I have actualy sung shanties, for people to work to, on a floating vessel! The fact that it was a raft on the River Irwell and we were rowing it is irrelevent:-) Couple of funny things attached - the raft was built to a very exacting specification - It had to fit on the roof rack of a Lada estate. The four paddles were all imprinted with the legend 'Swinton Folk Club'. One young lad took one look and asked us why we needed to club folk in Swinton. We only finished somewhere in mid-field but we were one of the very few vessels to finish intact and with a dry crew:-)

Anyway - Back to shanties. Shame our 'Cranky Yankee' Jody, rest his soul, is no longer about. I was fascinated by his insights into the use of a song to work to. He often said anything at all would do provided it had a strong rhythm. I only found out, though him, that the holding of a note (Eg - Too-rye-ayyyyyyyyyyy-oooooooooooh Too-rye-ay, as in John Kanaka) was to give the rope time to shrink back. Pulling it in time for too long just resulted in a 'bungee' effect!

As to the original question - I think most of the 'salty dogs' have been covered. I would suggest though, Nick, that some of the 'prettier' voices are just as listenable - I won't give names, just let you find them:-) I think the songs in this case are the thing and anyone that can bring them to life deserves respect. Good Luck in your search.

Cheers

DeG