River songs

Subject: River songs
From: number 6
Date: 31 Jul 06 - 11:34 PM

River Songs ... here is a list of my favourite:

"Delta Queen Waltze" ... John Hartford
"Skippin the Mississippi Dew" .... John Hartford

"River of Light" .... Gordon Lightfoot

"River Man" ... Nick Drake (ok, no mention of a river in it besides the River Man, but have to add this to my list regardless)

"Evandale Ferry Two-Step" ... Brent Mason

sIx

Subject: RE: River songs
From: Elmer Fudd
Date: 31 Jul 06 - 11:52 PM

"Shenendoah"

"Cry Me A River"

"River's Invitation"
(P. Mayfield)

I've been all across the country
And I've stayed in every town
Because I'm trying to find my baby
But no one has seen her around
And you know which way I'm headed
If my baby can't be found

I spoke to the river
And the river spoke back to me
It said man you look so lonely
You look full of misery
And if you can't find your baby
Come and make your home with me

Subject: RE: River songs
From: Joe Offer
Date: 01 Aug 06 - 12:06 AM

This is always a favorite workshop at San Francisco's Camp Harmony. The Bill Staines song, "River," is a perennial favorite, as is "Old Man River." I think I'll work up The Glendy Burke for the next one. I like The Rivers of (Your State's Name Here), but it's a bit too common.
-Joe-

Subject: RE: River songs
From: John on the Sunset Coast
Date: 01 Aug 06 - 12:40 AM

Roll on Columbia Roll On
Mister and Mississippi (Made Me Feel at Home)
The River is Wide
One More River to Cross

Subject: RE: River songs
From: open mike
Date: 01 Aug 06 - 12:43 AM

I sang this one at camp harmony and also while on a river raft trip.
i learned this as sort of a chant years ago..no idea who wrote it.

We are the River
We're gonna wash your levees down
Coming down from the Mountain
We're comin' right down thru your town
We're gonna join with the other rivers
You know, the dam don't stand a chance
Because no dam the man can build will stand
When the sea begins to dance

We're gonna join with the fishes
and help them on thier way
though the man tries to kill them
and frighten them away
From the depths up to the surface
you know the fishes can't be found
Because only water knows where the water flows
when the river's underground
when the river's underground

Maple buds are bloomin'
and the small stream trickles down
snows are a-meltin'
and the river rushes round in town
We'll hav eno more of your reservoirs
keepin' us frm bein' free
because flood time is here my friend
and we're almost to the sea,
you know we're almost to the sea

also
Muddy Water (by the seldom scene)

Mary, take the baby, river's risin
That muddy water's takin back the land...


also a favorite childhood thanksgiving song...
Over the river and through the woods
To Grandmother's house we go.

Subject: RE: River songs
From: mrdux
Date: 01 Aug 06 - 01:35 AM

Miss the Mississippi and You -- Bill Halley (1932)

and a particular favorite:

Burn On -- Randy Newman

There's a red moon rising
On the Cuyahoga River
Rolling into Cleveland to the lake

There's a red moon rising
On the Cuyahoga River
Rolling into Cleveland to the lake

There's an oil barge winding
Down the Cuyahoga River
Rolling into Cleveland to the lake

There's an oil barge winding
Down the Cuyahoga River
Rolling into Cleveland to the lake

Cleveland, city of light, city of magic
Cleveland, city of light, you're calling me
Cleveland, even now I can remember
'Cause the Cuyahoga River
Goes smokin' through my dreams

Burn on, big river, burn on
Burn on, big river, burn on
Now the Lord can make you tumble
And the Lord can make you turn
And the Lord can make you overflow
But the Lord can't make you burn

Burn on, big river, burn on
Burn on, big river, burn on

Subject: RE: River songs
From: Liz the Squeak
Date: 01 Aug 06 - 02:53 AM

I'm rather fond of the Paul Metzers song that goes:

Flow river, slow river,
Life giver, long liver.
Flow river, go river,
Carry me home.

Very restful and evocative.

