When Martin Luther King was a young man his father was the pastor of the Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta, and it was there that...
"...as a young child Martin loved the footstomping gospel songs that caused parishioners to rock with joy. To his mother's accompaniment, he often led the choir in stirring hymns, such as his favorite, I Want To Be More and More Like Jesus."
One of the things I remember very vividly," recalls Laura Henderson, a long-time member of the Ebenezer congregation, "is he was a great solo singer as a child. He used to sing a lot of solos.""
Of course, you know that already if you have read
King Remembered by Flip Schulke and Penelope McPhee, which is a short biog giving the basic facts of MLK's life. (At about 300 pages doesn't get too bogged down in detail either.)
My verdict:- This is the first version of MLK's favourite that pops up on YouTube, and I am pleasantly surprised. The lyrics may not be to everybody's taste, but the arrangement and repetitious chanting of "Just like Jesus" won me over in the end. So many artists credit gospel music as an early inspiration, and by chance I've come across a performance that conveys that inspiration, not just to the swaying congregation, but even to a jaded white stay-at-home atheist like me. Hallelujah indeed.