Oscar C. Eliason
Encyclopedia
Oscar C. Eliason was a Swedish American clergyman, who served as a pastor and evangelist
in the Assemblies of God
, and was a prolific poet and composer, who composed over 50 hymns and gospel songs, including A Name I Highly Treasure and the popular Got Any Rivers, which influenced another song, God Specializes, commonly regarded as one of the foundational songs of the traditional gospel genre
.
, Sweden
, the oldest son of John and Alma Johnson Eliasson, and the brother of Esther Hildegard Eliason Anderson (1899–1966), Paul Pater Eliason (born about 1906 in Sweden; died of tuberculosis in 1929 in Minneapolis, Minnesota
). and Earl F. Eliason (born about 1908 in Minnesota). Eliason migrated to the USA with his mother, sister and younger brother, Paul, departing Christiana, Norway on 3 July 1908 as a passenger on the Scandinavian American Line's C.F. Tietgen, arriving on 14 July 1908 at Ellis Island
, before traveling to Minnesota to join his father, who had migrated in 1906, where he homesteaded
a property on Johnson Road, Cook, Minnesota
, a lumber town located 95 miles north of Duluth, Minnesota
, The Eliason family became members of the Swedish Baptist Church in Cook, Minnesota
, which had been established on land donated by the Olson family in 1907. Eliason attended the local one room schoolhouse, where he also learned to speak English, although with an accent that hinted at his Swedish birth. Eliason and his other family members became naturalized US citizens in 1915.
in Minneapolis, and graduated in 1929. Soon after Eliason and his brother Paul were diagnosed with tuberculosis
, which resulted in their hospitalization at the Glen Lake Sanatorium in Minneapolis, Minnesota
.
After the death of Paul on 16 June 1929, and the collapse of Eliason's right lung, Eliason was "very depressed and discouraged". After reading accounts of healing in the Pentecostal Evangel, Eliason requested prayer. Eliason credits his healing from tuberculosis to the prayers of a visiting Presbyterian minister. In 1964 Eliason recalled his healing:
After his healing, Eliason served as an evangelist
and itinerant preacher in the Iron Range
area of Minnesota. On 3 October 1936 Eliason married Norma Olson (born about 1911). Among their children were Rev. Victor Carl Eliason
(born 14 May 1936 in Fort Dodge, Iowa), a conservative Christian television evangelist, and another son, Verner Paul Eliason (born January 10, 1942 at their home in Cook, Minnesota).
After their marriage Eliason and his wife, Norma, started and co-pastored an Assembly of God church in Huron, South Dakota
, and another in Virginia, Minnesota
, that affiliated with the Assembly of God denomination in January 1940. Later the Eliasons pastored an Assembly of God church at Fort Dodge, Iowa
, before traveling as itinerant music evangelists. When his health forced him to abandon this ministry, Eliason worked as a piano tuner.
Eliason died on 1 March 1985 in Cook, Minnesota.
called originally "At Your Service: The Panama Gang", that was published as early as 1912, and later as "Ready!". It became "a song that built the Panama Canal
, an enthusiastic song that workmen sang everywhere with vim and punch", Braley's poem was widely disseminated and was published in 1914's A Course in Citizenship, a textbook used in the first year in hundreds of American elementary school
s. In 1925 the chorus was included as "Song of the Panama Builders" in Lettie Burd Cowman's popular Christian devotional classic Streams in the Desert. During the Great Depression
, a triumphalistic
anthropocentric version of the song, with the example of the Panama Canal miners cited, was being sung by the delegates at the PCUSA Assembly in 1931: "We specialize on the wholly impossible/ Doing things that no one can do".
In Spring 1931, "as he was getting better he saw an adv[ertisement] in the Minneapolis Star Tribune by a construction company that used the slogan". While acknowledging his indebtedness to the original song, Eliason believed that "only God can say that!" Eliason recalled:
The first two lines of Eliason's chorus were identical to lines in the second stanza of Braley's original. While in Braley's poem the next two lines were: "We make a specialty of the wholly impossible/ Doing things "nobody ever could do'", Eliason changed them to: "God specializes in things tho't impossible;/ He does the things others cannot do." Eliason first performed Got Any Rivers at a home in North Minneapolis in Summer 1931. Two women who performed as the Harmony Twins soon began to sing the song and helped spread it as they traveled from church to church.
