Recently, I had a voice student approach and request to learn the traditional song “I’ve Got a Mother Gone to Glory.”  I had shared with her the Jean Ritchie songbook “Folk Songs of the Southern Appalachians” in which this song appears.  And I had never learned it myself, so it was a great chance to get to know it.

It was mesmerizing, and as the melody echoed in my ear, heart, mind and voice over those few weeks, I had it learned.

“I’ve Got a Mother Gone to Glory” is a traditional Appalachian folk song and spiritual that expresses grief, comfort, and the hope of an eventual reunion in the afterlife.  Expressing themes of loss, faith, and looking toward a “golden shore” where loved ones who have passed away will be waiting, this song captures the power of the acapella, spiritual tradition of classic lament.

History and Discography

The song was notably recorded in “field” collections such as Alan Lomax’s Kentucky and southern recordings (including versions by Jean Ritchie and Minnie Floyd), and in contemporary folk and choral arrangements by groups like the Atwater-Donnelly Trio on their album “The World Is Old Tonight,” the a capella group Starry Mountain Singers on the album “Dear Jean:  Artists Celebrate Jean Ritchie” and choirs like Musea (see audio and video performances below).

Jean Ritchie sings “I’ve Got a Mother Gone to Glory”

I’ve Got a Mother Gone to Glory
Traditional

I’ve got a mother gone to Glory
I’ve got a mother gone to Glory
Look a way over yonder on the Golden Shore

A way up in Heaven
A way up in Heaven
I’ve got a mother gone to Glory
Look a way over yonder on the Golden Shore

Some bright day I’ll go and see her
Some bright day I’ll go and see her
Look a way over yonder on the Golden Shore

A way up in Heaven
A way up in Heaven

Some bright day I’ll go and see her
Look a way over yonder on the Golden Shore

That bright day may be tomorrow
That bright day may be tomorrow
Look a way over yonder on the Golden Shore

A way up in Heaven
A way up in Heaven

That bright day may be tomorrow
Look a way over yonder on the Golden Shore

Repeat cycles available are:

I’ve got a Father…..
I’ve got a Brother….
I’ve got a Sister….

Here are the Starry Mountain Singers in a stunningly beautiful version from the album “Dear Jean: Artists Celebrate Jean Ritchie.”

The a cappella group Musae performs the song with a beautiful, affecting staging that brings all the singers into the music and storytelling gradually, layering harmony and building a powerful performance.

Personal note:  I will offer this song up to the memory of my dear beloved friend, Pat Kelly, at her memorial service on Saturday, October 17 at All Saints Episcopal, Pasadena, where she sang, and played and worked and loved for so many wonderful years.  God’s blessings to her and her family, always.

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Award-winning recording artist, Broadway singer, journalist, educator and critically-acclaimed powerhouse vocalist, Susie Glaze has been called “one of the most beautiful voices in bluegrass and folk music today” by Roz Larman of KPFK’s Folk Scene.  LA Weekly voted her ensemble Best New Folk in their Best of LA Weekly for 2019, calling Susie “an incomparable vocalist.”  “A flat out superb vocalist… Glaze delivers warm, amber-toned vocals that explore the psychic depth of a lyric with deft acuity and technical perfection.”  As an educator, Susie has lectured at USC Thornton School of Music and Cal State Northridge on “Balladry to Bluegrass,” illuminating the historical path of ancient folk forms in the United Kingdom to the United States via immigration into the mountains of Appalachia.  Susie has taught workshops since 2018 at California music camps RiverTunes and Vocáli Voice Camp.  She is a current specialist in performance and historian on the work of American folk music icon, Jean Ritchie.  Susie now offers private voice coaching online via the Zoom platform.   www.susieglaze.com