He's Got the Whole World in His Hands

"He's Got the Whole World in His Hands"
Song
Published	1927
Form	American spiritual

"He's Got the Whole World in His Hands" is a traditional American spiritual. It was first published in the paperbound hymnal Spirituals Triumphant, Old and New in 1927. In 1933, it was collected by Frank Warner from the singing of Sue Thomas in North Carolina. It was also recorded by other collectors such as Robert Sonkin of the Library of Congress, who recorded it in Gee's Bend, Alabama in 1941. That version is still available at the Library's American Folklife Center.

Frank Warner performed the song during the 1940s and 1950s, and introduced it to the American folk scene. Warner recorded it on the Elektra album American Folk Songs and Ballads in 1952. It was quickly picked up by both American gospel singers and British skiffle and pop musicians.

The song made the popular song charts in a 1958 version by English singer Laurie London with the Geoff Love Orchestra, which went all the way to #1 of the Most Played by Jockeys song list in the USA and went to number three on the R&B charts. It became a gold record and was the most successful record by a British male in the 1950s in the USA. The record reached #2 on Billboard's Best Sellers in Stores survey and #1 in Cashbox's Top 60. Mahalia Jackson's version made the Billboard top 100 singles chart, topping at number 69.

It was the first, and remains, the only gospel song to hit #1 on a U.S. pop singles chart. "Put Your Hand in the Hand (of the Man)" by Ocean peaked at #2 on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart in 1971; and "Oh Happy Day" by the Edwin Hawkins Singers reached #3 on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart in 1969.

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