As Eliason's chorus spread initially by word of mouth, it was altered in various ways, including the addition of verses not written by Eliason, and inclusion in medley
s that convinced many that these were the original verses. By the time Eliason first published the chorus in 1942, various versions of the chorus existed. Consequently, Eliason copyrighted the version that changed the last line to: "And He can do what no other power can do" as it was the best-known, and assigned it to Singspiration Music
, where it soon appeared in 1942's Youth for Christ Hymnal. "Got Any Rivers" was sung frequently in Youth For Christ
's crusades and rallies.
By February 1943 Eliason's chorus was reported as being popular with Australian troops in Greece and Libya, and was performed in outback Australia. During World War II United States Army Air Corps
pilot Lt. Richard L. "Dick" Knautz (born 8 May 1920 in Oregon; died 7 May 1943 in Glenn, California
), a former student of the Bob Jones College
, then located in Cleveland, Tennessee
, accidentally broadcast himself singing the song while flying over Stockton, California
air field, leading to the conversion of five young men. After Knautz's death in an airplane accident in his Vultee BT-13 Valiant while training another pilot over Chico, California
, the incident was publicized at the The Gideons
convention in Modesto, California
in June 1944, reprinted in The Gideon magagine in September 1944, resulting in its reprinting in other religious magazines, including The Pentecostal Evangel in November 1944.
Eliason received orders "from practically every state in the union for the chorus, and some asked for the “whole song;” They were thinking it had verses, This was what finally inspired me to add its verses". With the encouragement of his wife, Norma, Eliason wrote three verses for the song based on the story of Joshua
and the crossing of the Jordan River and the conquest of Jericho
, which were dedicated to the mother of Dick Knautz. Eliason recalled thart "I was asked to tell the story, and Mrs. Eliason was asked to sing the song at Phil Kerr’s Monday musical, in the spring of 1955 in the Civic Auditorium in Pasadena, California
, after which we were asked to tell the story and sing the song in seven different denominational churches".
"Got Any Rivers" is included in several hymnals and songbooks, including:
In 1958 Mahalia Jackson
released this song as the single "Have You Any Rivers?" through Columbia Records
(Columbia 41258) and also in Australia through Coronet Records
(KS-283 Others who recorded this song included:
. "God Specializes" was recorded in July 1958 as the first single of The Roberta Martin Singers
(with Gloria Griffin singing lead) released by Savoy Records
(Savoy 4103) in October 1958. Among those who also recorded this song was James Cleveland
and the Cleveland Singers (Savoy MG-14265). American opera
tic soprano
Leontyne Price
indicates that her first solo was singing "God Specializes" as a member of the Young Adult Choir at the Beulah Baptist church in Elmwood, Illinois
. Also in 1958 Rev. F.L. Johnson & the Young Adult and Senior Choirs released a version on E.L. Thomas' new Chicago-based Pink Cloud Records (Pink Clouds 225).
music publisher Haldor Lillenas
, bought Eliason's song "A Name I Highly Treasure" in 1946 for $400 and published it in several Nazarene song books and hymnals. Cliff Barrows
and the Billy Graham Crusade Choir
sang “A Name I Highly Treasure” at a Billy Graham
crusade in Minneapolis attended by Eliason. According to his granddaughter, "It was a thrill for him to hear the song “A Name I Highly Treasure” sung by that huge choir."
Among those who have recorded this song are:
"A Name I Highly Treasure" is included in the following hymnals and songbooks:
.
Evangelist
-Religion:*one of the Four Evangelists, the authors of the canonical Christian Gospels in the New Testament*a Christian who explains his or her beliefs to a non-Christian and thereby participates in Evangelism...
in the Assemblies of God
Assemblies of God
The Assemblies of God , officially the World Assemblies of God Fellowship, is a group of over 140 autonomous but loosely-associated national groupings of churches which together form the world's largest Pentecostal denomination...
, and was a prolific poet and composer, who composed over 50 hymns and gospel songs, including A Name I Highly Treasure and the popular Got Any Rivers, which influenced another song, God Specializes, commonly regarded as one of the foundational songs of the traditional gospel genre
Gospel music
Gospel music is music that is written to express either personal, spiritual or a communal belief regarding Christian life, as well as to give a Christian alternative to mainstream secular music....
