You Gotta Move (song)
| "You Got to Move" | |
|---|---|
| Song by Mississippi Fred McDowell from the album You Gotta Move | |
| Released | 1965 |
| Recorded | Berkeley, California, July 5, 1965 |
| Genre | Hill country blues |
| Label | Arhoolie (no. 304) |
| Producer(s) | Chris Strachwitz |
"You Gotta Move" is a traditional African-American spiritual song. The lyrics carry the Christian message that regardless of one's situation in life, it is God who determines one's ultimate fate. Beginning around the 1940s, the song has been recorded by a variety of gospel musicians, usually as "You Got to Move" or "You've Got to Move".
In 1965, Mississippi bluesman Fred McDowell recorded it as a slow, slide guitar Hill country blues solo piece. His rendition inspired many subsequent recordings, including a popular electric-combo version by English rock group the Rolling Stones. The band performed and recorded the song in 1969, and they released it in 1971 on the Sticky Fingers album. The song generally follows an eight-bar blues arrangement and has been compared to "Sitting on Top of the World".
The Two Gospel Keys recorded "You've Got to Move" in 1948. They performed it as an uptempo gospel song. Similar renditions followed by Elder Charles D. Beck (1949),Sister Rosetta Tharpe (1950), the Original Five Blind Boys of Alabama (1953), and the Hightower Brothers (1956). The Reverend Gary Davis recorded the song in 1962. It includes a more ominous verse:
You may run, can't be caught
You may hide, can't be found
Brother when God gets ready, you got to move
In 1964, soul singer Sam Cooke recast the song with lyrics about a broken relationship for his 1963 album Night Beat. When Mississippi Fred McDowell later recorded it in 1965, he used lyrics closer to Davis' 1962 rendition. However, his version has a haunting slide guitar line that doubles the vocal. A verse from the song is inscribed on his headstone:
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