He Is Lord

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Thu, 08/15/2024 - 16:52 — cfenner

Regarding the American praise chorus “He Is Lord,” I noticed there is a statement on Hymnary from Steve Vest, who says he is the author. Of course, in many collections, the song is uncredited, but in a few, as in LUYH, the song is credited to Marvin Frey, with a copyright of 1977. The statement by Vest seems credible, but does anyone know how that got posted? It would be good to have some kind of validation of this claim. I just ran a quick newspaper search and I'm not seeing his name associated with Billy Graham, or with the song at any point. Ideas?

https://hymnary.org/text/he_is_lord_he_is_lord


Comments

Thu, 08/15/2024 - 16:57 — cfenner

For what it's worth, here is the copyright registration associated with Frey:

https://cocatalog.loc.gov/cgi-bin/Pwebrecon.cgi?v1=1&ti=1,1&Search%5FArg=%2Bmarvin%20%2BFrey%20%2Bhe%20%2Blord&Search%5FCode=FT%2A&CNT=25&PID=p5I3BF-AesJyVRPdfowFZq_W&SEQ=20240815165326&SID=1

Fri, 08/16/2024 - 08:57 — dianneshapiro

Steve Vest sent us his statement which seemed credible. It is not clear from the copyright record what relationship Marvin Frey has to the songs in this work; editor? arranger? composer? author?, adapter?

Fri, 08/16/2024 - 11:05 — cfenner

The title of the work is <cite>I saw my Savior exalted and fifteen other songs by Marvin V. Frey.</cite> I don't see what is so unclear about his stated relationship to the songs. According to Steve Vest, he was actively performing the song prior to 1977, which would give him the earlier claim, but as a matter of responsible reporting, I would argue it is not sufficient to post an undated, unverified claim as though it were undisputed. I have been scouring Newspapers.com for any kind of evidence of Steve Vest being a traveling singer, and so far there is nothing. 

Bottom line, I think the statement from Vest needs to say “Hymnary staff, correspondence with Steve Vest, [DATE of STATEMENT],” and for now, there has to be an acknowledgement of the competing claim by Marvin Frey. Will you please get in touch with Steve Vest and have him provide SOMETHING by way of proof of his story?

Mon, 08/19/2024 - 17:14 — ericpaz

The song appears to have been in widespread use several years prior to 1977, and familiar enough to be considered “Traditional” by at least 1973.

An issue of The Mennonite dated December 18, 1973 contains the full lyrics of the chorus. It is described as “One of the favorite choruses sung in [Charismatic] meetings," no indication of any author of lyrics or music.

https://archive.org/details/mennonite197388unse/page/834/mode/2up?q=%22risen+from+the+dead+and+he+is+lord%22

The Elim Evangelical (June 16, 1973): “'HE is risen from the dead and He is Lord’ was sung many times as the joy and triumph of Calvary and the resurrection filled our hearts during our Easter Convention.”

https://archive.org/details/elimevangel054/page/n471/mode/2up?q=%22he+is+risen+from+the+dead+and+he+is+lord%22 

The earliest recording I've found so far is an arrangement of “He Is Lord” appearing in a medley on Dallas Holm's 1974 album Peace, Joy and Love, where it is credited “Traditional" on the record sleeve.

https://archive.org/details/lp_peace-joy-and-love_dallas-holm/disc1/02.03.+There+Is+A+Light.mp3

As with many choruses from the Charismatic Movement era, the song seems to have entered quickly into a form of oral tradition and been treated as a quasi-folk song. Mr. Vest's claim of 1969 would fit this time frame, but without more solid documentation “attributed to” might be a more appropriate credit. I would be interested to know if anyone can find earlier citations!

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