In the collection, A Hundredfold: A Contemporary Folk Hymnal, I am back to the obscure with Neil Blunt’s song, “I Have Seen My America.”
I can’t see any situation where a song like this, whatever its merits, would be singable in a church service.
I don’t know how they meant it to go, so I just made a backing from the sheet music.
This song was originally published by WLP in 1975 and has somehow survived time and takeovers to still be available at GIA. I found it in A Hundredfold: A Contemporary Folk Hymnal.
It is a song for Good Friday by Jack Miffleton. This is another one that Mary at Godsongs tracked down.
The sheet music can be purchased at GIA, where the text is in their preview. The words are also at this site.
You can sing along with my backing to learn the song.
There are quite a few YouTube clips so it still seems well enough known on the US. Here is a selection in varying styles and tempos.
I’m going through an obscure old collection called One Hundredfold: A Contemporary Folk Hymnal, and have found one that has at least left a trace on the internet.
It is Ken Meltz’s “Believe and Repent”, which was originally sung by the Roamin’ Collars. He based it on Mark 1:15. It sounds like a hymn for Lent.
Mary at Godsongs expressed surprise it was still being used decades after being out of print. As with all these songs, I’m happy to take down the sheet music at the request of the copyright holder or author, especially if they can point me to where they are available.
I hadn’t heard the original when I made my backing:
I’m going through an essentially buried collection called A Hundredfold: A Contemporary Folk Hymnal from 1978.
Many of the songwriters are most obscure but Willard F. Jabusch was not and certainly wrote some well known songs, including “The King of Glory“.
This song based on Psalm 122 is less known and very out of print. Paraphrases of psalms are a hard sell these days unless they are good enough to stand on their own as a hymn and I’m not sure this one does.
With no clues from recordings on the internet I made a backing that may have nothing to do with what the good Father was looking for.
Angel Tucciarone is another interesting songwriter from the 1970s in the USA whose sheet music is out of print. She had this song in the collection: A Hundredfold: A Contemporary Folk Hymnal. I would love anyone who knows anything about these artists to fill me in.
I’m posting the sheet music only because these pieces are extremely obscure and cannot be purchased anywhere. If anyone can direct me to where these can be purchased I would be pleased to take the sheet music down.
This is a very positive song that is very singable and would be suitable for children.
With no recordings that I can find for guidance, I did my best to make a backing:
The title track of the collection A Hundredfold: A Contemporary Folk Hymnal, from 1978, is as obscure as the rest of the collection. I can find no sign of Ken Meltz‘s song anywhere and it is extremely out of print.
Ken Meltz was part of the Roamin’ Collars in the late 60s and early 70s a group of seminarians who used the folk idiom.
This likeable quasi-spiritual is based on the parable of the sower from Matt 13:1-9.
I made a backing that didn’t sound right because it didn’t swing:
I think this works better, but having never heard the original I can’t be sure.
This is probably a bad idea, but I found a little book called A Hundredfold: A Contemporary Folk Hymnal second hand many years ago and it intrigues me, so I’m going to have a look at it.
It was published in 1978 by WLP and while GIA took over WLP I can only find two of the songs there, the rest are very out of print indeed. This book seems pretty rare even on the second hand market and, while this was well before my time as a Catholic, it strikes me that the backlash against folk mass style songs had already hit by 1978 and these songs may have been stuck in a dead end.
Nonetheless I find them interesting and perhaps worth another look after all these years. Where the sheet music is not available I have decided to post it, but would be thrilled to take down the material at the request of the authors, especially if they had a way to make it generally available.
This song is by Jack Miffleton. He went on to write a lot of music for young people but this is a wedding song, a solo I suppose.
I can find no recordings of this one anywhere, but I made a backing for learning purposes.
This is the last song from Holy Ground, Monica Brown’s collection of mantras. Thinking about them all, I can see a liturgical use for many of them, apart from their obvious use in personal prayer and retreats.
The sheet music is only $A5 at Emmaus.
To the glory of God let us lift our voices, let us sing from our hearts.
Sing out our praise.
To the Glory of God let us sing.
© 1992 Monica Brown
This is a bit more than a mantra – it has three harmony lines so let’s call it a piece for a children’s choir. It’s very psalm like.
It is by Monica Brown from her excellent value collection Holy Ground.
My backing has the main melody line all the way through and cycles through the three harmony lines, but of course you will want it all happening at once for maximum effect.
Melody
Let us go with hearts of joy to the place of God’s dwelling.
Let us worship our God withn songs of thanks and praise.
Harmony 1
Let us – Go with – Go with hearts of joy.
Let us – Worship – Worship our God.
Harmony 2a
Go with hearts of joy to the place of God’s dwelling.
Harmony 2b
Worship our God with songs of thanks and praise.
Harmony 3
Let us go with our, with our hearts of joy
To the place of God, of God’s dwelling.
Let us worship our, worship our God
With songs of thanks and praise.
© 1993 Monica Brown
This is another of these mantras that I have looked at before but have reposted in the context of the collection Holy Ground by Monica Brown.
It would make a good entrance chant with minimal to nil accompaniment.
I made a new backing:
Gather us, O God.
Body, spirit, soul and mind.
Gather us, O God.
One in union now with you.
© 1991 Monica Brown
