Take My Hand, Precious Lord (with Granny)

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Granny suggested that we sing this song. It's a great song. Pap really liked the song and sometimes sang it by himself. It's one of few songs I know that people routinely sing to two different beats. Pap, and most others that I've heard, sang the song to a waltz beat (as Granny and I sang it in this video), but I've also heard several folks sing it to a straight march beat, including the great Doc Watson. According to Wikipedia, Thomas A Dorsey wrote the lyrics and adapted the melody way back in the 1930's, and the first recording was released about 5 months before Pap was born, in 1937. This song was recorded by Red Foley, Elvis Pressley, Mahalia Jackson, Aretha Franklin, Merle Haggard, Ernie Ford, Jim Reeves, and many other famous singers. It is said to have been MLK, Jr.'s favorite hymn. It was even performed recently by Beyonce. :-) Dorsey adapted the melody of a hymn called "Maitland," and the history of that melody is somewhat complicated, but it seems to have been created sometime in the mid 1800's, though the source of the melody is unclear. Sadly, Dorsey wrote the lyrics during a prolonged bereavement after losing both his wife and infant son during childbirth in 1932. I think the song was on Granny's mind because her last remaining sibling, her brother William "Lucky" Jenkins is currently in the hospital with a fractured hip and two broken vertebrae from a fall. The broken vertebrae, ironically, are very similar to the injury that happened to Dr. Earle Wheeler last month, shortly before he went on to be with the Lord. Uncle Lucky is doing some better and is supposed to be transferred to a rehab center sometime today (Monday). The reason I think Granny wanted to sing the song because of Uncle Lucky is that after the second take, she mentioned that we could go sing it to him in the hospital. We didn't sing it for him, but we did go see him and take him some food, since he doesn't want to eat the hospital food. :-) I think this song is a song of great comfort. We all reach that point of having to cross over sooner or later, and knowing that the Lord will be there to receive us is what matters most in this life. Granny sang a little stronger in the first take, but I sang the wrong words in the second verse, so we tried it again. As I did with "Night Train to Memphis" with Doyle Dykes, I chose to just include both takes. You can let us know in the comments which one you liked the best. As always, thanks for watching, and we hope you enjoyed this old timey hymn. :-)

Listen to original singles released on Spotify:
https://open.spotify.com/artist/5VX6ZKjBvDB31BhNdR7EXC

Listen to original singles on YouTube:
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC2WQqe6yfRH2zahVpfZ_teg

Listen to Shepherd of My Soul (Album released in 2016):
https://open.spotify.com/album/4VnoOyUTOtSqrmVKinmSJz