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13 Oct 10 - 08:09 PM (#3006468) Subject: Folklore: A New Book of Whalemen's Songs From: dick greenhaus New Book Anthologizes Songs from Shipboard Journals CAMSCO Music of East Windsor, N.J., announces publication of Jolly Sailors Bold: Ballads and Songs of the American Sailor, a major anthology of folk songs and parlor songs excavated from nineteenth-century sailors' shipboard journals. The author-editor-compiler is Stuart M. Frank, senior curator of the world-famous New Bedford Whaling Museum, executive director emeritus of the Kendall Whaling Museum, and renowned authority on sailor songs and shipboard music. The product of 30+ years of research, the book features authentic historic renditions of more than two hundred songs with words and music. It will be officially launched with a concert and book-signing at the New Bedford Whaling Museum, New Bedford, Mass., on October 16th. The book, which runs to 525 pages, is an annotated anthology of 232 songs, with texts recovered unchanged from historic nineteenth-century shipboard manuscripts, here reunited with their original melodies. This musical archaeology thus reconstructs the original materials and presents the words and music (in many cases, several versions of each) in the same form that they were known to landsmen and seamen more than a century and a half ago. And Dr. Frank has been conscientious in providing a wealth of historical notes, identifying the sources and provenance of the folksongs, the composers and lyricists of parlor songs and music-hall pieces, and explaining the technical lingo that characterizes some of the authentic sailor-songs that were made up by the mariners themselves. The ballads and songs are organized into 18 chapters and seven appendices. The first chapter, "Classical Songs of the Sea," includes the handful of songs so characterized by Herman Melville in Moby Dick, and Richard Henry Dana, Jr., in Two Years Before the Mast. Others are well known traditional ballads, here presented in the earliest versions ever collected from tradition, some are the only versions ever encountered in tradition in North America, while a few are obscure and hitherto unknown. It was not until the very late 19th and early 20th centuries that collectors like Cecil J. Sharp and John Lomax, and the composer Ralph Vaughan Williams, began gathering songs "in the field," from singers themselves, in rural Britain and Ireland, and in the Southern mountains and remote northern backwashes of America. By that time many traditional songs that had been sung for centuries had already vanished from tradition, or failed to be harvested before they became extinct. The ballads and songs Jolly Sailors Bold, transcribed by sailors in the 1840s , '50s, and '60s, are therefore among the earliest texts ever encountered. They include early versions of materials known only from much later manifestations — by which time they had often been significantly changed — and more than a handful that were hitherto unknown and are now restored to the repertoire. In chapters entitled "Songs about Women," "Songs of Parting," "Deepwater Songs," "Ballads of Lovers Lost and Lovers Spurned," and so on, a broad spectrum of sea songs, love songs, patriotic paeans, and comical ditties is represented. There are also three chapters of authentic, sailor-made whaling songs, one of fiddle tunes and dance melodies, and one that has 31 parlor songs, which were originally commercially produced by known composers but are here somewhat changed in the sailors' hands. A glossary assists with technical terms, footnotes clarify contextual matters, and there are handy indexes of lyricists and composers, and of titles and first lines. Author Stuart Frank has been studying and performing folk songs since 1964, and specializing in sea songs since he was a graduate student at Yale in 1971. He originated the sea chantey programs at Mystic Seaport in 1972 and the annual Sea Music Festival and Symposium there in 1979, when he began compiling this anthology in preparation for his