.
Background
Oscar Carl Eliason was born in Nössemark, DalslandDalsland
Dalsland is a Swedish traditional province, or landskap, situated in Götaland in southern Sweden. Lying to the west of Lake Vänern, it is bordered by Värmland to the north, Västergötland to the southeast, Bohuslän to the west, and Norway to the northwest....
, Sweden
Sweden
Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....
, the oldest son of John and Alma Johnson Eliasson, and the brother of Esther Hildegard Eliason Anderson (1899–1966), Paul Pater Eliason (born about 1906 in Sweden; died of tuberculosis in 1929 in Minneapolis, Minnesota
Minneapolis, Minnesota
Minneapolis , nicknamed "City of Lakes" and the "Mill City," is the county seat of Hennepin County, the largest city in the U.S. state of Minnesota, and the 48th largest in the United States...
). and Earl F. Eliason (born about 1908 in Minnesota). Eliason migrated to the USA with his mother, sister and younger brother, Paul, departing Christiana, Norway on 3 July 1908 as a passenger on the Scandinavian American Line's C.F. Tietgen, arriving on 14 July 1908 at Ellis Island
Ellis Island
Ellis Island in New York Harbor was the gateway for millions of immigrants to the United States. It was the nation's busiest immigrant inspection station from 1892 until 1954. The island was greatly expanded with landfill between 1892 and 1934. Before that, the much smaller original island was the...
, before traveling to Minnesota to join his father, who had migrated in 1906, where he homesteaded
Homestead Act
A homestead act is one of three United States federal laws that gave an applicant freehold title to an area called a "homestead" – typically 160 acres of undeveloped federal land west of the Mississippi River....
a property on Johnson Road, Cook, Minnesota
Cook, Minnesota
Cook is a city in Saint Louis County, Minnesota, United States. The population was 574 at the 2010 census.U.S. Highway 53 and Minnesota Highway 1 are two of the main arterial routes in the community....
, a lumber town located 95 miles north of Duluth, Minnesota
Duluth, Minnesota
Duluth is a port city in the U.S. state of Minnesota and is the county seat of Saint Louis County. The fourth largest city in Minnesota, Duluth had a total population of 86,265 in the 2010 census. Duluth is also the second largest city that is located on Lake Superior after Thunder Bay, Ontario,...
, The Eliason family became members of the Swedish Baptist Church in Cook, Minnesota
Cook, Minnesota
Cook is a city in Saint Louis County, Minnesota, United States. The population was 574 at the 2010 census.U.S. Highway 53 and Minnesota Highway 1 are two of the main arterial routes in the community....
, which had been established on land donated by the Olson family in 1907. Eliason attended the local one room schoolhouse, where he also learned to speak English, although with an accent that hinted at his Swedish birth. Eliason and his other family members became naturalized US citizens in 1915.
Career
Eliason attended the Northwestern Bible and Missionary Training SchoolNorthwestern College (Minnesota)
Northwestern College is a private Christian college located in Roseville, Minnesota, and is accredited by the North Central Association of Colleges and Schools. Established in 1902 as Northwestern Bible and Missionary Training School by Dr...
in Minneapolis, and graduated in 1929. Soon after Eliason and his brother Paul were diagnosed with tuberculosis
Tuberculosis
Tuberculosis, MTB, or TB is a common, and in many cases lethal, infectious disease caused by various strains of mycobacteria, usually Mycobacterium tuberculosis. Tuberculosis usually attacks the lungs but can also affect other parts of the body...
, which resulted in their hospitalization at the Glen Lake Sanatorium in Minneapolis, Minnesota
Minneapolis, Minnesota
Minneapolis , nicknamed "City of Lakes" and the "Mill City," is the county seat of Hennepin County, the largest city in the U.S. state of Minnesota, and the 48th largest in the United States...
.
