of . Find out more about our use of this data. John Jacob Niles (April 28, 1892 â March 1, 1980) was an American composer, singer and collector of traditional ballads. It has gone a long way since.". However, when John Jacob Niles brought rhythms and melodies of the folk tradition to mainstream venues, both critics and musicologists were left speechless, unable to classify Niles as either a folk or popular artist. His great-grandfather was a composer, organist, and cello manufacturer; his mother, Lula Sarah Niles, taught him music theory. Hearing Niles for the first time was a little jarring. It looks like we don't have any Biography for John Jacob Niles yet. "I Wonder As I Wander grew out of three lines of music sung for me by a girl who called herself Annie Morgan. ", "In my lifetime I have sung more performances of "The Hangman" than any other ballad, with the possible exception of "Barb'ry Ellen". Additionally the event included performances by the Niles Quartet; Jacqueline Roberts; UK faculty Dennis Bender, Cynthia Lawrence, Tedrin Blair Lindsay and Noemi Lugo; and a select choral ensemble from the UK Choral Program directed by Jefferson Johnson and Brock Terry, as well as readings from the book by Pen. In 1904, Niles's family moved to a farm in rural Jefferson County where John Jacob began collecting folk music. His ballad collections frequently included material that he composed, such as "I Wonder As I Wander" and "Black Is the Color of My True Love's Hair," or arranged, as well as ballads transcribed directly from oral sources. By this time he had composed the songs "I Wonder As I Wander," "Black is the Color of My True Love's Hair," and "Jesus, Jesus, Rest Your Head." He is buried next to his wife, Rena, in the graveyard of St. Hubert's Episcopal Church in Clark County, Kentucky. After eight tries, all of which are carefully recorded in my notes, I had only three lines of verse, a garbled fragment of melodic material--and a magnificent idea. He also serves as director of both the Niles Center and the Appalachian Studies Program at the university. Niles’ skills on the piano and distinctive vocal timbre set him apart as a performer, and in 1929 he joined forces with Marion Kerby, a soprano with whom he would tour throughout the 1930s. In 1925 Niles moved to New York, became master of ceremonies at the Silver Slipper nightclub, and published his first music collections, Impressions of a Negro Camp Meeting (1925) and Seven Kentucky Mountain Songs (1928). Biography. The Morgan family, revivalists all, were about to be ejected by the police, after having camped in the town square for some little time, coking, washing, hanging their wash from the Confederate monument and generally conducting themselves in such a way as to be classed a public nuisance. Niles wrote these notes about "I Wonder As I Wander," "The Hangman," and "'Black is The Color of My True Love's Hair'. John Jacob Niles. In the 1950s he turned his attention to art song and extended concert works, such as the oratorio Lamentation (1951) and the remarkable Niles-Merton Songs (1967-70) based on the poetry of Thomas Merton. Pen is the editor of "The Ballad Book of John Jacob Niles" and is also active as an old-time fiddler and a shape note singer. UK Prof Pens First John Jacob Niles Biography. I sang it for five years in my concerts before it caught on. Since then, it has been sung by soloists and choral groups wherever the English language is spoken and sung. University Press of Kentucky honored the new work and its author with a book release celebration Sept. 15, at the Niles Gallery, in UK's Lucille C. Little Fine Arts Library and Learning Center. Concerning "Go 'Way From My Window," John Jacob Niles wrote: "In 1908 my father had in his employ a Negro ditch-digger known as Objerall Jacket. My father liked the lyrics, but thought the tune was downright terrible. By Mack McCormick and Whitney Hale Sept. 22, 2010 . Pen is an associate professor of musicology at the UK School of Music. Read about our approach to external linking. In the early 1930s, he began his collaborations with photographer Doris Ulmann, taking several trips to Appalachia that proved to be highly influential on his style. He made his own lutes and Appalachian dulcimers. So I wrote myself a new tune, ending it in a nice modal manner. "'Black is The Color of My True Love's Hair' as sung here was composed between 1916 and 1921. In 1936, after a brief tenure as Music Director at the John C. Campbell School in Brasstown, North Carolina, Niles married Rena Lipetz and moved back to Kentucky, settling at Boot Hill Farm in rural Clark County. ”I Wonder as I Wander" paints a multifaceted portrait of a musician who has largely been forgotten despite his considerable impact on the folk music community. "I Wonder as I Wander: The Life of John Jacob Niles", University of Kentucky John Jacob Niles Center for American Music, Search Open for Associate Provost for Graduate and Professional Education and Dean of the Graduate School, Vanderford Receives Kentucky Academy of Science’s Excellence in Science Education and Outreach Award, Cats Face Off Against Cards in Organ Donation Registry Drive, UK Social Work Responds to Critical Need, Launches Fully Online Undergraduate Degree, NICU providers, Staff Recognized for Patient Care, Public Relations & Strategic Communications.