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Sea music CD, Time Ashore is Over-radriano

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radriano's new website (4)
Review: Chanteyranger and Radriano's CDs (72)
New sea music album-radriano & chanteyranger (10)
BS: Chanteyranger in hospital - Dec 2006 (153) (closed)
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radriano 01 Jul 02 - 01:30 PM
Charley Noble 01 Jul 02 - 01:53 PM
Barry Finn 02 Jul 02 - 10:23 PM
DonMeixner 02 Jul 02 - 11:37 PM
Noreen 03 Jul 02 - 07:22 AM
Peter Kasin 03 Jul 02 - 10:48 PM
Celtic Soul 03 Jul 02 - 11:18 PM
GUEST,Melani 07 Jul 02 - 12:32 PM
Charley Noble 07 Jul 02 - 05:15 PM
radriano 08 Jul 02 - 12:52 PM
radriano 08 Jul 02 - 01:43 PM
SINSULL 08 Jul 02 - 08:58 PM
Charley Noble 10 Jul 02 - 10:32 AM
radriano 10 Jul 02 - 12:05 PM
Peter Kasin 10 Jul 02 - 11:55 PM
katlaughing 11 Jul 02 - 03:42 AM
radriano 11 Jul 02 - 12:49 PM
Charley Noble 11 Jul 02 - 05:09 PM
Barry Finn 11 Jul 02 - 08:38 PM
Joe Offer 11 Jul 02 - 08:57 PM
katlaughing 12 Jul 02 - 12:02 AM
Peter Kasin 12 Jul 02 - 12:08 AM
radriano 12 Jul 02 - 03:27 PM
Noreen 12 Jul 02 - 06:45 PM
radriano 15 Jul 02 - 11:45 AM
radriano 16 Jul 02 - 12:07 PM
DADGBE 16 Jul 02 - 06:11 PM
radriano 16 Jul 02 - 06:46 PM
radriano 17 Jul 02 - 02:49 PM
Charley Noble 17 Jul 02 - 03:16 PM
EBarnacle1 18 Jul 02 - 12:10 PM
radriano 18 Jul 02 - 01:48 PM
radriano 18 Jul 02 - 02:02 PM
Charley Noble 18 Jul 02 - 08:51 PM
radriano 19 Jul 02 - 11:54 AM
katlaughing 19 Jul 02 - 05:14 PM
radriano 19 Jul 02 - 05:45 PM
Charley Noble 20 Jul 02 - 03:13 PM
radriano 22 Jul 02 - 11:36 AM
radriano 23 Jul 02 - 05:56 PM
radriano 25 Jul 02 - 02:05 PM
dick greenhaus 25 Jul 02 - 04:21 PM
katlaughing 25 Jul 02 - 04:59 PM
radriano 26 Jul 02 - 12:38 PM
radriano 30 Jul 02 - 12:36 PM
MartinRyan 30 Jul 02 - 02:46 PM
radriano 30 Jul 02 - 03:00 PM
radriano 30 Jul 02 - 05:39 PM
radriano 30 Jul 02 - 06:53 PM
katlaughing 30 Jul 02 - 07:38 PM
radriano 31 Jul 02 - 12:03 PM
Charley Noble 01 Aug 02 - 11:46 AM
radriano 01 Aug 02 - 12:34 PM
radriano 02 Aug 02 - 11:49 AM
Charley Noble 02 Aug 02 - 01:04 PM
radriano 02 Aug 02 - 04:23 PM
Noreen 02 Aug 02 - 04:48 PM
radriano 02 Aug 02 - 07:16 PM
Noreen 02 Aug 02 - 07:36 PM
radriano 05 Aug 02 - 11:50 AM
radriano 06 Aug 02 - 11:26 AM
Noreen 06 Aug 02 - 11:46 AM
Jon Bartlett 08 Aug 02 - 03:48 AM
EBarnacle1 08 Aug 02 - 02:28 PM
radriano 08 Aug 02 - 05:08 PM
radriano 08 Aug 02 - 05:11 PM
radriano 09 Aug 02 - 11:27 AM
radriano 09 Aug 02 - 11:38 AM
radriano 09 Aug 02 - 01:17 PM
radriano 09 Aug 02 - 01:22 PM
radriano 12 Aug 02 - 12:13 PM
radriano 19 Aug 02 - 02:07 PM
radriano 30 Aug 02 - 06:52 PM
radriano 30 Aug 02 - 07:01 PM
Charley Noble 30 Aug 02 - 09:41 PM
GUEST,Sharyn Dimmick, sharyn@usisp.com 13 Oct 02 - 06:37 PM
Charley Noble 14 Oct 02 - 09:07 AM
radriano 15 May 08 - 03:06 PM
Barry Finn 16 May 08 - 01:23 AM
Barry Finn 17 May 08 - 01:39 AM
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Subject: New sea music cd, Time Ashore is Over
From: radriano
Date: 01 Jul 02 - 01:30 PM

I'm pleased to announce that my new CD "Time Ashore is Over" is finally finished!

This is a recording of sea shanties and sea songs featuring a chorus of shanty singers from San Francisco's Hyde Street Pier. Also featured is "Out of the Rain" - I reunited the original members of my former band to record three new songs. The CD is also a celebration of the 20th anniversary of the monthly shanty sings at Hyde Street Pier.

Track list:
1. Heave Away Cheerily, O!
2. Away Susana!
3. The Apprentice Boy
4. The Grimsby Lads
5. Hooker John
6. The Ocean Queen
7. Saltpetre Shanty
8. Bound to Australia
9. Billy O'Shea
10. Firing the Mauritania
11. Jackie Tar
12. Roller Bowler
13. Ilo Man
14. Morning Shanty
15. Rolly Boys Roll
16. Time Ashore is Over

Anyone interested in ordering by mail can write to me at the address or e-mail shown below. Cost of the CD for mail orders is $17 (this includes tax and shipping costs). IThis info is for orders in the USA. I have not calculated overseas shipping yet because postage rates are increasing here in the States.

Richard Adrianowicz
604 Irving Street, # 1
San Francisco, CA 94122
radriano@consrv.ca.gov



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Subject: RE: New sea music cd, Time Ashore is Over
From: Charley Noble
Date: 01 Jul 02 - 01:53 PM

Congratulations, Richard! It's a long and arduous process which is inadequately described by any shanty that I know.

Roll & Go's first CD is still mired in that process; I'm meeting with a design consultant today to see what she can suggest for improving our print copy.

Still looking forward to singing with you and Chantyranger in September in the Bay area.

Cheerily,
Charley Noble


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Subject: RE: New sea music cd, Time Ashore is Over
From: Barry Finn
Date: 02 Jul 02 - 10:23 PM

Congrats radriano, it's been a long time coming, great things are always worth the wait. Hey out there, I have inside info that this is a CD worth it's weight in fairy gold dust. Such a deal. Barry


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Subject: RE: New sea music cd, Time Ashore is Over
From: DonMeixner
Date: 02 Jul 02 - 11:37 PM

Hi Richard,

Great news. I really enjoyed the process to do our CD, "Finally". Hope your was as much fun to do as ours.

Don


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Subject: RE: New sea music cd, Time Ashore is Over
From: Noreen
Date: 03 Jul 02 - 07:22 AM

Very interesting... let me know how I can get a copy on this side of the pond please, Richard.


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Subject: RE: New sea music cd, Time Ashore is Over
From: Peter Kasin
Date: 03 Jul 02 - 10:48 PM

I'm more than a little biased here.... it's REALLY GOOD! As Radriano would say: "Sounds like a weiner!"

chanteyranger


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Subject: RE: New sea music cd, Time Ashore is Over
From: Celtic Soul
Date: 03 Jul 02 - 11:18 PM

Congratulations! I know exactly what you mean. It may be a labor of love, but it's still labor.

I am glad to hear of yet another Shanty band keeping the tradition alive, as well.


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Subject: RE: New sea music cd, Time Ashore is Over
From: GUEST,Melani
Date: 07 Jul 02 - 12:32 PM

I just heard it entirely for the first time two days ago. It's got great versions of songs you don't hear everyday. Everyone should get a copy immediately!


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Subject: RE: New sea music cd, Time Ashore is Over
From: Charley Noble
Date: 07 Jul 02 - 05:15 PM

I've been enjoying my complimentary copy for the last week in the van. Richard, you've got some nice arrangements here of less familiar sea songs. I'm still puzzling over "Ilo Man" which reminds me of our New England "Huckleberry Hunting" in tune and even a number of verses, but the set of verses you found wins hands down.

"Time Ashore is Over" makes a nice closing song; I may steal it, or swap you "Yangtse River"!

Cheerily,
Charley Noble


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Subject: RE: New sea music cd, Time Ashore is Over
From: radriano
Date: 08 Jul 02 - 12:52 PM

Now all you guys and gals are making me blush.

Charley, I also think "Ilo Man" is related to "Huckleberry Hunting" - you can hear it in the melody especially in the version of "Huckleberry Hunting" sung on the new "The Johnson Girls" cd. The melody for "Huckleberry Hunting" found in "Shanties of the Seven Seas" is quite different (Hugill calls the song "Ranzo Way") I got "Ilo Man" from an English shanty band called "The Harry Browns of Bristol" (formerly the Harry Brown Shantymen of Bristol). Unfortunately the liner notes from their album say next to nothing about the songs.


Richard


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Subject: RE: New sea music cd, Time Ashore is Over
From: radriano
Date: 08 Jul 02 - 01:43 PM

I forgot to mention that I do have lyric sheets available for my album. Anyone who wants one can e-mail me at:

radriano@consrv.ca.gov

The lyric sheet file is in MS Word format but I can easily save it as a MAC file as well.

Monetary considerations forced me to be sparse with liner notes but I'd be happy to elaborate on them via e-mail.

Charley, Bob Webb also does a version of Ilo Man on his cd "Bank Trollers." In fact, the info in my liner notes about Ilo Man comes from Bob.

Richard


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Subject: RE: New sea music cd, Time Ashore is Over
From: SINSULL
Date: 08 Jul 02 - 08:58 PM

Currently am plum out of fairy gold dust but will send the required $17. Congratulations, radriano.


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Subject: RE: New sea music cd, Time Ashore is Over
From: Charley Noble
Date: 10 Jul 02 - 10:32 AM

Richard, you have some nice strong leads on this recording. I especially like the "hitches" and chorus arrangements for "Away Susanna!", "Hooker John", "Billy O'Shea", and "Roller Bowler". I bet they'd sound even better on the home stereo system rather than the one in the van but then I'd never get to listen to them!

