Product Description
“A canonical collection, splendidly and sensitively edited by Rudolph Byrd.”
–Henry Louis Gates, Jr.

One of the leading voices of the Harlem Resaissance and a crucial literary figure of his time, James Weldon Johnson was also an editor, songwriter, founding member and leader of the NAACP, and the first African American to hold a diplomatic post as consul to Venezuela and Nicaragua. This comprehensive volume of Johnson’s works includes the seminal novel Autobiography of an Ex-Colored Man, poems from God’s Trombones, essays on cultural and political topics, selections from Johnson’s autobiography, Along This Way, and two previously unpublished short plays: Do You Believe in Ghosts? and The Engineer. Featuring a chronology, bibliography, and a Foreword by acclaimed author Charles Johnson, this Modern Library edition showcases the tremendous range of James Weldon Johnson’s writings and their considerable influence on American civic and cultural life.

“This collection of poetry, fiction, criticism, autobiography, political writing and two unpublished plays by James Weldon Johnson (1871-1938) spans 60 years of pure triumph over adversity.[….Johnson’s] nobility, his inspiration shine forth from these pages, setting moral and artistic standards.” —Los Angeles Times
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A poem based on the story of creation from the first book of the Bible.Amazon.com Review
This illustrated edition of Johnson's 1919 poem, which won the 1995Coretta Scott King Award, brings the story of Creation down to earth and intothe grasp of young children. Alternating with the poetry are richlyexpressive double-page spreads and attractive border elements that featureanimal motifs and scenes from The Beginning--light, earth, water, plants,animals and lastly, a ruddy, clay-colored human rising out of a field offlowers. An illustrated sub-plot of an animated storyteller relating theCreation story before a group of enthralled children relieves the poem itsrelative predictability and offers a friendly stand-in for the role of God.It also hints at the importance of human participation, itself sacred andtimeless. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

A JOYFUL RENDITION OF JOHNSON'S POEM

As many know, James Weldon Johnson's splendid word poem based on the creation became the throbbing, joyful musical "God's Trombones."

As illustrated by James E. Ransome, this book is a grateful rendering of that verse brilliantly brought to life by oil paintings that reflect the spirit of the text.

Capturing the imagery and rhythm of southern black sermons in the mid 1800's the words ring with the regional cadences of folk stories.Seldom have words and illustrations complemented each other more.

Wonderful Sunday School dramatization
I teach PreK/K Sunday School. I found this book at the library and what a find it was!! It provided a wonderful visual inspiration as a stimulus for the introduction of our Creation unit. We combined classes and set up a campfire setting and began in the dark, just as the book does. As I read with great intonnations, the other teacher reenacted each scene with props and materials. We also gave the children the opportunity to use the materials to reenact this beautiful, lyrical, and inspirational story. We completed our lesson with snacks based on the story. It is truly a spiritually moving book that creates its own majestry, in the beauty of the illustrations and the strength of the text!!! It is a must have for a home and church library!!!

A "Must Have" For A Family Library
When I was in the eighth grade, my counselor suggested "The Creation" as a selection for me to read in the UIL Oral Readingcompetition. I didn't win the competition, but I fell in love with thepoetry of James Weldon Johnson. I was delighted to see a qualitypicture-book version of this colorful, winning account of the creationstory. Perhaps the most wonderful thing about Johnson's approach is that hemakes God appear "personal" rather than "human". Hispoetry seems to share God's heart, and captivates the reader and listeneralike. The story-telling nature of his poems remind me of Rudyard Kipling's"Just So Stories", which I also treasure. I highly recommend thisbook. ... Read more

Product Description
The Autobiography of an Ex-Colored Man (1912), James Weldon Johnson’s first book and the first modernist novel written by an African American, is a groundbreaking and subtle account of racial passing, initially published as an anonymous memoir. Its veracity—many believed it to be a genuine autobiography—has made it one of the undisputed masterpieces of African American literature and established Johnson in the African American literary vanguard of the first half of the twentieth century. He was also one of the central figures of the civil-rights struggle of his era, a tireless activist and longtime leader of the NAACP. Until now, however, his innovative and fascinating writings have never been gathered in a one-volume edition.

