I just discovered the Dan Zanes Parades and Panoramas CD at the library a few weeks ago. I had known his children's recordings before, but this is a collection of 25 songs from Carl Sandburg's 1927 American Songbag songbook. The Zanes CD is a darn nice recording.

I added this thread to our huge cross-index list of Titanic songs and threads. As far as I can tell, this version has not been posted at Mudcat, and I don't know of any other recordings. I wonder how it got missed. It's a great song.

Here's the Traditional Ballad Index entry for this song (no recordings shown):

Titanic (II), The ("The Titanic, Out on that Ocean") (Titanic #2)

DESCRIPTION: "The rich folks 'cided to take a trip On the finest ship was ever built. The cap'n persuaded these people to think This Titanic too safe to sink. Cho: Out on that ocean, The great wide ocean, The Titanic, out on that ocean, sinking down!"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1927 (Sandburg)
KEYWORDS: ship wreck family disaster death
HISTORICAL REFERENCES:
April 14/15, 1912 - Shortly before midnight, ship's time, the Titanic strikes an iceberg and begins to sink. Only 711 survivors are found of 2224 people believed to have been aboard.
FOUND IN: US(SE)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Sandburg, pp. 254-255, "De Titanic" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #4172
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. all the other Titanic songs (plot)
Notes: Despite this song (and other folklore), the band on the Titanic did NOT play "Nearer My God to Thee" as the ship sank. Instead, they played light music to prevent panic.
This song is item dI26 in Laws's Appendix II.
For an extensive history of the Titanic, with detailed examination of the truth (or lack thereof) of quotes in the Titanic songs, see the notes to "The Titanic (XV)" ("On the tenth day of April 1912") (Titanic #15) - RBW
File: San254

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Roud lists only the American Songbag as a source for this song, and shows Sandburg's source as singer Miss Bessie Zaban. So, neither Roud nor the Traditional Ballad Index report any recordings for this version. Maybe Dan Zanes is the first, but it sure seems that somebody should have recorded ALL of the songs in American Songbag.

-Joe-