Ph.D. dissertation at Brown University, entitled Ballads and Songs of the Whale-Hunters, 1825-1895. Since then he has written The Book of Pirate Songs and several other nautical songbooks, including Sea Chanteys and Sailors' Songs: An Introduction for Singers and Performers, and a Guide for Teachers; Songs of the Polly, 1795; "Musick on the Brain": Shipboard Tunes, 1854- 1869; and Oooh, You New York Girls! The Urban Pastorale in Ballads and Songs about Sailors Ashore in the Big City. He has been musical and historical advisor for programming as diverse as equity productions of Shakespeare; twelve network, BBC, A&E, and PBS television documentaries on seafaring; has appeared on the Studs Terkel show; and with his wife, Dr. Mary Malloy, has made concert tours across North America, Europe, Australia, and Japan, and made several recordings. He is also author of books, monographs, and forensic treatises on whalers' scrimshaw, a sailor-art that provides some of the illustrations for Jolly Sailors Bold.. Frank's anthology is in good company, as CAMSCO Music is the publisher of new editions of Bertrand Harris Bronson's four-volume companion masterwork, Traditional Tunes of the Child Ballads, as well as Bronson's single-volume condensation; The Singing Tradition of the Child Ballads. Jolly Sailors Bold is available for $50.00 hardbound and $40.00 softbound from the New Bedford Whaling Museum (www.whalingmseum.org) and directly from CAMSCO Music (camscomusic.com). Information about the concert and Whaling History Symposium at the Whaling Museum is available on the museum website www.whalingmseum.org or by email at kallen@whalingmuseum.org. Title: Jolly Sailors Bold: Ballads and Songs of the American Sailor Author: Stuart M. Frank, Ph.D., Senior Curator, New Bedford Whaling Museum Publisher: CAMSCO Music, 145 Hickory Corner Road, East Windsor, NJ 08520 www.camscomusic.com Contact: Dick Greenhaus • Telephone: 800 548-3655 • Email: dick@camscomusic.com Date: 16 October 2010 • ISBN 978-1-935243-90-8 Collation: xxiv+527pp; contents, 18 chapters, glossary, 7 appendices, 2 indexes Retail: Hardbound $50.00 • Softbound $40.00 Contents: Acknowledgements Introduction A Few Words about Chanteys 1 — Classical Songs of the Sea: An Eighteenth-Century Garland 1 2 — The Girl I Left Behind Me: Songs About Women 21 3 — The Sailors' Farewell: Songs of Parting 39 4 — Jolly Sailors Bold: Deepwater Songs and Ballads 66 5 — Heave Away, My Hearties: Deepwater Chanteys 91 6 — Battle Pieces: Naval, Military, and Patriotic Ballads 109 7 — A Bonny Bunch of Roses: Napoleonic Songs and Ballads 131 8 — Tarry Trousers: Ballads of Lovers Lost and Lovers Spurned 145 9 — Love Impeded: Ballads of Family Opposition to Lovers 169 10 — Love Entangled: Ballads of Lovers' Disguises and Tricks 185 11 — The Jolly Roving Tar: Ballads of Faithful and Unfaithful Lovers 207 12 — Terra Incognita: Comic and Convivial Songs 242 13 — Lubbers and Swabs: Miscellaneous Songs and Curiosities 258 14 — There She Blows: Classic Whaling Songs 281 15 — The Whaleman's Lament: Original Whaling Songs 315 16 — "Plenty of Music": Two Voyages of the Bark Kathleen 342 17 — "Musick on the Brain": Frederick Howland Smith's Tune List 357 18 — Hurrah For the Sea: Parlor Songs of Ships and Seafaring 380 Appendix 1 — Nature and Nancy: Dibdin's Songs 429 Appendix 2 — How Cheery Are the Mariners: Sailors' Parlor Songs… 439 Appendix 3 — The King of the Boundless Sea: Selected Whaling Poems 446 Appendix 4 — The Homebound Whaleman 454 Appendix 5 — John Martin's Musical Programme 456 Appendix 6 — Biographical Notes on the Diarists and Journal-Keepers 460 Appendix 7 — Inventory of Additional Song Texts 475 References 497 Bibliography 507 Glossary of Technical Terms 520 Index of Lyricists and Composers 522 Index of Titles, Alternate Titles, First Lines, and Tunes 522 |