Johnson’s complex career spanned the worlds of diplomacy (as a U.S. consul in Venezuela and Nicaragua), politics (as secretary of the NAACP), journalism (as the founder of one newspaper and longtime editor of another), and musical theater (as lyricist for the Broadway song-writing team of Cole and Johnson Brothers). Writings presents a generous array of Johnson’s essays which, with the early work of W.E.B. Du Bois, established the foundation of twentieth-century African American literary criticism; a selection of his topical editorials from the New York Age; and an offering of his poems and lyrics, including God’s Trombones—a brilliant verse homage to African American preaching—vaudeville songs, protest poems, and perhaps Johnson’s most famous work, "Lift Every Voice and Sing," a stirring hymn often called the "Negro National Anthem." ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

James Weldon Johnson and the Library of America
For 25 years, the Library of America has been publishing uniform editions of America's great writers, documenting our country's achievements in literature, history, philosophy, government, and other forms of letters.It is a truly worthwhile project. The series covers the United States in all its diversity, and many of the finest volumes in the series deal with the African-American experience and with the Civil Rights movement in all their facets and complexities.The LOA's single-volume edition, published in 2004, of the works of James Weldon Johnson (1871 -- 1938) is an outstanding addition to the series and an essential work for understanding the rise of the Civil Rights Movement in the United States.More broadly, Johnson's writings areuniversal and will be of value for any reader interested in American literature.

Johnson had a varied career as a poet, novelist, essayist, editorial writer, diplomat, lawyer, educator, civil rights activist, and songwriter.His achievements in these fields are well-documented in this book.The LOA's anthology includes Johnson's famous novel of "passing", "The Autobiography of an Ex-Colored Man" (1912); Johnson's own autobiography, "Along this Way" (1933), a generous selection of poetry, including "God's Trombones" (1928), together with selections from Johnson's history of African-Americans inNew York City, "Black Manhattan" and selections from Johnson's essays and editorials.

The reader coming to Johnson for the first time might well begin with the poetry.Poetry and music seem to me Johnson's greatest loves and the source of his best accomplishments.Johnson's "Lift Every Voice and Sing" written in 1900 is probably his best-known individual work and is commonly referred to as the "Negro National Anthem".Johnson's poem "Fifty Years: 1863 -1913" commemorates President Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation and is a moving commentary on the work that remains to be done to implement the vision of that document."God's Trombones" is Johnson's tribute to the African-American preacher with seven sermons in verse.There are many other poems in this volume for the reader to explore, many with African -American themes and many without them.

After reading the poetry, I suggest proceeding to Johnson's only novel, "The Autobiography of an ex-colored Man" published anonomously in 1912.Ths short novel is an exellent picture of race relations as they were at the time.But the book's themes are universal in character as Johnson depicts his troubled protagonist, buffeted by chance events, and lacking the degree of self-knowledge to find himself.

Johnson's essays and newspaper editorials give an idea of the breadth of his interests.Johnson fought passionately against the practice of lynching, as documented in many places including his essay "Lynching: A National Disgrace".Johnson compiled ground-breaking anthologies of Negro Spirituals and African-American poetry, and the introductions to the anthologies are included here.Johnson's "Black Manhattan" is offered only in excerpts but the selections here show black contributions to the Broadway stage in which Johnson himself and his brother, Rosamund, played leading roles.The selection also includes an excellent portrayal of the blues singer, Clara Smith, who today has, unfortunately, faded into obscurity. ( She is not to be confused with the more famous singer, Bessie Smith).

I would turn last in this volume to Johnson's autobiography, "Along this Way."This is a detailed work in which Johnson describes for the reader his childhood, his education, and his many and varied careers and writings.It is a great autobiography in its own right, and the reader will best appreciate it with an initial familiarity with Johnson's other writings.There are unforgettable moments in the book, and scenes of Johnson's relationships with other influential African-American leaders, including DuBois, Paul Lawrence Dunbar, and Booker T. Washington.

These books are full of reflections and insights on philosophical and literary subjects, together with Johnson's thoughts and efforts regarding race relations in the United States.Johnson emphasized the great achievements of African-Americans in creating the spirituals, in poetry, and in music -- particularly ragtime.He wanted African-Americans to be proud of their heritage and accomplishments, and he wanted his non-African-American readers to become aware of and to appreciate these accomplishments. Johnson was a writer of great gifts and broad themes. The Library of American has done a great service by making accessible this collection of his works.