After the death of Paul on 16 June 1929, and the collapse of Eliason's right lung, Eliason was "very depressed and discouraged". After reading accounts of healing in the Pentecostal Evangel, Eliason requested prayer. Eliason credits his healing from tuberculosis to the prayers of a visiting Presbyterian minister. In 1964 Eliason recalled his healing:
During the summer of 1929, after graduating from the Northwestern Bible and Missionary Training SchoolNorthwestern College (Minnesota)Northwestern College is a private Christian college located in Roseville, Minnesota, and is accredited by the North Central Association of Colleges and Schools. Established in 1902 as Northwestern Bible and Missionary Training School by Dr...
in Minneapolis, I went through some severe testings. My brother passed away, and I, also, became seriously ill and was not expecting to live. During the time that I was attending Northwestern, I had learned to know a Presbyterian minister,- C.K. Ingersol who had great faith in God, especially in praying for the sick. Although the pastor of the First Baptist Church, Dr. W.B. RileyWilliam Bell RileyWilliam Bell Riley was known as "The Grand Old Man of Fundamentalism." After being educated at normal school in Valparaiso, Indiana, Riley received his teacher's certificate. After teaching in county schools, he attended college in Hanover, Indiana, where he received an A.B. degree in 1885...
, felt that he, himself, was not gifted along the line of praying for the sick, he knew that prayer for the sick, also, was the duty of the church, and has been neglected down through these last centuries. Therefore, he had asked brother Ingersol to conduct these services every Sunday afternoon in room 118, - one of the Sunday School rooms at the church, and many were the answers to prayer in that room. I had also been reading a paper about answered prayers in many places, and on my sickbed I felt led to send word to brother Ingersol to come and pray for me. The result was that I was healed of tuberculosis.
After his healing, Eliason served as an evangelist
Evangelist
-Religion:*one of the Four Evangelists, the authors of the canonical Christian Gospels in the New Testament*a Christian who explains his or her beliefs to a non-Christian and thereby participates in Evangelism...
and itinerant preacher in the Iron Range
Iron Range
The Iron Range is a region that makes up the northeastern section of Minnesota in the United States. "The Range", as it is known by locals, is a region with multiple distinct bands of iron ore...
area of Minnesota. On 3 October 1936 Eliason married Norma Olson (born about 1911). Among their children were Rev. Victor Carl Eliason
Vic Eliason
Victor "Vic" Carl Eliason is an American evangelical clergyman who is the founder and a prominent on air personality of the VCY America Radio Network, a conservative Christian broadcasting ministry, based in Milwaukee.-Early life:...
(born 14 May 1936 in Fort Dodge, Iowa), a conservative Christian television evangelist, and another son, Verner Paul Eliason (born January 10, 1942 at their home in Cook, Minnesota).
After their marriage Eliason and his wife, Norma, started and co-pastored an Assembly of God church in Huron, South Dakota
Huron, South Dakota
Huron is a city in Beadle County, South Dakota, United States. The population was 12,592 at the 2010 census. It is the county seat of Beadle County. Huron was the home of now-defunct Huron University since 1897. Huron is also the home of the South Dakota State Fair...
, and another in Virginia, Minnesota
Virginia, Minnesota
As of the census of 2000, there were 9,157 people, 4,333 households, and 2,270 families residing in the city. The population density was 486.1 people per square mile . There were 4,692 housing units at an average density of 249.1 per square mile...
, that affiliated with the Assembly of God denomination in January 1940. Later the Eliasons pastored an Assembly of God church at Fort Dodge, Iowa
Fort Dodge, Iowa
Fort Dodge is a city and county seat of Webster County, Iowa, United States, along the Des Moines River. The population was 25,206 in the 2010 census, an increase from 25,136 in the 2000 census. Fort Dodge is a major commercial center for North Central and Northwest Iowa. It is located on U.S...
, before traveling as itinerant music evangelists. When his health forced him to abandon this ministry, Eliason worked as a piano tuner.
Eliason died on 1 March 1985 in Cook, Minnesota.
Hymns
While still a student at the Northwestern Bible and Missionary Training School, Eliason began to write Gospel songs, a practice he continued until old age at the old upright piano in his living room. Eliason was a prolific hymn writer, but his two best-known compositions were Got Any Rivers and A Name I Highly Treasure, which have been included in several hymnals and song books. Other hymns include Soon Jesus Will Come (1958), Wonderful Place of Prayer(1960); "I Fancied I Was in Heaven (1961); "O Why Will Ye Die?" (1961); "Waters of Peace"; "Make My Heart Into a Heaven" (1961); God's Truth Still Marches On, published in Singspiration 11 (1962); and "Good-bye" (1967). Eliason also translated Egon Zandelin's song "Just Believe" from Swedish to English in 1965.”Got Any Rivers” (1931)
One of Eliason's best-known compositions is the song "Got Any Rivers", which is also known commonly as "God Satisfies". The chorus was based on part of a poem by Berton BraleyBerton Braley
Berton Braley was an American poet. He was born in Madison, Wisconsin. His father, Arthur B. Braley, was a judge; he died when Berton Braley was seven years old. At 16, Braley quit high school and got a job working as a factory hand at a plow plant.After a few years, Braley went back to school and...
