I'll Fly Away

DESCRIPTION: "Some glad morning, when this life is over, I'll fly away/To a home on God's celestial shore, I'll fly away" Cho: "I'll fly away, oh glory, I'll fly away/When I die, halleluiah bye and bye..." "Just a few more weary days and then...."
AUTHOR: A. E. Brumley
EARLIEST DATE: 1941 (recording, Selah Jubilee Quartet); reportedly published in 1932, according to Morgan
KEYWORDS: resurrection death nonballad religious
FOUND IN: US Canada(Newf)
REFERENCES (5 citations):
Warren-EveryTimeIFeelTheSpirit, pp. 139-141, "I'll Fly Away" (1 text, 1 tune)
Cox-FolkMusicInANewfoundlandOutport, p. 198, "I'll Fly Away" (1 tune)
Cray-AshGrove, p. 41, "I'll Fly Away" (1 text, 1 tune)
DT, IFLYAWAY*
Robert J. Morgan, _Then Sings My Soul, Book 2: 150 of the World's Greatest Hymn Stories_, Nelson, 2004, pp. 290-291, "I'll Fly Away" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #18437
RECORDINGS:
Brown's Ferry Four, "I'll Fly Away" (King 785, 1949)
Rev. Gary Davis, "I'll Fly Away" (on GaryDavis2)
Artricia Gordon, Katrina Esocoff, "I'll Fly Away" (Piotr-Archive #374, recorded 11/26/2022)
Mississippi John Hurt, "I'll Fly Away" (on MJHurt05) (chorus only)
Lincoln Park Singers, "I'll Fly Away" (AFS 7043 B1, 1943)
Selah Jubilee Quartet, "I'll Fly Away" (Decca 7831, 1941)
Virginia Trio [Jim & Jesse McReynolds], "I'll Fly Away" (Kentucky 509, n.d.)
Dianne Ward-Hicks, "I'll Fly Away" (Very short fragment: Piotr-Archive #147, recorded 04/22/2022)
NOTES [119 words]: According to Morgan, Albert E. Brumley (1905-1977) was working in the cotton fields one hot day when he started thinking about flying away from the hard, hot work. (W. K. McNeil, editor, Encyclopedia of American Gospel Music, Routledge, 2005, p. 54, is even more specific, saying he paraphrased a line from "The Prisoner's Song" to produce "Like a bird from prison walls has flown.") That eventually inspired this song, which reportedly was the first work of Brumley's to be published. It certainly seems to be his most popular production. His biography, published in 1990, was entitled I'll Fly Away: The Life Story of Alfred E. Brumley; it was written by Kay Hively and Brumley's son Albert E. Brumley Jr. - RBW
Last updated in version 6.7
File: RcIFlyA

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