LTS

Subject: RE: River songs
From: The Borchester Echo
Date: 01 Aug 06 - 03:11 AM

Talking of Paul Matzers, Farewell To The Gold (Shotover River)

and:

The Water Is Wide
Water of Tyne
Bonny North Tyne
Tyne Of Harrow
Lambton Worm (fishing in the Wear)
Annan Water
Clyde Water
Sweet Thames Flow Softly
Streams of Lovely Nancy
Banks of the Dee/Fordie/Forgie/Virgie/Nile/Considine/Green Willow
Claudy Banks
Waist Deep In he Big Muddy

and so on. Gotta go.

Subject: RE: River songs
From: The Borchester Echo
Date: 01 Aug 06 - 03:12 AM

Sorry Mr Metzers, don't know where that 'a' came from . . .

Subject: RE: River songs
From: Liz the Squeak
Date: 01 Aug 06 - 03:14 AM

You've turned him into a cracker!!!

Then there's Rod Shearman's London River... one of those songs you don't hear hardly enough and when you do, it's stuck there for days!

LTS

Subject: RE: River songs
From: The Borchester Echo
Date: 01 Aug 06 - 03:20 AM

He is a cracker! And so was was Rod Shearman.

Subject: RE: River songs
From: stallion
Date: 01 Aug 06 - 04:15 AM

Hard on the Beech oar
Bows of London

Subject: RE: River songs
From: bfdk
Date: 01 Aug 06 - 04:24 AM

Shining River (Eric Bogle)

Subject: RE: River songs
From: Scrump
Date: 01 Aug 06 - 07:37 AM

River by Joni Mitchell - one of my favourite Christmas songs.

Subject: RE: River songs
From: Don(Wyziwyg)T
Date: 01 Aug 06 - 07:56 AM

"Flows Medway Softly" by George Gilbert must be one of the best, taking in the Medway's course through Kent, England. It manages to cover all the points of historical and local interest, and has a beautiful haunting melody too.

Don T.

Subject: RE: River songs
From: The Borchester Echo
Date: 01 Aug 06 - 08:49 AM

Listening To The River, the Medway that is. A piece written by Chris Wood to demonstrate the link betweeen landscape, regional speech and traditional music for which he recorded actuality speech from those who had lived and worked alongside the river all their lives, and reflected these patterns in the music. It's been on R3 several times, performed live at English Acoustic Collective concerts and due out on CD . . . sometime.

Subject: RE: River songs
From: Scrump
Date: 01 Aug 06 - 10:28 AM

Apologies if I missed mention of any of these earlier, but here's a few I've thought of (not sure why we're doing this but what the hell):

Song of the Clyde
Go Little Swale
Land of Three Rivers (refs to Tyne, Wear and Tees)
Fog on the Tyne
The Coaly Tyne
Waters of Tyne
The Kent, The Keer and the Lune
Ferry Cross the Mersey
The Miller of the Dee
Pill, Pill (Avon)
The Leaving of Liverpool (Mersey)
I Wish I Was Back In Liverpool (Mersey)
Anna Liffey
Summer in Dublin (Liffey)
Irwell Delta Blues
Aloha Severn Beach
Cousin Jack (Tamar)
Roots (Tyne and Tamar)
Three Score And Ten (Humber)

That'll do for now. Bit of a mixed bag - sure I could think of more given time :)

Subject: RE: River songs
From: GUEST,Bagel Basher
Date: 01 Aug 06 - 11:11 AM

Ballad Of Easy Rider - The Byrds

The river flows
It flows to the sea
Where ever that river goes
That's where I want to be

Subject: RE: River songs
From: SINSULL
Date: 01 Aug 06 - 11:25 AM

Utah Phillip's "Hood River, Roll On"

Subject: RE: River songs
From: number 6
Date: 01 Aug 06 - 11:41 AM

"not sure why we're doing this but what the hell"

Scrump ... as I have an interest in 'river songs' this thread provides an opportunity for myself and others to share ... this is the one aspect of the Mudcat that I find very special ... it's wealth of music and song sharing ... I still have the passion of hearing and discovering new songs and new music as I did when I was a teenager. The list you and others provided, I find valuable in allowing me (and possibly others) in continuing this discovery. I appreciate what has been posted and I thank all who did.

