Ron-

I have been listening to the BLOOD ON THE ICE CD for much of the summer; it's in my van so I listen to it whenever I'm on the road. I find the concept of this recording fascinating, and I'm greatly impressed with the new songs that have been introduced on this CD which fill a major gap in Merchant Navy history, and belay the claim that "no songs were being created by sailors after 1900." Ceril Tawney would certainly have appreciated this CD!

The CD does have technical problems, uneven quality of recording, but I'm really more interested in the songs themselves.

My personal favorite has to be "Tramps" (shanty for steam) which is brilliantly arranged and sung by Fore 'n' Aft. I love the technical words having to do with feeding the boilers of these old steamers. And one could easily imagine the Black Gang singing such a song.

But then there is "White Feather" a world War 1 era song which I find particularly haunting about a merchant captain who is upbraided in the bar because he is "not serving his country."

Another haunting one is "Old Dublin Fireman" which doesn't answer all its questions but leaves one thinking about them.

"The Cook and the Deckies" for its classic humor, with the clash between those who serve and those who eat.

"Common British Tars" is a long overdue tribute to the sailors who died at Trafalger, and again beautifully arranged and sung.

"The Bite of Benin" which deals with the 19th century slave trade is another haunting song which I keep going back to; it would be nice to follow this song with one of the songs which commemorates the slave rebellion aboard the Amistad.

And "Farewell to the Clan Line" is a wonderful poetic tribute to the men and ships who worked in the post World War 2 period to the late 1960's. And it's a hard driving song.

The title song for the CD I have mixed feeling about; it's certainly well sung and it's an attempt to portray the unromantic work of whaling in the 20th century; it does that but I'm not sure if it works well as a song.

There are many more songs on this CD but these are the ones I keep returning to.

Cheerily,
Charley Noble