Friday Night Music--Good Friday Edition

In honor of this Christian holy day, I bring you Christian-inspired music.

Starting with the beautiful And We Bid You Goodnight by the Grateful Dead. This is an old spiritual that was sung at funerals for the last century and the Dead often sang it as a encore. This is from 1989 at the excellent Alpine Valley amphitheater in Wisconsin:



Next is the Bob Dylan classic I Shall Be Released as performed by the Jerry Garcia Band. This song may not be considered religious but it's feeling of hope and deliverance always struck me as such and is one of the most spiritual songs I've ever heard. When I'm feeling down, this song lifts me up:



Next we have My Sisters and Brothers from Shoreline. Written by Charles Johnson (no, not that one), this song is one of the best of the old "negro" spirituals that was kept alive by blues musicians and African-American churches:



Next we have Marion Williams who sings I'm Going to Live the Life I Sing About with serious gusto. There's not enough great gospel singers who stay with it. They go for the riches and you seem to have to sing about sex to get the riches unfortunately:



Finally the great Mahalia Jackson who is an interesting juxtaposition of views when compared to Jeremiah Wright. She was a supporter of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and her voice was angelic:



For those celebrating, have a great holiday.