Providing Disco & Karaoke Since 19770113 266 8963 0113 266 8963

THE 1000 BEST SONGS IN THE WORLD EVER

Posted by: In: Other 18 Oct 2021 Comments: 0

THE 1000 BEST SONGS IN THE WORLD EVER.

525-Ramsey Lewis-Wade in the Water.

1966-On it’s initial releases it did not chart in the UK. Due to it’s popularity with the ‘Northern Soul’ scene it entered the UK chart in 1972, reaching Number 31.

Best Bit-At 0.11.’Slave to the Rhythm.’

‘Wade in the Water’ in it’s original form is a ‘spiritual’ song that dates back to the early 19th Century, whose lyrics were meant to convey, encourage, and remind escaping slaves, in a coded message of the dangers they were in, for example, if the would be fugitive took to the water as a means of trying to escape, it would throw pursuing bloodhounds off the scent. The songs verses compare the plight of the African/American slave with that of the Israelite’s escape out of Egypt.The lyrics to ‘Wade in the Water’ were first published in 1901, in ‘New Jubilee Songs,’ as sung by the ‘Fisk Jubilee Singers’. The first commercial recording of the song was in 1925 by ‘The Sunset Four Jubilee Singers,’ which was released on ‘Paramount Records.’

Ramsey Emmanuel Lewis Jr. was born on May 27th, 1935, in Chicago, Illinois, United States, his discography boasts over 80 Albums recorded between 1956-2021. His initial work was in the genre of Jazz, but after finding commercial success with this song and ‘The In Crowd,’ and ‘Hang On Sloopy,’ on the Billboard singles chart, a lot of his work became more Pop orientated.

‘Wade in the Water’ was also the title track of Lewis’ 1966 Album, his 24th release, and features Ramsey Lewis on keyboards, John Avant on trombone, Cleveland Eaton (1939-2020) on bass (see also best songs 980) and Maurice White (1941-2016) on drums. White of course went on to form Earth Wind & Fire in 1969 (see also best songs 916 and 462.)