THE 1000 BEST SONGS IN THE WORLD EVER.
525-Ramsey Lewis-Wade in the Water.
1966-On it’s initial release 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 0.12. ‘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. In it’s original form 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’ whose original writer is unknown, were first published in 1901, by the collector, arranger, harmoniser, and composer of songs, the American born Frederick Jerome Work, (1879-1942) and his brother, John Wesley Work Jr. (1871-1925) who was a musicologist, and the first African-American collector of Folk songs and Spirituals, he was also a choral director, educationalist singer and songwriter. ‘Wade in the Water’ and other traditional songs were published by the brothers as ‘New Jubilee Songs,’ and first performed by the ‘Fisk Jubilee Singers.’ The first commercial recording of ‘Wade in the Water’ was made in 1925 by ‘The Sunset Four Jubilee Singers,’ and released by ‘Paramount Records.’ Other famous recordings of the song are by Bob Dylan, the Staple Singers, Marlena Shaw, (1939-2024) Eva Cassidy, (1963-1996) and of course this one by Ramsey Lewis.
‘Wade in the Water’ was also the title of Ramsey Lewis’ 24th Album release, from July 1966, the Ramsey Lewis recording is an instrumental, and was produced by Esmond Edwards (1927-2007.) Playing on the track were Ramsey Lewis, (1935-2022) (keyboards) John Avant, (1927-1988) (trombone) Cleveland Eton, (1939-2020) (see also best songs 980) (bass) and Maurice White, (1941-23016) (see also best songs 916 and 462) (drums) who went on to form Earth Wind & Fire in 1969.
Ramsey Emmanuel Lewis Jr. was born on May 27th, 1935, in Chicago, Illinois, United States, he passed away in his sleep on September 12th, 2022, at the age of 87. His initial work was in the genre of ‘Jazz,’ but after finding commercial success with this song and others, a lot of his music became more ‘Pop’ orientated. In 1955, after playing with a number of local groups, Ramsey Lewis formed the ‘Ramsey Lewis Trio,’ with the drummer Isaac ‘Redd’ Holt,’ (1932-2023) and the bass player Eldee Young, (1936-2007) as a trio they signed with ‘Chess Records,’ and released their debut album, ‘Ramsey Lewis and his Gentle-men of Swing,’ in 1956. It was following their breakthrough hit ‘The ‘In’ Crowd’ (see also best songs 243) in 1965, that they decided to concentrate more on ‘Pop’ material. In 1966 Young and Holt left the trio to form ‘Young-Holt Unlimited,’ and were replaced by Cleveland Eaton, and Maurice White. In addition to recording, Ramsey Lewis also was a broadcaster, and hosted the weekly syndicated radio program ‘Legends of Jazz,’ which was created in 1990, and syndicated by ‘United Stations Radio Networks.’ He also hosted the ‘Ramsey Lewis Morning Show,’ on Chicago ‘smooth jazz’ radio station, ‘WNUA.’ Ramsey Lewis was also active in musical education in Chicago, where he founded the ‘Ramsey Lewis Foundation,’ established the ‘Ravinia’s Jazz Mentor Program,’ and served on the board of trustees for the ‘Merit School of Music,’ and ‘The Chicago High School for the Arts.’ In 2005 he founded the ‘Ramsey Lewis Foundation,’ which promoted musical instrument education to children.’ The discography of Ramsey Lewis includes over 80 Albums issued between 1956-2022, and 27 singles released between 1964-1987, of which six of those singles reached the American Billboard Hot 100, with ‘The ‘In’ Crowd,’ from 1965, peaking the highest at Number 5, while ‘Wade in the Water’ reached Number 19. In the UK, ‘Wade in the Water’ is his only chart entry.
‘Wade in the Water’ is an African American jubilee song, and can be filed under the musical genre of ‘Spiritual,’ which is in reference to a genre of music created and first sung by African/Americans in slavery. ‘Spirituals’ which are also known as ‘Negro spirituals,’ ‘African American spirituals,’ ‘Black spirituals,’ or ‘spiritual music,’ is a genre of Christian music that is associated with African Americans, which merged varied African cultural influences with the experiences of being held in bondage in slavery, at first during the transatlantic slave trade, and for centuries afterwards, through the domestic slave trade. ‘Spirituals’ encompass the ‘sing songs,’ ‘work songs,’ and ‘plantation songs,’ with many new derivative music genres such as the ‘Blues’ emerging from the ‘Spirituals’ song-craft down the centuries.