Fisk Jubilee Singers recording enters Grammy Hall of Fame

Few songs have stood the test of time quite like “Swing Low, Sweet Chariot.” From its roots in Oklahoma in the 1850s, people from all walks of life have made it their anthem. Joan Baez sang it from the stage of Woodstock, and believe it or not, it’s used to rally rugby fans in England.

But the Fisk Jubilee Singers were the first to popularize and record the song — more than a century ago. The Nashville music institution’s original 1909 recording is being inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame this past weekend, along with the likes of ABBA’s “Dancing Queen” and Otis Redding’s “Try a Little Tenderness.”

Fisk Jubilee Singers musical director Paul T. Kwami says the recording was made back when the singers were an all-male group. But that’s not the only way their rendition stands out to him. “It’s very unique,” he says. “It was at a time when people really understood the music, and why they were singing it, and what they were singing about.

“When I got the news, I thought of the original students and their director who decided to form this ensemble in 1871. They probably would not ever think that we would still be singing these songs today.

“Knowing about this induction, it’s an honor to them, and we are only continuing the legacy that they started for us.”

The Grammy’s list of Hall of Fame recordings is on display at the Grammy Museum in downtown Los Angeles. Tennessean

Black History/Nashville History Fact:

As the 1800s unfolded, Nashville grew to become a national center for music publishing. The first around-the-world tour by a musical act was by the Fisk Jubilee Singers from Nashville’s Fisk University. Their efforts helped fund the school’s mission of educating freed slaves after the Civil War – and also put Nashville on the map as a global music center. In fact, upon playing for the Queen of England, the queen stated the Fisk Jubilee Singers must come from the “Music City.” visitmusiccity.com