Troublesome Waters

[steve]

I should say I'm not a lawyer, but I can share some of my findings with you.

I started with a search at the US Copyright Office.

I see that there are a number of results. Most of them are probably going to be copyrighted performances (including the most famous by Johnny Cash), but you'll also find references to copyrights of the written music. I do see a copyright that's associated with Mrs. J.B. Karnes and Ernest Rippetoe, which corroborate the posts by her family members here.

But here's where the story gets a little messy.

This song was part of a large collection of songs maintained by Stamps-Baxter. In 1998, Brentwood-Benson Music Publishing (which owns Stamps-Baxter) filed for a copyright claim on these songs--at the US Copyright Office you'll see this collection listed as '"Glory Special" & 19,618 other titles'. But Brentwood-Benson Music Publishing appears to have shut down in 2021. So what happened to the 60,000+ copyrights that it managed (including the entire Stamps-Baxter library?)

My search finally took me to the BMI Website, where I did find a reference to "Troublesome Waters" as written by Mrs. Karnes. It appears the copyright is still valid and owned by Universal Music / Capitol CMG, which acquired the entire Brentwood-Benson library.

Here's their contact info:

A DIV OF UNIVERSAL MUSIC-Z TUNES LLC
C/O CAPITOL CMG PUBLISHING
P.O. BOX 5085
BRENTWOOD, TN 37024
(615) 371-4300
HTTP://WWW.CAPITOLCMGPUBLISHING.COM

I'll be honest, I'm not sure if you call or write to them that even they'll have a straight answer for you, but it's probably the closest you'll come to getting permission from the current copyright holder. Good luck and godspeed!

[pbrown/]

Troublesome Waters

Troublesome waters are blacker than night.
Hiding from view the harbor’s bright lights.
Out on the ocean I seem as a speck,
Awful sea monsters are waiting my wreck.

C: Gently I feel the touch of his hand
Guiding my boat to that better land.
Leading the way to Heaven’s fair shore.
Troublesome waters I’m fearing no more.

2. Troublesome waters around me now roll,
Rocking my boat and tempting my soul
Loved ones are drifting and living in sin
Treacherous whirlpools are pulling them in.

3. Sin waves are dashing and living so high
Over this noise, you can hear my sad cry.
Lord I am trusting have mercy on me,
Steady my lifeboat while I am ar sea.