Hope - Kum Ba Yah (Come by Here)

Topic: Religious Folk Music Revival
Methodists were the first to laud "a new generation," and the last to recognize the Now Generation. Like with the Baptists, [1] Lutherans, [2] and Nazarenes, [3] it wasn’t the denomination that acted, but an independent publisher with informal ties to the church hierarchy. [4]

Hope Publishing was founded in 1892 by Henry Date. [5] He had attended the 1889 meeting that organized the Epworth League, [6] and needed material for his Methodist youth group meetings. He began with a 64 page pamphlet of songs that attracted the interest of Holiness song writers like Elisha Hoffman, who had written "Are You Washed in the Blood?" [7] and "Leaning on the Everlasting Arms." [8]

Sales of Date’s preliminary songbook financed the publication of Pentecostal Hymns in 1894. [9] By coincidence, that was the year the Southern Methodist church formally denied the legitimacy of the Holiness doctrine. [10] The music editors included a Presbyterian [11] and a Congregationalist. [12]

Hope continued to produce hymnals and Sunday school materials for evangelistic churches for generations. It changed its focus in 1964 when Dent’s partner’s son, Herbert Shorney, took over, and brought in his sons. [13] They made John Wilson the company’s first full-time music editor in 1966. [14] A year later Wilson produced a songbook with a guitar on the cover.

A Time To Sing was in the tradition of the Cooperative Recreation Service booklets created for youth groups and camps. It even used the same stapled 3.5" x 8.75" format. Lynn Rohrbough had sold his company in 1967, [15] and this may have been an attempt to fill the vacuum created by that transfer.

A quarter of the songs were identified as spirituals, and 18% were used in camps. One of the graces, "Hark to the Chimes," [16] was from a 1929 Girl Scout Song Book. The rest were religious songs, including a few hymns and psalms. Most were recently composed.

Date may have been a Methodist, but the Shorneys were Presbyterians. [17] That denomination began to hear about the "Now Generation" in January 1969 when the John Knox Press released a book by Dennis Benson that analyzed the lyrics of the Beatles, Bob Dylan, and Simon and Garfunkle within the theology of Dietrich Bonhoeffer. [18] He suggested ways congregations could find common ground between generations.

Hope responded in two ways. In 1970, it introduced a new division named agápe. [19] The word had been reintroduced in 1960 by C. S. Lewis [20] and become a way to comprehend the Hippies’ 1967 Summer of Love in San Francisco. [21] The term especially was popular in the coffee houses sponsored by churches near college campuses.

Carlton Young edited a Songbook for Saints and Sinners in 1971 for what he called the "young Christian" who "as he has always done, is singing a New Song." It was in the CRS format, but with a glossier cover.

Later that year, [22] Wilson issued A New Now under the Hope imprint. It promised to present "only the best of the standard favorites plus many carefully screened new offerings."

Wilson realized summer camps were passé. The CRS songster had been designed for hikers to put in their knapsacks. Backpacks had become the norm, and people sang around camp fires. They needed books that laid flat while they were playing their guitars. A New Now used the spiral binding introduced by Singspiration. [23]

The only camp songs were rounds with peace as a theme: "Dona Nobis Pacem" and "Shalom Chaverim." It also included "Jesus, Jesus," which was being sung in camps with the verse "Peace, Peace." It was based on a song introduced to Girl Scouts by Janet Tobitt in 1939. [24]

Both 1971 Hope songbooks were intended to accompany worship services. Saints had sections devoted to "Songs for the Liturgy" and "Quick Christian Year." Now was subtitled: "A Youth Folk Hymnal." Each contained "Kumbaya."

Saints still was influenced by the folk masses of the Roman Catholic church. It included six songs by Ray Repp. It also included eleven by Richard Avery and Donald March. They were leading workshops on alternative forms of worship for Presbyterians, and were publishing their songs through Hope.

Now had fewer songs from either source. Its definition of folk was like that of Bob MacKenzie. The number of spirituals increased by 15%. They included songs from both Black and white traditions. In addition, the hymnal included old songs rediscovered by folk revival artists like "I Know Where I’m Going" [25] and "Wayfaring Stranger." [26]

Both were more ecumenical than the collections published by companies located in the South. In addition to Catholic and Presbyterian songs, Saints included ones from Baptist [27] and American Lutheran Church sources. [28]

Now reflected the changes in contemporary Christian music. Instead of Baptist songs, it included some published by Word Record’s Sacred Songs, [29] and by the Premillennialist Singspiration. [30]

William G. Shorney had worked as a banker before joining his father and brother in Hope in 1964. [31] The company became more conscious of the importance of copyrights as a source of income. [32] Now had 23% more songs copyrighted by Hope than did Saints, 12% less from the Presbyterians, 11% less from Roman Catholic sources, and 18% less from other contemporary music publishers.