I always wish for more extensive notes but having had to edit our own draft CD notes down to a few spare sentences makes me empathetic but equally frustrated.

Cheerily,
Charley Noble


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Subject: RE: New sea music cd, Time Ashore is Over
From: radriano
Date: 10 Jul 02 - 12:05 PM

Charley, thanks for your kind words. The chorus arrangements for the shanties are pretty organic - except for a couple of instances I did very little arranging. Initially I recorded all the songs solo so that my chorus singers could get used to my phrasings (and my idosyncracies). In the final sessions everything was done live which meant that recording took a bit longer but what really brought out the best balance was the work of my sound engineer, Michael Harmon. After a few verses of a song Michael would stop us and direct specific chorus singers to move their positions relative to the microphones. Michael was also very good about letting singers (myself especially) know when they were out of tune.

The sea songs done with my former band Out of the Rain were quite a different story. We were known for very tight three part harmony singing - we used to spend several hours of rehearsal going over one line of one song. As it happened, one of the band members was just about to move out of the SF Bay Area so we had to throw together those arrangements rather quickly.

Richard


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Subject: RE: New sea music cd, Time Ashore is Over
From: Peter Kasin
Date: 10 Jul 02 - 11:55 PM

Semi thread creep here. While on the subject of Out Of The Rain, I'm going to put a plug in for Radriano's work with that group, briefly re-united for this recording. They were one of the bay area's finest folk groups in the 1980's, (in an area rich in folk performers) and their two recordings are very well worth having. The vocal arrangements are intricate and careful, but sound simple to the ear - never overdone. I find their second tape, "Song Of The Wage Slave," to be downright addictive.

chanteyranger


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Subject: RE: New sea music cd, Time Ashore is Over
From: katlaughing
Date: 11 Jul 02 - 03:42 AM

Congratulations, radriano and I'll be sending my check in right away, too. Really looking forward to it, esp. with the recommends and comments in this thread!

How do we get copies of your former band's tapes, too? I am of the mind a body can never have enough Mudcatter CD's and tapes.*g*

Thanks,

kat


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Subject: RE: New sea music cd, Time Ashore is Over
From: radriano
Date: 11 Jul 02 - 12:49 PM

Katlaughing, I do still have cassette copies of Song of the Wage Slave - Out of the Rain's first cassette A Common Treasury is temporarily out of print. I was hoping to turn both of these into CDs but first I have to dig myself out of the financial hole the new shanty CD put me in.

Song of the Wage Slave is available from me for $12 (including postage)(see address posted earlier in this thread). One of the special features of this recording is poems set to music by one of the band members, Marla Fibish. The title track is, of course, a Robert Service poem and the other two are There Came a Day by poet Ted Hughes and Joe Whitaker by poet Don West. Marla and her husband Jamie now run the Adelphian Center for the Arts in Alameda, California, which provides another venue for concerts and dances in the SF Bay Area.

Richard

P.S. Chanteyranger, you'll get your twenty dollars Saturday, okay? Good job on the plugs, buddy!


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Subject: RE: New sea music cd, Time Ashore is Over
From: Charley Noble
Date: 11 Jul 02 - 05:09 PM

Geez, Richard (everyone else please ignore), I only got a complimentary CD and it ain't even got your autograph on it. I didn't know there was such big money in nautical rave reviews.

Cheerily,
Charley Noble


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Subject: RE: New sea music cd, Time Ashore is Over
From: Barry Finn
Date: 11 Jul 02 - 08:38 PM

Hi radriano. Thanks for the copy. It came a few days back, what a great unexpected treasure. It's been sharing my office, my truck & my house & my kids (note here, not my wife) were getting pretty pissed at me for cutting into their music time. That was until they both finally took some notice & said that they knew some of the songs & both started singing parts of the chorus & giggling. It's not to often that they'll let me play a CD the whole way through, without some kind of snide remark, it's never that they'd stand for a couple of replays. I guess you're a hit with them, damn something I haven't been able to accomplish since they were young'ens. It's really a real keeper, great job & well done & thanks. It's good to hear your voice again from coast to coast.
Barry


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Subject: RE: New sea music cd, Time Ashore is Over
From: Joe Offer
Date: 11 Jul 02 - 08:57 PM

Well, I finally got the time to give a serious listen to Richard's CD. It sounds just like he sounds in person - solid, unaffected, bringing out all the meaning and beauty of a song. It's an absolute pleasure to listen to Richard's singing.
Hey, and he's a nice guy, too. thanks, Richard. Might you think of posting your lyrics here in this thread?
-Joe Offer-


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Subject: RE: New sea music cd, Time Ashore is Over
From: katlaughing
Date: 12 Jul 02 - 12:02 AM

Thanks, Richard, I will send you a check for both.


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Subject: RE: New sea music cd, Time Ashore is Over
From: Peter Kasin
Date: 12 Jul 02 - 12:08 AM

$20??? Hey, Radriano, you omitted a couple of digits. I though we had a deal, man! :-0


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Subject: RE: New sea music cd, Time Ashore is Over
From: radriano
Date: 12 Jul 02 - 03:27 PM

Man, you guys just warm the cockles of my heart.

Joe, are you really suggesting that I post the lyrics to all 16 songs in this thread? Or did I misunderstand what you were saying? I haven't checked but I'll bet that some of these songs are already in the DT. I'll be happy to post them if people really want me to.

Barry, I'm glad you and your family are enjoying the music. You know it takes a West Coast singer to have that kind of effect on people. Seriously though, it was a real feather in my cap to have your melifluous voice on some of the cuts.

Chanteyranger, when I mentioned an arrangement I was talking about the lyrics to Billy O'Shea, man. I thought I was being generous with the $20. See where being a nice guy gets you?


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Subject: RE: New sea music cd, Time Ashore is Over
From: Noreen
Date: 12 Jul 02 - 06:45 PM

The only way I can think of for getting this wonderful CD is to send dollar bills through the post, which obviously has security implications. Any better ideas? Please?


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Subject: RE: New sea music cd, Time Ashore is Over
From: radriano
Date: 15 Jul 02 - 11:45 AM

refresh


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Subject: Lyr Add: AWAY, SUSANNA!
From: radriano
Date: 16 Jul 02 - 12:07 PM

I've had several requests for lyrics for the songs on my cd. As suggested by Joe Offer, I'll offer lyrics for each of the songs in separate posts to this thread. I was forced to be very sparse in my liner notes so this is a grand opportunity for more complete notes on the songs.

AWAY, SUSANNA!
sheet shanty

Shanghaied in San Francisco, we fetched up in Bombay
They set us afloat in an old lease boat that steered like a bale of hay

Chorus:
Then away, Susanna, my fair maid
Oho, ye New York girls, can't ye dance the polka

We panted in the tropics whilst the pitch boiled up on deck
We've saved our hides, little else besides, from an ice-cold North Sea wreck

We drank our rum in Portland, we've thrashed through the Behring Strait
An' we toed the mark on a Yankee barque with a hard-case down-east mate

We know the quays of Glasgow, an' the boom of the lone Azores
We've had our grub from a salt-horse tub, condemned by the Navy stores

We know the track to Auckland an' the light of the Kinsale Head
An' we crept close-hauled while the leadsman called the depth of the channel bed

We know the streets of Santos, the river at Saigon
We've had our glass with a Chinese lass in Ship Street in Hong Kong

They'll pay us off in London, then it's oh, for a spell ashore
Then again we'll ship for a southern trip in a week or hardly more

'Tis goodbye, Sal an' Lucy, 'tis time we were afloat
With a straw-stuffed bed, an' achin' head, a knife an' an oilskin coat

Sing "Time For Us To Leave Her", sing "Bound For The Rio Grande"
An' when the tug turns back, we'll follow her track for a last long look at the land

An' when the purple disappears an' only the blue is seen
That'll take our bones to Davy Jones an' our souls to Fiddler's Green

Away, Susanna! is straight out of Stan Hugill's Shanties From the Seven Seas. On my recording I left out the sixth verse and put in a fiddle break in it's place. I love shanties that mention different ports and this song was especially appropriate because San Francisco is mentioned. Away, Susanna! is the shanghai version of Can't Ye Dance the Polka, the well known song about the sailor who gets drunk and is cheated out of his money and clothes.

Notes from Hugill's book:

This capstan song has many versions of the words, both those of the verses and chorus, and the song probably started life in the Western Ocean Packets about the thirties or forties of the last century, when the polka reached America from Bohemia. The tune is thought to be that of an Irish air Larry Doolan, and one version does start with a verse from this ballad:

My name is Larry Doolan, Oi'm a native of the soil,
If yer want a day's diversion, bhoys,
Oi'll drive ye out in stoile

The words of the chorus give room for speculation. In my more modern first version the first lines of the chorus run:

Then away Susanna, my fair maid…

These words I've heard sung by Charlie Evans, a fine shantyman, one-time member of the crew of the Yankee ship , by Chenoworth ex-Mount Stewart, A. Spencer, ex-Monogahela, who had learnt it from a German stevedore in 'Frisco, and many other 'modern' sailing-ship men.

The older Packet ship words were:
Away you Santi, my dear honey…
or
Away you Santi, my dear Annie…

Sometimes too one would hear 'Away you Johnnie, my dear honey' or 'my fair man' (Bullen), but in the main 'Santi' was sung. Now no one has ever given a real reason, or meaning, for this word; it just appears to be a meaningless name of some sort. I thought so too, until I came across a version giving 'Away you Santa, my dear Anna' and the explanation became clear - the mysterious 'Santi' or 'Santa' being nothing more than the two first syllables or our friend 'Santi-anna' or 'Santa'anna' or, as it was usually written, 'Santiana'!

My first version of Away, Susanna was invariably sung to the 'shanhaied in San Francisco' theme. Charlie Evans, Arthur Spence, Bosun Chenoworth, 'Artie', an A.B. of the New Zealand brigantine Aratapu, and many other shipmates of mine all sang these words. However, I believe that these verses are of comparatively recent date and that they came from a poem (the author of which I have never discovered). Probably some versatile shantyman thought them 'just the job' and spliced them to the old Packet Rat shanty. Nevertheless, they were accepted and sung by hundreds of shantymen in the latter days of sail. Every sailing-ship man I ever knew was acquainted with them.



