The Mudcat Café TM
Thread #119776   Message #2658247
Posted By: JWB
16-Jun-09 - 10:43 PM
Thread Name: 'Rare' Caribbean shanties of Hugill, etc
Subject: RE: 'Rare' Caribbean shanties of Hugill, etc
Gibb,

My old memory cells don't hold as much data as they used to, particularly after a couple tots of gin, so I can't recall everything I did hear at Mystic last weekend. It's actually easier to list what I *didn't* hear, these being what I think of a "Rare Caribbean" chanteys, based purely on my personal experience of how infrequently I hear them sung at various events. That list includes "Sailboat Malarky", "Essiquibo River" (which was very popular 10-15 years back), "Bound Down Trinidad", "Shallow Brown" (maybe I went to bed too early),and "Running Down to Cuba."

I would love to trace the popularity of certain chanteys in the revival, to discover why some catch on so quickly and widely and then fade out (e.g. Essiquibo River), or stay present in the popular repertory (e.g. John Cherokee). Another thread, p'raps.

You get the pub-sing laurel, though, Gibb, for the free-style "Hilo, Boys, Hilo". If Stan himself had been there he would have been impressed (though he might have opined that your voice wasn't "strident" enough for a true chanteyman, 2 octaves too high or not). You did a great job with that one.

Jerry