Grateful Dead Family Discography: A Voice From On High

A Voice From On High

Composer: Bill Monroe / Bessie Lee Mauldin

A Voice From On High was performed three times by the Grateful Dead in acoustic sets in 1970. The song usually occurs on Grateful Dead related tapes and set lists as I Hear A Voice Calling. But on all identified recordings the title is A Voice From On High. The song was also performed by the Log Cabin Boys (Jerry Garcia, David Nelson and Sandy Rothman) at the Grateful Dead Thanksgiving dinner in 1986.

The song was first recorded by Bill Monroe on January 25th 1954. This version was released as a single with Working On A Building on the flip side. The Stanley Brothers recording of the song appears to have been released before the Bill Monroe single.

Speaking about the song in an interview Monroe said; "I sure want to be ready on that day. And I speak in my writing of a song the way I really feel about it. I really want to hear that voice calling me... I believe a person should try to live the best life he can live and enjoy it and live a decent life ..... I was trying to do something with the tenor you know and tie some words together with the tune. So I wrote the chorus to that song and I meant it for the tenor to have the high part there, and it was about as high as I could sing. Bessie Lee Mauldin helped on the verses to that song.

Grateful Dead

Road Trips: Vol 3, Number 3: Fillmore East, 5/15/70, 2010

Recordings

no info Single (I Long To See The Old Folks / A Voice From On High), Stanley Brothers, April 1954
no info Single (I'm Working On A Building / A Voice From On High), Bill Monroe & his Blue Grass Boys, Dec 1954
Country Pickin' And Singin', Stanley Brothers, 1958
A Voice From On High, Bill Monroe, 1969
no info Meeting In The Air, Bill Carpenter, 1971
Pickin' Up!, Red, White & Blue (Grass), 1974
Bound To Ride, Joe Val & the New England Bluegrass Boys, 1979
Stanley Series. Vol. 1 #3, Stanley Brothers, 1982
no info Lord Light My Way, Joe Isaacs & Sacred Bluegrass, 1982
Stanley Series, Vol. 2 #1, Stanley Brothers, 1984
Bluegrass 1950-1958, Bill Monroe, 1990
Jubilation: Great Gospel Performances, Vol. 3: Country Gospel, Various Artists (Bill Monroe), 1992
no info High Lonesome (Soundtrack), Various Artists (Bill Monroe), 1994
The Music Of Bill Monroe, Bill Monroe, 1994
no info Stanley Brothers & The Clinch Mountain Boys 1953-1958 & 1959, The Stanley Brothers & the Clinch Mountain Boys, 1994
no info Angel Band - Classic Mercury Recordings, Stanley Brothers, 1995
Diamond Joe, Joe Val, 1995
no info Best Of Bluegrass - Best Of Preachin' Prayin' and Singin', Various Artists (Stanley Brothers), 1996
Stanley Series, Vol. 4 #1, Stanley Brothers , 1996
no info Best of Bluegrass: Preachin', Prayin' & Singin', Various Artists (Stanley Brothers), 1998
no info Bluegrass Gospel, Warrior River Boys, 1998
no info Soldier of the Cross, Ricky Skaggs and Kentucky Thunder, 1999
no info Shine Hallelujah Shine, Vol. 1, Bluegrass Band, 2000
no info Still a Little Rough Around the Edges, The Cherryholmes Family, 2001
no info Time-Life's Treasury of Bluegrass, Vol. 2, Various Artists (Stanley Brothers), 2001
20th Century Masters: The Millennium Collection: The Best of the Stanley Brothers, The Stanley Brothers, 2002
The Complete Mercury Recordings, The Stanley Brothers, 2003
no info The Faris Family, The Faris Family, 2003
Blazing Bluegrass, Various Artists (Stanley Brothers), 2004
no info The Gospel Spirit, Bill Monroe, 2004
no info Selected Sides 1947-1953: The Very Best of Bluegrass, Flatt & Scruggs/Stanley Brothers, 2004
no info Legends of Bluegrass, Various Artists (Stanley Brothers), 2004
no info Sweetest Love, The Stanley Brothers, 2006
no info Country Music Legends, Bill Monroe, 2007
The Definitive Collection 1947-1966, The Stanley Brothers, 2007
Classic Bluegrass Collection, Vols. 1-4, Various Artists (Bill Monroe), 2007
Rambling Boy, Charlie Haden Family & Friends, 2008
1950-1958 (JSP box set), Bill Monroe And His Bluegrass Boys, 2009
Bill Monroe Centennial Celebration: A Classic Bluegrass Tribute, Various Artists (Joe Val), 2011