"Swing Low, Sweet Chariot" is an African American spiritual of uncertain origin. According to one story, it was composed by Wallace Willis — either an enslaved or freed person in the Choctaw Nation — in the mid-nineteenth century. It was distributed on sheet music by 1876, and first recorded by the Fisk Jubilee Singers in 1909. It has since become a staple in both Black and white gospel music in many genres and arrangements.
Here is a contemporary rendition by today's Fisk Jubilee Singers (the original audio is at the bottom of the post):
As you might guess, I first heard it as a child on a Paul Robeson record of my parents' (audio only):
Audio only:
Bear with this one, Beyonce appears at :33
Audio only:
WOW! Unstop my ears and let me rejoice anew in a song I thought I knew. Robeson had long been my favorite with Clapton coming in second but now I am blown away. Beyonce, Eric and Leon Bibb, Ladysmith Black Mombazo, and Louis Armstrong all have shuffled the deck. I look forward to many hours of listening, not to pick a winner, but to revel with delight in discovering fresh aspects of a real gem.
I seem to remember it making a spirited appearance in the movie Revenge of the Nerds.