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“Just a Closer Walk with Thee” is a traditional gospel song that has been covered by many artists. Performed as either an instrumental or vocal, “A Closer Walk” is perhaps the most frequently played number in the hymn and dirge section of traditional New Orleans jazz funerals. The title and lyrics of the song allude to the Biblical passage from 2 Corinthians 5:7 which states, “We walk by faith, not by sight” and James 4:8, “Come near to God and he will come near to you.”
Version By Joshua Stewart & The Bourbon Street Stompers live in Spain, Teulada 2013
“On a train trip from Kansas City to Chicago, Morris exited the train on one of its stops to get some fresh air and heard one of the station porters singing a song. He paid little attention at first, but after he reboarded the train the song remained with him and became so prominent in his mind that at the next stop, he left the train, took another train back to the earlier station, and asked the porter to sing the song again. Morris wrote down the words and music and published the song “Just a Closer Walk with Thee” that year, 1940, adding a few lyrics of his own to provide more breadth. Within two years the song became a standard in gospel music, eventually becoming a standard in Jazz, and then moving into the realm of American folk music, known and sung by many (Boyer, 75).”
Songs with similar chorus lyrics were published in the 1800s, including “Closer Walk with Thee” with lyrics by Martha J. Lankton (a pseudonym for Fanny Crosby) and music by William Kirkpatrick, which was published in 1885. Some references in Atchison, Kansas, credit an African-American foundry worker and vocalist, Rev. Elijah Cluke (1907-1974), for the current rendition of the song. “Just a Closer Walk with Thee” became better known nationally in the 1930s when African-Americanchurches held huge musical conventions. In 1940 Kenneth Morris arranged and published for the first time the well-known version after gospel musicians Robert Anderson and R.L. Knowles listened to William B. Hurse direct a performance of it in Kansas City and then brought it to Morris’ attention. Morris added some new lyrics and a choral arrangement. In the 1940s, a boom of recordings recorded the number in many genres, ranging from Southern gospel to jazz and brass bands.
The first known recording was by the Selah Jubilee Singers on October 8, 1941, (Decca Records 7872) New York City; with Thurman Ruth and John Ford lead vocal; Fred Baker, lead baritone; Monroe Clark, baritone; J. B. Nelson, bass vocal; and Fred Baker on guitar. Rosetta Tharpe also recorded the song on December 2, 1941 (Decca 8594), with Lucky Millinder and His Orchestra.
The revived interest in traditional New Orleans jazz resulted in multiple recordings of the number, including a 1945 session by Bunk Johnson‘s Brass Band featuring numbers Johnson had played in New Orleans before he left in 1915.
In 1950, it was a million-seller for Red Foley.
In 1958, an unreleased home recording was recorded by Elvis Presley, made in Waco, Texas, on May 27. Presley’s studio version can be heard on Just a Closer Walk with Thee (2000) (Czech CD on Memory label). Tennessee Ernie Ford made the charts with it in the late 1950s. By the end of the 1970s, more than a hundred artists had recorded the song.
Version By The Seekers
Version By Patsy Cline
Version by Anne Murray
Version by Alabama
Version by Johnny Cash
https://youtu.be/hxNIel9otsY
Version by Cliff Richard
Instrumental
| Cool Hand Luke | |
|---|---|
| Theatrical release poster by Bill Gold | |
| Directed by | Stuart Rosenberg |
| Produced by | Gordon Carroll |
| Screenplay by | Donn PearceFrank R. Pierson |
| Based on | Cool Hand Luke by Donn Pearce |
| Starring | Paul NewmanGeorge KennedyJ. D. CannonRobert DrivasLou AntonioStrother MartinJo Van Fleet |
| Music by | Lalo Schifrin |
| Cinematography | Conrad Hall |
| Edited by | Sam O’Steen |
| Production company | Jalem Productions |
| Distributed by | Warner Bros.-Seven Arts |
| Release date | November 1, 1967 |
| Running time | 126 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $3.2 million |
| Box office | $16.2 million |
Cool Hand Luke is a 1967 American prison drama film directed by Stuart Rosenberg, starring Paul Newman and featuring George Kennedy in an Oscar-winning performance. Newman stars in the title role as Luke, a prisoner in a Florida prison camp who refuses to submit to the system. The film, set in the early 1950s, is based on Donn Pearce‘s 1965 novel of the same name.
Pearce sold the original story to Warner Bros., who then hired him to write the film’s script. Due to Pearce’s lack of film experience, the studio added Frank Pierson to rework the screenplay. Newman’s biographer Marie Edelman Borden stated that the “tough, honest” script drew together threads from earlier movies, especially Newman’s other 1967 film Hombre. The film has been cited by Roger Ebert as an anti-establishment film which was shot during the time of emerging popular opposition to the Vietnam War. Filming took place within California’s San Joaquin River Delta region; the set, imitating a prison farm in the Deep South, was based on photographs and measurements made by a crew sent to Road Prison in Gainesville, Florida by the filmmakers.
Newman’s character Lucas Jackson is described (by the notorious “Captain” upon his arrival at the prison) as a “free spirit”, whose personal record (read out loud because of its unusual details) indicates a man who started well in the U.S. Army—receiving medals for bravery in “the war”—rose to the rank of sergeant, yet was discharged as a “buck” private. Luke does not question his physical incarceration, and initially has no thought of escape. But his spirit is not, like that of his fellow inmates, imprisoned. This free thinking is, from the outset, noticed by the institution, its functionaries (the guards), and especially its leaders. Their response is a mixture of both fear and loathing. So they retaliate against Luke through both physical and psychological punishment. His influence on his prison mates and the torture that he endures is compared to that of Jesus, and Christian symbolism is used throughout the film, culminating in a photograph superimposed over crossroads at the end of the film in comparison to the crucifixion of Jesus.
Upon its release, Cool Hand Luke received favorable reviews and became a box office success. The film cemented Newman’s status as one of the era’s top actors, and was described as the “touchstone of an era”. Newman was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actor, George Kennedy won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor, Pearce and Pierson were nominated for the Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay, and the score by Lalo Schifrin was also nominated for Best Original Score. In 2005, the United States Library of Congress selected the film for the National Film Registry, considering it to be “culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant”. The film has a 100% rating on the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, and the quotation used by the prison warden (Strother Martin) in the film, which begins with “What we’ve got here is failure to communicate”, was listed at number 11 on the American Film Institute‘s 100 Years… 100 Movie Quotes list.
Song featured in the movie”Cool Hand Luke”
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