called originally "At Your Service: The Panama Gang", that was published as early as 1912, and later as "Ready!". It became "a song that built the Panama Canal
Panama Canal
The Panama Canal is a ship canal in Panama that joins the Atlantic Ocean and the Pacific Ocean and is a key conduit for international maritime trade. Built from 1904 to 1914, the canal has seen annual traffic rise from about 1,000 ships early on to 14,702 vessels measuring a total of 309.6...
, an enthusiastic song that workmen sang everywhere with vim and punch", Braley's poem was widely disseminated and was published in 1914's A Course in Citizenship, a textbook used in the first year in hundreds of American elementary school
Elementary school
An elementary school or primary school is an institution where children receive the first stage of compulsory education known as elementary or primary education. Elementary school is the preferred term in some countries, particularly those in North America, where the terms grade school and grammar...
s. In 1925 the chorus was included as "Song of the Panama Builders" in Lettie Burd Cowman's popular Christian devotional classic Streams in the Desert. During the Great Depression
Great Depression
The Great Depression was a severe worldwide economic depression in the decade preceding World War II. The timing of the Great Depression varied across nations, but in most countries it started in about 1929 and lasted until the late 1930s or early 1940s...
, a triumphalistic
Triumphalism
Triumphalism is the attitude or belief that a particular doctrine, religion, culture, or social system is superior to and should triumph over all others...
anthropocentric version of the song, with the example of the Panama Canal miners cited, was being sung by the delegates at the PCUSA Assembly in 1931: "We specialize on the wholly impossible/ Doing things that no one can do".
In Spring 1931, "as he was getting better he saw an adv[ertisement] in the Minneapolis Star Tribune by a construction company that used the slogan". While acknowledging his indebtedness to the original song, Eliason believed that "only God can say that!" Eliason recalled:
"The words of the chorus of this song, although slightly different, originally was a slogan, used by the Construction Company which dug the Panama CanalPanama CanalThe Panama Canal is a ship canal in Panama that joins the Atlantic Ocean and the Pacific Ocean and is a key conduit for international maritime trade. Built from 1904 to 1914, the canal has seen annual traffic rise from about 1,000 ships early on to 14,702 vessels measuring a total of 309.6...
. The word "God" was not there, but the word "we" was in its place. ... After the healing took place, I felt led to make a slight change in the slogan and write music for it, making it into a gospel chorus. This I did, and it seemed that it was God’s plan. I introduced it in North Minneapolis, and in a short while, the chorus was sung all over the English speaking world. So far, it had no verses."
The first two lines of Eliason's chorus were identical to lines in the second stanza of Braley's original. While in Braley's poem the next two lines were: "We make a specialty of the wholly impossible/ Doing things "nobody ever could do'", Eliason changed them to: "God specializes in things tho't impossible;/ He does the things others cannot do." Eliason first performed Got Any Rivers at a home in North Minneapolis in Summer 1931. Two women who performed as the Harmony Twins soon began to sing the song and helped spread it as they traveled from church to church.
As Eliason's chorus spread initially by word of mouth, it was altered in various ways, including the addition of verses not written by Eliason, and inclusion in medley
Medley
-Sports:*Medley swimming, races requiring multiple swimming styles*Medley relay races at track meets-Music:*Medley , multiple pieces strung together*"Medley" -People:...
s that convinced many that these were the original verses. By the time Eliason first published the chorus in 1942, various versions of the chorus existed. Consequently, Eliason copyrighted the version that changed the last line to: "And He can do what no other power can do" as it was the best-known, and assigned it to Singspiration Music
Zondervan
Zondervan is an international Christian media and publishing company located in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Zondervan is a founding member of the Evangelical Christian Publishers Association .- History :...
