“I’ll Fly Away” is a hymn written in 1929 by Albert E. Brumley and published in 1932 by the Hartford Music company in a collection titled Wonderful Message. Brumley’s writing was influenced by the 1924 secular ballad ‘The Prisioners Song’. “I’ll Fly Away” has been called the most recorded gospel song and it is frequently used in worship services by a number of Christian denominations. It appears in many hymnals where it is listed under the topics of eternal life, heaven and acceptance. It is a standard song at bluegrass jam sessions and is often performed at funerals.
Albert E. Brumley has been described as the “pre-eminent gospel songwriter” of the 20th century with over 600 published songs. Other popular songs by Brumley include “Jesus, Hold My Hand”, “Turn Your Radio On”, “I’ll Meet You in the Morning”, and “This World Is Not My Home”. According to interviews, Brumley came up with the idea for the song while picking cotton on his father’s farm in Rock Island, Oklahoma. Brumley says that as he worked he was “humming the old ballad that went like this: ‘If I had the wings of an angel, over these prison walls I would fly,’ and suddenly it dawned on me that I could use this plot for a gospel-type song.” It was an additional three years later until Brumley worked out the rest of the song, paraphrasing one line from the secular ballad to read, “Like a bird from prison bars has flown” using prison as a metaphor for earthly life. Brumley has stated, “When I wrote it, I had no idea that it would become so universally popular.” Other earlier nineteenth century slave songs also contained similar lyrics, stating: “I’ll fly away to glory; I’ll fly away to my heavenly home, And I’ll shout glory.
One of the earliest recordings of “I’ll Fly Away” was made by the Selah Jubilee Singers in February 1941 for Decca Records. The Chuck Wagon Gang’s 1948 recording of “I’ll Fly Away” for Columbia sold over one million copies and ranks among the top selling gospel records of all-time, and is listed among the top selling songs of the 1940s in general. In 1950, Billboard reported that American disc jockeys voted the Chuck Wagon Gang “18th most popular of all singing groups in the nation,” considering all music genres, and the third most popular recording artist for Columbia.
In 1956, the Kossoy Sisters included “I’ll Fly Away” on the album, Bowling Green, which featured instrumental backing by Erik Darling. The Kossoys, twin sisters Irene Saletan and Ellen Christenson, practiced close harmony singing, which is exemplified on this track. Their recording was introduced to a wider audience when it was included in the 2000 Coen Brothers film, O Brother Where Art Thou? Although the Kossoy Sisters recording was used in the film itself, a contemporary recording by Alison Krauss and Gilian Welch was chosen for the soundtrack. The spare recording, produced by T-Bone Burnett, features Welch on lead vocals with Krauss singing harmony. Their voices are accompanied by Mike Compton on mandolin and Chris Sharp on guitar. The soundtrack sold over eight million copies, reached the top position on at least four of Billboard’s album charts, and was named Album of the Year and Best Soundtrack Album at the 44th Grammy Awards in February 2002.
The Christian rock band Jars of Clay have recorded “I’ll Fly Away” twice, first, for the 2004 various artists compilation Album, WOW WOrship:Red and again for their own 2005 album, Redemption Songs. The latter features guest vocals by Sarah Kelly. Redemption Songs reached No. 1 on Billboard’s Christian Album chart and No. 71 on the Billboard 200. Their recording of the song was popular enough on Christian radio to be placed at No. 1 on a list of the Top Songs of 2005 by at least one station.
The Jacksonville State University marching band, The Marching Southerners, lead football fans in singing “I’ll Fly Away” at the end of each home football game on Burgess-Snow Field. Team members link arm-in-arm with each other before leaving the field and join the band, coaches, cheerleaders, university president and the crowd of fans in singing the hymn.
Aretha Franklin and Jesse Jackson eulogize Rosa Parks at her funeral in 2005. Aretha sings I’ll Fly Away in tribute to Rosa Parks, in the same church in which her own funeral would later be held.
