"O What a Savior" is a Southern gospel song written by the Free Will Baptist musician Marvin P. Dalton in 1948. The first line is "Once I was straying in sin's dark valley" and the chorus starts "O what a Savior". It was first recorded in January 1950 by the Original Stamps Quartet, a male-voice quartet, accompanied by piano.Dalton, Marvin P., Discography of American Historical Recordings (accessed 9 October 2024) It was included as the first hymn in the Blackwood Brothers collection Sunday Meeting Songs in 1957.Sunday meeting songs / (compiled by) Blackwood Brothers, Vanderbilt University Library catalog (accessed 9 October 2024) Dalton's works were popular locally in the 1940s and 1950s, and he is also known for his hymn "Looking for a City".Alton E. Loveless. And Who Will Follow: Angelika's Plea, p. 76 (Xlibris; 2009) Ken Petersen. Oh Happy Day, p. 7 (Tyndale House; 2021)
References
Sources Wayne S. Walker (27 October 2020). What A Savior, hymnstudiesblog Lewis Willis (1999). "O What a Savior". Truth Magazine Vol. 43
External links Text and music at Google Books List of recordings at Discogs