"Away in a Manger" (though probably not one you know)


I found this version of "Away in a Manger" by J. E. Spillman in a book called "Christmas Music Collection." I was familiar with the traditional English version by William J. Kirkpatrick (see video below), the traditional American version by James R Murray, and a variation of Murray's version by Charles Gabriel (Latter Day Saints know Kirkpatrick's version as the one in the hymnbook and Gabriel's version as the one in the primary book). I had never heard this one before, though it's been around just as long as the others. You can find countless recordings of all of those versions, but a Google "Search a Song" yielded only two recordings of this one - one by a group called The Statler Bros in 1978 and one by Andy Williams in 1963. I've found one other version with opera singer Frederica von Stade singing one verse of Spillman's tune followed by Kathleen Battle coming in with the 2nd verse of Murray's tune. Needless to say, it's not super well known, and I think it should be. It's a good tune!

Kirkpatrick's version arranged and played by Richard Walters

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