Come and go with me to my Father’s house

I. Introduction

“Come and go with me to my Father’s house” is an American twentieth-century, postbellum spiritual. It emerged in print and on record in the 1920s, but by that point it had already been widespread via an unknown oral tradition, and it was known to both whites and blacks, making it a cross-cultural phenomenon, although the earliest evidence points to African American roots, and its presence in modern hymnals is generally limited to African American collections. The song’s structure relies on word substitution and an inner refrain (“to/in my Father’s house”), making it easy to sing without songbooks in informal settings, thus leading to a nearly infinite range of variations.

The song is loosely based on John 14:2 (“In my Father’s house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you,” KJV) and other promises of Heaven in Scripture, such as Revelation 21:4 (“there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain,” KJV), or Psalm 16:11 (“In Your presence is fullness of joy; At Your right hand are pleasures forevermore”).

II. Earliest Sources (1919–1927)

William Howard Armstrong

An incidental account of the song was given in an autobiography of William Howard Armstrong (1909–2003), a blues musician who was raised in LaFollette, Tennessee. In remembering his childhood, he remarked:

So my brothers and sisters were playing some of what my mother called the good old hymns of Zion: “Come and go with me to my Father’s house,” “I want Jesus to walk with me,” and all that sort of thing. And they were just wailing away while my mother was making up biscuit dough for my dad who was due home soon from the blast furnace.[1]

Unfortunately, even though he spent a lifetime touring and performing, he is not known to have ever recorded “Come and go with me to my Father’s house.”

Thoro Harris

The earliest known example of the song was printed in Pentecostal Revivalist (1919 | Fig. 1), compiled by Thoro Harris (1874–1955) on behalf of Los Angeles evangelist Aimee Semple McPherson (1890–1944). In this early printing, Harris only claimed to be the arranger. The title was “My Father’s House” and the song began “O come and go with me,” followed by four other variations, “King Jesus will be there,” “There’ll be no sorrow there,” “There’ll be no parting there,” and “I’m on my way up there.” His version ends, “where there’s peace, sweet peace.” The arrangement bears a copyright date of 1919, but it was not registered with the Library of Congress. A renewal was claimed in 1947 by O.M. Knutson, but this also does not appear to have been properly filed.

Harris was mixed race (mulatto), son of a black or mulatto father, Dr. Joseph Dennis Harris, and a white mother, Elizabeth Worthington Harris. He was born and raised in Washington, D.C., in 1874, before moving to Chicago around 1903 to work in the music publishing business, then to Eureka Springs, Arkansas, in 1931, where he remained until his death in 1955. He reprinted the song in other collections of his, including Songs We Love (1921), Songs of His Coming (1925), Songs of Praise (1925), Gospel Quintet Songs (1931), and Full Gospel Songs (1931/2).

Colored Gospel Quintet

The earliest recording of the song was made in 1922 in Chicago by the Christian & Missionary Alliance Colored Gospel Quintet, except in this case the song was called “Everything’s all right in my father’s house,” including stanzas “Ain’t-a gonna be no sin,” “Ain’t-a gonna be no pain,” “Ain’t-a gonna be no tears,” and “Ain’t-a gonna be no death,” concluding each round with “there is joy, joy, joy.” This recording, originally issued by Chicago Gospel Tabernacle Records, was digitized and reissued by Document Records on DOCD-5618 (Pace Jubilee Singers Vol. 2 . . . C. & M. A. Colored Gospel Quintet).

The quintet, originally formed in Cleveland, Ohio, in 1914, consisted of John W. Parker, Spurgeon R. Jones, Henry D. Hodges, Alexander E. Talbert, and Floyd H. Lacy. Parker played the mandolin on the above recording. The group toured mainly in northeastern states, Canada, and Europe. They were potentially responsible for disseminating the song across northeastern America. An example of an appearance on tour was reported in The Citizen (Ottawa, Canada) on 10 November 1923.

