Move On Up A Little Higher (song)
| "Move On Up A Little Higher" | |
|---|---|
| Single by Mahalia Jackson | |
| Released | Early 1948 |
| Recorded | Friday, September 12, 1947 |
| Genre | Gospel |
| Length | 3:01 |
| Label | Apollo |
| Writer(s) | Rev. William Herbert Brewster |
| Producer(s) | Art Freeman |
"Move On Up A Little Higher" is a gospel song written by W. Herbert Brewster, first recorded by Brother John Sellers in late 1946, but most famously recorded on September 12, 1947, by gospel singer Mahalia Jackson, a version that sold eight million copies. The song was honored with the Grammy Hall of Fame Award in (1998). In 2005, the Library of Congress honored the song by adding it to the National Recording Registry. It was also included in the list of Songs of the Century, by the Recording Industry of America and the National Endowment for the Arts, and is in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as one of the 500 songs that shaped rock.
Composer Rev. William Herbert Brewster (1897-1987) composed "Moved On Up A Little Higher," through the imagery of a "Christian climbing the ladder to heaven," the song encourages black upward mobility, hence reflecting the postwar Afro-modernist sentiments:"
"Move on Up" was originally written for one of Brewster's religious pageants or passion plays. Brewster's maintained that the entire piece—lyrics, melody, and harmony—came to him in one flow, and shortly thereafter he taught the song to his principle vocal soloist, Queen C. Anderson. But it was the Queen of Gospel, Mahalia Jackson, who, according to Brewster, "knew what to do with it. She could throw the verse out there." Producer Art Freeman insisted Jackson record "Move on Up a Little Higher"; released in early 1948, the single became the best-selling gospel record of all time, selling in such great quantities that stores could not even meet the demand. Brewster was pastor of East Trigg Avenue Baptist Church, one of the churches where young Elvis Presley studied the ecstatic moves of his gospel heroes.
"Move On Up A Little Higher," September 12, 1947, New York City, Apollo: Mahalia Jackson (vocal), Mildred Falls (piano), and Herbert James Francis (organ).
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