Folk Trilogy." United States Copyright Office. Catalog of Copyright Entries. Third Series. January–June 1972.

4. Boy Scouts of America. The Philmont Rangers 1979 Fieldbook. No publication information.

5. Wikipedia. "Roger Neumann."
6. Wikipedia, Neumann.

7. Zan Stewart. "Music That Swings: Writer-saxophonist Roger Neumann’s acoustic, mainstream jazz-rooted Rather Large Band will appear Tuesday." Los Angeles Times website. 26 March 1993.

8. Tony Gulizia. Quoted by "Remembering Roger Neumann." Vail Jazz website.
9. Amazon entry, which included copies of the cover and table of contents.