Just two years later, a similar text appeared in a Mennonite collection, Children’s Hymns & Songs (Scottdale, PA: 1924), also beginning “Everything’s all right” with a second stanza declaring an end to sin, “There isn’t any sin,” then “I do want to go there,” “Come along brother,” and “Jesus is our Captain,” ending with “there is joy, joy, joy.” This was repeated a few years later with a melody line in another Mennonite collection by the same publisher, Songs of Cheer for Children (1929). The Christian & Missionary Alliance had a branch in nearby Pittsburg, and one in Altoona, a bit farther away, and these would have been potential stopping points for the quintet. Scottdale is certainly within earshot of a strong radio signal coming out of Pittsburg. The connection between the Mennonite collections and the quintet is speculative but definitely possible.

Coincidentally, the quintet appeared on the cover of Thoro Harris’s collection Gospel Quintet Songs (1930/1), but Harris printed his usual arrangement of “My Father’s House” rather than the version the quintet had recorded in 1922. Several years later, the song was included in one other Mennonite collection, The Church Hymnary (Uniontown, OH: 1972).

Library of Congress

On 21 Feb. 1926, Robert W. Gordon, acting on behalf of the Library of Congress, made a series of field recordings around Darien, Georgia. Gordon captured Mrs. T.C. Stevenson singing “Come and go with me,” and this became part of the Archive of American Folk Song (later Archive of Folk Culture). Unfortunately, the recording has not yet been digitized or reissued. It could be a different spiritual, starting “Come and go with me to that land,” which has little resemblance to the one being traced here.

Carl Sandburg & Hickory Nuts

In 1927, a variant of the song appeared in American Songbag (1927), a collection compiled by American poet and historian Carl Sandburg (1878–1967). Here the song began “There ain’ no liars there in my Father’s house,” and concluded “O there’s peace, peace everywhere,” with varations on other vices: “There ain’ no crapshooters there,” and “There ain’ no cardplayers there.” The score was arranged by Alfred G. Wathall (1880–1938). At the top of the page, Sandburg explained how he found the song: “This spiritual comes from negroes of Fort Worth, Texas, through the medium of Jake Zeitlin, a poet who used to send me each year a horned toad from the Great Staked Plains. The list of occupations named in these verses can be extended according to desire or whim.”

That same year, 24 September 1927, this version of the song (“There’ll be no liars there”) was recorded by a group called Hickory Nuts in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, released on OKeh 45220. The Hickory Nuts were Horace Propst (guitar), Julius Plato McClured (banjo), and Perry Propst (fiddle). A digital copy could not be located for review. The near-simultaneous appearance of this variant from blacks in Fort Worth, Texas, compiled by a white editor in Elmhurst, Illinois, and being sung by whites in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, speaks to the wide usage of the song prior to 1927 across racial lines.

III. Additional Pre-War Recordings and Publications (1928–1939)

Additional recordings from the late 1920s into the 1930s are listed below. Without exception, these versions end with “where there’s peace, peace, peace” or a minor variant, in contrast to the quintet version, which ends with joy. The Carter Family recording is a notable variation on this scenario, where they begin the song with joy in the opening verse, “There’ll be joy, joy, joy, in my Father’s house,” but they end every round with “where’s there’s peace, sweet peace.”

1. 1928 Feb. 20: Pace Jubilee Singers (Catherine Simpson, S.J. Johnson, Hattie Parker), “My Father’s House,” recorded in Chicago, released on Gennett 6394, reissued on Bell 1176 (as the Plantation Jubilee Singers) and Champion 15473 (as the Dixie Jubilee Singers). No known digital reissues.

2. 1929 Sept. 17: Four Wanderers (Herman Hughes, Charles Clinkscales, Maceo Johnson, Oliver Childs, accompanied by J. Rosamond Johnson), “In My Father’s House,” recorded in New York City, released on Victor 40135 and V38545. Reissued by Document Records on DOCD-5606 (Black Vocal Groups, Vol. 9). Begins “I’m on my way up there,” then “Ain’t no hypocrites there,” “Gwine to wear my crown up there,” “There ain’t no gamblin’ there,” “Gwine to wear my wings up there,” “There ain’t no lyin’ there”—“where there’s peace, peace, peace.”

3. 1929 Oct. 11: The Guitar Evangelist (Rev. Edward W. Clayborn), “Come and go with me to my Father’s house,” recorded in Chicago, released on Vocalion 1425. Reissued by Document Records on DOCD-5154 (Blind Joe Taggart, Vol. 2). Begins “Come and go with me,” then “Ain’t no troubles there,” “Ain’t no liars there,” “All are happy there,” “Ain’t no dying there”—“where there’s peace, peace, peace.”