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This book was converted from its physical edition to the digital format by a community of volunteers. You may find it for free on the web. Purchase of the Kindle edition includes wireless delivery. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Fictional book that serves to tell a lesson and a story that is powerful.
This fictional book is very powerful! Great freebie. And no, this is not the author's "tale". I am sure some of the struggles faced are based on the author's vast knowledge but this is not James Weldon Johnson's life story. ... Read more

Product Description
This year marks the centenary of "Lift Every Voice and Sing," James Weldon Johnson's most famous lyric, which is now embraced as the Negro National Anthem. In celebration, this Penguin original collects all the poems from Johnson's published works--Fifty Years and Other Poems (1917), God's Trombones (1927), and Saint Peter Relates an Incident of the Resurrection Day (1935)--along with a number of previously unpublished poems.

Sondra Kathryn Wilson, the foremost authority on Johnson and his work, provides an introduction that sheds light on Johnson's many achievements and his pioneering contributions to recording and celebrating the African American experience. ... Read more

Product Description
The autobiography of the celebrated African American writer and civil rights activist

Published just four years before his death in 1938, James Weldon Johnson's autobiography is a fascinating portrait of an African American who broke the racial divide at a time when the Harlem Renaissance had not yet begun to usher in the civil rights movement. Not only an educator, lawyer, and diplomat, Johnson was also one of the most revered leaders of his time, going on to serve as the first black president of the NAACP (which had previously been run only by whites), as well as write the groundbreaking novel The Autobiography of an Ex-Colored Man. Beginning with his birth in Jacksonville, Florida, and detailing his education, his role in the Harlem Renaissance, and his later years as a professor and civil rights reformer, Along This Way is an inspiring classic of African American literature.Amazon.com Review
With the possible exceptions of Dr. Alain Locke and W.E.B. Du Bois, no African American excelled on as many different levels as James Weldon Johnson. Along This Way--the first autobiography by a person of color to be reviewed in The New York Times--not only chronicles his life as an educator, lawyer, diplomat, newspaper editor, lyricist, poet, essayist, and political activist but also outlines the trials and triumphs of African Americans from post-Reconstruction to the rise and fall of the Harlem Renaissance. Born in Florida in 1871 to middle-class West Indian parents, Johnson recognized the challenges and absurdities of segregated America early on. But it was his experience as a tutor to rural blacks while a student at Atlanta University that was to alter the course of his life: "It was this period that marked the beginning of psychological change from boyhood to manhood," he writes. "It was this period that marked also the beginning of my knowledge of my own people as a race."

With a rare blend of pride and humility, Johnson recounts how he, among other accomplishments, became Florida's first black lawyer in 1898, a diplomat in Venezuela and Nicaragua, and lyricist for his brother Rosamond Johnson's famous song, "Lift Every Voice and Sing." Johnson's commentary on his epochal novel, The Autobiography of an Ex-Colored Man, as well as writings on his works of poetry--The Creation, God's Trombones, and Fifty Years and Other Poems--is priceless. Equally important are the logical and even-tempered opinions on race that he wrote for The New York Age, which offered comprehensive critiques of Du Bois, Booker T. Washington, and Marcus Garvey, along with his analysis of the racial climate while serving as head of the NAACP. This remarkable man left a mark on the 20th century that goes beyond the boundary of race. --Eugene Holley Jr. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

Shamefully Neglected Classic
One of the superb American autobiographies, and one of the great autobiographies of any period. After reading an example of this calibre it does not surprise me that I am rarely able to read biographies... second hand views, with some exceptions (Philip Horton's biography of Hart Crane, Frank Harris' of Oscar Wilde) are simply not sufficient....those exceptions being almost invariably written by men or women contemporaries who lived and loved in the same circle as their subject.
James Weldon Johnson was a great American, not just a great African American, and a master stylist. This book is a pleasure to read both for its countless wonderful episodes and for the inspiring way of its prosody. He is one of those writers who makes you feel that his wonderful style is an organic product of a graceful upbringing, it is classic and yet unmannered...or rather the manner, being the grace, is the man, all inseparable. There is an additional poignancy in the narrative, especially in the childhood portion, deriving from our knowledge that the nobility of his home education is a thing entirely vanished from the American scene. He went to school, but was also in every sense home schooled. See the autobiography of Kenneth Rexroth for a similar example..."The years as they pass keep revealing how the impressions made upon me as a child by my parents are constantly strengthening controls over my forms of habit, behavior, and conduct as a man." (Along the Way, p. 19, Penguin ed.)
This is certainly one of the best examples of Childhood Autobiography in the World Literature of any age. It should at the very least be required reading in AP English for Black History Month. The very highest endorsement.

