A Long Time

In the early 1970s, Ella Jenkins released A Long Time, an album made for all ages but geared toward adult listeners. In the album, she adapts long-established, historically significant Black gospel songs, spirituals, and blues songs collected from the churches, jukeboxes, and record stores of her youth. Songs including "I'm Gonna Tell God All My Troubles" and "How High's the Water" reflect her active role in the ongoing struggle for Black liberation in mid-century America. Joining Ella are her accompanists Brother John Sellers, who learned to sing in churches and collaborated with Northern blues legends, and Joseph Brewer, who enjoyed a career participating in world-famous symphonies and operas, representing the changing makeup of traditionally exclusionary musical spaces.

Track Listing

101	The Wilderness	Ella Jenkins	03:21
102	I'm Gonna Tell God All My Troubles	Ella Jenkins	03:24
103	Heaven	Ella Jenkins	02:30
104	When the Roll is Called Up Yonder	Ella Jenkins	02:50
105	Tol' My Captain	Ella Jenkins	02:48
106	I'm Gonna Ride This Train	Ella Jenkins	03:54
107	Jimbo	Ella Jenkins	02:13
108	Another Man Done Gone	Ella Jenkins	01:58
201	Soft Pedal Blues	Ella Jenkins	03:15
202	Po' Man's Blues	Ella Jenkins	03:01
203	A Friendly Loan	Ella Jenkins	02:38
204	How High's the Water	Ella Jenkins	01:24
205	An Old Lady and Her Horse	Ella Jenkins	02:56
206	If You Ever Get Down	Ella Jenkins	02:58
207	Freedom's Coming Mighty Soon	Ella Jenkins	02:44
208	A Long Time	Ella Jenkins	03:29