Mrdux ... "Miss the Mississippi and You" ... this is a favourite of mine also. Best version of this song I have heard is by Steve Forbert (live), just him, an old Gibson, and harmonica.

sIx

Subject: RE: River songs
From: Rabbi-Sol
Date: 01 Aug 06 - 12:26 PM

Rick Nestler - "The River That Flows Both Ways"

Bill Staines - "The Rivers Of Texas"

Dr. Adrian Bianconi - "Susquehanna"

Patti Page - "Mr. & Mississippi"

Old Sea Shanty - "The Rio Grande" (Away Rio)

                                        SOL ZELLER

Subject: RE: River songs
From: GUEST,Pete Jennings
Date: 01 Aug 06 - 01:15 PM

"The River" by both John Martyn (The Tumbler LP) and Bruce Springsteen (The River LP).

Pete

Subject: RE: River songs
From: catspaw49
Date: 01 Aug 06 - 01:30 PM

I can't see how this thread went this far without referring back to this thread of John Hartford Songs.......Great stuff from a fine writer and performer including this favorite of mine:


OLD TIME RIVER MAN
......John Hartford

Where does an old time river man go
After he's passed away?
Does his soul still keep a watch on the deep
For the rest of the river days?
Does he then come back as a channel cat
Or the wasps that light on the wheel?
Or the birds that fly through a summer sky
Or the fish swimming under the keel?

Where does an old time pilot go
After he's stood his last watch?
Does he fall by the ear of the man who steers
Saying hold her on that notch
There's a gentle sneeze in the river breeze
Saying son I'm goin to bed.
And they light their pipes and go off in the night
Or was that fireflies instead?

Where does an old time engineer go after he's cooled her down?
Gone up the hill to never come back, on the quiet side of town.
Does his soul live on in the engine songs
While the striker checks the gears?
Is he still afloat on an old steam boat after he's gone from here?


Spaw

Subject: RE: River songs
From: Big Jim from Jackson
Date: 01 Aug 06 - 01:47 PM

Cathy Barton and David Para have a number of river songs. They can be found on Folk-Legacy's web site. Also, Ed Trickett does a great river song writen by Bob Dyer called "River of the Big Canoe". Cathy and Dave sing and play on it, too. Same source.

Subject: RE: River songs
From: Bert
Date: 01 Aug 06 - 01:51 PM

Old Father Thames
The Meeting of the Waters

Subject: RE: River songs
From: Ernest
Date: 01 Aug 06 - 02:12 PM

"Shenandoah" (one of my alltime favourites) has been mentioned before...

"Clydeport Authority" by Paul Joses (his "Landmarks"-CD got a few more...)

"Essequiboo River"

"Down the river"

"Mouth of the Tobique" (ok, just a tune)

"The broad majestic Shannon" byShane McGowan/Pogues

"Sailing up, sailing down" by Pete Seeger (about the Hudson)

does "Erie Canal" count?

since "folk" wasn`t required: "Old man river", "Moon River", "River of no return"

...there are more...so:

keep it flowing
Ernest

Subject: RE: River songs
From: bobad
Date: 01 Aug 06 - 02:27 PM

Here's one for ya from our other official language, sIx:

YOUPE! YOUPE! SUR LA RIVIERE
(Trad)

Par un dimanche au soir
m'en allant promener
et moi et puis Francois
tous deux de campagnee
chez bonhomme Gauthier
nous avons te veiller
je vais vous raconter
l'tour qui m'est arrive

(Chorus)
Youpe! Youpe! Sur la riviere
vous ne m'entendez guere!
Youpe! Youpe! Sur la riviere
vous ne m'entendez pas!

