Dark Was the Night, Cold Was the Ground

"Dark Was the Night, Cold Was the Ground"
Single by Blind Willie Johnson
ReleasedApril 20, 1928[1]
RecordedDecember 3, 1927[2]
GenreGospel blues
Length3:21
LabelColumbia
Songwriter(s)Blind Willie Johnson

"Dark Was the Night, Cold Was the Ground"[note 1] is a gospel blues song written and performed by American musician Blind Willie Johnson and recorded in 1927. The song is primarily an instrumental featuring Johnson's self-taught bottleneck slide guitar and picking style accompanied by his vocalizations of humming and moaning. It has the distinction of being one of 27 samples of music included on the Voyager Golden Record, launched into space in 1977 to represent the diversity of life on Earth. The song has been highly praised and covered by numerous musicians and is featured on the soundtracks of several films.

  1. ^ "Blind Willie Johnson: Dark Was The Night Cold Was The Ground / It's Nobody's Fault But Mine". Discogs.com. Retrieved August 6, 2024.
  2. ^ Bogdanov, et al, p. 284.


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