Lyr Req: The Flying Dutchman (E Drake/J Shirl)

Subject: Lyr Req: The Flying Dutchman was a phantom ship..
From: GUEST,guest
Date: 02 Jun 07 - 06:08 PM

Ahoy! ahoy, ahoy
Twas doomed to sail upon an endless trip
ahoy! ahoy, ahoy...

From an LP c. 1950s Lyrics and artist needed.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: The Flying Dutchman was a phantom ship..
From: Liz the Squeak
Date: 03 Jun 07 - 02:55 AM

So that wouldn't be the one by Wagner then would it?

LTS

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: The Flying Dutchman was a phantom ship..
From: Anglo
Date: 03 Jun 07 - 03:16 AM

Oh, very good Liz.

There was a song from the 1850s or so called the Flying Dutchman, starting:
"Twas on a dark and a cheerless night to the southern of the cape..."

I learned a folk processed version of it in Manchester in the 1960s, but that said, it's not the one you're looking for.

Sorry to be of no help. But then neither was Liz.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: The Flying Dutchman was a phantom ship..
From: Little Robyn
Date: 03 Jun 07 - 03:54 AM

I'm trying to remember - we loved it when I was a kid!

The Flying Dutchman was a phantom ship
Ahoy, ahoy ahoy,
Twas doomed to sail upon an endless trip
ahoy! ahoy, ahoy.
The Captain played dice with old Satan
The ship and the crew were the price
He picked up the dice with his soul as the price
And he tossed!
And he lost!
Hark to a tale, my lads,
Hark to.....

The Flying Dutchman....etc

Or something like that.
It was probably sung by Mitch Miller and his gang, or some massed group of that ilk, back in the 50s.
Robyn

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: The Flying Dutchman was a phantom ship..
From: Liz the Squeak
Date: 03 Jun 07 - 04:02 AM

I googled.. it was the only one that came up!

LTS

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: The Flying Dutchman was a phantom ship..
From: GUEST,Ron W
Date: 03 Jun 07 - 07:33 AM

Well, if I could have found it on Google, I wouldn't have bothered the experts here. :)

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: The Flying Dutchman was a phantom ship..
From: Flash Company
Date: 03 Jun 07 - 10:20 AM

Alan Breeze of the Billy Cotton Band is a name that springs to mind, but I may be wrong, Little Robyn certainly remembers more of the words than I do!

FC

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: The Flying Dutchman was a phantom shi
From: GUEST
Date: 03 Jun 07 - 11:08 AM

I remebered the lines as:

The ship and the crew were the cost
He picked up the dice, with his soul up to Christ

---

Please note that anonymous posting is no longer allowed at Mudcat. Use a consistent name when you post, or your messages risk being deleted.
Thanks.
-Joe Offer-

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: The Flying Dutchman was a phantom ship..
From: Little Robyn
Date: 04 Jun 07 - 06:48 AM

My sister remembers a little more:

The Flying Dutchman was a happy craft---

Until one stormy night the Devil laughed etc

And in the middle, I think it was:

Hark to a tale my lads,
Hark to a tale of woe.

I can't believe no-one else remembers this!
Robyn

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: The Flying Dutchman was a phantom ship..
From: georgeward
Date: 04 Jun 07 - 05:41 PM

OK. Here's my candidate. I don't promise that it is the song, but everything fits. Art Mooney & Orch. recorded a bunch of pop stuff with orchestra and "The Art Mooney Choir" in the forties-fifties, including "I'm Looking Over a Four Leaf Clover". The Dutchman is the flip side of their cover of "Cry of the Wild Goose", which was a Frankie Laine biggie.

Cry Of The Wild Goose/Flying Dutchman
Art Mooney & His Orchestra   1950

MGM 10 651
[vocal:Tod Manners]

Talk about obscure! I've written whole grant applications with less effort than this took. Amazing that it stuck in so many of our heads.

Maybe someone can find the lyrics from here.

- George

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: The Flying Dutchman was a phantom ship..
From: Little Robyn
Date: 05 Jun 07 - 04:08 PM

That seems to be the one George.
The page here

lists so many songs I remember from back then. But it looks as if these were not released in the UK and not all released in the USA.
So how come NZ scored many of them? Just lucky, huh?
Robyn

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: The Flying Dutchman
From: Jim Dixon
Date: 28 Apr 10 - 10:36 PM

This information is from Indiana University:

FLYING DUTCHMAN (AHOY! AHOY! AHOY!)
Words and music by Jimmy Shirl and Ervin Drake.
New York: Oxford Music Corporation, copyright 1950

First Line: The Flying Dutchman was a phantom ship, ahoy!
Performer: Richard Hayes

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: The Flying Dutchman
From: Effsee
Date: 28 Apr 10 - 11:22 PM

Was it David Whitfield's "The Rudder and the Rock"? you were thinking about?

Subject: Lyr Add: THE FLYING DUTCHMAN (E Drake/J Shirl)
From: GUEST,DC
Date: 30 Apr 10 - 09:07 AM

THE FLYING DUTCHMAN (Ahoy! Ahoy! Ahoy!)
Lyrics: Ervin Drake - Music: Jimmy Shirl

Richard Hayes - Hugo Winterhalter Orchestra and Chorus


The Flying Dutchman was a phantom ship, ahoy!
Ahoy, ahoy!
'Twas doomed to sail upon an endless trip, ahoy!
Ahoy, ahoy!
No crew and no skipper to guide her,
She sailed on a right even keel.
Ol' seadogs would swear that the devil was there
With his hand at the wheel!

Hark to a tale, me lads!
Hark to a sailor's tale!

The Flying Dutchman roamed the foamy seas, ahoy!
Ahoy, ahoy!
>From Madagascar to the East Indies, ahoy!
Ahoy, ahoy!
'Tis said when a gale was a blowin',
The sea phantom hove into view.
Then over the gale came the blood-curdlin' wail
Of the doomed phantom crew!

Hark to a tale, me lads!
Hark to a sailor's tale!

The Flying Dutchman was a happy craft, ahoy!
Ahoy, ahoy!
Until one stormy night the devil laughed, ahoy!
Ahoy, ahoy!
The skipper played dice with ol' Satan;
His ship and his crew were the cost.
He picked up the dice, with his soul as the price,
And he tossed -
And he lost!

The Flying Dutchman was a phantom ship, ahoy!
Ahoy, ahoy!
And to this day she sails an endless trip, ahoy!
Ahoy, ahoy!
Ahoy, ahoy!
Ahoy!

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: The Flying Dutchman
From: Little Robyn
Date: 30 Apr 10 - 05:30 PM

Thank you DC.
Robyn

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: The Flying Dutchman (E Drake/J Shirl)
From: GUEST,Nancy Hegan
Date: 26 Apr 11 - 01:30 AM

Yep, that was the one. I remember it, too. When someone said they didn't understand the ending of the last "Pirates of the Carribbian" movie, that song came to mind.