J'y allumai ma pipe
come c'etai la facon
disant quelques paroles
aux gens de la maison
je dis a Delima
"Me permettriez vous
de m'eloigner des autres
pour m'approcher de vous"

(Chorus)

Subject: RE: River songs
From: Rabbi-Sol
Date: 01 Aug 06 - 06:48 PM

"So Sang The River" Another one by Bill Staines

                                              SOL ZELLER

Subject: RE: River songs
From: Bill D
Date: 01 Aug 06 - 07:11 PM

a very scarce song I know which I 'think' has only been recorded once...from this thread http://www.mudcat.org/thread.cfm?threadid=2764#405388

SONG OF THE FRENCH BROAD RIVER
(Traditional Collected & Sung by Obray Ramsey)
In the mountains and the valleys where the French Broad River flows,
If it could write the history of the mighty things it knows,
It would write of Boone and Crockett, Jackson and the Cherokee,
Flowing down through Carolina from the hills of Tennessee.

Chorus:

Come and sit down by the river, linger with it all day long,
You'll hear a thousand voices join together in this song;
The far off cries of bygone days still linger in the air,
On the banks of the river, you can hear them singing there.

From the Pink Pits to the Painted Rocks the Indian made his stand,
Up and down the river, with his bow in his right hand;
Coming from the lowlands, dressed in buckskin, with a gun,
The white man pushing westward, the setting of the sun. (CHO)

From the Big Bald Mountain, down the Edge of Tennessee,
That's the Laurel Valley with its trace of Cherokee;
To the Mountain Island, Laurel River rolls along,
Flows into the French Broad, as she sings her mighty song. (CHO)

Up the French Broad Valley you can hear a lonesome sound,
That's the deer hound baying as he runs the black buck down;
Heading up some mountain glen, he makes a running fight,
He's heading for the balsalms, he's fighting for his life. (CHO)

Subject: RE: River songs
From: Metchosin
Date: 01 Aug 06 - 07:17 PM

Jenny Lester's The River, Mother Nature and Me

Subject: RE: River songs
From: Elmer Fudd
Date: 01 Aug 06 - 07:29 PM

Jeez, has no one mentioned "Rollin' on the River" yet, or did I just churn right past it?

and "Take Me to the River"

Elmer, rockin' and rollin' (and toining and boining) on the river

Subject: RE: River songs
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 01 Aug 06 - 07:33 PM

River Stay Away From My Door
Five Feet High And Rising

Jerry

Subject: RE: River songs
From: GUEST,Russ
Date: 01 Aug 06 - 07:34 PM

Sandy River Belle
Elk River Blues (Ernie Carpenter)

Subject: RE: River songs
From: Folkiedave
Date: 01 Aug 06 - 07:38 PM

Carl Carmer, "Songs of the Rivers Of America" 1942.

Where would you like me to start??!!

It's for sale BTW. (Blatant Plug)

Subject: RE: River songs
From: C. Ham
Date: 01 Aug 06 - 08:22 PM

"The Rivers of Texas," credited to Bill Staines above has been around a lot longer than Bill's been alive.

One of my all-time favorite songs is Bill's song just called "River."

Subject: RE: River songs
From: GUEST,DON WILLIAMS
Date: 01 Aug 06 - 10:33 PM

Where The Arkansas River Leaves Oklahoma.

Subject: RE: River songs
From: Bill D
Date: 01 Aug 06 - 11:24 PM

(I heard The Rivers of Texas (Brazos River)in 1962, and it wasn't new then...it's downright creepy how well-known songwriters get credited for anything nice they happen to sing...) To be fair, Sol didn't 'exactly' say Staines wrote it.

Subject: RE: River songs
From: Amos
Date: 01 Aug 06 - 11:29 PM

(That Song About) The River


Words and music by Steve Gillette and Charles John Quarto
(c)Copyright 1990, Foreshadow Songs, BMI

I've seen the paddlewheelers rollin' south on a summers day
I've seen lovers at the guardrails with stars in their lemonade.
And I've heard the hoboes gather, heard their banjos grace the glade
Heard them sing about the river called it the lazy man's parade.

Sing me that song about the river, green goin' away.
I always did feel like a drifter, about this time of day.
And when the moonlight touches the water, surely something touches me,
And I go reaching for the river, like it,s reaching for the sea.

Last night I stood by the highway, pretended I was on my way.
You know a hundred thousand headlights couldn't match the milky way.
Some things go on forever, the truth don't ever stray
The wind may brush the water but the river holds her sway.

