Yola’s parish keeps their reputation of ranging from very recent songs to songs from forty something years ago. I do remember this gospel song from the seventies and I have a copy in Scripture in Song Book One where it says the composer and copyright are unknown. Hymnary says it is in a lot of hymnals.
The tune and the text for the first verse are noted elsewhere to be by the Rev Martin Frey , who also wrote Kum Ba Yah, and there are more stanzas by somebody else who is still unknown. He died in 1972 so I don’t think the song is definitely public domain despite numerous attestations that it is.
My backing is much too white:
Gospel Children’s Choir:
Country:
Elder Jamel Strong:
Fascinating – I’ve never seen this attributed to Martin Frey, or even heard of him before! Nice find.
It’s possible that some of his works are no longer copyright in the USA: if they were published before 1923, or even at certain dates after then and copyright was not registered / renewed, then it expires.
And I’m not expert, by my sense is that when something is published anonymously in many other countries, copyright is based on X years since publication. I’m not sure how this is affected if the anonymous publication was illegal (as in without permission), though.
That article got me thinking: his claim to Kumbayah just didn’t sound right – and there’s an interesting write-up on Wikipedia about it: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kumbaya
They cynic in me thinks that something similar migh tbe true for some of the others songs listed – much like the “This is the Day” claims.