Many people think they know the story of the hymn,"Amazing Grace." The commonly accepted narrative presents its composer, John Newton, a young English captain of a late 18th-century slave ship, as a ...
2023 is the 250th anniversary year of "Amazing Grace." It was first performed on New Year's Day, 1773, and has gone through many changes over the years. You know those songs that you just kind of know ...
I put this list together as I was listening to some of the Dirty Dozen Brass Band’s music in anticipation of their Detroit appearance Feb. 19 at the Magic Bag. Their version of “Amazing Grace” is so ...
In early 1972, Aretha Franklin arrived at the New Temple Missionary Baptist Church in Watts for a pair of performances with the backing of the Rev. James Cleveland and the Southern California ...
As we look at another New Year’s Day, it’s a good time to reflect on a song that unites rather than divides us: the Rev. John Newton’s hymn “Amazing Grace.” The hymn first appeared in Newton’s New ...
AMAZING GRACE: A Cultural History of the Beloved Hymn. By James Walvin. University of California Press. 216 pages. $19.95. When President Obama sang “Amazing Grace” at the funeral of the Rev. Clementa ...