Sing me that song about the river, green goin' away,
You know I always did feel like a drifter, 'bout this time of day.
And when the moonlight touches the water, surely something touches me,
And I go reaching for the river, like it,s reaching for the sea.

Sing me that song about the river, green, goin' away,
I always did feel like a drifter, 'bout this time of day.
And when the moonlight touches the water, surely something touches me,
And I go reaching for the river, like it,s reaching for the sea.

Subject: RE: River songs
From: open mike
Date: 02 Aug 06 - 12:18 AM

oh, gum tree canoe!
john (bless his heart) hartford
was to have been the m.c. of the
carnegie hall performance of the
Oh Brother Where art thou music
but was taken by cancer
before he could realize his goal.

you owe it to yourselves, if you have
not done it, to get and see the video
of him on teh river boat...both as
captain and entertainer...doing a
percussive dance (the old soft shoe?)
while playing banjo...and obviously
loving and enjoyng it all.

his house overlooked a bend in the river..

Subject: RE: River songs
From: bfdk
Date: 02 Aug 06 - 04:15 AM

Martyn Wyndham-Read's CD "Undiscovered Australia" holds two beautiful songs about rivers, "Reedy River" by Lawson/Kempster and "Across the Warego" by Jim Grahame.

So far, noone's mentioned Jed Marum's "Chickahominy River" and "Banks of the Mobile", both lovely songs.

There's also a beautiful song called "Lochs of the Tay", written by James Malcolm and recorded by the McCalmans on the CD "High Ground".

Bolivian group Rumillajta have a CD out called "Urupampa", which is also the title track and the name of a Bolivian river.

I'm sure I could think of more given a bit of time, but my mind keeps slipping away to preparations and "must-dos" for my trip to the USA..

Best wishes,

Bente

Subject: RE: River songs
From: George Papavgeris
Date: 02 Aug 06 - 04:22 AM

How come everyone missed my top two favourites?

Old Man River
The Big River (by Jimmy Nail)

Subject: RE: River songs
From: IanC
Date: 02 Aug 06 - 06:21 AM

I think my favourite is Roger Waters' "Grantchester Meadows".

Hear the lark, and hearken to the barking of the dog fox ... gone to ground;
See the splashing of the kingfisher, splashing to the water,
And the river of green is sliding unseen beneath the trees,
Laughing as it passes through the endless summer, making for the sea.

:-)
Ian

Subject: RE: River songs
From: Susan of DT
Date: 02 Aug 06 - 07:22 AM

A search for the word "river" in the DT results in around 500 hits.

Subject: RE: River songs
From: alanabit
Date: 02 Aug 06 - 09:59 AM

Isn't Jimmy Nail's "Big River" a Mark Knopfler song? I seem to recall he either played on it or produced it.

Subject: RE: River songs
From: Scrump
Date: 02 Aug 06 - 10:21 AM

Wot abaht Lazy River? Surprised no-one's mentioned that yet.

And there's loads of songs mentioning the Mississippi (yay! I spelt it correctly!) including New Orleans, The Battle of New Orleans, Mississippi Delta...

And then there were The Avons, Dave Dee, Jackie Trent, The Merseybeats, Jeremy Clyde - they must've sung a few? :)

Subject: RE: River songs
From: The Borchester Echo
Date: 02 Aug 06 - 10:25 AM

It says here he wrote the words and music himself. I think it was dedicated to his father, Jimmy Bradley, a shipyard worker.\

Subject: RE: River songs
From: The Borchester Echo
Date: 02 Aug 06 - 10:26 AM

. . . that was a reply to alanabit about Jimmy Nail but Scrump got in the way . . .

Subject: RE: River songs
From: Keith A of Hertford
Date: 02 Aug 06 - 11:03 AM

All my English ones have gone.

Banks of the Ohio.
Rolling And Flowing (Cairo Town)

Subject: RE: River songs
From: Herga Kitty
Date: 02 Aug 06 - 11:21 AM

Barrie Temple's River Days
Flow gently sweet Afton

Kitty

Subject: RE: River songs
From: The Borchester Echo
Date: 02 Aug 06 - 11:29 AM

Do canals count?
If so, Rob Harbron's Afloat In December