4. 1929 Oct. 21: Belt Sacred Quartet (? Holderines, Nathan Tisdale, Jesse Poindexter, Fred Grant), “Come and go with me,” recorded in Dallas, TX, released on Victor 23398.

5. 1930 May 31: Bessemer Melody Boys (Sid Williams, Arthur Adair, Clark Bush, June Morgan), “In My Father’s House,” recorded in Memphis, TN, released on Bluebird B5778. Reissued on Document Records DOCD-5340 (Black Vocal Groups, Vol. 1). Begins “Come and go with me,” then “I have a mother there,” “I have a sister there”—“there is peace, peace.”

6. 1934 Sept. 8: Brother Son Bonds (voice & guitar) with Hammie Nixon (voice & jug), “In My Father’s House,” recorded in Chicago, released on Decca 7024. Begins “Come and go with me,” then “There’s no lyin’ up there,” “I have a mother there,” “I have a father there,” “There’s no drinking up there,” “No moanin’ up there”—“there is peace, peace, peace.” Reissued on Wolf WBCD-003 (“Brownsville” Son Bonds And Charlie Pickett) and available via Internet Archive.

7. 1934 Dec. 11: Carter Family (A.P., Sara, Maybelle), “There'll Be Joy, Joy, Joy,” recorded in Camden, NJ, released on Bluebird B-5911-A. Begins “There’ll be joy, joy, joy,” then “We’ll all be happy there,” “Don’t you wanna go up there,” “There’ll be no drunkards there,” “We’ll all be as one”—“where’s there’s peace, sweet peace.” Reissued on various compilations. This was not included in their 1935 songbook, Album of Smoky Mountain Ballads.

8. 1935 Apr. 30: Lake Howard, “Within My Father’s House,” recorded New York City, released on Perfect 6-01-55. “Don’t you want to go there” “There’ll be no liars there,” “There’ll be no drunkards,” “Don’t you want to go there,” “There’ll be no hypocrites there,” “There’ll be shouting there”—“where there’s peace, peace, peace.” Digitized by Internet Archive.

9. 1938 Nov. 4: Eagle Jubilee Four, “In My Father’s House,” recorded in Columbia, SC, released on Vocalion 04613. “There is praying over there,” “There is shouting over there”—“there is peace.” Reissued on Document Records DOCD-5487 (Columbia S.C. Gospel). Variously rubato and rhythmic, similar in style to the Bessemer Melody Boys.

Coleman/McKinney Publications

Robert H. Coleman (1869–1946) spent his entire publishing career in Dallas, Texas (1909–1939). He printed “Everything’s All Right” in Service Songs (1931), and in The American Hymnal (1933), as arranged by B.B. McKinney (1886–1952). McKinney worked for several years as a music editor for Coleman. At Coleman’s death, his publishing estate was acquired by the Southern Baptist Convention’s Sunday School Board, whose chief music editor at the time was McKinney. In spite of the connection, the song was not reprinted in any additional Southern Baptist collections.

IV. Post-War Recordings (1955–1970)

After the war, and especially after the retirement and death of Thoro Harris, publications of the song became much less frequent, and recordings seem to have temporarily ceased, but a fifteen-year period starting in 1955 brought a rise of adventurous adaptations in popular musical styles in addition to a few traditional performances. The preferred ending of the song shifted from peace to joy.

1. 1955 or 1956: Golden Trumpets, “Come and Go with Me,” probably recorded in Nashville, TN, released on Nashboro 576 (78-rpm). This version begins “Come and go with me,” then “Nothing but joy.” This is best regarded as a pop-gospel adaptation with a male soloist being echoed by a small group. Digitized by Internet Archive.

2. 1956 or 1957: Spirit of Memphis (Joe Hinton, Robert Reed, Jethroe Bledsoe, Bobby Mack, Fred Howard, Earl Malone, with Louis Blair (guitar)), “Come and Go with Me,” recorded in Houston, Texas, released on Peacock 1776 (78s and 45s). A loose pop-gospel adaptation very much in the style of 1950s doo-wop groups. It begins with lines from “On Jordan’s stormy banks I stand,” then launches into “Come and go with me” to “where no sorrows will ever come,” “for I’m bound for the promised land.” It includes the phrases “no more dying” and “no more crying,” but it does not include the key phrase “to my Father’s house.”