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Subject: RE: New sea music cd, Time Ashore is Over
From: DADGBE
Date: 16 Jul 02 - 06:11 PM

For those mudcatters from out of the San Francisco Bay area who may not know about Richard, his music and he have been an inspiration for many of us locals for more than 20 years. The new recording is a joy as are all the old ones from Out Of The Rain.

Love the CD!!!


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Subject: Lyr Add: BILLY O'SHEA
From: radriano
Date: 16 Jul 02 - 06:46 PM

BILLY O'SHEA

Oh, we all got drunk in Dublin City
Ch: Fall down, me Billy
We all got drunk and oh, what a pity
Ch: Fall down, Billy O'Shea

Full Chorus:
Fall down, fall down
Fall down, me Billy
We're bound away for Americay
Fall down, Billy O'Shea

We all got drunk on the Rogerson's quay
And when we awoke we were all at sea

Oh, we're not sailors, Captain Drew
And a bit unhappy to work for you

The Captain said, "I've a cure for that"
"And here for a start is a dose of the cat"

He sent him up to the top mast yard
When he hit the deck, well, he hit it hard

We wrapped him up in a canvas sail
And we lowered him gently o'er the rail

Over the side and down he goes
He's gone to Davy Jones with a stitch through his nose

Farewell, farewell, farewell, me Billy
For I am bound for Americay


I first heard about this shanty on the Mudcat Café Forum. Click on the thread below to see the discussion.

Shanty:Billy O'Shea

In addition to the lyrics found at the Mudcat postings I bought a recording of the song by the Whigamaleeries on their cassette titled Tall Ships and Graeme Knights was kind enough to provide me with the melody and lyrics he sings (I also bought a copy of his cd Echoes from Afar that has Billy O'Shea on it as soon as it was released). As it turned out I liked Dan Milner's melody better but the lyrics I sing are compiled from all the versions I found. According to Pete MacNab's post in the thread on Billy O'Shea there was originally no full chorus. By the way, I highly recommend Graeme Knight's recording Echoes from Afar. In addition to some great singing by Graeme the album features a stellar chorus which includes Johnny Collins, Dave Webber and Anni Fentiman, among others.

Radriano


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Subject: RE: New sea music cd, Time Ashore is Over
From: radriano
Date: 17 Jul 02 - 02:49 PM

I am pleased to announce that my cd Time Ashore is Over will soon be available in the UK from the Chantey Cabin website. The album will also be available online in the US at the Wooden Ships Music site.

Richard


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Subject: RE: New sea music cd, Time Ashore is Over
From: Charley Noble
Date: 17 Jul 02 - 03:16 PM

Richard-

If you could post your lyrics to "Hooker John" and "Roller Bowler", along with your more extensive notes, I would greatly appreciate it. You certainly nailed these two shanties!

Cheerily,
Charley Noble


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Subject: RE: New sea music cd, Time Ashore is Over
From: EBarnacle1
Date: 18 Jul 02 - 12:10 PM

I phoned Gus over at Wooden Ships and he didn't have the CD in yet. Please send him some copies so he can sell them for you.


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Subject: RE: New sea music cd, Time Ashore is Over
From: radriano
Date: 18 Jul 02 - 01:48 PM

EBarnacle,

My earlier post should have been worded "will soon be available at the Wooden Ships site." Copies were mailed off to them last week - they may not have received them yet.

Cheers,
Richard


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Subject: Lyr Add: HOOKER JOHN
From: radriano
Date: 18 Jul 02 - 02:02 PM

HOOKER JOHN

Oh, me Mary she's a sailor's lass
Chorus:To me Hooker John, me Hoo-John!
We sported all day on the grass
Chorus:To me Hooker John, me Hoo-John!

Full Chorus:
Ch: Way Susanna
Solo: Oh, way, hay, high high-ya
Ch: Johnny's on the foreyard
Ch: Yonder, way up yonder

Oh, me Susie's she's a sailor's gal
She's nine foot high that gal's so tall

Oh, me Flora she's a hoosier's friend
She's beamy round the old beam end

Oh, Sally Brown she's the gal for me
She court's a bit when her man's at sea

Oh, haul away for Mobile Bay
Oh, haul away and make yer pay


I can't remember where I heard this shanty first. It's been recorded by Pint & Dale on their album Port of Dreams and by Graeme Knights on his album Echo from Afar. There is also a shanty album from England titled Hooker John that I have not heard but I can't remember who put it out. The lyrics I use are the same ones Pint & Dale sing, I think, with the exception of the last verse which I lifted from the Graeme Knights cd. We had a great fun recording this one, not only because it's a great song but we all began laughing uncontrollably when one of the chorus singers started singing "Johnny's on the foreskin, yonder, way up yonder."

My sparse liner notes info comes from the Encyclopedia of Nautical Knowledge by W.A McEwen and A.H. Lewis published by Cornell Maritime Press, Cambridge, Maryland. Their definition of hooker is:

Hooker. (Du. hoeker, fishing-vessel; from hoek, hook) An old-time fishing-boat with one mast, common to Irish and southern English coasts. Any vessel usually fishing with lines and hooks, also termed liner. Sailor's depreciative term for a clumsy, old-fashioned vessel; as the hooker leaks like a basket; often applied fondly; as, we prefer to stay on board the hooker.

Here's a definition from The Oxforrd Companion to Ships & the Sea, edited by Peter Kemp and published by Oxford University Press, London, New York, Melbourne, 1976:

Hooker, a development of the original ketch, a short, tubby little vessel with main and mizenmasts, originally square-rigged on the main and with a small topsail above a fore-and-aft sail hoisted on a gaff on the mizzen. She usually set two jibs on a high steeved bowsprit. She was a fishing vessel, and probably, as her name suggests, was used mainly for line fishing. She became a distinct type of vessel in her own right, as opposed to the generic ketch, early in the 18th century. The rig was much favoured by Dutch fishing craft. The name is also used, slightly contemptuously, for any vessel when she grows old and has lost her early bloom, or perhaps has come down a bit in the maritime world.

And, finally, as I found out from Pint & Dale, Hooker John is in Stan Hugill's Shanties from the Seven Seas. Here are the notes from Stan's book:

"Captain Whall gives a verse and chorus called Ooker John in his book Sea Songs and Shanties. From my Barbadian friend Harding [he had the colorful name of Harding the Barbadian Barbarian] I learnt a similar capstan shanty, but he sang Hooker John, and he said that it was still popular in the West Indies (1931). It probably originated as a cotton-stower's song. Whall gives:

O my Mary she's a blooming lass,
Ch: To my Ooker John, my Oo-John,
O my Mary she's a blooming lass,
Ch: To my Ooker John, my Oo-John,
Full Chorus:
Way, fair lady, O way-ay-ay-ay-ay,
My Mary's on the highland,
O yonder's Mary - yonder…

and judging from these words it looks as though, in spite of the Negro tune and the way the refrains are worded, some Scotsman or North Countryman had a hand in this version. The tune of the solo lines is similar to that of Roll the Cotton Down.

Richard


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Subject: RE: New sea music cd, Time Ashore is Over
From: Charley Noble
Date: 18 Jul 02 - 08:51 PM

Nice meaty notes, Richard. Thanks!

Charley Noble


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Subject: RE: New sea music cd, Time Ashore is Over
From: radriano
Date: 19 Jul 02 - 11:54 AM

I spoke with Gus Pedersen who runs the Wooden Ships website via e-mail yesterday. He has not yet received my CDs yet and he is about to go away for a week so my recording won't be available through him for at least a couple of weeks yet. To complicate matters, this is how he handles new releases: He asked me to send him three copies initially. One for scanning and for music samples and two for inventory. When he sells the two copies he'll pay my invoice and then order additional copies for inventory.

I apologize for any inconvenience this may cause. I'm looking into other outlets for online availability and if anyone has suggestions I would gladly welcome the information. I did leave a message with Camsco Music but have not heard back from them yet.

Richard (radriano)


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Subject: RE: New sea music cd, Time Ashore is Over
From: katlaughing
Date: 19 Jul 02 - 05:14 PM

Have you looked into www.cdbaby? Someone else on the Mudcat uses them, if I remember correctly. As a customer, I was really pleased with their service and they have a great sense of humour, PLUS a designated FOLK section!*g* I am eagerly awaiting my CD and tape, sent the check out a few days ago. Thanks!


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Subject: Lyr Add: ROLLER BOWLER
From: radriano
Date: 19 Jul 02 - 05:45 PM

ROLLER BOWLER
Alternate title: Good Morning, Ladies All

As I rolled out one mornin'
Ch:Hurrah, you roller bowler!
As I rolled out one mornin'
I met a dou-dou fair
Ch:Timme, hey-rig-a-jig an' a ha-ha
Good morning ladies all

Full Chorus:
And hurrah, you roller bowler
Timme, hey-rig-a-jig an' a ha-ha!
Good mornin', ladies all

Oh, I met her once in Liverpool
Oh, I met her once in Liverpool
That saucy gal of mine

Oh, the first time that I saw her
Oh, the first time that I saw her
'Twas down in Parkee Lane

She winked and tipped her flipper
She winked and tipped her flipper
She thought I was a Mate

But when she found that I was skint
But when she found that I was skint
She left me standing there

I squared me yards an' sailed away
I squared me yards an' sailed away
An' to the ship I went

The last time that I saw her
The last time that I saw her
Was down the waterside

Oh, you ladies short and ladies tall
Oh, you ladies short and ladies tall
I love you one and all


My version of this shanty is a combination of some of the verses from Barry Finn and the setting that Shay Black sings. I first heard of this song from Barry Finn (minus the full chorus) who got it from Polish shanty singer Marek Siurawski. I had heard that Shay Black sang it too but with a full chorus. I heard Shay's version when he, chanteyranger, myself, Skip Henderson, and Jim Nelson sang some shanties for the dedication of the new MUNI (local light rail) F-Line which ends up a block away from Hyde Street Pier in San Francisco. Shay Black told me that he used to sing Roller Bowler when he lived in Liverpool and was singing with the band Stormalong John. I believe Shay learned the song from Stan Hugill who used Stormalong John as his shanty chorus for one of his concert tours. You can hear Shay singing the song on Stormalong John's cd Liverpool, a re-release of songs from earlier cassette tapes they had made. There is no indication on the Liverpool cd of who is in the band but there's no mistaking Shay's distinctive voice and he confirmed that it was indeed he on that recording. There is also a recording of Roller Bowler sung by Shay Black on a cd of a French sea music festival, Les Musiques De La Fete: Brest '92. It's too bad Barry Finn never has recorded it because he does a wonderful job on it.