Johnson's"Along this Way"
James Weldon Johnson (1871 -1938) was the closest American approximation possible to a Renaissance man. He is best-known for writing the lyrics to "Lift Every Voice and Sing",considered the "African-American National Anthem." He was a poet, the author of "God's Trombones" among much else (including the poem "Fifty Years" still one of the best meditations on Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation) and of the famous novel "The Autobiography of an Ex-Colored Man" (1912).But Johnson was much more. He served several tumultuous years in diplomatic service as American counsul to Venezuela and Nicaragua.With his brother, Rosamund, and Bob Cole, he formed part of a famed and highly-successful black songwriting and Vaudeville team in the early years of the Twentieth Century.Johnson founded the first African-American high school in his home town of Jacksonville, Florida and, almost in passing, he became the first African-American admitted to the Florida bar without attending Law School (by reading law and passing a treacherous oral examination.) Johnson was a newspaper editor and a founder of the NAACP where he took an active role in litigating against laws restricting the voting rights of African-Americans, and, in particular, worked tirelessly in support of Federal anti-lynching legislation.In the final decade of his life, Johnson taught creative writing and American literature at several universities and lived, for a time, the life of contemplation and reflection that he said had been his lifelong goal.

Johnson lived an inspiring life. And in his autobiography, "Along this Way" (1933) he allows the reader to share in much of it.The autobiography is a lengthy and detailed work in which Johnson not only tells the story of his life, but he also describes a good deal of African-American history in the South, where he grew up, and in the rest of the United States during the pivotal half-century following reconstruction.We can see in Johnson's story, for example, how segregation and Jim Crow gradually but forcefully came to pervade the Southern States in the late 19th and early 20th century.Johnson also gives vibrant descriptions of life in New York City, of the growth of Harlem, and of African-American singers, actors and entertainers on Broadway -- in which he himself played a prominent role.There are chilling descriptions of lynching and of Johnson's efforts to bring this barbaric practice to an end. One of the more memorable scenes of Johnson's personal life in the book is a description of how he himself was almost lynched when he was observed talking alone to a light-skinned woman in a public park in Jacksonville. (His would-be attackers thought the woman was white.)

The book is divided into four main sections, with the first describing Johnson's childhood and education at Atlanta University.Part two presents a picture of New York City and Johnson's efforts as a songwriter.Part three focuses on Johnsons counsular work in Latin America while Part four discusses Johnson's work with the NAACP.But these are only the broadest, bare-bones descriptions of an extraordinary life.Johnson combines his discussion of his public life with insightful comments on most of his writings, including his poetry, novel, his history "Black Manhattan" and his work as an anthologizer of African-American poetry and of Spirituals.

There are moments in the book when I wanted to know more of Johnson's inner life.He tells us, for example, of his courtship of and marriage to Grace Nail but, with the exception of some discussion of her reactions to Johnson's diplomatic posts, we see little of her in the book.Johnson is reticent, in common with most writers of autobiography, in letting us see too deeply beyond the public figure.But at the end of the book, he offers the reader some broad reflections, centering upon his agnosticism and of his hopes and ambitions for humanity.

Johnson's life focused upon his efforts to secure the rights of black people in the United States, but his life, work, and writings were universal in theme. In "Along this Way" he gives us the story of a life both active and reflective. His book is a precious work of American literature.

