"Old-Time Religion" is a traditional Gospel song dating from 1873, when it was included in a list of Jubilee songs—or earlier. It has become a standard in many Protestant hymnals, though it says nothing about Jesus or the gospel, and covered by many artists. Some scholars, such as Forrest Mason McCann, have asserted the possibility of an earlier stage of evolution of the song, in that "the tune may go back to English folk origins". In any event, it was by way of Charles Davis Tillman that the song had incalculable influence on the confluence of black spiritual and white gospel song traditions in forming the genre now known as southern gospel. Tillman was largely responsible for publishing the song into the repertoire of white audiences. It was first heard sung by African-Americans and written down by Tillman when he attended a camp meeting in Lexington, South Carolina in 1889.
Lyrics
Most common lyrics performed are a repetition of the chorus: The lyrics, however, as sung by the Fisk Jubilee Singers are: Following Tillman's nuanced changes that accommodated the song more toward the tastes of white southern church congregations, Elmer Leon Jorgenson and other editors preferred the more-formalized first line "'Tis the old-time religion".
The SATB musical arrangement popularized in the hymnals published by Charles Davis Tillman is the background song in the 1941 filmSergeant York. It is featured prominently in the film Inherit the Wind. It also appears in Russ Meyer's penultimate movie Beneath the Valley of the Ultra-Vixens and in HBO's Carnivàle.
A popular version of "Old Time Religion" was done by The Caravans in 1954 with a young James Cleveland singing lead. Vocals in the group also included Cassietta George, Albertina Walker, Louise McDowell and Johneron Davis. This version introduced a different, lively upbeat and a new chorus all its own:
British folk busking duo The Brotherhood recorded a lively version of this song on their 1966 album "Singin' 'n' Sole-In"
American experimental band The Residents recorded a lively version of this song during their 1999 "Wormwood" tour.
This song is referenced in Captain Beefheart's song "Moonlight on Vermont" on his 1969 album Trout Mask Replica. Numerous parodic filk verses for "Old-Time Religion" exist, some of the earliest of which were composed by Gordon R. Dickson and made famous by Arlo Guthrie and Pete Seeger in live performances and on their live albumPrecious Friend. The parody verses make reference to a very wide range of "old-time religions" that most Christians would consider pagan.
The song is also sung in The Last Waltz by Robbie Robertson, Rick Danko and Richard Manuel. Robbie finishes the scene, laughing, saying "Well it's not what it used to be" before The Band plays "The Night They Drove Ole Dixie Down."
Bob Dylan references the song in his 2020 song "Goodbye Jimmy Reed," which contains the lyric, "Give me that old time religion, it's just what I need."
