He's Got the Whole World in His Hands

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"He's Got the Whole World in His Hands"
Song

"He's Got the Whole World in His Hands" is a traditional American spiritual. It was first published in the paperbound hymnal Spirituals Triumphant, Old and New in 1927.[1] In 1933, it was collected by Frank Warner from the singing of Sue Thomas in North Carolina.[2] It was also recorded by other collectors such as Robert Sonkin of the Library of Congress, who recorded it in Gee's Bend, Alabama in 1941. That version is still available at the Library's American Folklife Center.[3]

Frank Warner performed the song during the 1940s and 1950s, and introduced it to the American folk scene.[2] Warner recorded it on the Elektra album American Folk Songs and Ballads in 1952.[4][5] It was quickly picked up by both American gospel singers and British skiffle and pop musicians.

Laurie London recording

The song made the popular song charts in a 1958 version by English singer Laurie London with the Geoff Love Orchestra, which went all the way to #1 of the Most Played by Jockeys song list in the USA and went to number three on the R&B charts.[6] It became a gold record and was the most successful record by a British male in the 1950s in the USA.[7] The record reached #2 on Billboard's Best Sellers in Stores survey and #1 in Cashbox's Top 60. Mahalia Jackson's version made the Billboard top 100 singles chart, topping at number 69.

It was the first, and remains, the only gospel song to hit #1 on a U.S. pop singles chart. "Put Your Hand in the Hand (of the Man)" by Ocean peaked at #2 on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart in 1971; and "Oh Happy Day" by the Edwin Hawkins Singers reached #3 on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart in 1969.

Covers and adaptations

Other versions were recorded by Marian Anderson (in Oslo on August 29, 1958 and released on the single His Master's Voice 45-6075 AL 6075 and on the extended play En aften på "Casino Non Stop", introdusert av Arne Hestenes (HMV 7EGN 26. It was arranged by Harry Douglas and Ed Kirkeby), Odetta, Jackie DeShannon, Perry Como, the Sandpipers (1970; "Come Saturday Morning" LP) and Nina Simone on And Her Friends (recorded 1957). Andy Williams released a version on his 1960 album, The Village of St. Bernadette. The Sisters of Mercy played it at the Reading Festival in 1991. It is featured on the The Good and the Bad and the Ugly bootleg album. A notable version of the song is found on the 2001 Grammy Award-Nominated Album starring Ann-Margret God Is Love: The Gospel Sessions performed by Art Greenhaw and The Light Crust Doughboys with The Jordanaires.[8] Pat Boone recorded a version for his 1961 album Great, Great, Great.

In 1995, The Sisters of Glory, a gospel group that featured Thelma Houston, CeCe Peniston, Phoebe Snow, Lois Walden, and Albertina Walker, included the composition to their album Good News in Hard Times released on Warner Bros.

Mike Doughty adapted the refrain of the song for a new song of a similar title on his album Sad Man Happy Man. Additionally, Doughty's former band Soul Coughing performed a partial version live on occasion, usually as a segue into another song.

In 1997, Half Man Half Biscuit appropriated the melody of the song for their song "Paintball's Coming Home" on the album Voyage to the Bottom of the Road

In popular culture

  • In February 1978, English football team Nottingham Forest F.C. released "We've Got the Whole World in Our Hands" (Warner K17110) in conjunction with local band Paper Lace; the B side featured "The Forest March". The song has become a favourite in British football grounds, with the lyrics adapted in various ways; for instance, "We're the worst team in the League" has been heard at Rushden & Diamonds matches as well as Crystal Palace F.C. matches.[9]
  • In the 1982 film Tootsie, Dorothy Michaels (Dustin Hoffman) sings a line of the song to her (his) agent George Fields (Sydney Pollack), changing the words to "I've got the whole world in my hands."
  • The song was also used in the 1987 film Roxanne with Steve Martin.
  • In the movie Con Air (1997), Steve Buscemi plays a serial killer who sings "He's Got the Whole World" with a little girl. In the movie RocketMan, also from 1997, Harland Williams plays the role of an astronaut who sings "I Have the Whole World in My Hands" on a worldwide broadcast, and is then accompanied by millions of people around the world watching it.
  • WWE wrestler Bray Wyatt started singing the song during his feud with John Cena, to accentuate Wyatt's gimmick as a cult leader.

References

  1. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  3. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  4. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  5. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  6. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  7. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  8. ↑ and official records, The Recording Academy
  9. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.

External links

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