A True Classic!!!
I purchased this book several years back, as part of the research for my second book. I cannot recommend any book more highly. Anyone interested at all in African American life from the 1880s to the 1930s (particularly as it was lived in New York City from about 1899 to the Harlem Renaissance) should buy it. There is not a more fascinating autobiography in print anywhere! And the life of this man! He was the founder of the first high school for African Americans in the state of Florida, located in Jacksonville (the high school my own mother would attend); the first African American to pass the bar exam in the state of Florida; part of the first successful African American Broadway composing team (after he left Jacksonville and moved to New York City); composer of the lyrics to, "Lift Every Voice and Sing," the song long considered the African American national anthem (his brother Rosamond composed the music); a consulate in Nicaragua and Venezuela; the first executive secretary of the NAACP, in which capacity he pioneered anti-lynching legislation (though he was unsuccessful in seeing it pass, the effort is described in the book, and is a fascinating lesson in the machinations of Congressional politics in the 1920s); author of groundbreaking fiction such as, "The Autobiography of an Ex-Coloured Man"; author of the nonfiction classic, "Black Manhattan." The list goes on... His accomplishments, his dignity and intelligence were stunning, simply awe inspiring. And it is a real shame, an indication of how troubled our culture is, that Hollywood has never made a movie about his life, and he is barely mentioned as a key figure who shaped American culture (notice I didn't say African American culture, I said AMERICAN CULTURE). To everyone reading this review, BUY THIS BOOK. You are in for an experience so delicious it will shame you if you never before knew it existed. It will make you want to call for the resignation of all college professors who do not have "Along This Way" as REQUIRED READING for any course designed to examine the history of American culture. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (21)

The literary and historical context of GOD'S TROMBONES
I have recently read GOD'S TROMBONES for the first time. I did so because I had read not long before, thanks to the Amazon.com VINE program, a much more recent collection of scholarly essays. That collection is called THE HARLEM RENAISSANCE REVISITED. {See The Harlem Renaissance Revisited: Politics, Arts, and Letters}It is edited by Professor Jeffrey O. G. Ogbar of the University of Connecticut.

Over and over I read Essay (Chapter) Number Eight by McKinley Melton, a doctoral candidate at the University of Massachusetts. Its title: "Speak It Into Existence: James Weldon Johnson's GOD'S TROMBONES and the Power of Self-Definition in the New Negro Harlem Renaissance" (pp. 109 - 126). That essay persuaded me to read Johnson for myself. I am glad I did.

According to Melton, a key goal of the very self-conscious New Negro Harlem Renaissance (NNHR) was to "let the Negro speak for himself" (p.109). But New Negro writers could not just parrot Henry Ford's dictum that "history is bunk." Black writers could not, that is, turn their backs on black history and start "writing black" from scratch. But how do this without repeating the stereotype of black folks as either figures of fun or profoundly to be pitied for their sufferings?

In 1927 James Weldon Johnson found a key example of Negro creative, assimilative culture for himself to investigate and to glorify: the old-time negro American Protestant preacher and his "song sermons."

Imagine a West African "griot" (teller of folk tales and folk histories). He is captured, shipped to America, sold into slavery. His master exposes him to Christian teaching and history. The Americanized griot is converted to Protestant Christianity and then retells the ancient stories of Israel as he heard them in the King James English translation.

The result is the Negro American song sermon -- "a new art form" drawing onWest African "rhythm, melody, chant, mime, and dramatic impersonation" (p. 110). The black Protestant song sermon is a high Negro cultural contribution to America and the world.

In the seven sermons and a prayer of GOD'S TROMBONES James Weldon Johnson, using standard English rather than dialect," tries, successfully in my opinion, to capture elements of Negro preaching rhetoric and theater. All done meditatively, prayerfully, and briefly.

Take, for instance, the final sermon, "The Judgment Day." Time is finally up for the people of earth. Earth will be destroyed by fire. God summons Gabriel and tells him to trumpet the end time into existence.

"And the wicked like lumps of lead will start to fall,
Headlong for seven days and nights they'll fall,
Plumb into the big, black, red-hot mouth of hell,
Belching out fire and brimstone.
And their cries like howling, yelping dogs,
Will go up with the fire and smoke from hell,
But God will stop his ears.

Too late, sinner! Too late!
Good-bye, sinner! In hell!
Beyond the reach of the love of God."

Take this little book and eat it up. Amen!

-OOO-

God's Trombones
Whether you are a Christian or not, black or not, spiritual or not, this book will enter your soul and shake you sideways.

Thank you.
I appreciate the opportunity to make this book a part of my collection of books.Thanks to the seller for your great and expeditious service and for the fair price.

