Unclouded Day, The

DESCRIPTION: Chorus: "O the land of cloudless days, O the land of an unclouded sky, O they tell me of a home where no storm clouds rise, O they tell me of an unclouded day." Friends are there, a King on a snow-white throne, the tree of life, and a city of gold.
AUTHOR: J. K. Alwood (source: Townsend)
EARLIEST DATE: 1914 (recording, Homer Rodeheaver)
KEYWORDS: nonballad religious Jesus
FOUND IN: US(SE)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
ADDITIONAL: Mrs. A.M. Townsend, ed., The Baptist Standard Hymnal with Responsive Readings (Nashville: Sunday School Publishing Board National Baptist Convention U.S.A., 1924 ("Digitized by Internet Archive")), #606 p. 523, "The Unclouded Day" ("O they tell me of a home far beyond the skies") (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #17614
RECORDINGS:
Reverend Gary Davis, "The Unclouded Day" (1953, on "If I Had My Way: Early Home Recordngs of Reverend Gary Davis," Smithsonian Folkways SFW40123)
Walter Lee Hood, "They Tell Me of an Uncloudy Day" (on USMississippi01)
Homer Rodeheaver, "The Unclouded Day" (Victor 17456, 1914)
Hobart Smith, "Uncloudy Day," (1969, on Hobart Smith, "The Old Timey Rap," Topic 12T187)
The Staple Singers, "Uncloudy Day" (1959, on "Uncloudy Day," Vee Jay VJLP 5000)
The Stoneman Family (or Pop Stoneman), "Uncloudy Day" (2008, on "28 Classics," Gusto GT7-0697-2)
NOTES [115 words]: From David Evans's liner notes to USMississippi01: "... the influence of the Mississippi-born Staples Singers can be detected in ... 'They Tell Me of an Uncloudy Day.' The commercial background ... has not obliterated all traces of traditional style and content, however." - BS
Homer Rodeheaver, who made what seems to be the earliest recording of this, later became noteworthy as a publisher of songbooks "For Community -- School -- Home" -- i.e. camp songs. It's interesting that he did not include this in the one of his collections that I have, Sociability Songs, given that the book is about half religious material. You'd think he would have wanted to promote his own recording! - RBW
Last updated in version 6.3
File: RcUncDay

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