Ian & Sylvia - Live A-Humble [HD]

Ian & Sylvia sing 'Live A-Humble' from their debut 1962 Vanguard album 'Ian & Sylvia'. Ian Tyson plays guitar on this song. The lyrics are below with comments about the singers.

Note: Ian & Sylvia made seven Vanguard studio albums with 87 songs from 1962 to 1968. This song is the thirteenth and final track on their debut album. The first track on their second album 'Four Strong Winds' is 'Jesus Met the Woman at the Well'.

[Vinyl/15-Images/WAV]

Live A-Humble (Singers: Ian & Sylvia)

A-live a-humble, humble
Oh, humble yourself
The bell done rung
A-live a-humble, live a-humble
Humble, oh, humble, humble yourself
The bell done rung

Glory and honor
Praise King Jesus
Glory and honor
Praise the Lord
Glory and honor
Praise King Jesus
Glory and honor
Praise the Lord

A-live a-humble, humble
Oh, humble yourself
The bell done rung
A-live a-humble, live a-humble
Humble, oh, humble, humble yourself
The bell done rung

Watch that son, how steady he runs
Don't let him catch you with your work undone

A-live a-humble, humble
Oh, humble yourself
The bell done rung
A-live a-humble, live a-humble
Humble, oh, humble, humble yourself
The bell done rung

Well, what a man, what a man is God
He sent his only son for to come and die
He sent his only son for to come and die
And this, save his soul from a burning fire

A-live a-humble, humble
Oh, humble yourself
The bell done rung
A-live a-humble, live a-humble
Humble, oh, humble, humble yourself
The bell done rung

You seek God, and you seek God
And you seek God in the morning
He'll come a riding down a light of time
Fire be a falling, he'll be a calling
Come to judgement, come

A-live a-humble, humble
Oh, humble yourself
The bell done rung
A-live a-humble, live a-humble
Humble, oh, humble, humble yourself
The bell done rung

Glory and honor
Praise King Jesus
Glory and honor
Praise the Lord
Glory and honor
Praise King Jesus
Glory and honor
Praise the Lord

A-live a-humble, humble
Oh, humble yourself
The bell done rung
A-live a-humble, live a-humble
Humble, oh, humble, humble yourself
The bell done rung

Songwriter: Traditional song
[Lyrics transcribed from song audio]

Album Personnel: Ian Tyson - vocals, guitar, Sylvia Tyson - vocals, autoharp, John Herald - guitar, Bill Lee - string bass, Art Davis - string bass.

Album liner notes by Nat Hentoff: Live A-Humble came from a book of Negro spirituals and through repeated singing during folk jam sessions, it reached its present shape. The spiritual and all the diversified tunes in the album demonstrate Ian and Sylvia's contention that "if you know the tradition and if you feel the particular song, you can do it in your own way without bastardizing it. And you can tell much about yourself in the song."

Wikipedia states:

Ian & Sylvia were a Canadian folk and country music duo which consisted of Ian and Sylvia Tyson, née Fricker. They began performing together in 1959, married in 1964, and divorced and stopped performing together in 1975. Ian Tyson, CM, AOE was born in Victoria, British Columbia, in 1933. In his teens, he decided upon a career as a rodeo rider. Recovering from injuries sustained from a fall during the mid-1950s, he started learning guitar. In the late 1950s, he relocated to Toronto, aspiring to a career as a commercial artist. He also started playing clubs and coffeehouses in Toronto. By 1959 he was performing music as a full-time occupation. Sylvia Tyson, née Fricker, CM, was born in Chatham, Ontario, in 1940. While still in her teens, she started frequenting the folk clubs of Toronto.

The two started performing together in Toronto in 1959. By 1962, they were living in New York City, where they caught the attention of manager Albert Grossman, who managed Peter, Paul and Mary and would soon become Bob Dylan's manager. Grossman secured them a contract with Vanguard Records and they released their first album late in the year.

Their first album, self-titled Ian & Sylvia, on Vanguard Records consists mainly of traditional songs. There were British and Canadian folk songs, spiritual music, and a few blues songs thrown into the mix. The album was moderately successful and they made the list of performers for the 1963 Newport Folk Festival.