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13 Oct 10 - 10:43 PM (#3006550) Subject: RE: Folklore: A New Book of Whalemen's Songs From: KathyW Excellent news! Ever since Dr. Frank's lecture at the Mystic Sea Music Festival this summer I have been wondering when this book was going to be out. It doesn't appear to be listed on the CAMSCO website yet, or the website for the New Bedford Whaling Museum, but I see Amazon has the paperback available. Odd that they don't have the hardcover, which I would prefer for a reference book like this. |
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13 Oct 10 - 10:47 PM (#3006554) Subject: RE: Folklore: A New Book of Whalemen's Songs From: KathyW Correction: Amazon also has the hardcover. Yay! |
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14 Oct 10 - 05:06 AM (#3006682) Subject: RE: A New Book of Whalemen's Songs From: Gibb Sahib Thanks, Dick. I hope my local library will order this. I'll be most curious to see what chanteys it might include. The chapter with chanteys is around 10 pages. I wonder if the manuscripts reveal any that have not turned up in published sources. |
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14 Oct 10 - 05:42 AM (#3006690) Subject: RE: A New Book of Whalemen's Songs From: GUEST,^&* Hi Dick You planning on making this available directly to your European cousins? |
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14 Oct 10 - 09:10 AM (#3006798) Subject: RE: A New Book of Whalemen's Songs From: JWB Dick, thanks for the thorough overview of the book. This is a must-have! It's great you get to distribute it -- watch for my order. Jerry |
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14 Oct 10 - 12:43 PM (#3006920) Subject: RE: A New Book of Whalemen's Songs From: dick greenhaus I don't distribute it---I publish it (sound of me slapping myself on the back). It's available directly from CAMSCO. I'm having it printed in both the US and the UK to eliminate the need for transAtlantic shipping: price in UK is 25 GBPounds for softcover; 30 GBPounds hardcover. S&H within UK is 5.25 GBPounds. |
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14 Oct 10 - 12:47 PM (#3006928) Subject: RE: A New Book of Whalemen's Songs From: greg stephens Congratulations Dick this looks a fantastic project. The Boat Band is in need of some new repertoire, this looks a very likely source! |
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15 Oct 10 - 03:44 AM (#3007542) Subject: RE: A New Book of Whalemen's Songs From: Sandra in Sydney I sent the info to my shanty singing friends & one reported she has bought it. sandra |
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15 Oct 10 - 10:41 AM (#3007778) Subject: RE: A New Book of Whalemen's Songs From: GUEST,Dave Eyre Hi Dick, How do we get it in the UK? Dave |
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15 Oct 10 - 11:05 AM (#3007793) Subject: RE: A New Book of Whalemen's Songs From: Desert Dancer Contact www.camscomusic.com. ~ Becky in Tucson |
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15 Oct 10 - 12:35 PM (#3007856) Subject: RE: A New Book of Whalemen's Songs From: dick greenhaus Dave Eyre- If you order it from CAMSCO Music (dick@camscomusic.com), it will be printed and delivered to the UK. PayPal is probably the easiest way to pay. I'm sorry, but I haven't had time to put it on my website yet, dick |
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18 Oct 10 - 11:34 PM (#3010313) Subject: RE: A New Book of Whalemen's Songs From: KathyW My copy arrived in the mail today, and it is as spiffy as I'd hoped! I can see I'm going to have a good time going through it. Gibb, since you were curious, the chanteys in the "Deepwater Chanteys" chapter are: The Sailor's Alphabet Goodbye, Fare Ye Well Heave Away (Heave Away, My Johnnies; We're All Bound to Go) Reuben Ranzo Old Horse (Salt Horse, Poor Old Horse) Homeward Bound and Outward Bound (Get Up Jack, Let John Sit Down) Homeward Bound (II) (Described in the text as being related to Hugill #542, but w/out "get up Jack, John sit down" line.) Also, "Rolling Down to Old Mohee," appears in the chapter on "Classic Whaling Songs." Many of the lyrics are different from the ones I've seen elsewhere, and are quite interesting. |