Performers
A Time To Sing, Saints
Vocal Soloist: single melodic line
Vocal Group: none
Instrumental Accompaniment: guitar chords
Rhythm Accompaniment: none

A New Now
Vocal Soloist: single melodic line
vVocal Group: none
Instrumental Accompaniment: piano, guitar chords
Rhythm Accompaniment: none

Credits
African (Angola)

Notes on Lyrics
Language: English
Pronunciation: no comment
Verses: kumbaya, crying, singing, praying

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
A Time To Sing, Saints
Opening Phrase: 1-3-5
Time Signature: 3/4

A New Now
Opening Phrase: 1-3-5
Time Signature: 4/4

All three
Tempo: not provided
Key Signature: no sharps or flats
Guitar Chords: C F G

Basic Structure: strophic repetition
Singing Style: one syllable to one note, except for final "Lord"

A New Now
Vocal-Accompaniment Dynamics: Piano chords struck at beginnings of measures and "kumbaya" phrases. Guitar chords on first and last notes of "kumbaya."

All Three
Ending: guitar chords on every note of final line

Notes on Performance
A Time To Sing
"The key to the effectiveness of what is often called ‘sacred folk music’ is its simplicity. It can be sung informally, understood clearly and accompanied easily, perhaps with guitar, banjo, ukelele or autoharp."

A New Now
"We encourage you to improvise from these basic settings. Choirs or small combos with various rhythm styles may be used—folk, folk rock, jazz, straight or whatever."

Notes on Audience
Hope said A Time to Sing "sold over one million copies." [33]

Notes on Performers
Wilson was featured in the posts for 16 December 2018 and 19 December 2018. Young was mentioned in the post for 14 February 2019.

Availability
Book: "Kum Ba Yah." A Time to Sing. Carol Stream, Illinois: Hope Publishing Company, 1967. 37.

Book: "Kum Ba Yah (Come by Here)." Songbook for Saints and Sinners. Edited by Carlton R. Young. Carol Stream, Illinois: agápe, 1971. 19.

Book: "Kum Ba Yah (Com by Here)." A New Now. Carol Stream, Illinois: Hope Publishing Company, 1971. 38.

End Notes
1. Baptists were discussed in the posts for 5 July 2020 and 12 July 2020.
2. Lutherans were discussed in the posts for 21 June 2020 and 28 June 2020.
3. Nazarenes were discussed in the posts for 19 July 2020 and 26 July 2020

4. George Shorney said: "Methodists, I think, in their most recent hymnbook must have said, ‘We’re tired of having Hope sell books to our people’." [34]

5. "Hope Publishing Company History." Company website.

6. "Founders of the Epworth League." 8–9 in The Epworth League Year-Book. Cincinnati: Jennings and Pye, 1903 edition. 8.

7. E. A. Hoffman. "Are You Washed in the Blood?" In Spiritual Songs for Gospel Meetings and the Sunday School. Edited by Elisha A. Hoffman and J. H. Tenney. Cleveland, Ohio: Barker and Smellie, 1878. [35]

8. Anthony J. Showalter and Elisha Hoffman. "Leaning on the Everlasting Arms." In The Glad Evangel. Edited by A. J. Showalter, L. M. Evilsizer, and S. J. Perry. Dalton, Georgia: A. J. Showalter Company, 1887. [37]

9. The earliest citation by WorldCat is: Henry Date, Elisha A. Hoffman and J. H. Tenney. Pentecostal Hymns: For Evangelistic Services, Young People’s Societies and Sunday Schools. Chicago: Hope Publishing Company.

10. For more on the reaction of Methodist hierarchies to Phoebe Palmer’s theory of Holiness, see the post for 9 February 2020.

11. Elisha Albright Hoffman was ordained as a Presbyterian minister in 1873. In addition to serving congregations, he worked for the Evangelical Association in Cleveland. [38]

12. John Harrison Tenney was a deacon in a Congregation church in Limebrook, Massachusetts. Before working with Date, he co-edited collections with Hoffman. [39]

13. Date worked with George Henry Shorney and Francis G. Kingsbury. Shorney, who was a childhood friend and distant relative, took over when Date died in 1915. Kingsbury was Date’s cousin. He became president with Shorney died in 1919. Kingsbury retired in 1926, and George’s son, Gordon D. Shorney rose. George Herbert Shorney was Gordon’s brother. [40]

14. "Hope Publishing Company History." The existing music editor was part-time. Donald P. Hustad had been with the company since 1950, and was getting more involved with the Billy Graham organization.

15. H. Smith. "Pocket Song Book Publishing Moved, Revitalized." [Yellow Springs, Ohio] Community Service Newsletter. January–February 1977. 1–2.

16. George Newell. Girl Scout Song Book. New York: Girl Scouts, 1929.

17. Bob Goldsborough. "George H. Shorney, 1931-2012." Chicago Tribune. 11 April 2012. His father, Gordon Shorney, had been a Baptist, [41] who sent his sons to Denison College, then associated with the Northern Baptist Convention. [42]

18. Dennis C. Benson. The Now Generation. Richmond: John Knox Press, 1969. He also looked at lyrics by Arlo Guthrie and Janis Ian.

19. "Hope Publishing Company History."

