'Angel Band'

[TheNaivePicker]

'Allo fellow Cafe'ers!
Ive heard this Bluegrass song everwhere.. a movie, local bands singing it, and I have it on a CD. The songs called 'Angel Band'. I Have a"Bluegrass Today" CD With a variety of bluegrass songs.. And I was trying to find the Lyrics, but I cant find them, and I cant understand what the guys saying on the Cd..
All I got out of the song was the Beginning:
"My Latest Sun is Sinking fast, My race is nearly won"
I Would appriciate it if someone could share Lyrics, If they Have them.

Thanks!

[Scotti Adams]

Angel Band



My latest sun is sinking fast
My race is nearly run
All my trials now are past
My triumph has begun

Oh come Angel Band
Come and around me stand
Bear me away on your snow white wings
To my immortal home
Bear me away on your snow white wings
To my immortal home

Oh bear my loving heart to him
Who bled and died for me
Whose blood now cleanses from all sins
And gives me victory.

I've almost reached my heavenly home
My spirit loudly sings
The holy ones behold they come
I hear the noise of wings.

[Bradley]

OK Scotti, You Lyric god you....

What year did they first record it ??

[JGWoods]

Type - angel band lyric- into google and you will get a bunch of sites with the lyrics.

works with any title, or, if you know a line or two of a song type them into google and you get the song most every time.

best
gw

[Scotti Adams]

..nope..Bluegrasslyrics.com # works for me Im thinkin 1956...Stanley Bros.

[John Flynn]

Can you believe it? Among the many other groups that have recorded that tune, it was actually done by the Monkees on thier album, Missing Links, Vol. 3." Go figure...

My favorite version is the one sung by Tim O'Brien on "Songs from the Mountain."

[TheNaivePicker]

Right on. You guys Rock, Thanks a bunch!

[Bradley]

Thats a nice website...didnt know that existed

I thought I had the year on Angel Band(as I have the CD right here)..It was somewhere
between '54 and '57 during the Mercury Years.

[pdlstl]

It's been exciting to watch bluegrasslyrics.com grow over the last couple of years.

Another big ol' Amen for bluegrasslyrics.com!

[Ken Berner]

What key do most of y'all play Angel Band in? We've been doing it in "A" mainly to accomodate or singers. It works well for mandolin.

[Kevin K]

Bb for us.

[Kent Black]

The song was published in 1860 and written by Jefferson Hascall based on the scripture Luke 16:22 and republished in 1862 by William Bradbury in the key of C.

[Martin Jonas]

Here and here are two versions of Angel Band with lyrics and tune. #I have to say that I find the basic version in the Digital Tradition (the first link) much more satisfying to play than Jay Buckeys, especially with a nice tremolo thrown in on all those sustained notes. #Personal taste, I guess.

Martin

[aimee]

You'll find an easy, fun arangement on Jaybuckey.com. I think it's n G.

[earthsave]

We do it in D if my wife only sings but have recently switched to C with the band. The Stanley Brothers recorded it in 1956 in the key of C from what I remember reading... I think the version at the end of O Brother was their only recording.

[RobP]

We do it in C also. This is one of the few songs I actually sing lead on in our trio. I love to sing this song!

Rob

[Mark Normand]

Along with bluegrasslyrics.com, here's another great one with all you want and more..
http://www.nsknet.or.jp/~motoya/BG/index.html

[wah]

Love this song. I have always done it in G but ended up in a jam doing it in D - worked fine. I love the Stanley Bros. version but my favorite is on Charles Sawtelle's "Music From Rancho DeVille." This was recorded while he was dying from leukemia - I can't listen to it without choking up.

Wayne

[Peter Hackman]

The song was published in 1860 and written by Jefferson Hascall based on the scripture Luke 16:22 and republished in 1862 by William Bradbury in the key of C.

Looked up that verse in my Bible and couldn't see the
connection at all. Made me think of Tramp on the Street,
though.

[earthsave]

Thanks for the history on that tune. I guess that makes it a PD tune now?

[Tom C]

You can usually just type in a sentence that you know and search for it. If you search just by title you may get too many results.

[Kent Black]

Hey Peter, Just looked it up and it said that the begger was carried by angels to the side of Abraham, not much to go on but we can't really ask the author about it. Old Gospel songs were a lot of time based on hardships or struggles that the author may have been going through. I try to put myself in the authors place when I sing the song.

Kent

[Jonathan Reinhardt]

I'm working up a solo version of this at present. I have a show at a local church next month on the origins of (and influences on) Early Country and will include this (as an example of 50's Stanleys' songs).
Re: Curley Lambert's 4 bar intro and solo between chorus and verse -- do y'all do it note for note (which I always have, as it is so clean and direct) or do you occassionally use half tones, i.e. slightly more modern and funky (which I am starting to do for variation as the song progresses, see question # two)?
Do any of you include extra verses (from the original published version) or stay with a sparser Stanley Bros. arrangement (just over two minutes)?
Just curious.

rasa