, where it soon appeared in 1942's Youth for Christ Hymnal. "Got Any Rivers" was sung frequently in Youth For Christ
Youth for Christ
Youth for Christ is the name of a number of previously unaffiliated evangelical Protestant religious campaigns which led to the creation of Youth for Christ International in 1946....
's crusades and rallies.
By February 1943 Eliason's chorus was reported as being popular with Australian troops in Greece and Libya, and was performed in outback Australia. During World War II United States Army Air Corps
United States Army Air Corps
The United States Army Air Corps was a forerunner of the United States Air Force. Renamed from the Air Service on 2 July 1926, it was part of the United States Army and the predecessor of the United States Army Air Forces , established in 1941...
pilot Lt. Richard L. "Dick" Knautz (born 8 May 1920 in Oregon; died 7 May 1943 in Glenn, California
Glenn, California
Glenn is an unincorporated community in Glenn County, California. It lies at an elevation of 98 feet .. The town is located on the Sacramento River, at the intersection of State Route 45 and State Route 162. It is about ten miles east of Interstate 5 and Willows on the U.S. Geological Survey...
), a former student of the Bob Jones College
Bob Jones University
Bob Jones University is a private, for-profit, non-denominational Protestant university in Greenville, South Carolina.The university was founded in 1927 by Bob Jones, Sr. , an evangelist and contemporary of Billy Sunday...
, then located in Cleveland, Tennessee
Cleveland, Tennessee
Cleveland is a city in Bradley County, Tennessee, United States. The population was 41,285 at the 2010 census. It is the county seat of Bradley County...
, accidentally broadcast himself singing the song while flying over Stockton, California
Stockton, California
Stockton, California, the seat of San Joaquin County, is the fourth-largest city in the Central Valley of the U.S. state of California. With a population of 291,707 at the 2010 census, Stockton ranks as this state's 13th largest city...
air field, leading to the conversion of five young men. After Knautz's death in an airplane accident in his Vultee BT-13 Valiant while training another pilot over Chico, California
Chico, California
Chico is the most populous city in Butte County, California, United States. The population was 86,187 at the 2010 census, up from 59,954 at the time of the 2000 census...
, the incident was publicized at the The Gideons
Gideons International
Gideons International is an evangelical Christian organization dedicated to distributing copies of the Bible in over 94 languages and 194 countries of the world, most famously in hotel and motel rooms. The organization was founded in 1899 in Janesville, Wisconsin, as an early American parachurch...
convention in Modesto, California
Modesto, California
Modesto is a city in, and is the county seat of, Stanislaus County, California. With a population of approximately 201,165 at the 2010 census, Modesto ranks as the 18th largest city in the state of California....
in June 1944, reprinted in The Gideon magagine in September 1944, resulting in its reprinting in other religious magazines, including The Pentecostal Evangel in November 1944.
Eliason received orders "from practically every state in the union for the chorus, and some asked for the “whole song;” They were thinking it had verses, This was what finally inspired me to add its verses". With the encouragement of his wife, Norma, Eliason wrote three verses for the song based on the story of Joshua
Joshua
Joshua , is a minor figure in the Torah, being one of the spies for Israel and in few passages as Moses's assistant. He turns to be the central character in the Hebrew Bible's Book of Joshua...
and the crossing of the Jordan River and the conquest of Jericho
Jericho
Jericho ; is a city located near the Jordan River in the West Bank of the Palestinian territories. It is the capital of the Jericho Governorate and has a population of more than 20,000. Situated well below sea level on an east-west route north of the Dead Sea, Jericho is the lowest permanently...
, which were dedicated to the mother of Dick Knautz. Eliason recalled thart "I was asked to tell the story, and Mrs. Eliason was asked to sing the song at Phil Kerr’s Monday musical, in the spring of 1955 in the Civic Auditorium in Pasadena, California
Pasadena Conference Center
The Pasadena Conference Center is a convention center in Pasadena, California, near Los Angeles, owned by the City of Pasadena. It consists of three buildings.-Pasadena Civic Auditorium:...
, after which we were asked to tell the story and sing the song in seven different denominational churches".