I had fun with the "timme!" yells in the chorus. I sing the yells as solo lines simply because I like the way it sounds - it's not traditional to do it that way. It was Skip Henderson who told me that he had read that Stan Hugill thought very highly of this shanty. Hugill certainly doesn't say so in Shanties from the Seven Seas:

"Another shanty which uses the expression 'high-rig-a-jig' is the capstan song Roller Bowler which appears to me to be another of the Negro-Irish type of sailor work-song. I picked up my version out in Trinidad. Sharp's version, the only one in print until now, seems to be a Liverpool shanty although he collected it in Bristol, I think. Anyhow it is definitely a shanty that was sung aboard of the West Indian Sugar and Rum Traders, since it was well known by most of my West Indian shipmates. Sharp gives an introductory chorus."

radriano


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Subject: RE: New sea music cd, Time Ashore is Over
From: Charley Noble
Date: 20 Jul 02 - 03:13 PM

What joy, what joy! Although if I transcribed "Roller Bowler" from your CD, Richard, I might have come up with some interesting new wording.

Cheerily,
Charley Noble


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Subject: RE: New sea music cd, Time Ashore is Over
From: radriano
Date: 22 Jul 02 - 11:36 AM

Dear Katlaughing,

Thanks for the tip about www.cdbaby (see katlaughing's earlier post in this thread for the link). I sent off a supply of CDs to them over the weekend. They seemed pretty decent.

Thanks!
Richard


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Subject: Lyr Add: TIME ASHORE IS OVER (Bill Meek)
From: radriano
Date: 23 Jul 02 - 05:56 PM

I originally got this song from local singer Dick Holdstock. When I contacted author Bill Meek (via John Conolly) to get his permission to record he sent me a lyric sheet which was a bit different from what I had learned. I had glanced at it and thought that I had the correct lyrics probably based on looking at the first two verses but Bill often re-visits his songs and re-writes words and phrases so I'm not sure at this point which set of lyrics came first. Here are the lyrics Bill Meek sent to me followed by what I am singing:



TIME ASHORE IS OVER
Words and music by Bill Meek

I'm standing on the dockside wall
Ch: Sailing on the evening tide
Waiting for the skipper's call
Ch: Time ashore, bright hours ashore
Ch: Time ashore is over

And Sally's watching as I go
Tearfilled eyes, two kids in tow

But what of her when I'm Iceland bound?
Will she be true or gad around?

For I can't recall when she was mine
For more than three days at a time

I'll think of her when the nets go out
Me heart is sure but me head's in doubt

For when you're trapped on the northern sea
It's a thousand miles of uncertainty

Better men that I have lost their all
Through following this cursed trawl


TIME ASHORE IS OVER
As sung by R. Adrianowicz

I am standing on the dockyard wall
Ch: Sailing on the evening tide
Waiting for the skipper's call
Ch: Time ashore, bright hours ashore
Ch: Time ashore is over

Sally watching as I go
Tear filled eyes, two kids in tow

And what of her when we're outward bound
Will she be true or gad around

I can't recall when she was mine
For more than two days at a time

When you're out on the northern sea
It's a thousand miles of uncertainty

I think of her when the nets go out
My heart is sure but my head's in doubt

Life or love I could lose it all
For following this cursed trawl

Bill Meek's notes from his lyric sheet: I wrote this "shanty" for the Fishing Heritage Centre production Here's to the Grimsby Lads. Once at sea, fishermen were a world away from wives and families, and just like those back home, they too had their worries.

Radriano


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Subject: Lyr Add: BOUND TO AUSTRALIA
From: radriano
Date: 25 Jul 02 - 02:05 PM

BOUND TO AUSTRALIA

I'm leaving old Ireland, the land that I love
And I'm bound far across the sea
Oh, I'm bound for Australia, the land of the free
Where there'll be a welcome for me

Chorus:
So fill up yer glasses an' drink what ye please
For whatever the damage I'll pay
So be aisy an' free, whilst yer drinkin' wid me
Sure I'm a man you don't meet every day!

When I board me ship for the south'ard to go
She'll be lookin' so trim an' so fine
And I'll land me aboard, with me bags and me stores
From the dockside they'll cast off each line

To Land's End we'll tow, with our boys all so tight
Wave a hearty goodbye to the shore
And we'll drink the last drop to our country's green land
And the next day we'll curse our sore heads

We'll then drop the tug, and sheet tops'ls home taut
And the hands will crowd sail upon sail
With a sou'wester strong, boys, we'll just tack along
By the morn many jibs will turn pale

We'll beat past the Ushant and then down the Bay
Where the west wind it blows fine an' strong
We'll soon get the Trades and we should make good time
To the south'ard then we'll roll along

Round the Cape we will roll, take our flyin' kites in
For the Forties will sure roar their best
And then run our Eastin' with yards all set square
With the wind roaring out of the west

We'll then pass Cape Looin all shipshape and trim
Then head up for Adelaide Port
Off Semaphore roads we will there drop our hook
And ashore, boys, we'll head for some sport


Another song from Stan Hugill's Shanties from the Seven Seas. I changed the first line of the song from "I'm leaving Old England.." to "I'm leaving Old Ireland…" because I felt that the chorus words had an Irish feel to them, especially the "Sure I'm a man…" in the last line of the chorus. I tend not to sing in dialect so I'm not singing exactly what is in Hugill's book. I also left out the last two verses.

Of course there's the well known song Jock Stewart in the DT which is described as "an Irish narrative ballad that has been shortened to an Aberdeenshire drinking song." There are a few threads at Mudcat about this, here, here and here. These threads are mostly about the Jock Stewart / I'm A Man You Don't Meet Every Day songs that don't have nautical verses. Bound to Australia also uses a different melody, a variant of Believe Me If All Those Endearing Young Charms.

Here's what Hugill has to say about Bound to Australia:

An old song known to most Irish and Liverpool-Irish seamen was Bound to Australia, sung to the air I'm a man ye don't meet every day - a variant of Believe me if all those endearing young charms. It was not a true forebitter perhaps, although it was sung in the dog-watches in the old sailing ships; but I never heard that it was used as a capstan shanty until I read in Doerflinger's Shantymen and Shantyboys that according to Captain P. Tayleur it was often sung by seamen in the Australian Emigrant Trade as the 'hove in their mooring lines' and 'brought the anchor to the hawse-pipe'. Captain Tayleur calls his song The First of the Emigrants and in the main it is the same as mine, which I had from old Paddy Griffiths. Gold was found in Australia in 1851 and from that time onwards for the rest of the century sailing ships packed to the scuppers with emigrants and gold-seekers headed for the 'Colonies'. No doubt it lent itself to being a fine capstan song.

Richard (Radriano)


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Subject: RE: New sea music cd, Time Ashore is Over
From: dick greenhaus
Date: 25 Jul 02 - 04:21 PM

It's a nicely done CD. If you insist on paying with plastic, you can order it through CAMSCO Music 800/548-FOLK (3655)


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Subject: RE: New sea music cd, Time Ashore is Over
From: katlaughing
Date: 25 Jul 02 - 04:59 PM

Ah, good, Richard! There ya go, CAMSCO and CDBaby!

Thanks,

kat


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Subject: Lyr Add: JACKIE TAR (from Roy Palmer)
From: radriano
Date: 26 Jul 02 - 12:38 PM

JACKIE TAR
The Oxford Book of Sea Songs, Roy Palmer, editor

When Jack had pulled the oar and the boat was gone
And the lassie on the shore with her head hanging down
The tears stood in her eyes and her bosom heaving sighs
Farewell, my dear, she cries, with your trousers on
Farewell, said he, I go to sea, and you must stay behind
But do not grieve, for while I live I ever will be kind
And when I come to land you will meet me on the strand
And welcome Jackie Tar with his trousers on

Now peace is proclaimed and the wars are all o'er
The fleets they are moored and the sailors come ashore
Now you may see her stand with a glass into her hand
To welcome Jack to land with his trousers on
While up on high, she catched his eye with all her lovely charms
Her face he knew and straight he flew and caught her in his arms
Her hand he kindly pressed as he held her round the waist
And he kissed the bonny lassie with his trousers on

O Jack, where have you been since you went from me
And what have you seen upon the raging sea
I mourned for your sake while my heart was like to break
For I thought I'd never see my Jack with his trousers on
And while you stayed I sighed and prayed to Neptune and to Mars
That they would prove kind and send you home safe from the wars
And now to my request they have been pleased to list
And sent you to my breast with your trousers on

I have sailed the seas for you to the Torrid Zone
From the confines of Peru to Van Diemen's Land
From the Bay of Baltimore to the coast of Labrador
But now I'm safe on shore with my trousers on
I have beat the storms in many forms upon the raging main
I have fought the foes with deadly blows and many a hero slain
I have heard the cannons road, I have rolled in blood and gore
But now I'm safe on shore with my trousers on

I have been aloft when the winds have blown
And I have been aloft when the bombs were thrown
But like a sailor bold I have now come from the hold
With my pockets full of gold and my trousers on
And now no more from shore to shore I'll plough the raging seas
But free from strife as man and wife we'll live in peace and ease
To the church this couple hied and the priest the knot has tied
And the sailor kissed his bride with his trousers on


I was intrigued by the lyrics for this song and by the way every verse ended with the phrase "with his trousers on." I was also attracted to it because the song bears the same name and uses the same melody as the hornpipe Jackie Tar. There are some other examples of this sort of thing. Ricky Rackin sings a song titled Off to California to the tune of the hornpipe Off to California and I'm sure there are some others.

Concerning the "with his trousers on" phrase I started a thread on the Mudcat Forum, Jackie Tar Thread, and got a number of interesting interpretations for the phrase. The one I liked best was from Malcolm Douglas:

Roy Palmer had this to say on the subject (Bushes & Briars: Folk Songs Collected by Ralph Vaughan Williams, 1983/1999):

"At the end of the 18th century, when most men wore knee-breeches, sailors (apart from officers) wore trousers, and had been doing so for some fifty years. (Incidentally, the revolutionary French sans-culottes were so called, not because they went about with bare posteriors, but because they, too, wore trousers in preference to breeches). A sailor could easily roll up his wide trousers when decks had to be scrubbed, or seas were breaking over them. The trousers (usually spelled "trowsers" at the time) were often stained with the Stockholm tar used on the standing rigging, and "tarry trousers" were thus the unmistakable badge of the sailor."

