Anthology of American Folk Music
Volume 2: Social Music, Track 50

JOHN THE BAPTIST
Rev. Moses Mason

Recorded Chicago: January, 1928
Rev. Moses Mason, vocal and guitar
Originally released on Paramount 12702A


Rev. Moses Mason is a mystery. Mason was from Lake Providence, Louisiana, but beyond that little is known. We do know that he recorded eight selections for Paramount early in 1928, some under his name and some as "Red Hot Ole Mose." Two of the selections, "Molly Man" and "Shrimp Man," are work cries, rare examples of secular street vendors patters. His other sides are of sacred material, including two unaccompanied sermons, and four songs (most notably "John the Baptist" and "Go Wash in the Beautiful Stream") that reflect the importance of Reconstruction hymnody in shaping the repertoire of black American Protestants in the early 20th century. In addition to the guitar, Mason also played the banjo. The song "John the Baptist" shares the same refrain -- "way up in the middle of the air" -- as the popular sacred song, "Ezekial Saw the Wheel."


FOR ADDITIONAL RECORDINGS of Mason see the collections:
This Old World's in a Hell of a Fix (BIO 12027a); Black Secular and Religious Music, 1927-1934 (DOC 5165c); and Too Late, Too Late, Vol. 2 (DOC 5216c).