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19 Oct 10 - 12:29 PM (#3010769) Subject: RE: A New Book of Whalemen's Songs From: EBarnacle Tying to other thread concepts, how different is the version of Get up Jack, John sit down from the version in the Warner collection? If it is the same, does it invalidate their copyright, as the diary is almost certainly older than their source? |
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19 Oct 10 - 12:45 PM (#3010778) Subject: RE: A New Book of Whalemen's Songs From: GUEST,kendall I wonder if my whaling song will ever make its way into a book? |
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19 Oct 10 - 06:06 PM (#3011021) Subject: RE: A New Book of Whalemen's Songs From: EBarnacle OK, I'll bite. How's it go? |
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19 Oct 10 - 07:46 PM (#3011108) Subject: RE: A New Book of Whalemen's Songs From: kendall I'll do another thread on it. |
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19 Oct 10 - 08:08 PM (#3011132) Subject: RE: A New Book of Whalemen's Songs From: kendall It's titled The Last Whale Hunt |
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19 Oct 10 - 08:14 PM (#3011138) Subject: RE: A New Book of Whalemen's Songs From: SINSULL So which edition, US or UK, will be worth more on Ebay 100 years from now? I will be ordering, Dick, when Xmas bonuses arrive probably after the first of the year. |
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22 Oct 10 - 01:20 PM (#3013117) Subject: RE: A New Book of Whalemen's Songs From: KathyW EBarnacle, just saw your question. If you are asking if "Homeward Bound and Outward Bound" (Get Up Jack, Let John Sit Down) is the same song as "Jolly Roving Tar" published in "Traditional American Folk Songs" by Anne Warner, I'm sorry to disappoint you-- "Homeward Bound and Outward Bound" in Prof. Frank's new book is a different song. It's more like the "Homeward Bound" (performed by Prof. Frank) that you find on the "Classic Maritime Music from Smithsonian Folkways Recordings" album. Or if you have a 1961 (unabridged) "Shanties from the Seven Seas," go to page 541. Prof. Frank's book also has a song titled "Jolly Roving Tar," provided with a tune from "Folksongs from Southern New Brunswick" by Helen Creighton, but it too is different from song in Warner's book. I recommend that you get this book if you are interested in this stuff. I can see I'm going to be spending quite a bit of time going through it. |
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23 Oct 10 - 12:42 AM (#3013505) Subject: RE: A New Book of Whalemen's Songs From: dick greenhaus Get Up Jack, John Sit Down was collected by Frank and Ann Warner from Lena Boorn Fish; it's a folk-processed version of a song written by Ned Harrigan. Jolly Roving Tar, as collected from whalemen's journals by Stuart Frank, is something completely different. |
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23 Oct 10 - 01:54 AM (#3013522) Subject: RE: A New Book of Whalemen's Songs From: GUEST Dick, that information on the original composer of the song is really interesting! At the risk of getting off topic, I did a little Google-ing of Edward Harrigan, it turns out that he wrote "Get Up, Jack-- John Sit Down" in 1885 to be included in a musical play called "Old Lavender." Apparently it was a farce set in a dockside slum area. Thanks to Google Books, one can find Harrigan's original song here: http://books.google.com/books?id=D6-fV6nGceYC&lpg=PA109&dq=%22edward%20harrigan% Also, there is a version of the song lyrics in "American Ballads and Folk Songs" by Alan Lomax, described as a song "sung and written down by John Thomas, a Welsh sailor on the 'Philadelphia' in 1896." (Found via a reference in the Warner book.) Again, Google Books is there to help those who wish to see what that looks like: http://books.google.com/books?id=Dn0cSe2ecuoC&lpg=PA493&dq=american%20ballads%20 |
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23 Oct 10 - 01:57 AM (#3013523) Subject: RE: A New Book of Whalemen's Songs From: KathyW The above off-topic-ness was from me, I somehow had gotten logged out. |