A Sparkling Vintage Life

Recorded in the 1960s, “Oh, Happy Day” by the Edwin Hawkins Singers is not as old as most of my Sunday Serenade choices, but I needed an extra mood-boost this morning and figured this would do the trick. I was right!

Wikipedia tells me that this gospel classic was first written in the eighteenth century and revised in the nineteenth. It’s based on a story in Acts 8, where the apostle Philip encounters a man who has questions about what he’s reading in Scripture. Philip talks to the man for a while. “ Then Philip opened his mouth, and beginning with this Scripture he told him the good news about Jesus” (Acts 8:35). The episode ends with Philip baptizing the man, and thus the older hymn was often sung at baptism services.

The Edwin Hawkins Singers began as a church youth choir in Northern California, founded by Edwin Hawkins and Betty Watson. Give it a listen and see if it doesn’t give your heart a lift today.

Enjoy a Sparkling Vintage Sunday!