The Singing Greats
Yesterday morning, as Mom finished getting ready for church, I sat at her piano, tinkering with variations on "Wayfaring Stranger." As we made our slow way to the car, she told me that her mother, the woman I knew as Mama Reeves, said that her father--my grandmother's father--used to sing that song. The man was named Noah Barnett, one of my maternal great-grandfathers.
Mom also told me that her father's father, Malley Reeves, was also known as a singer. The story is told that he would be working in the fields when somebody would pass and say, "Malley, we need you to come sing over at Such-and-Such Church." So this other of my maternal great-grandfathers would stop work and wash up and go sing.
I like knowing this about these great-grandfathers of mine, men I never knew, both of them dead even before my mom was born in 1931.
And so I sing in church--"Come, Thou Fount" yesterday morning--like Malley Reeves did years and years ago. I like thinking about that. I also like thinking about Noah Barnett singing "Wayfaring Stranger" within earshot of his daughter, and I feel a connection across time and space in the same way that I've come to feel in the saying of the Lord's Prayer or the Apostles' Creed a connection to people worshiping more than 1,000 years ago or during their own Sunday morning worship times--just a few hours before or after mine--in Glasgow or Buenos Aires or Missoula or Singapore.
Mom also told me that her father's father, Malley Reeves, was also known as a singer. The story is told that he would be working in the fields when somebody would pass and say, "Malley, we need you to come sing over at Such-and-Such Church." So this other of my maternal great-grandfathers would stop work and wash up and go sing.
I like knowing this about these great-grandfathers of mine, men I never knew, both of them dead even before my mom was born in 1931.
And so I sing in church--"Come, Thou Fount" yesterday morning--like Malley Reeves did years and years ago. I like thinking about that. I also like thinking about Noah Barnett singing "Wayfaring Stranger" within earshot of his daughter, and I feel a connection across time and space in the same way that I've come to feel in the saying of the Lord's Prayer or the Apostles' Creed a connection to people worshiping more than 1,000 years ago or during their own Sunday morning worship times--just a few hours before or after mine--in Glasgow or Buenos Aires or Missoula or Singapore.
posted by mac | 9:42 AM
7 Comments:
That's cool.
I think it must be wonderful to experience this type of connection with those who came before. It's not a universal experience. My grandparents came from four countries. Between them, they spoke six different languages, in addition to English.
WOW -This made me think of a lot of things....
first, thanks for the insightful comments..
I thought about grandparents (gone since the 50's and early 60's), parents (gone since 1980 and 1981), and the recent trip to the mountains with my children and grandchildren - maybe we created a happy memory and certainly more of a connection....
and finally, it reminded my of my few years of playing bass in a variety of bluegrass bands and a few times at at church. Those two song were among my favorites... in fact one of my BG bands from ETSU played Wayfaring Stranger at the Down Home!!!
So, thanks once again for the memories......
John...you need to pull out that bass again start playing!
Thanks for the responses, folks. Generations run long in my mother's family. My grandfather Reeves was born in the early or mid 1880s. His father (my great-grandfather) was born in the 1830s. I believe my great-great-grandfather was born in the 1790s.
Roz, seems like seven different languages and at least four cultural background would be pretty rich, although the "connections" might look like the telephone box on the side of the house when you open it up.
John, I agree with Mark. But you could say the same to him about his guitar.
Well here is a coincidence, if they ever exist, yesterday Sandy was home in the afternoon and she had the TV turned on the Andy Griffith show and toward the end of that episode I heard Wayfaring Stranger being sung on the TV.... I went into that room and sure enough there was Andy on guitar and others in the staff on their instruments with a female singer performing Wayfaring Stranger. I do not know the context, but my thought was I doubt if you would hear a bluegrass version of that song on any of the current reality shows!!!
Cheers, john
John, I know of that episode on the series. It was fantastic, it's just to bad they didn't have more of Andy playing and singing.
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