The Mudcat Café TM
Thread #119776   Message #2604660
Posted By: Gibb Sahib
04-Apr-09 - 02:44 PM
Thread Name: 'Rare' Caribbean shanties of Hugill, etc
Subject: RE: 'Rare' Caribbean shanties of Hugill, etc
To add a little bit to Barry's list of other "Stormalong" type performances...

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"Mister Stormalong", aka just "Stormalong" (this is the one with 'aye aye aye' in the chorus)

This is prob. the most common chantey with the theme, the current 'default' as it were. Actually, it's been recorded a lot (including by Stan Hugill, who wrote that his mother sung it to him as a boy), in addition to being printed in so many collections, so I don't think it's one of these "broken link" chanteys.
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"Way Stormalong John"

Print: Hugill; ???
Performers: Ewan MacColl;

Notes:
Ewan MacColl & AL Lloyd recorded it in 1957 (released on more than one album - see here ). Hugill's print text didnt come until after that, and they are remarkably similar. I don't presently find any earlier print versions (though one tends to get mixed up with all the Stormy variations). Hugill says he learned it from Harding.

Does anyone know of earlier printings, that may have been a source for lloyd/MacColl? (Lloyd, of course, learned many through the oral tradition, so there isnt necesarilly one.) The plot thickens... We know that Hugill was well taken by these 1950s recordings. Could this be a case of Hugill following a recently-heard form?

In case you need reference to which "Stormy" this is, here's a scratchy + authentically-amateurish version!

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more to come