How I Got Over

This article is about the Gospel hymn. For the album by The Roots, see How I Got Over (album).
"How I Got Over"
Song by Clara Ward
Written1951
Published1951
GenreHymn
Songwriter(s)Clara Ward

"How I Got Over" is a Gospel hymn composed and published in 1951 by Clara Ward (1924–1973). Ward's original release sold 1 million copies[1] and is one of the best-selling gospel songs of all time. Other notable recordings of this work have been made by Mahalia Jackson (1951, winner of the Grammy Award for Best Soul Gospel Performance in 1976), and the Blind Boys of Alabama (2008 on their album Down in New Orleans). It was performed by Mahalia Jackson at the historic March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom in 1963 before 250,000 people.[2]

Aretha Franklin recorded an uptempo alternate version of the song on her 1972 album Amazing Grace, and this same arrangement was performed twice in the 1974 Sidney Poitier film Uptown Saturday Night by the film's church choir with an alternate singer (no credits were given) and was produced by Tom Scott who also produced the film's soundtrack.

In 2018, Ward's original rendition was selected for preservation in the National Recording Registry by the Library of Congress as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant".[3]

  1. ^ West, Hollie I. (September 2, 1980). "Singing Praises to The Minister of Song". Washington Post. Retrieved January 24, 2024.
  2. ^ Video on YouTube
  3. ^ "National Recording Registry Reaches 500". Library of Congress. March 21, 2018. Retrieved March 21, 2018.