The Sacred Harp: Revised and Improved was published in 1902 by a committee led by Wilson Marion Cooper (1850-1916) of Dothan, Alabama. Cooper was not taught directly by the original book's author, nor did he live in an area where the usage of The Sacred Harp was the strongest and most historic. It had been over 30 years since the death of B. F. White. There was a feeling that if the Sacred Harp tradition was to survive, a new revision would be essential. Those who were taught by B. F. White probably regretted that they were not the ones to release a new revision. Now there would be competing books within the Sacred Harp community.
Cooper's committee removed some tunes and added new compositions. They also made some other significant changes to the book. They added an alto part to all tunes that were written in three parts. Several songs were transposed to a lower key‐probably a key that would closely reflect what the singers would be actually using. Many of the tune titles were changed to have more meaning and to describe the poetry: "Detroit" was changed to "Do Not I Love Thee"; "Wells" was changed to "Life Is the Time to Serve the Lord"; and many others. Cooper also added a few "modern gospel" tunes, including Cooper's arrangements of "Shall We Gather at the River" and "O Why Not Tonight," the later was later removed.
The book went through a revision in 1907. Some tunes were removed, and new tunes were added. Cooper made an unusual change to the layout of 18 songs: the music was laid out on two staves instead of the normal layout of four staves. It appears that this notation was rejected by the singers; the book was revised again, and the music was back on four staves except for one song. Later revisions were published in 1927, 1949, 1960, 1992, 2000, 2006, and 2012. The title of the book was changed to The B. F. White Sacred Harp for the 1949 revision. The 2012 revision was the first re-typesetting of the entire book since 1902, and the title of the book was changed to The Sacred Harp, Revised Cooper Edition.
Cooper's revision historical usage has been Florida, Texas, and the southern portions of Alabama, Georgia, and Mississippi. Since the mid-1990s, usage has expanded to other parts of the United States including Minnesota, Colorado, Kentucky, and Washington.
Sources:
Cobb, Buell E. The Sacred Harp: A Tradition and Its Music. (Athens, GA: University of Georgia Press 1987).
Jackson, George P. The Story of the Sacred Harp: 1844-1944. (Nashville: Vanderbilt University Press, 1944).
White, B. F. and E. J. King. The Sacred Harp: Improved and Revised. (Dothan, AL: W. M. Cooper, 1902).
White, B. F. and E. J. King. The Sacred Harp, Revised Cooper Edition. (Samson, AL: Sacred Harp Book Company, 2012).