Here what Roy Palmer says about this song in his book The Oxford Book of Sea Songs:

[From a broadside sheet] J. Pitts, Printer, Wholesale Toy and Marble Warehouse, 6 Great St Andrew Street, Seven Dials (London).

The sheet was printed between 1819 and 1844, but the ballad probably dates from soon after the end of the American War in 1783. Four oral versions turned up in Aberdeenshire in the early twentieth century, though unfortunately the tunes were not noted. A sailor's hornpipe rhythm was clearly intended for the song, and the hornpipe, 'Jack Tarr', is given here. It was otherwise known as 'The Cuckoo's Nest'.

Richard (Radriano)


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Subject: Lyr Add: GRIMSBY LADS (John Conolly and Bill Meek)
From: radriano
Date: 30 Jul 02 - 12:36 PM

THE GRIMSBY LADS
Words and music by John Conolly and Bill Meek

Chorus

They sail in the cold and the gray of the morning
Leaving their wives and their families behind
Following the fishing, fulfilling their calling
Their charts are all ready the shoals for to find

Chorus:
Here's to the Grimsby lads out at the trawling
Here's to the lads on the billowing deep
Shooting their nets and heaving and hauling
All the night long, and the landsmen asleep

Away to the north where there know will be waiting
Frost and black ice and the lash of the gale
Trawling and hoping and anticipating
A ship bumper-full and safe homeward to sail

From Scotland's gray shore to the cold coast of Iceland
Through White Sea and Faeroe they're working their way
Through Dogger and Forties to stormy Bear Island
Eighteen long hours is the fisherman's day

The nets are inboard and the catch lies a gleaming
There's gutting and washing and packing below
Ten days of fishing and home they'll be steaming
A thousand miles gone and a thousand to go

On Humber's brown water the new sun is gleaming
To the fisherman's prayer the breeze sings the amen
The smoky gray town in the stillness is dreaming
Her sons from the waters return once again


One of my favorite sea songs, originally learned from the Oxford Book of Sea Songs, edited by Roy Palmer. After recording this song, I bought an album of John Conolly and Bill Meek doing their song and I noticed that the second line of the last verse was different from the printed version in Palmer's book. I wrote to John Conolly and he said that both Bill Meek and he have a habit of re-visiting songs occasionally and tinkering with them. They had changed that line from To the fisherman's prayer the breeze sings the amen to Another trip's over, another day's done in a later recording.

Black ice (in the 2nd verse) refers to sea ice that is clear enough to show the color of the water underneath, nearly invisible and thus dangerous. The place names in the 3rd verse bear some explaining: the White Sea is north of Archangel in the Soviet Union; Faeroe refers to the Faeroe Islands, a group of Danish islands (540 square miles) in the North Atlantic, between Iceland and the Shetland Islands; Dogger refers to the Dogger Bank, an extensive sand bank in the central North Sea, between England and Denmark, submerged at a depth of 60-120 ft.; the Forties is part of the North Sea, between Scotland and Norway; and Bear Island is to the south of Spitsbergen.

Here are notes about this song from a lyric sheet sent to me by Bill Meek and John Conolly:

"This is one of the first songs we ever wrote together…and it is more popular in 1998 than it was over thirty years ago! We have recently received recordings of it from Holland, Germany, Denmark and Poland. It is a simple tribute to the men who did the toughest job in the world…the deep-sea trawlermen whose triumphs and disasters were an integral part of our growing up, and whose lives we have tried to chronicle in many of our songs."

And here are the notes about this song from Roy Palmer's book:

"Distant water fishing has greatly declined since 1966 when John Conolly and Bill Meek wrote this song, but the skill and hardiness of trawlermen remain the same. Both writers were brought up within smell of Grimsby Docks in England. Conolly, born in 1941, had a grandfather who was a local shipwright. Meek was born in 1937, and his father worked on the docks as a 'lumper' (fish-handler). They set out to write of the trawling industry since they felt that 'the men who did the most dangerous job in the world deserved to be celebrated in song'.

Richard (Radriano)


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Subject: RE: New sea music CD, Time Ashore is Over
From: MartinRyan
Date: 30 Jul 02 - 02:46 PM

Richard

Well done! My copy arrived safely and has just had its first twirl. Great robust singing of a very interesting set of songs.

Regards

p.s. Coincidentally, we had a long run of sea-songs in Ennistymon, during the Willy Clancy Week, recently. Tom Munnelly (who seems to have been there at the birth of the song!) sang "Billy O'Shea" - without a full chorus.


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Subject: RE: New sea music CD, Time Ashore is Over
From: radriano
Date: 30 Jul 02 - 03:00 PM

Calling Joe Clone! Calling Joe Clone!

Please replace the first paragraph of my post to this thread titled "Lyric Add: Time Ashore is Over" with the following:


I originally got this song from local singer Dick Holdstock. When I contacted author Bill Meek (via John Conolly) to get his permission to record he sent me a lyric sheet which was a bit different from what I had learned. I had glanced at it and thought that I had the correct lyrics probably based on looking at the first two verses but Bill often re-visits his songs and re-writes words and phrases so I'm not sure at this point which set of lyrics came first. Here are the lyrics Bill Meek sent to me followed by what I am singing:



Thank you!
Richard


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Subject: RE: New sea music CD, Time Ashore is Over
From: radriano
Date: 30 Jul 02 - 05:39 PM

I'm pleased to announce that my cd is now available at the CDBaby website:

CDBaby


Richard (Radriano)


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Subject: Lyr Add: HEAVE AWAY CHEERILY, O! (chantey)
From: radriano
Date: 30 Jul 02 - 06:53 PM

HEAVE AWAY CHEERILY, O!
capstan, pumps and windlass shanty

Oh, the wind is free an' we're bound for sea
Ch: Heave away cheerily o-ho!
The lassies are wavin' to you an' to me
Ch: As off to the south'ard we go, as off to the south'ard we go

Full Chorus:
Sing, me lads, cheerily
Heave, me lads, cheerily
Heave away cheerily o-ho!
For the gold that we prize an' for sunnier skies
Away to the south'ard we go!

They're cryin', Come back, my dear John an' dear Jack
There's water in front an' no door at the back

But we're Johnnies bold who can work for our gold
An' stand a good dousin' wi'out catchin' cold

The gals to the south'ard are bully an' fine
When we gits to Melbourne we'll have a good time

A John he is true to his Sal an' his Sue
So long as he's able to keep 'em in view

We'll heave her up, bullies, an' run her away
We'll soon be a'headin' out on a long lay

This shanty is from Stan Hugill's book Shanties from the Seven Seas. It is shown in Ab, a key with four flats that gives the song an interesting texture while fitting quite nicely within my vocal range. I changed the first three lines of the full chorus into call and response lines. This is not the traditional way to sing the full chorus but I really like the way it sounds. As I look at the book now I see that I have omitted this second verse for some reason:

They're shoutin' goodbye, an' the gals they do cry
So sing up, me darlin's, an' wipe yer tears dry

Here are notes about this shanty from Stan Hugill's book:

Our next 'heave' shanty is Heave Away Cheerily, O!. Only two collections give it. Davis & Tozer give it as capstan, Harlow as both pumps and windlass. Davis & Tozer state that the words and music or their version are 'entirely original'. If by this the editors mean that they composed it then seamen, obviously, must have taken it from their book in 1887 (first edition) and made use of it at sea - a magnificent gesture! For Harlow mentions it having been sung many times aboard his ship. He declares that there were many unprintable verses. I learnt my version from a Geordie shipmate in the twenties.

This [Hugill's verses] is much the same as that of Davis & Tozer. Harlow gives verses 1 and 2 in similar vein, then:

[verse 3]
They're crying, 'Come back, my dear sailor in blue
For no one can fill the place vacant by you

[verse 4]
They love us for money, whoever he be
But when it's all gone we are shanghaied to sea

[verse 5]
Then sing, 'Goodbye Sally, your wonders I'll tell
But when with another, I'll wish you in hell

'Geordie', my friend, always sang the word 'cheerily' as 'cheerilye' in accordance with typical sailor usage when singing any word ending with '-ly'.

The word 'cheerily' mean 'quickly' and was often used at capstan and halyards when exhorting the men to harder efforts … 'Heave away cheerily, me hearties!' … 'Cheerily, lads, hand over hand!' It was used in both the Navy and Merchant Marine and Shakespeare uses it in Act I, Scene I, of his play The Tempest, where the bosun calls out: 'Heigh, my hearts, cheerly, cheerly, my hearts; yare, yare! Take in the topsail…'

'Cheerily' had an opposite number, 'handsomely'. This meant heave or haul slow and steady but appears to have been used more in the Navy than in the Merchant Service.


Richard (Radriano)


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Subject: RE: New sea music CD, Time Ashore is Over
From: katlaughing
Date: 30 Jul 02 - 07:38 PM

Wow, first class! Thanks so much, Richard. The CD is wonderful! I love the songs, most unknown to me landlocked as I've been:-), and the harmonies are great, as well as the energy. I've already recommended it to several others.

I have to say....I am even more enamoured of the Out of the Rain tape "Song of the Wage Slave." I am really grateful someone mentioned it. My voice is well-suited for a couple of them and I've already gone looking for lyrics to learn them. The tight harmonies, excellent playing are really lovely and sing to my heart.

Thanks so much for making both of these available.

kat


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Subject: RE: New sea music CD, Time Ashore is Over
From: radriano
Date: 31 Jul 02 - 12:03 PM

I received a letter from John Conolly last night and he says that the lyrics that I am singing to Time Ashore is Over are real close to Bill Meek's original composition although I really like some of the changes Bill has made in his song.


Radriano


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Subject: RE: New sea music CD, Time Ashore is Over
From: Charley Noble
Date: 01 Aug 02 - 11:46 AM

Well, the requests keep rolling in! Richard, could you post the lyrics and notes for "Firing the Mauritania," an unusual song from the firemen's (coal shovelers) point of view aboard a "floating palace" which seems to ring true. Stephen Canright does a gread job on the CD leading this one.

Cheerily,
Charley Noble


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Subject: RE: New sea music CD, Time Ashore is Over
From: radriano
Date: 01 Aug 02 - 12:34 PM

Hi Charley,

I'll see Stephen Canright at the shanty sing tomorrow night and ask him to write detailed notes since he leads the song. I think he may have originally heard it sung by David Jones on the Bermuda Triangle(not sure abt this title) album.