"Got Any Rivers" is included in several hymnals and songbooks, including:
- Singspiration No. 4: Gospel Songs and Choruses (1945),;
- Choruses of Calvary (1952)
- Foursquare Hymnal (1957)
- Country & Western Gospel Hymnal - Vol. 2 (Brentwood Benson, 1980),
- Master Chorus Book (Lillenas, 1988), which sold more than a million copies.
- Praise! Our Songs and Hymns (Brentwood Benson, 1992),
- Great Gospels Songs and Hymns (1992),
In 1958 Mahalia Jackson
Mahalia Jackson
Mahalia Jackson – January 27, 1972) was an African-American gospel singer. Possessing a powerful contralto voice, she was referred to as "The Queen of Gospel"...
released this song as the single "Have You Any Rivers?" through Columbia Records
Columbia Records
Columbia Records is an American record label, owned by Japan's Sony Music Entertainment, operating under the Columbia Music Group with Aware Records. It was founded in 1888, evolving from an earlier enterprise, the American Graphophone Company — successor to the Volta Graphophone Company...
(Columbia 41258) and also in Australia through Coronet Records
Coronet Records
Coronet Records was a record label in Australia, based in Sydney, NSW. The label that operated from the early 1950s until around 1960 was recognizable by its famous octagonal label....
(KS-283 Others who recorded this song included:
- Jimmy SwaggartJimmy SwaggartJimmy Lee Swaggart is a Pentecostal American pastor, teacher, musician, television host, and televangelist. He has preached to crowds around the world through his weekly telecast...
- It Matters To Him About You (1990) (Jim Records 02-155)
"God Specializes" (1958)
Eliason's chorus was incorporated into the song God Specializes, with some additional words and a new tune both written by Gloria Griffin, and arranged by Roberta MartinRoberta Martin
Roberta Martin was an American gospel composer, singer, pianist, arranger and choral organizer, helped launch the careers of many other gospel artists through her group, The Roberta Martin Singers.-Early years:...
. "God Specializes" was recorded in July 1958 as the first single of The Roberta Martin Singers
The Roberta Martin Singers
-Career:The Roberta Martin Singers were an African-American gospel group based in the United States. The group was founded in 1933 by Roberta Martin, who in that same year had just become acquainted with the then new trend of Christian music known as gospel, which was different than the traditional...
(with Gloria Griffin singing lead) released by Savoy Records
Savoy Records
Savoy Records is an American record label specializing in jazz, R&B and gospel. Starting in the mid 1940s, Savoy played an important part in popularizing bebop.Savoy Records is an American record label specializing in jazz, R&B and gospel. Starting in the mid 1940s, Savoy played an important part...
(Savoy 4103) in October 1958. Among those who also recorded this song was James Cleveland
James Cleveland
The Reverend Dr. James Cleveland was a gospel singer, arranger, composer and, most significantly, the driving force behind the creation of the modern gospel sound, bringing the stylistic daring of hard gospel and jazz and pop music influences to arrangements for mass choirs...
and the Cleveland Singers (Savoy MG-14265). American opera
Opera
Opera is an art form in which singers and musicians perform a dramatic work combining text and musical score, usually in a theatrical setting. Opera incorporates many of the elements of spoken theatre, such as acting, scenery, and costumes and sometimes includes dance...
tic soprano
Soprano
A soprano is a voice type with a vocal range from approximately middle C to "high A" in choral music, or to "soprano C" or higher in operatic music. In four-part chorale style harmony, the soprano takes the highest part, which usually encompasses the melody...
Leontyne Price
Leontyne Price
Mary Violet Leontyne Price is an American soprano. Born and raised in the Deep South, she rose to international acclaim in the 1950s and 1960s, and was one of the first African Americans to become a leading artist at the Metropolitan Opera.One critic characterized Price's voice as "vibrant",...
indicates that her first solo was singing "God Specializes" as a member of the Young Adult Choir at the Beulah Baptist church in Elmwood, Illinois
Elmwood, Illinois
Elmwood is a city in Peoria County, Illinois, United States. The population was 1,945 at the 2000 census. Elmwood is part of the Peoria, Illinois Metropolitan Statistical Area...
. Also in 1958 Rev. F.L. Johnson & the Young Adult and Senior Choirs released a version on E.L. Thomas' new Chicago-based Pink Cloud Records (Pink Clouds 225).
