All My Trials

In the first commercial release on the 1956 album Offbeat Folksongs, Gibson did not mention the history of the song. The next two artists to release it, Cynthia Gooding (as "All My Trials" in 1957^[5]) and Billy Faier (as "Bahaman Lullaby" in 1959^[6]), both wrote in their albums' liner notes that they each learned the song from Erik Darling. Gooding explained it was "supposed to be a white spiritual that went to the British West Indies^[7] and returned with the lovely rhythm of the Islands," presumably as told to her by Darling.^[5] Faier wrote that he heard Darling sing the song "four or five times in spring 1954," when Darling would have been performing with his folk group The Tarriers.^[8] However, bibliographic folk song indexes, such as the Traditional Ballad Index^[9] do not mention the Bahamas as an origin, listing it as unknown.^[1]

The Joan Baez Songbook (published 1964; Baez released the song as "All My Trials" in 1960) suggests it began as a pre–Civil War era American Southern gospel song, which was introduced to the Bahamas where it became a lullaby, and was forgotten in the US until it was brought back from the Bahamas and popularized during the roots revival.^[10]

Paul McCartney issued the song as a single from the "Highlights" version of the Tripping the Live Fantastic live album.

Two versions of the CD single were released, having white and black covers. The b-sides of the black cover single are identical to "The Long and Winding Road" single, while the white cover single features an exclusive John Lennon tribute medley recorded in Liverpool on 28 June 1990.

The single debuted at No. 35 in December 1990 and spent six weeks on the UK Singles Chart.^[12]

Track listings

• 7-inch

1. "All My Trials" – 3:21
2. "C Moon" – 3:39

• White cover CD

1. "All My Trials" – 3:21
2. "C Moon" – 3:39
3. "Strawberry Fields Forever / Help / Give Peace a Chance" – 6:46

• Black cover CD

1. "All My Trials" – 3:21
2. "C Moon" – 3:39
3. "Mull Of Kintyre" – 5:35
4. "Put It There" – 2:34

• In February 1964, Dick and Dee Dee's debuted at No. 89 on the Billboard Hot 100 and stayed on the chart for three weeks.^[13][14]
• In August 1971, Ray Stevens released a version of the song which stayed on the Hot 100 for six weeks, peaking at No. 70^[15] and stayed on the Easy Listening charts for eight weeks, peaking at No. 6.^[16]

• The song was recorded numerous times by folk artists, including Harry Belafonte, Bob Gibson, Pete Seeger,^[17] Dave Van Ronk, Anita Carter, Joan Baez,^[18] The Seekers, Peter, Paul and Mary,^[18] Nick and Gabrielle Drake, and The Kelly Family among many others.
• Another version of the song, "All My Sorrows", was made popular by the Kingston Trio, who recorded it in 1959, followed by The Shadows in 1961 and The Searchers in 1963 on Sugar and Spice
• The melody and chord changes were used as the basis of the Brandywine Singers' "Summer's Come and Gone" (Billboard No. 129, 1963).^{[citation needed]}
• Swedish folk group The Hootenanny Singers released a Swedish language version titled "Stanna en stund" ("Pause for a moment") in 1964.
• A fragment of the song is used in the Mickey Newbury anthem "An American Trilogy", also recorded by Elvis Presley.^[19]
• Fleetwood Mac guitarist Lindsey Buckingham did his own arrangement of the Kingston Trio's "All My Sorrows" on his 1992 solo album Out of the Cradle.^[20]
• Pop-rock artist Cerys Matthews released the song on her debut solo album Cockahoop in 2003.
• Swedish folk duo First Aid Kit released a version as a bonus track on their 2010 album The Big Black and the Blue.
• Syrian-American musician Bedouine released a single version "All My Trials" in 2020.
• Words exist to the tune in French (La fin du voyage [journey's end]) and German (Am Ziel meiner Reise [my journey's goal]); Nana Mouskouri has recorded all three (English in 1985, the other two in 1984).