Richard


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Subject: RE: New sea music CD, Time Ashore is Over
From: radriano
Date: 02 Aug 02 - 11:49 AM

Riggy tells me that the recording Firing the Mauritania is on is A Beautiful Life by the band Bermuda Quadrangle.


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Subject: RE: New sea music CD, Time Ashore is Over
From: Charley Noble
Date: 02 Aug 02 - 01:04 PM

As I recall the "Bermuda Quadrangle" included David Jones, Jeff Warner, Jeff Davis and someone else. Anyone remember who?

Cheerily,
Charley Noble


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Subject: RE: New sea music CD, Time Ashore is Over
From: radriano
Date: 02 Aug 02 - 04:23 PM

The other member of Bermuda Quadrangle is Jerry Epstein. I was just looking at the link Riggy sent to me for Minstrel Records where you can order the cassette A Beautiful Life


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Subject: RE: New sea music CD, Time Ashore is Over
From: Noreen
Date: 02 Aug 02 - 04:48 PM

Richard, thank you so much for the CD, it's very good indeed and I'm thoroughly enjoying it.

One that jumped out at me was the Morning Shanty, I'd love to sing it.

Good luck with the sales- I'm plugging it over here!

Noreen


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Subject: RE: New sea music CD, Time Ashore is Over
From: radriano
Date: 02 Aug 02 - 07:16 PM

Noreen,

I'm pleased that you are enjoying the album. Morning Shanty seems to be creating a bit of a stir. John Conolly really liked that one too - he thinks it would be a great song to end an evening of shanty singing. The song's author, Sharyn Dimmick, has recorded her original version on her solo cassette. I don't want to mis-quote the title of the album so I'll post that Monday. Besides the two of us, I don't know if anyone else has recorded Morning Shanty.

Richard


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Subject: RE: New sea music CD, Time Ashore is Over
From: Noreen
Date: 02 Aug 02 - 07:36 PM

I would like to ask Sharyn's permission to sing Morning Shanty - how would I contact her, please?


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Subject: RE: New sea music CD, Time Ashore is Over
From: radriano
Date: 05 Aug 02 - 11:50 AM

refresh


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Subject: RE: New sea music CD, Time Ashore is Over
From: radriano
Date: 06 Aug 02 - 11:26 AM

Sharyn Dimmick's cassette tape that includes her song Morning Shanty is titled I Am Your Winter Lover. I believe it is only available through her. Anyone wishing to contact Sharyn can e-mail her at:

sharyn@usisp.com


Radriano


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Subject: RE: New sea music CD, Time Ashore is Over
From: Noreen
Date: 06 Aug 02 - 11:46 AM

Thanks for the info, Richard.


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Subject: RE: New sea music CD, Time Ashore is Over
From: Jon Bartlett
Date: 08 Aug 02 - 03:48 AM

Richard, your new CD arrived the morning I took delivery of ours! Serendipity indeed - and yours is such a winner. Well done, Richard, and the rest of the crew: the process of "borrowing" has already begun, Rika picking up the Sally O.

Our CD (titled "Blow the Man Down! Tall Ships in the Fraser") is by way of being a crowd starter: it's got 27 tracks for a full 72 minutes, and every one of 'em we've all been singing for years - not a new song amongst 'em. But the idea for us was to get non-singers singing, and to do it with a local flavour, since the Tall Ships arrive here tomorrow. The CD booklet is 32 pages long, and that's without the texts to the songs! (mostly a long local history of sail in the Fraser, 1820-1910, with stuff on how the shanties were used).

We'd like to get down to the Bay area for a sing or three, but it's a long and expensive haul. All the best to the Bay shanty singers, including Richard A. and Dick Holdstock. Jon Bartlett


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Subject: RE: New sea music CD, Time Ashore is Over
From: EBarnacle1
Date: 08 Aug 02 - 02:28 PM

Just got the album. It's worth the wait. This is the kind of collection I wish many of the others out there were. The sound is especially well done as shown by the words come through clearly on all the cuts.

Additionally, thank you for posting the lyrics here. It saves us from writing it out manually so we can learn the [well selected]pieces. Exceptionally good job of searching out copyright and other attributions. Keep up the good work.


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Subject: Lyr Add: THE APPRENTICE BOY
From: radriano
Date: 08 Aug 02 - 05:08 PM

THE APPRENTICE BOY

When first I went to sea, apprentice bound
I sailed the salt seas all round and round
I scarce had sailed a voyage but one
When I fell in love with my charming Ann

I went to my Captain, both stout and bold
And unto him my secret told
I love yonder lass as I love my life
What would I give if she were my wife

Well, the Captain said, you're a foolish boy
For to court a girl that you'll ne'er enjoy
For she'll have lovers when you're at sea
And she'll be married e'er you be free

Well, I don't know but I'll go and try
For she might fancy an apprentice boy
And she might alter her mind for me
And wait on me until I be free

Well, I bought her ribbons and I bought her doves
These things to prove of a heart that loves
She accepted all and she was not shy
And she vowed she'd wait for her apprentice boy

When my ship is anchored and my work is o'er
I'll steer my barque for sweet Erin's shore
In my native country, my love I'll enjoy
And she'll welcome home her apprentice boy

So come all you sea apprentices where'er you be
Never slight your true love when you're at sea
Just love her as you love your life
And she'll consent to become your wife


In 1984 I made it to the Willie Clancy Festival which is held in the town of Miltown Malbay in County Clare, Ireland. I attended the Singing Workshop that year and heard Róisín White sing this lovely song which I understand she had from the late Joe Holmes. The Apprentice Boy offers a more romantic view of the sailor and is one of my favorite sea songs. It has been recorded by Róisín White on her album The First of My Rambles. In the first line of the fifth verse Róisín sings "bought her gloves" which I though I heard as "bought her doves." Cathal McConnell also recorded this song on one of the Boys of the Lough albums.

Radriano


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Subject: Lyr Add: THE OCEAN QUEEN
From: radriano
Date: 08 Aug 02 - 05:11 PM

THE OCEAN QUEEN

Was in the winter season, all in the frost and snow
We leave our noble harbour and down to Georges go
Where winds do loudly whistle, blow heavy on our sail
As we go off a-spouting just like a frightened whale

Our sails are always good and strong, made of the best of duck
Our rigging is manila and rove through patent block
Our vessel built of white oak and finished with great taste
To ride the heavy norther gale and stand the winter's test

And on the banks of Georges no tongue can e'er describe
The roughness of the weather, the swiftness of the tide
Where ice congeals like mountains and heavy winds do blow
And we poor sons of Neptune great hardships must go through

Hail, rain and thunder, and breakers on each side
But yet our noble vessel majestically do ride
But hark one moment, listen, for what I say is true
The Ocean Queen is missing, and have drowned all her crew

Nine there were in number, all in the prime of life
Commanded by a captain who leaves a tender wife
One fortnight whey were married; from her he did depart
And now she's left a widow with a sad and broken heart

It's true she's not the only one who's left alone to weep
There's fathers, sons and brothers that drowned in the deep
But I hope God will reward her for we know the grief she feeled
There is a balm of Gilead that every wound can heal


I found this song in Helen Creighton's book, Songs & Ballads from Nova Scotia. Ms. Creighton collected it from Mr. Ben Henneberry of Devil's Island whose story was that "this boat was so exceptionally fine that nine captains sailed in her as crew, going from Gloucester to the Banks of Georges off Cape Sable, from which they were never heard of again." It's a curious song in that the Ocean Queen is not mentioned until the end of the fourth verse and almost no detail is offered about the disaster. What I was drawn to was the description of the ship that the song's narrator is on and the marvelous phrases "where ice congeals like mountains" and "as we go off a-spouting just like a frightened whale"

Radriano


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Subject: Lyr Add: SALTPETRE SHANTY
From: radriano
Date: 09 Aug 02 - 11:27 AM

SALTPETRE SHANTY

For the Spanish main we are bound away
Chorus: Oh roll
For the Spanish main we are bound away
Chorus: Oh roll
We are sailing away at the break of day
Where the swift bonitos and dolphin do play
Full Chorus:

Oh roll, rock her bars
Heave her high, oh, rock her, oh roll l

To old Callao we are bound away (2x)
We're bound away from Liverpool Bay
Where the flash girls o' Chile will steal all our pay

Old Pedro the Crimp, boys, we know him of old (2x)
He's primin' his vino and dopin' his beer
To the Chinchas he'll ship us if we don't steer clear

Them flash girls of Chile, they're hard to beat (2x)
They'll greet us and love us and treat us to wine
But the bastards are robbin' us most of the time

So keep a sharp watch and a keen weather-eye (2x)
On the girls from Coquimbo to old Coronel
With their red-hot senoras from the far side o' Hell

When the order comes round for to sail away home (2x)
From some old seaport on the west coast of hell
We'll sing adios and say fare thee well


This capstan shanty is also known as Slav Ho or Slav Oh and comes from the Saltpetre and Guano Trades of the West Coast of South America. My version is melodically much the way it is done by The Boarding Party on their recording Fair Winds and a Following Sea, Folk-Legacy Records, 1987. Barry Finn posted a thread about the song on the Mudcat Café Forum back in 1998, Saltpeter Shanty. The lyrics I sing, in typical shanty man fashion, are my favorite verses from several versions I have heard. I've also heard this shanty on recordings by Pint and Dale and Stormalong John.

Here are the liner notes about Saltpetre Shanty from Fair Winds and a Following Sea:

"Spike Sennit was his name. He was an able-bodied seaman, much of whose experience had been amassed while serving in the guano-and-saltpetre trade along the west coast of South America. Many sailors had followed that route, carrying cargo that would become fertilizer and other products. Few shanties have been preserved in print that reflect the travails of that less-than-idyllic existence, however, primarily, says Stan Hugill, who got this one from Sennit himself, because not much was printable. We've bowdlerized Hugill's version one step further, in fact, using "flash girls" to replace a Spanish word [puta] that is considerably more coarse than English equivalents such as prostitute.

Then there was Mike O'Rourke, another of Hugill's shipmates, who had shipped in many "Yankee blood boats" -- hard-case sailing ships from which crews would desert and fresh ones be supplied by the medium of shanhailing. O'Rourke's contribution was another shanty from the same part of the world, "Them Gals of Chile," from two of whose verses we adapted lines to add another element to Sennit's grim song. It was verse #4 that came from O'Rourke, however. The reference to "Pedro the Crimp" (essentially a kidnapper) was part of Spike's original. Doping the beer in portside hangouts could lead to drugged sailors who would wake up hours later, only to find themselves at sea in a totally different vessel, having been bought like barrels of salt-horse from procurers like Pedro. Sometimes, in fact, they might end up not at sea at all, but working ashore in such unsavory locales as Las Chinchas, a group of tiny islands off the Peruvian coast.

