Song of the Day 4/9: The Swan Silvertones, “Oh Mary Don’t You Weep”

The Swan Silvertones were one of the seminal gospel groups of the 1940s and ’50s. “Oh Mary Don’t You Weep” dates from antebellum times, when slaves sang spirituals with coded messages of hope for freedom.

Claude Jeter’s ad-lib, “I’ll be your bridge over deep water if you trust in my name,” inspired Paul Simon’s “Bridge Over Troubled Water.”