Steal Away

DESCRIPTION: Recognized by the chorus, "Steal away, steal away to Jesus... I ain't got long to stay here." Verses may have to do with the end of the world; the singer reports that "The trumpet sounds within my soul"
AUTHOR: unknown (see NOTES)
EARLIEST DATE: 1887 (College Songs)
KEYWORDS: religious Bible nonballad
FOUND IN: US(SE)
REFERENCES (11 citations):
Dett/Fenner/Rathbun/Cleveland-ReligiousFolkSongsOfTheNegro-HamptonInstitute, pp. 111-111,App.VII, "Steal Away to Jesus" (2 texts, 2 tunes; p. 152 in the 1909 edition)
Work-FolkSongOfTheAmericanNegro, p. 89, "Steal Away to Jesus" (1 text, 1 tune)
Courlander-NegroFolkMusic, p. 42, "Steal Away" (partial text)
Fireside-Book-of-Folk-Songs, p. 298, "Steal Away" (1 text, 1 tune)
Warren-EveryTimeIFeelTheSpirit, pp. 84-85, "Steal Away" (1 text, 1 tune)
Silber-SongsOfTheCivilWar, pp. 281-282, "Steal Away to Jesus" (1 text, 1 tune)
Silber/Silber-FolksingersWordbook, p. 366, "Steal Away" (1 text)
Rodeheaver-SociabilitySongs, p. 57, "Steal Away" (1 text, 1 tune)
NorthCarolinaFolkloreJournal, Portia Naomi Crawford, "A Study of Negro Folk Songs from Greensboro, North Carolina and Surrounding Towns," Vol. XVI, No. 2 (Oct 1968), p. 127, "Oh, Steal Away" (1 fragment, 1 tune)
DT, STEALAWY*
ADDITIONAL: Henry Randall Waite, _College Songs: A Collection of New and Popular Songs of the American Colleges_, new and enlarged edition, Oliver Ditson & Co., 1887, p. 33, "Steal Away" (1 text, 1 tune) (p. 127 in the 1876 edition)
Roud #11965
RECORDINGS:
Cotton Pickers Quartet, "Steal Away to Jesus" (OKeh 8878, 1931)
Dinwiddie Colored Quartet, "Steal Away" (Victor 1716, 1902) (Monarch 1716, 1902)
Emory University Glee Club, "Steal Away to Jesus" (Victor 20594, 1927)
Fisk University Male Quartette, "Steal Away to Jesus" (Columbia A2803, 1919)
Fisk University Jubilee Singers, "Steal Away to Jesus" (Columbia 562-D, 1926)
Red Foley, "Steal Away" (Decca 14505, 1949)
Gullah Kinfolk, "Steal 'Way to Jedus" (on USSeaIsland04)
Roland Hayes, "Steal Away" (Vocalion [US & UK] 21003, n.d.; Supertone, 1931)
Rev. H. B. Jackson, "Steal Away" (OKeh 8919, 1931; rec. 1929)
Turner Junior Johnson, "Steal Away" (AFS 6609 A4, 1942; on LC10)
Paramount Jubilee Singers, "Steal Away to Jesus" (Paramount 12072, 1923)
Paul Robeson, "Steal Away" (HMV [UK] B-8103, 1934)
Noble Sissle's Southland Singers, "Steal Away to Jesus" (Pathe 20483, 1921)
Soul Stirrers, "Steal Away" (Aladdin 2001, rec. 1946)
Horace Sprott, "Steal Away to Jesus" (on MuSouth03)
Standard Quartette, "Steal Away to Jesus" (CYL: Columbia, no #, rec. 1894)
Tuskegee Institute Singers, "Steal Away" (Victor 17890, 1916)
Tuskegee Quartet, "Steal Away to Jesus" (Victor 20519, 1927; rec. 1926)
Vaughan Quartet, "Steal Away" (Vaughan 300, rec. 1921.)
Kinsey West, "Steal Away to Jesus" (on BlackAmRel1)
NOTES [70 words]: Given the song's popularity among Black musicians, and in the Black community, it is hard not to read an "escape from slavery" subtext into the song. -PJS
According to Averill-CampSongsFolkSongs, p. 51, this was composed by Wallace Willis, who apparently gave songs to the Fisk Jubilee Singers. But I know of no documentation for this claim. That the Fisk Jubliee Singers introduced it to the wider world seems certain. - RBW
Last updated in version 6.5
File: CNFM042

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