Beautiful poetry
This is a wonderful work of poetry written by a man who has been forgotten so much over the years.The seven works are all based on the Bible, but please don't feel that you have go be deeply religious to enjoy and fall in love with this book.Mr. Johnson's use of language is so vivid, for instance, "darker than a hundred midnights down in a cypress swamp" from The Creation, that one just can't stop reading and loving the beautiful and lyrical words.Please read and enjoy.

The Hope of God's Trombones
God's Trombones is a beautiful expression of the themes of the Southern black experience and God's constant, personal presence in their lives.The themes he chose were expressed in sermons and in Gospel music.For the black person, God was aware of their struggles, would bring them out of "Egypt" (slavery) and would eventually take them to their home "over Jordan".Death would be a gentle freedom for those who were weary (as in "Go down Death").

Johnson's introduction explains that he was trying to express the fervant Southern black preacher with his pauses and emphases.He has done both well.

This is a book to be read for its beauty and inspiration, but more important, it shows (theological inaccuracies aside) how an oppressed people trusted in God's gentle hand, and God's constant love for even the "least" of his Creation.

I recommend this for historians, teachers, lovers of poetry, and for its spiritual content, anyone seeking inspiration. ... Read more

Product Description
The Autobiography of an Ex-Colored Man was written by James Weldon Johnson who was an important 20th century author, journalist and poet. As one of the early American civil rights leaders he became a major figure in the Harlem Renaissance. This classic publication is James Weldon Johnson's autobiography, and is an excellent resource for those learning about the earliest days of the civil rights movement and a classic tale of how an individual can overcome and achieve what they set their mind to. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Ohio teach sez
This is a work of fiction, not Johnson's autobiography. Johnson was a major figure in African-American arts and politics. He did not, as the title character does, spend the last half of his life "passing for white" as a Wall Street investor! ... Read more

Customer Reviews (10)

Classic
For anybody that is interested in this book, keep in mind that it was written in the 1920's.People talked, wrote, and thought very differently, and it was groundbreaking subject matter that paved the way for many other great works.This is the legacy of this book, despite it's flaws.It can be melodramatic at times, and at it's core it is a love story about a man finding racial acceptance from a source he never dreamed of.Most of the book is about a man stuck in the middle of two worlds, struggling with his own personal identity, both as a person as well as a 'person of color'.The writing is not perfect, but it is a well crafted story with fairly interesting characters, and if you are of mixed ancestry, parts of the book will speak to you in profound and comforting ways.Ways that make you realize that those of us who are mixed are not, and have not been, alone.Sorry to say, but the average review for this book tells me how little the average white person in this country really understands about racial issues.The fact that the word "mulatto" is used in the official description of this book, as well as in a consumer review furthers that.'Mulatto' is as outdated a term as 'negro', and should not be used in 2007 America.

Place on your list of books to read in this lifetime.
I found this book on the bottom shelf in my college bookcase. From the first chapter, I found myself on an old, winding, rollercoaster. James Weldon lived a life in early to mid-twentieth century more filled with extraordinary adventures than many men today. The matter that he did so 'passing' as Caucasian isn't just a coincidence. Character is what matters. . .as a reader should derive from his story; however, the matter of race devoured Weldon's every chance at completing each sweet piece of life-pie.

I cannot say more to those who never understood a Black man than to read...this...book!! You will be enlightened further than you can now imagine.

What is wrong with some of these reviewers?
This book is excellent. I read it for a class in college years and years ago... and I still think about it.

NO
sorry, i just thought the book was boring and worst of all, its a good story with alot of food for thought, but it was just written so poorly that it was ruined.

Grand finale...not
I think the ending of this book ruined it for me. I enjoyed the middle a lot and didn't want to put it down, but I feel the ending just contradicted everything in the worst way. ... Read more

Product Description
A treasured collection of sheet music and commentary on the greatest spirituals of all time.

