The Country Gentlemen
When They Ring Those Golden Bells
Yesterday and Today Vol. 1 (1973) Bluegrass Discography
Musicians
“When They Ring Those Golden Bells” was written in 1887 by Daniel de Marbelle — a figure of unusual biography: born in France or Spain around 1818, de Marbelle emigrated to the United States as a child, sailed on a whaling ship, served as drum major with the 6th Michigan Volunteer Infantry in the Civil War, and later became an actor, musician, and one of the early clowns of what would become the Barnum & Bailey Circus. He wrote the song in 1887; the copyright was subsequently acquired by the John Church Company, and de Marbelle reportedly never received royalties from it. Harry Anthony and James F. Harrison made the first commercial recording in 1907.
The song belongs to the late-19th-century gospel tradition of anticipating heavenly reward through the imagery of bells ringing at the gates — a sonic metaphor for the moment of final arrival that proved durable in both the Black church tradition and the Southern white Protestant tradition that fed into country and bluegrass gospel. The close-harmony setting the song demands made it a natural vehicle for the duet and trio vocal traditions central to the Louvin Brothers’ generation and the Sacred Harp community before them.
Emmylou Harris recorded the featured version for Angel Band (Warner Bros., 1987), a stripped-down album of traditional country-gospel material — quieter and more austere than her earlier acoustic-country records, the arrangements reduced to voice and a small acoustic ensemble. Angel Band is among the most consistently devotional records in the acoustic-country canon: Harris treated the material as sacred rather than as roots repertoire to be revived, and the difference is audible.
