Thursday, October 14, 2010

"Down in the River to Pray"--Allan Hall




This a great song I just heard tonight. Very much of an early American folk sound. The musician is the pianist for the group Selah.

7 comments:

Jeff Culbreath said...

I think you'll like the Alison Krauss version as well. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=68_zDlzJDF8

Lydia McGrew said...

I was trying to listen to her version tonight but couldn't get one of the Youtube versions to load. I'll try that one tomorrow.

Lydia McGrew said...

Loved the Krauss version, too.

For some reason it always seems striking when they get to "Come on, sinners, let's go down..."

Mr Veale said...

Love it.

Mr Veale said...

I'll have to send you some traditional Irish songs.

One's that aren't about drinking...

Lydia McGrew said...

Thanks, Mr. Veale!

I'm still smiling over the bit about Irish songs that aren't about drinking.

There is "some sort of connection" (here I show my ignorance) between American folk music and Irish/English folk tunes.

This one isn't based on the Dorian mode, but that's often a giveaway of "that sound." If you know the song "What Wondrous Love is This," it's in Dorian, I believe.

Lydia McGrew said...

CORRECTION: I don't know what I was thinking. "Down in the River to Pray" _is_ in the Dorian mode. It's _obviously_ in the Dorian mode (and I also just checked on the piano). I just wasn't thinking of it clearly when I casually said that it wasn't.

Generally, if something has "American folk tune" stamped on it that strongly, one should assume that it's in Dorian.

A real musician wouldn't have to think twice about this question.