20. C. S. Lewis. The Four Loves. London: Geoffrey Bles, 1960. It was published the same year in Orlando, Florida by Harcourt.

21. Wikipedia. "Summer of Love."

22. Both songbooks carried the date 1971. Now contained David Wo’s "Sing, My People" that was introduced by Saints.

23. Singspiration’s spiral-bound Folk Hymnal was discussed in the post for 2 August 2020.

24. Janet Tobitt. "Rose, Rose." Yours for a Song. New York: 1939. Tobitt included Song in her anthology, The Ditty Bay, which she self-published in 1946. "Rose, Rose" was a case study in Camp Songs, 447–454.

25. "I Know Where I’m Going" was recorded in 1944 by Burl Ives, [46] and again by The Weavers in 1957. [47] The post for 2 August 2020 also mentioned this song.

26. Burl Ives recorded "Wayfaring Stranger" in 1944. [48] David Warren Steel and Richard Hulan [49] found a version in Joseph Bever’s The Christian Songster, which was published by the United Brethren in Christ of Dayton in 1858. Robert Waltz and David Engle [50] located an earlier, 1816, version in Kentucky Harmony that was published by Ananias Davisson in Lexington, Kentucky.

27. Five were published by the Southern Baptist Convention’s Broadman Press.

28. Ewald J. Bash. "Jonah." In Songs for Today. Edited by Bash and John Ylvisaker. Minneapolis, Minnesota: The American Lutheran Church, Youth Department, 1964. Hope identified the melody as a "sea chantey," rather than admitting the tune was "What Shall We Do with a Drunken Sailor." [51]

29. The four songs from Sacred Songs, included ones by Ralph Carmichael and Kurt Kaiser. They were discussed in the posts for 15 December 2017 and 5 July 2020. The most popular was Sonny Salsbury’s "Psalm 19."

30. The three songs from Singspiration included Jack and Don Wyrtzen’s "Yesterday, Today, and Tomorrow." Grand Rapids, Michigan: Singspiration, 1966. Pat Zondervan was a strong Premillennialist, and determined the publishing company would also support that view. [52]

31. Music and "Hope Publishing Company History."

32. Nancy Luebke. "Hymn Publisher’s 110-year History Started with Hope." Arlington Heights [Illinois] Daily Herald. 16 March 2002. 169. George Shorney told her: "As a publisher, there’s value in owning copyrights, and the owners of the company recognized that acquiring copyrights would be a good way to position the company. Today the strategy of publishers in the music industry is to own copyrights to generate income."

33. "Hope Publishing Company History."

34. David W. Music. "An Interview with George Shorney." The Hymn 44:6-10:January 1992. 7.

35. Diana Leagh Matthews. "Behind the Hymn: Are you washed in the Blood." Her website. 9 April 2017. She said it was republished by Ira Sankey in an 1881 edition of Sacred Songs and Solos. This went through many editions (and, no doubt, revisions); the Library of Congress lists one from 1877. [36]

36. "Sacred Songs and Solos." Library of Congress website. Ira D. Sankey. London: Morgan and Scott, 1877.

37. Tiffany Shomsky. "Leaning on the everlasting arms." Hymnary website.
38. Wikipedia. "Elisha Hoffman."

39. J. H. Hall. "J. H. Tenney." 219–222 in Biography of Gospel Song and Hymn Writers. New York: Fleming H. Revell Company, 1914.

40. "Hope Publishing Company History."
41. Gordon D. Shorney. Obituary. Chicago Tribune. 22 October 1964. 69.

432. Denison was founded by the Ohio Baptist Education Society in 1831. [44] At the time the Shorneys began attending, it was associated with the Ohio Baptist Convention, which, in turn, was affiliated with the Northern Baptist Convention. [45] Denison became a "non-sectarian institution independent of any denominational affiliation" in the 1960s. [46]

43. "Denison University." Ohio History Central website.

44. Richard Hunter Clossman. "A History of the Organization and Development of the Baptist Churches in Ohio from 1789 to 1907, With Particular Reference to the Ohio Baptist Convention." PhD dissertation. The Ohio State University, 1971.

45. "Our History." Denison University website

46. Burl Ives. "I Know Where I’m Going." The Wayfaring Stranger. Columbia C-103. 1944. [Discogs entry]

47. The Weavers. The Weavers At Carnegie Hall. Vanguard VRS-9010. 1957. [Discogs entry]
48. Burl Ives. The Wayfaring Stranger. Stinson Records A 345. 1944. [Discogs entry]

49. David Warren Steel and Richard H. Hulan. The Makers of the Sacred Harp. Champaign: University of Illinois Press, 2010. 234. Cited by Wikipedia. "The Wayfaring Stranger (Song)."

50. "Wayfaring Stranger." The Traditional Ballad Index. California State University-Fresno website. Version 4.5.

51. Bsondahl. "Jonah song/Drunken Sailor tune." Mudcat Café website. 9 March 2002.
52. James E. Ruark. The House of Zondervan. Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2006. 27.