The Mudcat Café TM
Thread #143508   Message #3312627
Posted By: Will Fly
24-Feb-12 - 07:56 AM
Thread Name: From Lincolnshire Poacher to St. Thomas
Subject: From Lincolnshire Poacher to St. Thomas
Prompted by seeing Sonny Rollins on UK TV the other evening, I thought I'd revisit his classic "St. Thomas", which I used to play rhythm guitar to many years ago in a jazz outfit. Checking up on the song's date (1955) on the Blessed Wikipedia, it said that the tune's origins lie in the English folk song "The Lincolnshire Poacher" which got to the Virgin Islands, where it acquired a "Caribbean vibe" through the "folk process". Sonny Rollins's mum, who came from the islands, used to sing it to him.

Well I never! Good old folk process, eh?

Will Fly - "St. Thomas"

(I actually couldn't sleep last night, so spent an hour lying in bed, working out the guitar arrangement in my head. It's the second best fun you can have without your clothes on...)