3. 1958 Mar. 18: Imperial Gospel Singers (Anna Smallwood, Rosie Wallace, Louise Smoke, Connie Noble) of Philadelphia, “My Father’s House,” recorded in New York City, released on Savoy 4097 (78s and 45s) and LP The Imperial Gospel Singers (Savoy MG-14028), arrangement credited to Anna Smallwood. The LP is available digitally via modern vendors. Their version, a stylized interpretation of the traditional song, contains “Everything is alright,” and “Peace and happiness there,” where “there is joy, joy, joy,” plus new material, including a gospel vamp.

4. 1959 Feb.: Jimmy Jones and The Sensationals, “Come on and Go with Me,” released on Savoy 4116 (78s and 45s) and on the LP The Gospel Clefs Anniversary (Savoy MG-14035), arrangement credited to Jones. A loose pop-gospel, doo-wop adaptation. The LP is available digitally via modern vendors. “Come on and go with me . . . to my Father’s house . . . to find joy.”

5. 1961: St. James Church of God in Christ Choir of Toledo, Ohio, “Come and Go with Me,” released on a 3-song EP by CIMUDE Records, a traditional choral performance with piano and electric organ, beginning “Come and go with me,” then “Peace and happiness there,” “Everything’s alright,” “Come and go with me,” each time ending “there is joy, joy, joy,” followed by a rendition of “Oh my Lord, what a night,” then returning with two more rounds of “Come and go with me.” Digitized by Baylor University. CIMUDE is an acronym for Central Illinois MUsic DEpartment (COGIC).

6. 1962 Apr. 22: Sleepy John Estes (John Adam Estes), a blues singer from Tennessee, “In My Father’s House,” recorded in Chicago, but not released until 1998 on Goin’ to Brownsville (Testament TCD 6008). Voice and acoustic guitar. “I know . . . in my Father’s house there is peace, peace, peace,” “Ain’t no lyin’ over there,” “I know there’s joy over there,” “Ain’t no singin’ over there,” and “Ain’t no gamblin’ over there.”

7. 1963 Aug. 23: Harry Belafonte, “In My Father’s House,” recorded live at Greek Theatre in Los Angeles, released on the LP Belafonte at the Greek Theatre (RCA Victor LSO-6009), arrangement credited to Bill Glover. An energetic performance of the traditional song, with some ad-libbed lyrics and a new refrain, beginning “Come and go with me,” “It’s not very far,” “There’s music everywhere,” “There ain’t no signs of hate” “Come, let’s have a ball”—“where there’s joy, joy, joy in my Father’s house.”

8. 1963: Sweet Chariot Singers (Frank Baylor, Kenneth Corpren, Herman Edwards, Henry Miller, Robert White, with Robert Banks on organ and Steve Malen on drums), “My Father’s House,” recorded live at the Sweet Chariot Club, West 46 Street, Manhattan, released on the LP Shoutin,’ Wailin,’ Hard Drivin’ Pop Gospel (Columbia CL-2062, also CS-8862). This is a cover version of the arrangement by Anna Smallwood for the Imperial Gospel Singers (no. 3 above).

9. 1964: Gospel Commanders, “Come and Go,” released on Songbird 1014 (45-rpm). A loose pop-gospel adaptation credited to C. Cleveland. Digitized by Baylor University. The entirety of their version consists of “Come and go to my Father’s house,” mostly in an extended vamp.

10. 1967 June: Ernest Franklin and Choir (Young People’s Choir of Mount Eagle Baptist Church, Chicago), “In My Father’s House,” recorded at Ter Mar Studios, Chicago, released on the LP Blessed Quietness (Checker LPS-10031), arrangement credited to “Smallwood.” This is a cover version of the recording by Anna Smallwood and the Imperial Gospel Singers (no. 3 above).

11. 1968 Mar. 24: James Cleveland and the Angelic Choir, conducted by Lawrence Roberts, “In My Father’s House,” recorded live with an unspecified female soloist at First Baptist Church in Nutley, New Jersey, released on the LP Volume 8 Part 2 (Savoy MG-14206). A free gospel adaptation with Caribbean rhythmic influences, conveying “In my Father’s house . . . there is joy, joy, joy.”

