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Bishop Perry Tillis Lyrics

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Johnm:
Hi all,
Someone posted a video of Bishop Perry Tillis on the site a while ago, and I have been intending to return to him and his music ever since then.  He was from Alabama and played everything that I have heard from him in Vestapol tuning with a slide.  His playing is exemplified by a searing tone on his electric guitar and incredible, heavy time.  He has one of the most powerful backbeats of any player I have heard.  Musically, "Too Close" reminds me of Peg Leg Howell's "Please, Ma'am", not so much in it's sound or feeling, but in the sense that it is a kind of musical run-on sentence, without any verses or recurring structure.  I've made no attempt to indicate the relative lengths of time allotted to the different lines, for the interplay between voice and guitar is so complex that it would be next to impossible to capture it without a complete transcription of both parts.  Here is Bishop Perry Tillis' "Too Close":



I'm too close to my journey's end
I'm too close to turn back into a world of sin
Whoa-oa-oa-oa-oa, I wouldn't take nothin' for my journey right now
I'm-a too close, I can almost reach my do' in, eh, I'm too close
I just want to see Saviour soon
You know that I'm . . . too close to Heaven
I can't turn 'round, oh Lord, I can't turn 'round
I'm-a too close, I can almost see God's face
I'm too close, I just tell the world that I love His grace
Whoa-oa-oa-oa-oa-oa, I just gotta make it, up in Heaven somehow
I'm-a too close, to only miss my goal
Eh, I'm too close, from savin' my soul
You know that I'm, too close to, Heaven, I can't turn 'round
Oh no, I can't turn 'round
I'm too close, I can see my old mother and friend
I'm too close, let me run on, 'til I make it in
I-I-I-I wouldn't take nothin', for my journey right now
I'm-a too close, look, my God, can grab God's hand
Ehhh, I'm too close, to miss my final chance to the Promised Land
You know that I'm, too close to Heaven, and I can't turn 'round
Oh Lord, I can't turn 'round

Edited 11/30 to pick up correction from Al Young

All best,
Johnm


 

harriet:
Thanks - A real masterpiece. Had never heard him.

Rivers:
That's pretty awesome. I'm not sure either way on this line:


--- Quote ---I can almost reach my doin'
--- End quote ---

I thought I heard "doom" the first time through, listened again and started doubting myself. So I don't really know. "Doom" fits with the narrative pass I guess.

Johnm:
I'm glad you enjoyed the cut, Harriet and Rivers.  On the lyric question, it's hard to imagine him celebrate reaching his doom, when he's grasping for salvation.  I thought "doin'", apart from the sound being right, might mean in this context "I can almost reach what I'm striving for."  The sound seemed more like "doin'" than "doom", but I'm not sure.  In any event, I love the track and I love Bishop Perry Tillis' music.
All best,
Johnm

alyoung:
Although it is credited "traditional" on the Perry Tillis CD issue, "Too Close to Heaven" was written by New York choir leader and soloist Alex Bradford. He didn't get it on to record first -- at least two, possibly three other gospel groups beat him to it and many many other soloists, choirs and quartets sang and recorded it later. But Bradford's recording, made for Specialty in June 1953, was the biggest hit, and I suspect it's the one Perry Tillis is remembering. In it, Bradford sings "I'm too close, almost reached my goal". I think this is the line Tillis has in mind, but he's misheard (or mis-remembered or rewritten) the original and instead sings "...almost reach my do' in" ["door in"]. Here's Alex Bradford's 1953 original: 

 

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