The tune, like those of many shanties, could have come from almost any source that struck in the shantyman's mind long enough for him to feel like setting words to it. Joanna Colcord pointed out the remarkable similarity between this one (or her version, which is close) and a 16th century German folksong called "Drei Reiter am Thor" ("Three Riders at the Gate"). Nor it it all that far from some American songs such as "Cryderville Jail."

You can find both Sennit's and O'Rourke's songs, by the way, in Hugill's Shanties of the Seven Seas (Routledge & Kegan Paul Ltd., 1961 and later editions), the undisputed champion of shanty collections, particularly if you want only one. More to the point, however, with a growing stack of recordings of the same finite repertoire, the book offers many lesser-known but equally exciting examples. Find a copy, take a deep breath, and start in on the ones you've never heard."


And here are notes about Saltpetre Shanty from Stan Hugill's book, Shanties from the Seven Seas:

"The shanty I have named Saltpetre Shanty was a great favourite with crews of ships in the Saltpetre and Guano Trades of the West Coast of South America; it is one of four shanties rarely heard in other trades, the other three being Rollocky Randy Dandy O!, Serafina, and The Girls of Chili. They were all well known to Liverpool seamen, but have rarely found their way into print owing to the difficulty of camouflaging them: they were all obscene to a degree, even the refrains and choruses being extremely bawdy. Captain Robinson in The Bellman is the only person who has 'had a go' at titivating them up. As he points out: 'many of these bawdy refrains were nothing more than Sailor John's obscene renderings of snatches of "Dago" phrases picked up in the Chilean ports.'

I had this one from Spike Sennit, an old sailing-ship A.B. [able bodied seaman]. It was used at the capstan."

Radriano
Similar message in Saltpeter Shanty thread (click).


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Subject: Lyric Add: Ilo Man
From: radriano
Date: 09 Aug 02 - 11:38 AM

ILO MAN

There's a ship in full sail
And she's out upon the river
Chorus: Way, hey, you Ilo man
There's a ship in full sail
And she's out upon the river
Chorus: Way, hey, you Ilo man

Heave her up, heave her high
It's the best that we can give her

There's a girl on the pier
Don't you wish you could stay with her

And the ducks and the geese are all swimming on the river
And the ducks and the geese are all swimming on the river

And the boys and the girls are all roving in the clover
And the boys and the girls are all rolling in the clover

Heave 'er up, heave 'er high, come and rock and roll me over
Heave 'er up, heave 'er high, come and rock and roll me over

Here's a health to each lad, to each shell back and each rover
Here's a health to each lad, to each shell back and each rover


I learned this capstan shanty from the recording Shipshape & Harry Fashion by The Harry Browns of Bristol. Unfortunately, the album's liner notes say next to nothing about the songs. Another version can be found on Bob Webb's album Bank Trollers, Songs of the Sea. Here's what Bob sings followed by his liner notes about Ilo Man:

ILO MAN
As sung by Bob Webb

Oh the ducks and the geese they are swimming down the river
Chorus: Way ay ay ay Ilo Man
Oh the ducks and the geese they are swimming down the river (timme!)
Chorus: Way ay ay ay Ilo Man

And the boys and the girl they are playing in the clover
And the boys and the girl they are playing in the clover

I wish I was down on the old plantation (timme!)
Oh where there is no temptation (timme!)

I courted a girl and she was very pretty
'Twas down in a place, it was on the Mississippi

As I strolled out one bright May morning (timme!)
Just as the early day was dawning (timme!)

I met a young couple and they were spooning
I met a fair young couple and they were spooning

Oh the ducks and the geese they are swimming down the river
And the boys and the girls they are playing in the clover

Liner notes from Bob Webb's album:

"This capstan shanty, a variant of Huckleberry Hunting, was sung by William Fender of Barry, Wales, who quit the sea in 1900. Bob Walser unearthed it from the James Madison Carpenter Collection at the American Folklife Center, Library of Congress. It begins with the customary "hitch," the wild yell that Stan Hugill called "the very essence of the shantyman's art"."

Stan Hugill, in his book Shanties from the Seven Seas also gives a version of the shanty Huckleberry Hunting that he calls We'll Ranzo Way. Here are Hugill's notes from his book:

"Another shanty which mentions our hero Ranzo is the one variously known as We'll Ranzo Way, The Wild Goose Shanty, or Huckleberry Hunting. This was sung at windlass and capstan, but Doerflinger gives it as halyards and pumps - in other words it appears to have been used for every shipboard job with perhaps the exception of tacks and sheets, and hand-over hand! My version is as follows"

We'll Ranzo Way
Alternative titles: Sing Hilo, Me Ranzo Ray, Huckleberry Hunting, The Wild Goose Shanty

O-oh, I'm shantyman of the working' party
Ch:Timme way, timme hay, timme hee-ho hay!
So sing, lads, pull lads so strong an' hearty
Ch: An' sing Hilo, me Ranzo way!

I'm shantyman of the Wild Goose nation
Got a maid that I left on the big plantation

Oh, the sassiest gal o' that Wild Goose nation
Is her that I left on the big plantation

Oh, the boys an' the gals went a huckleberry huntin'
The gals began to cry an' the boys they dowsed their huntin' [stopped their huntin'; stopped their courtin']

Then a little gal ran off an' a little boy ran arter
The little gal fell down an' he saw her little garter

Said he, 'I'll be yer beau, if ye'll have me for yer feller,'
But the little gal said, 'No, 'cos me sweetheart's Jackie Miller.'

But he took her on his knee, an' he kissed her right an' proper
She kissed him back agen, an' he didn't try to stop'er

An' then he put his arm all around her tight an' waspy waist
Sez she, 'Young man, you're showing' much too great a haste!'

[The underlined words in this shanty are the places where the sailors would all pull together. R.A.]

The remaining verses are mainly obscene and much the same as those used in the bawdy version of A-rovin'.

Davis & Tozer [in Sailors' Songs or "Chanties" - 1910] give a theme about 'Minnie and the Wild Geese' which has not an authentic ring, appearing to me as being entirely composed and not merely camouflaged.

Bullen gives one verse only, 'Oh, what did yer give for yer fine leg o' mutten?' Terry says that the verse about 'huckleberry hunting' was rarely omitted, but he never heard this theme further developed. Whall, Sharp, Doerflinger, and Miss Colcord all give this verse. Terry gives the shanty as windlass and capstan, Whall doesn't state its usage, Sharp gives it as capstan, but Miss Colcord, like Doerflinger, gives it as halyards. Bullen also presents it as windlass and capstan.

Most forms indicate a Negro origin, as far as the tune and refrains are concerned, but the words of the solos savour of a Down East or Nova Scotia source.

Most versions refer to the 'Wild Goose nation.' This mysterious race of people often crops up in shantydom and also in nigger minstreldom, and many theories have been put forward regarding its origin, none, I'm afrain, very convincing. Doerflinger maintains that in minstreldom, the phrase refers to Southern or Indian-inhabited country. Miss Colcord rather fancies Ireland as the source, since she has discovered that the phrase 'Wild Goose nation' was used as a poetical name for the Irish, in particular for the Irish Guards who fought the French in the wars of 1748, and refers the reader to Kipling's poem, 'The Irish Guards.' Then again the Irish connection with the phrase may come from an historical incident which happened when George III, I believe, desired the Irish regiments to swear allegiance to the English flag. The flag was hoisted on a hill and the regiments had two alternatives - either to pass the flag on the left and thereby swear allegiance, or to march to the right and downhill to the waiting French frigates which were to carry them to France and exile. Many regiments accepted the latter course and became mercenaries in Europe, never being allowed to return to their wives and children or their native heath. This going into exile is often referred to as 'The Flight of the Wild Geese.' But all this is rather far removed from the sailor's shanty - unless it came to the shanty by way of an Irish forebitter, and to my knowledge no forebitter, Irish or otherwise, includes such a phrase.

Some authorities seek further afield and suggest that it may mean Ashanti or some other Guinea Coast locality, homeland of the original Negro slaves of America.

Radriano


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Subject: Lyr Add: MORNING SHANTY (Sharyn Dimmick)
From: radriano
Date: 09 Aug 02 - 01:17 PM

MORNING SHANTY
Author: Sharyn Dimmick


Won't you come down to the shore?
Chorus: Watching
I will sail away once more
Chorus: In the morning

We have sung through half the night
Chorus: Watching
For the coming of the light
Chorus: In the morning

For the friends who now have gone
Chorus: Watching
For the friends returning home
Chorus: In the morning

But the clock upon the wall
Chorus: Watching
Steals the time and gives it all*
Chorus: To the morning

At my window I will be
Chorus: Watching
For your ships to sail to me
Chorus: In the morning


Composed by my dear friend Sharyn Dimmick on May 26, 1986 while taking the Anacortes ferry to Victoria after a late evening singing party at the Northwest Folklife Festival in Seattle, Washington.

I originally recorded this song as a solo singing lead myself but I was not satisfied with how it sounded. I thought it might sound nice with Suzanne Friend singing lead with an all women's chorus. The chorus lineup would include Marla Fibish, Patrice Haahn, Sharyn Dimmick, and perhaps one or two other singers. Then Suzanne announced that she would be moving to Eureka, California almost immediately and I had to rethink everything. Suddenly there was no time to schedule rehearsal sessions and Suzanne's imminent move meant that the Out of the Rain songs (The Grimsby Lads and Time Ashore is Over) needed to be finished as soon as possible so we recorded Morning Shanty at the same time with Marla, Patrice, and myself as the chorus.
Suzanne's interpretation of Morning Shanty is a bit different timing-wise from Sharyn's original version in a couple of places. You can hear Sharyn's recording of her song on her cassette tape I Am You Winter Lover which, I believe, you can only get through her. Sharyn can be reached by e-mail at:


sharyn@usisp.com

Radriano

    Per message from Sharyn Dimmick below, the correct fourth verse is:

      But the clock upon the wall
      Chorus: Watching
      Steals our time and gives it all*
      Chorus: To the morning

    -Joe Offer-


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Subject: Lyr Add: ROLL BOYS ROLL
From: radriano
Date: 09 Aug 02 - 01:22 PM

ROLL BOYS ROLL
West Indian halyard shanty


Sally Brown, she's the girl for me, boys
Chorus: Roll boys, roll boys roll
Sally Brown, she's the girl for me, boys
Chorus: Way high, Miss Sally Brown

Oh way down South, way down South boys
Oh bound away, with a bone in her mouth boys

Oh we're rollin' down to Trinidad to see Miss Sally Brown
Oh rollin' down to Trinidad to paint the bleedin' town

She's lovely up aloft, an' she's lovely down below
She's lovely all the way, me boys, it's all you want to know

She's lovely on the foreyard, lovely on the main
She's lovely in the summertime, she's lovely in the rain

Ol' Captain Baker, how do you store yer carga
Some I stow for'ard, boys, an' some I stow arter (arta)

Oh, there's forty fathom or more below, boys
Oh, forty fathom or more below, boys

Oh, way high ya, an' up she rises
Oh, way high ya, the blocks is different sizes

Oh, one more pull, don't ya hear the mate a-bawlin?
Oh, one more pull, that's the end of all the hawlin'


Shay Black kindly loaned me a copy of a cassette tape recorded by Stan Hugill when he was touring with Stormalong John as his chorus titled A Salty Fore Topman which Shay thought had the shanty Roller Bowler on it sung by Stan. Roller Bowler wasn't on the tape but Roll Boys Roll was.