12. 1968 June: Northern California State Youth Choir, “To My Father’s House,” recorded at Ephesian Church of God in Christ, Berkeley, California, released on the LP Let Us Go into the House of the Lord (Century 31016). This is a free gospel adaptation, arranged and accompanied by Edwin Hawkins, conducted by Betty Watson, with soloist Elaine Kelly. This version begins “Come and go with me to my Father’s house,” and it makes use of the phrases “There’ll be no crying there, there’ll be no dying there,” with a newly composed verse based on John 14:2 and a gospel vamp. Out of all the examples listed above, this one was the biggest selling, having appeared on the same album as “Oh Happy Day.” In 1969, the rights to the album were purchased by Buddha Records and the choir was rebranded as the Edwin Hawkins Singers (Pavilion BPS-10001). Available digitally via modern vendors.

13. 1968: Dorothy Love Coates and the Gospel Harmonettes, “Come on and Go with Me (to My Father’s House),” recorded at Woodland Sound Studios, Nashville, released on the LP The Separation Line (Nashboro 7071), arrangement credited Coates. This is a fairly traditional and recognizable gospelized rendering of the song, lightly adapted, beginning “Come on and go with me,” then “Everybody is welcome,” “Satan don’t want you to go” “He said I could go back with him”—“to the house of the Lord,” plus two added verses and a vamp. Available digitally via modern vendors.

The popularity of the song in the African American gospel community likely inspired the composition of the song “Soon and very soon” in 1976 by Andraé Crouch, which has a similar phrase structure, a similar subject (the hope of Heaven), and uses the wandering verses “No more crying there” and “No more dying there,” which had been popularized by the Edwin Hawkins Singers, and were possibly prevalent in COGIC churches on the west coast at the time.

V. Publication in Hymnals

The catalyst for the song’s return to being published regularly, especially in congregational hymnals, was a series of songbooks and albums produced by a collective of churches known as The Word of God. From their own description at the time, “The Word of God is an ecumenical charismatic Christian community in Ann Arbor, Michigan, embracing some 1500 men, women, and children from all walks of life and dozens of area churches.” “In My Father’s House” was printed in Songs of Praise, Volume 1 (1975), and in the Accompaniment Edition (1978) as arranged by Charles High, and it was recorded on Songs of Praise Album Two (W/G 7709, 1977). Their rendition began “Come and go with me” and included the variations “It’s not very far,” “Jesus is the way,” “Jesus is the light,” “All is peace and love,” “We will dance and sing,” and “We will praise the Lord”—“where there’s joy, joy, joy.” The shape of the melody is very similar to what Robert Coleman had printed in the 1930s,

This arrangement was adopted into Lead Me, Guide Me (Chicago: GIA, 1987), a hymnal produced for African American Catholics, then repeated in This Far by Faith (Minneapolis: Augsburg Fortress, 1999), a hymnal for African Americans made by the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. Other hymnals in the 21st century use an arrangement by Kenneth W. Louis from the African American Heritage Hymnal (Chicago: GIA, 2001).

by CHRIS FENNER
for Hymnology Archive
21 September 2022
with special thanks to Bob Marovich

Footnotes:

1. William Howard Armstrong, “Louie Bluie: The life and music of William Howard Armstrong,” 78 Quarterly, vol. 1, no. 5 (1990), p. 42: Archive.org

Additional Resources:

Robert M.W. Dixon, et al., Blues & Gospel Records 1890–1943, 4th ed. (Oxford: University Press, 1997).

Cedric Hayes & Robert Laughton, Gospel Discography 1943–2000, 3rd ed., 2 vols. (Canada: Eyeball, 2014): Eyeball

“(Everything's All Right) In My Father’s House,” Joop’s Musical Flowers (25 Sept. 2015): http://jopiepopie.blogspot.com/2015/09/everythings-all-right-in-my-fathers.html

“Come and go with me to my Father’s house,” Hymnary.org: https://hymnary.org/text/come_and_go_with_me_to_my_fathers_house

Discogs: https://www.discogs.com/