A mega-mechanism, and other music & worship links

The posting of links does not constitute an endorsement of the sites linked, and not necessarily even agreement with the specific posts linked.

• ‘A mega-mechanism for bonding’: why singing together does us good -- “What draws people to singing, and the benefits it brings, have been the subject of research for centuries.”
• Amazing Grace: The Story of William “Singing Billy” Walker -- “‘Singing Billy’ Walker” was a South Carolinian, a Baptist church member, song-leader, music teacher, composer, and tunebook compiler.
• Elton Britt - New London School Tragedy [1937] -- “Written by Bob Miller, and recorded 24 March 1937 in ARC Recording Studio by Elton Britt.”
• Glorious Things of Thee Are Spoken, by John Newton -- “John Newton and William Cowper wrote hymns to be sung at the weekly evening prayer meetings. John suggested that the two of them compile a collection of hymns.”
• “If Thou but Suffer God to Guide Thee”: The Journey of a Lutheran Hymn. -- “Neumark’s hymn was apparently based ont only on Psalm 55:23, but also on the Epistle for the fifth Sunday after Trinity, 1 Peter 3:8-15.”
• J. H. Carter Sacred Harp Recordings -- “Playlist of Sacred Harp recordings made by J. H. Carter of Jamestown, Alabama, 1955-1959.”
• Jeffress/Phillips Music Company -- “The Jeffress/Phillips Music Company, located in Crossett (Ashley County), is one of the five remaining seven-shape gospel publishing companies in the United States and is the sole seven-shape gospel publisher in the state of Arkansas.”
• Losing the Songs of Zion -- “We often reveal how man is perverting the words of God in the new versions of the Bible, but our old hymns are also changing.”
• Luther’s Battle Song “Ein feste Burg ist unser Gott” -- “In looking over the translations of our hymn, we find that the largest number was made into English.”
• Sacred Harp Singing: History & Tradition -- “While ‘harp’ is an old word for a sacred tunebook containing music, in a broader sense, the ‘sacred harp’ is the human voice or ensemble of voices.”
• Shape Note Singing: Christian Harmony in Newton County, Mississippi -- “The Newton County Christian Harmony Convention was organized in 1875 and is believed to be the oldest continuing Christian Harmony convention.”
• Singing Billy Walker and Amazing Grace -- “From footnotes to several songs in Walker’s hymnbooks, we learn that Susan Jackson Walker taught him songs when he was a small child, and he apparently listened deep and long.”
• The History Of Singing Hymns -- “The Goat Yard church now entered a period of strife which was to last well over a decade in which Keach argued that ‘singing in rhyme’ was the ‘public duty’ of all Christians and Marlow argued just as energetically that the New Testament recognized no such duty.”