Roberta Martin’s Doxology

I. Background & Publication

Modern African American hymnals (and some others) often include a doxology tune, an alternative to OLD HUNDREDTH, typically set to the text “Praise God from whom all blessings flow” by Thomas Ken (1637–1711), and the attributions for the tune point variously to John Hatton, Roberta Martin, and/or George Coles. The tune, at its root, is based on an earlier tune called DUKE STREET, credited to John Hatton (d. 1793). The origins of this tune are given in the article for its most commonly associated text—“Jesus shall reign where’er the sun,” a paraphrase of Psalm 72 by Isaac Watts—but for sake of reference, the earliest printing is shown below (the melody is in the middle part).

The development of this tune into the African American doxology tune happened at the hands of Chicago composer-performer Roberta Martin (1907–1969) in 1967. At this juncture, Roberta Martin had been diagnosed with Stage IV cancer. In the wake of her cancer diagnosis, Roberta Martin struggled privately with the fact that although she had sung about the healing powers of God her entire professional career, in the end, she couldn’t be healed from her cancer. Ultimately, she was given the strength to assemble one final album with the Roberta Martin Singers, with the album title coming from this important track, Praise God (Savoy MG-14197).

Her arrangement of “Praise God (from Whom all Blessings Flow)” was published under her own banner, Roberta Martin Studio of Music, Chicago. The original score is dated 1967, and it was registered for copyright on 15 November 1967, words credited to George Coles, words and music by Isaac Watts, arranged by Roberta Martin. The attributions to Coles and Watts in the copyright application and to Coles on the score were somewhat misappropriated or simply erroneous, as will be explained below.

Whereas the original tune, DUKE STREET, is through-composed (ABCD), each phrase being different and coming to an end on the lower home tone, Martin’s version is binary (ABAC), with the fourth phrase emphatically repeating the upper tonic, for a more triumphant declaration.

The song was probably premiered in Chicago, then recorded by the Roberta Martin Singers at Savoy’s studio in Newark, New Jersey, toward the end of 1967.[1] It was issued as a 45-rpm single (Savoy 4304) in early 1968, with “I Have Hope” on the reverse side. Martin, who led “I Have Hope,” explained to her husband, James Austin, that “I Have Hope” wasn’t about a hope of recovery from cancer, which was terminal, but the hope of a beautiful future in Christ.[2] These songs were also included on the related LP, Praise God (Savoy MG-14197).

This would be Roberta Martin’s final album. She died on January 13, 1969, at age 61. Her funeral, held at Mount Pisgah Baptist Church, where she had served as minister of music since 1956, attracted more than 50,000 mourners—at that time the largest crowd gathered for a funeral of an African American celebrity in Chicago’s history.

II. The Text

The published score included the following words:

Praise God from whom all blessings flow
Praise Him all creatures here below
Praise Him above ye heavenly host
Praise Father, Son and Holy Ghost.

People and realms of ev’ry tongue
Dwell on his love with sweetest song
To Him shall endless prayer be made
And endless praises crown his head.

Sing to the Lord with cheerful voice
Come ye before Him and rejoice
All people that on earth do dwell
Serve him with mirth his praises tell.

The first of these quatrains is the famous doxology by Thomas Ken. The second quatrain is a compilation of lines from “Jesus shall reign where’er the sun” by Isaac Watts, which, as already mentioned, is closely associated with the tune DUKE STREET. The last quatrain is a transposition of lines from “All people that on earth do dwell” by William Kethe.

As for the attribution to George Coles, this seems to be an unfortunate error. George Coles (1792–1858) was a British-American Methodist preacher, who is credited with composing a tune called DUANE STREET in or around 1835. This tune was sometimes paired with Ken’s doxology, especially in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. An example of this—and an illustration of how George Coles could be confused as the author of the text—can be seen in Wonderful Jesus and Other Songs (1927 | Fig. 3).

The relevant source Roberta Martin would have consulted for her anthem is unknown.

In summary, the proper attribution of Martin’s tune in hymnals and songbooks should say “John Hatton, adapted and arranged by Roberta Martin,” whereas George Coles was long since deceased in 1967 and had no actual involvement in either text or tune. The main doxology text is by Thomas Ken, with additional words gleaned from Isaac Watts and William Kethe.

The first appearance of Martin’s doxology in a hymnal was in the New National Baptist Hymnal (1977).

by CHRIS FENNER
with ROBERT MAROVICH
9 June 2023

Footnotes:

1. The files of Malaco Music (which includes Savoy Records) contain a proof sheet of the text intended for the labels of the LP, dated 12 January 1968.

2. Irene V. Jackson, Afro-American Gospel Music and Its Social Setting with Special Attention to Roberta Martin, dissertation (Wesleyan University, 1974), p. 98.

Related Resources:

Cedric Hayes & Robert Laughton, Gospel Discography 1943–2000, 3rd ed., 2 vols. (Canada: Eyeball, 2014): Eyeball

Robert Marovich, A City Called Heaven: Chicago and the Birth of Gospel Music (Urbana: University of Illinois, 2015): Amazon