Roll Boys Roll is one of the best of the "Sally Brown" shanties although the song is no longer about her after the fifth verse. I sing the song now with many more "hitches" and "yelps." The lyrics shown in this thread are transcribed from Stan Hugill's tape - I tend not to sing in dialect. It's a great shanty to do with general audiences because the chorus lines are short and easy to remember.

The second verse contains the line "with a bone in her mouth, boys" which I first took as a very explicit sexual reference. In a house concert performance by Dave Webber and Anni Fentiman two years ago in Berkeley, California Dave sang the same line in another song. I asked him about it during a break and he said that the line refers to one of the sails (he called it the "water sail") which is slung quite low in the front of a ship. If you are looking at a ship head on when that sail is up it looks like the figurehead is holding something in her mouth. The phrase "with a bone in her mouth, boys" became a specific reference to heading southward with all sails up - the beginning of a voyage.

Radriano


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Subject: RE: New sea music CD, Time Ashore is Over
From: radriano
Date: 12 Aug 02 - 12:13 PM

In my notes for Roll Boys Roll I gave an explanation for the phrase "with a bone in her mouth." It has been brought to my attention (see the thread titled "A Bone in Her Mouth") that this phrase actually refers to a ship going at speed, the bone being the spray of water at the bow.


Richard


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Subject: RE: New sea music CD, Time Ashore is Over
From: radriano
Date: 19 Aug 02 - 02:07 PM

I'm still waiting for detailed liner notes info on "Firing the Mauretania" from Steven Canright. I e-mailed David Jones about the song as well. Jeff Warner was the lead singer on the song on the A Beautiful Life cassette and David says that Jeff did some research so I should be receiving some additional information soon.


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Subject: Lyr Add: FIRING THE MAURETANIA^^^
From: radriano
Date: 30 Aug 02 - 06:52 PM

FIRING THE MAURETANIA
Lead: Stephen Canright

In nineteen hundred twenty four
Found myself in Liverpool on the floor
So I went to the Cunard office door
Got a job on the Mauretania

Chorus:
Oh, firing the Mauretania
She surely is a slaver
To Hell with the Mauretania

The Mauretania's a wonderful sight
Sixty-four fires a-burning bright
But you'll shovel coal from morning to night
A-firing the Mauretania

The coal was so hard and full of slate
And that's what got to the four-to-eight
It very soon wearied the four-to-eight
A-firing the Mauretania

The eight-to-twelve were much better men
But they were weary by half part ten
So tired and weary by half past ten
A-firing the Mauretania

The fan's on the bum and fire won't draw
And that's what got to the twelve-to-four
It very soon buggered the twelve-to-four
A-firing the Mauretania

So come all you firemen, listen to me
The Mauritania spells purgatory
Stick to the coast, don't go deep sea
A-firing the Mauretania^^^

The correct spelling of this ship's name is Mauretania. I first heard this sung by Stephen Canright at one of the Hyde Street Pier shanty sings in San Francisco. Stephen got the song from the cassette tape A Beautiful Life by the group Bermuda Quadrangle. David Jones, one of the singers in the group thinks the song was written by Redd Sullivan who, along with his partner Martin Windsor, ran a very successful folk club, The Troubadour, in London from the early 1960s to the 1980s. Jeff Warner, who sings the lead on this song, agrees with David. The times, 4 to 8, etc., refer to the 4 hours on and 4 hours off watches. In their liner notes Bermuda Quadrangle says "The Fireman's Lament" or "Firing the Mauretania" was entered in English shantyman Stan Hugill's "The Bosun's Locker" column in Spin,The Folksong Magazine, Volume 1, # 9, 1962. Hugill's notes read: "Words collected and arranged by Redd Sullivan of the Thameside 4, sometime fireman himself. Tune: variant of "Paddy Works on the Railway."

Stephen Canright, who is also the Chief Curator for the Maritime Museum in San Francisco, sent me the following notes on Firing the Mauretania:

"When I first heard this song on a tape by the Bermuda Quadrangle, I was intrigued with the idea of a stoking shanty. It seemed reasonable that a rhythmic song might ease the labor of shoveling coal into the furnaces of a big steamer. Stoking was individual work, but a song might give the lads a lilt to work to and a chance to bitch about their lives. I doubt, however, that this was actually ever sung in the boiler room of the Mauretania, especially as it turns out that she was converted to oil-fire by 1921.

The passenger liner R.M.S. Mauretania, launched in 1906, was the most famous ship of her time. Until 1930 she ran for Cunard between Southampton, England and New York City, carrying 2,500 passengers and a crew of 800. For twenty years she was the fastest passenger steamer on the Atlantic run. At almost 800 feet in length, she was for a time the largest ship in the world. Her sister-ship Lusitania was sunk by a German U-boat in 1915 with heavy loss of life, helping to bring the United States into the First World War. The Mauretania was finally scrapped in 1935.

The Mauretania was a turbine steamer. She had twenty-five steam boilers, most with eight furnaces or fire boxes, for a total of 192 furnaces. The fires were fed by stokers shoveling coal, each man tending four furnaces, so that forty-eight stokers worked each watch. The stokers worked four hours on and eight hours off, whenever the ship was at sea. It was a hard and dirty job, with gaunt, black-faced men laboring like imps in the bowels of Hell. Only by about 1930 had all of the big Atlantic liners adopted oil fire, ending this backbreaking labor."

Mauretania Statistics:

Gross Tonnage - 31,938 tons
Dimensions - 232.31 x 26.82m (762.2 x 88.0ft)
Number of funnels - 4
Number of masts - 2
Construction - Steel
Propulsion - Quadruple-screw
Engines - Steam turbines by Wallsend Slipway Co. Ltd.
Service speed - 25 knots
Builder - Swan, Hunter & Wigham Richardson, Wallsend-On-Tyne
Launch date - 20 September 1906
Passenger accommodation - 563 1st class, 464 2nd class, 1,138 3rd class

The following Google search for "Mauretania" gives numerous links to a wealth of information about R.M.S. Mauretania:

Mauretania search

To view the Mudcat Forum thread on this song click on the following link:

Mauretania Thread


I've put together one file of all these detailed liner notes for my album which I will distribute electronically. Anyone interested can get a copy by sending me a e-mail message at:

radriano@consrv.ca.gov



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Subject: RE: New sea music CD, Time Ashore is Over
From: radriano
Date: 30 Aug 02 - 07:01 PM

I'm not sure why those links in my last post did not work. Here are the addresses:

Google search: http://www.google.com/search?q=Mauretania&hl=en&lr=&ie=UTF-8&start=0&sa=N

Forum thread: http://www.mudcat.org/thread.cfm?threadid=25445#298406


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Subject: RE: New sea music CD, Time Ashore is Over
From: Charley Noble
Date: 30 Aug 02 - 09:41 PM

Thanks, Richard. You've certainly done a great job on this, tracking down where this song comes from and what it means.

Cheerily,
Charley Noble


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Subject: RE: New sea music CD, Time Ashore is Over
From: GUEST,Sharyn Dimmick, sharyn@usisp.com
Date: 13 Oct 02 - 06:37 PM

Hello all,

I am the woman who wrote "Morning Shanty" and I need to tell you that there is an error in these posted lyrics.

The correct lyrics are:

But the clock upon the wall
Watching
Steals our time, and gives it all
To the morning.

Please do not sing "steals the time."

This is copyrighted material.

Thanks, Sharyn


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Subject: RE: New sea music CD, Time Ashore is Over
From: Charley Noble
Date: 14 Oct 02 - 09:07 AM

A fine song, Sharyn, and so nice to meet you in San Francisco.

Cheerily,
Charley Noble


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Subject: RE: New sea music CD, Time Ashore is Over
From: radriano
Date: 15 May 08 - 03:06 PM

With apologies to Sharyn Dimmick, the lyric change was unintentional. Suzanne Friend, who sings lead on the song, did not realize she had changed that one word.


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Subject: RE: New sea music CD, Time Ashore is Over
From: Barry Finn
Date: 16 May 08 - 01:23 AM

I hope that Sharyn didn't mean to come of as hash & hard as it sounds & that it's just the internet that comes off that way & not the intent of those that use it.

Barry


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Subject: RE: New sea music CD, Time Ashore is Over
From: Barry Finn
Date: 17 May 08 - 01:39 AM

If it's "COPYRIGHTED MATERIAL" does that mean it can ONLY be sung the way it was written? Is that how folk music now works & gets passed on? If so, it sounds to me as if it's dead in the water before it gets a chance to sink or swim.

Can or should artistic control be carried this far?
I know it sounds as if it was an oversight by the singer & there was an apology made but is it that important that the author should demand that it can & should be sung only that way & that is the only "right" way to sing it? Was not the original idea of copyright's intent to try to enhance the artistic flow & cause the public's creative juices to grow. Sounds more like a song in chains to me, sorry.

I have this CD & IMHO I couldn't care less if a word was changed in error, I'd be dam pleased, hearing the job they did with all the songs on this, if they had covered anything I wrote. Maybe next CD you guys will consider covering one of my songs. Do you pay royalities too, to boot? He,He,He!

Barry


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Mudcat time: 13 October 11:22 PM EDT

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