In two elegant and masterly prefaces, James Weldon Johnson discusses the origin and history of more than 120 of the most significant spirituals known. Favorites like "Swing Low Sweet Chariot," "Deep River," and "Go Down, Moses" are arranged for voice and piano by his brother, J. Rosamond Johnson, and considered within their African tradition. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (5)

Brief Yet Concise
I was looking for a book that would be brief yet concise. Of course, I don't know all there is to know about Negro Spirituals, so I don't really know how concise it is; but it seemed to cover quite a bit of information that was useful to me. The authors speak from first hand experience, which was very helpful. Some songs were familiar to me, but many were not. I felt as if I gained a great deal from both the text of the book as well as the music and lyrics.

if you are a singer, and admire sprituals this is your source
i love spirituals and especially for a bass/baritone, the spiritual is a form that allows the low voice to shine.i purchased this work and have begun to enjoy working from sheet music with songs that previously, i only had the words, and maybe a recording to learn from.

not much else to say.if you want to see how spiritual looked when they were first transcribed for musicians, this is a one stop source.

The Best
This is perhaps the best compilationof African American Spirituals. Both of editor James Weldon Johnson's volumes are included as are his excellent introductions. The introductions alone are worth the price of the book and more. Johnson's brother provides the arrangement, as close as possible to the most likely way(s) in which they were originally sung. The words themselves are also as close as possible to the original wording. "The Book of the American Negro Spirituals" provides a first-hand accounting of the lyrical majesty and the creative genius of the enslaved African Americans as they integrated Christian truth into their daily suffering.

Reviewer: Bob Kellemen, Ph.D., is the author of "Beyond the Suffering: Embracing the Legacy of African American Soul Care and Spiritual Direction." He has also authored "Soul Physicians," "Spiritual Friends," and the forthcoming "Sacred Friendships: Listening to the Voices of Women Soul Care-Givers and Spiritual Directors."

The Books of American Negro Spirituals
This is one of the best reference books available on the history of Negro Spirituals as well as a vast collection of songs - many of which have not been heard during our time.The preface begins with an awe inspiring poem " O Black and Unknown Bards".This is a must read for musicians, especially singers of Spirituals.Composers and arrangers would appreciate it's content as well.

Outstanding transcriptions of traditional music
This book stays true to aural tradition and offers outstanding, non-Westernized arrangements of the aural traditional music of African American spirituals.

The choice of using phonetic spellings for thelyrics means that the lyrics are heavy in the use of words like"dese", "dose", "Heab'n", etc.However,given the original publication being in the 1920's, and the author'scomments in the introduction, it is apparent that the spellings are not theresult of gross cultural insensitivity.

The respect for, and love of thisfine music comes through in the author's comments.And the transcriptionsretain the strong harmonic features that are often "arranged out"of collections of aural traditional music.

It is a fine collection, andan absolute steal at the price. ... Read more

Product Description
This text marks the first appearance of James Johnson in the modern classics library. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Not the *real* The Creation book by Johnson
I thought I was ordering "The Creation" book by James Weldon Johnson. While this book does use his creation poem, the difference in the title should have clued me to something amiss. The words are similar, but the artwork by James Ransome in the *real* book reflect the African American heritage of James Weldon Johnson. The photos in this book are good, but I don't sense Johnson's pride in his race coming through. "The Creation" poem is verse one of "God's Trombones." I have re-ordered both "The Creation" and "God's Trombones" for myself. ... Read more

Product Description

Sing a song full of the faith that the dark past has taught us,
Sing a song full of the hope that the present has brought us.

Customer Reviews (1)

Beautiful
The book was just what we needed as our choir director is working with the children of the church. She was so thrilled when I gave it to her as she said she would be able to present the music in a way that they will be able to learn. ... Read more

Product Description
This selection of more than forty poems from a leading figure of the Harlem Renaissance includes both uncompromising indictments of racial injustice and celebrations of the triumphs of African-Americans.

With a Preface by Sondra Kathryn Wilson

"[Johnson's poetry] is an exhortation to loose the bonds of dreary second-class citizenship and humiliating segregation and devastating racism. The lyrics bid the reader to be free, to walk with gratitude over ground red with the blood of our ancestors; encourages us to be free to bid the day good morning with hopeful heart, to adore the Creator with gladsome hearts for the battles won and to ask of that same Creator for strength for the battles yet to come. James Weldon Johnson aptly, deeply, with love and humor and a powerful rhyming tongue, has told our story and sung our song."-- Maya Angelou ... Read more

Product Description
Brief biography of the turn-of-the-century black author, educator, lawyer, and diplomat who started the first Negro daily newspaper in the United States. ... Read more