NRR Project: “Were You There (When They Crucified My Lord)”
Spiritual
Performed by Roland Hayes
Recorded 1940
4:24
First, I must direct you to Randye Jones’ excellent essay on this subject at the National Recording Registry. It is comprehensive, well-researched, and detailed; I can only reprise it.
Roland Hayes (1887-1977) was a member of the Fisk Jubilee Singers, first of all. This Black collegiate singing ensemble overcame vast amounts of prejudice to become the premier interpreters of American spirituals, delivering them in arrangements that are now canonical. This Nashville, Tennessee university choir, formed in 1871, barnstormed across the country to raise money for their institution. They succeeded, and exist to this day. You can read more about the Fisk Jubilee Singers at my 2010 essay on the subject.
Hayes, a tenor, was therefore well-versed in choral singing and in interpreting traditional melodies. To this he added expertise in the classical repertoire as well. Due to continuing prejudice, he found his way as an interpretive soloist barred. Like Marian Anderson, he found acceptance and success in Europe. He had experimented with pressing records through Columbia as early as 1918; in 1939, he returned to Columbia with pianist Reginald Boardman to make some more recordings.
His rendition of this spiritual is a capella. By this time in his career, Hayes had married impeccable technical skills with deep feeling, giving a resonant and moving experience to any listener. He delivers the material with extreme seriousness and gravity; his ability to play the lyrics is unmatched. This recording is a stirring human document well worthy of inclusion in the Registry.
The National Recording Registry Project tracks one writer’s expedition through all the recordings in the National Recording Registry in chronological order. Next time: Jimmie Davis sings ‘You are My Sunshine.’
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