”A Name I Highly Treasure” (1946)
One of Eliason's friends, NazareneChurch of the Nazarene
The Church of the Nazarene is an evangelical Christian denomination that emerged from the 19th century Holiness movement in North America with its members colloquially referred to as Nazarenes. It is the largest Wesleyan-holiness denomination in the world. At the end of 2010, the Church of the...
music publisher Haldor Lillenas
Haldor Lillenas
Haldor Lillenas was "one of the most important twentieth-century gospel hymn writers and publishers" and is regarded as "the most influential Wesleyan / Holiness songwriter and publisher in the 20th century"...
, bought Eliason's song "A Name I Highly Treasure" in 1946 for $400 and published it in several Nazarene song books and hymnals. Cliff Barrows
Cliff Barrows
Clifford Burton Barrows is the longtime music and program director for the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association. He has been a part of the Graham organization since 1949...
and the Billy Graham Crusade Choir
Billy Graham Evangelistic Association
The Billy Graham Evangelistic Association is an organization started by Billy Graham in 1950. The main focus of the BGEA is to spread the gospel of Jesus Christ to as many people as possible...
sang “A Name I Highly Treasure” at a Billy Graham
Billy Graham
William Franklin "Billy" Graham, Jr. is an American evangelical Christian evangelist. As of April 25, 2010, when he met with Barack Obama, Graham has spent personal time with twelve United States Presidents dating back to Harry S. Truman, and is number seven on Gallup's list of admired people for...
crusade in Minneapolis attended by Eliason. According to his granddaughter, "It was a thrill for him to hear the song “A Name I Highly Treasure” sung by that huge choir."
Among those who have recorded this song are:
- Northlanders of Sweden - Sacred Songs by the Northlanders of Sweden (Christian Faith/ Alma Records NS-1241);
- Earle Anderson with Rudy Atwood & Ralph Carmichael String QuartetRalph CarmichaelRalph Carmichael is a composer and arranger of both secular pop music and contemporary Christian music, being regarded as one of the pioneers of the latter genre...
- Earle Anderson, Baritone (Alma Records EA-4075; Christian Faith 285); - Sherrill NielsenThe ImperialsThe Imperials are an American Christian music group that has been around for over 45 years. Originating as a southern gospel quartet, the innovative group would become pioneers of contemporary Christian music in the 1960s. There have been many changes for the band in membership and musical styles...
- A Name I Highly Treasure (1957). - Paul McNutt with Rudy Atwood & Lorin Whitney - Paul McNutt, Baritone (1958) (Alma Records PM-7083; Christian Faith 291);
- The Hawaiians - The Hawaiians (1973) (TempoTempo Records (US)Tempo Records was a mid-20th century United States based record label, headquartered in Hollywood, California. It was run by Irving B. Fogel. Tempo bridged the 78 rpm and 33-1/3 rpm generations, releasing discs in both formats...
R7054); - Bonnie Lee [Lamb] - I've Learned to Know A Name I Highly Treasure (West Minist'r Sound LP S 261-02 LP).
"A Name I Highly Treasure" is included in the following hymnals and songbooks:
- Singspiration Vol. 6 (Zondervan, 1951);
- Songs that Touch the Heart Vol. 2 (Singspiration/ Zondervan 1954);
- Chorus Choir Voices No. 2 (Lillenas, 1957);
- Special Songs for Special Singers Number 2 (Benson, 1958);
- Worship in Song (Lillenas, 1972);
- Sing to the Lord (Lillenas, 1993)
Poetry
Eliason was a prolific poet. Included among his poems are "A Voice From Hell" and "The Modernist Preacher Entering Hell," which criticized ministers who preached liberal ChristianityLiberal Christianity
Liberal Christianity, sometimes called liberal theology, is an umbrella term covering diverse, philosophically and biblically informed religious movements and ideas within Christianity from the late 18th century and onward...
.
Further reading
- Braley, Berton. "Ready!". In Songs of the Workaday World. New York: G.H. Doran, 1915. Page 41.
- Gohr, Glenn. "Got Any Rivers: The Story of an Insprational Song". Assemblies of God Heritage 16:4 (Winter 1996/1997):9-11, 26. http://ifphc.org/pdf//Heritage/1996_04.pdf
- Wasson, D. DeWitt. Hymntune Index and Related Hymn Materials. Vol. 1. Scarecrow Press, 1998.