Lyr Req: Mark Twain (on the Mississippi)

Subject: Lyr Req: I NEED THE TITLE AND WORDS PLEASE
From:
Date: 23 Feb 03 - 02:42 PM

Hi,me and my mom are looking for the words and title to a song..all we can remember is the song starting something like this"Mark Twain,on the mississippi,Mark Twain coming round the bend,Mark twain on the Mississippi,load 'er up and send'er ?? again.It also ends withe the words Mark Twain...and no it isn't the song Mark Twain that the Kingston Trio sings....she said the Back Porch Majority may have sung it but not sure...can anyone help????????

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: I NEED THE TITLE AND WORDS PLEASE
From: denise:^)
Date: 23 Feb 03 - 07:14 PM

Well, I checked it out at Google, and it appears to me that it's the theme song from the Disneyland "Frontierland" railroad--
check out this site.

I didn't see a whole set of lyrics anywhere, though, so I'm just speculating...

Denise:^)

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: I NEED THE TITLE AND WORDS PLEASE
From: denise:^)
Date: 23 Feb 03 - 07:24 PM

Make that the paddleboat, not the railroad!! (Just got done reading the 'pufferbellies' thread; guess I had trains on the brain...) I didn't wait for the pictures on the site to load, either.

Denise:^)

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: I NEED THE TITLE AND WORDS PLEASE
From:
Date: 23 Feb 03 - 09:56 PM

Denise..thanks for your post...but it would not let me check out the site you put on their..will try looking for the song under google withthe info you posted..Thanks so much...I hope it is what we are looking for
Katy

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: I NEED THE TITLE AND WORDS PLEASE
From: GUEST
Date: 23 Feb 03 - 10:09 PM

Try this This is the link Denise meant.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: I NEED THE TITLE AND WORDS PLEASE
From:
Date: 23 Feb 03 - 10:37 PM

well I now know thet the song is talking about a paddleboat called the 'Mark Twain' but cannot find any trace of a song...I remembered some more words..another verse went something like' Payday,payday on the river,payday, coming round the bend..???????
HELPPPPPPPP

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: I NEED THE TITLE AND WORDS PLEASE
From: Amos
Date: 23 Feb 03 - 10:44 PM

This doesn't sound like the only candidate I can think of which was sung on an early Belafonte album and mighrt well be called "Mark Twain"

Ma-a-a-ark twain! Two fathoms on the staaaarbahd bow!
Oh, good God, we done run aground!
Skipper g'ne chase me with a big bloodhound.
Maaaaaark twain!


(This has nothing directly to do with the author by the same name, nor with a steamboat by the name either).

A

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: I NEED THE TITLE AND WORDS PLEASE
From:
Date: 23 Feb 03 - 11:16 PM

Thanks Amos...I found that song..but not quite what I am looking for...wish I could find that song...I have searched all kinds of ways! but no luck...I believe it is all men singing the song..but not 100%sure..its been ages since we heard the song!

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Title & words please: Mark Twain
From: Nigel Parsons
Date: 24 Feb 03 - 06:12 AM

Amos wrote:
"Ma-a-a-ark twain! Two fathoms on the staaaarbahd bow!
Oh, good God, we done run aground!
Skipper g'ne chase me with a big bloodhound.
Maaaaaark twain!
(This has nothing directly to do with the author by the same name, nor with a steamboat by the name either)."

Nothing to do with the author, except.... that he (Samuel Langhorne Clemens) took his nom de plume from the call of Mississippi boatmen 'sounding' the depth of the river in shallow sections.
"Mark Twain" = 'by the mark, two fathoms'

Nigel

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Title & words please: Mark Twain
From: Allan C.
Date: 24 Feb 03 - 08:05 AM

Adding to what Nigel posted above...the quotation makes no sense. Mark twain signifies two fathoms of depth which was considered to be a safe depth for the passage of a paddleboat.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Title & words please: Mark Twain
From:
Date: 24 Feb 03 - 11:35 AM

I know that mark twain signifies two fathoms deep...but there is also a steamboat or a paddleboat called the 'Mark Twain" and the song is about it I belive if you see words that I rememeber in the first thread I posted up above

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Title & words please: Mark Twain
From: Nigel Parsons
Date: 24 Feb 03 - 12:47 PM

Lyrics:

My Grandad used to tell me,
"Boy, when I was just your age,
I was a river pilot
On the Showboat called THE STAGE.
I'd hobnob with the Southern belles
An' every roust-a-bout.
I'd listen to the paddlewheels
And hear the leadsman shout . . .
(Chorus)
Mark twain, it's two fathoms deep below.
Mark twain, heave the stage, start the show.
Mark twain, play them banjos as we go
Down the Mississippi, 'roun' the Gulf of Mexico.

"There were gamblers, crooks and fakers
An' a minstrel man who danced
A singin' gal, Simon L'Mour,
Imported straight from France."
She was a floating palace,
that showboat called the STAGE
And Grandad was the king of it
When he was just my age.
(Repeat the chorus)

The caliopy is quiet, now
The rudder's thick with rust.
The main deck and the paddlewheel,
Are covered thick with dust.
But Grandad's in his glory,
Still standing on the bow.
A halo 'round his pilot's cap,
And I can hear him now . . .
Mark twain . . (Chorus)

Found at This site


NIGEL

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Title & words please: Mark Twain
From: Amos
Date: 24 Feb 03 - 02:07 PM

The derivation of Twin's nom-de-plume is well known. As to whether the lyrics make sense or not, I can't help that; to me it makes as much asense as Jimmy Crack Corn or right-fol-de-diddli-aye-ay!

A

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Title & words please: Mark Twain
From: GUEST,denise:^) at work
Date: 24 Feb 03 - 06:20 PM

You mentioned the Back Porch Majority--
There's a CD available at Amazon, "Best of Back Porch Majority," which has a song titled, "Riverboat Days." Unfortunately, it is NOT one of the songs that has an available sound clip! Might be worth checking out, though...

You may wonder why I'm still looking for this--well, once I read your request, I was sure I remembered the song, too! I can't help thinking that it was a Disney thing, but I'm not finding any leads there.

Denise:^)

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Title & words please: Mark Twain
From:
Date: 25 Feb 03 - 09:55 AM

Denise,
Thanks for your info. I have looked up BAck Porch Majority and saw that song and was owndering if it could be it....We have that song on a tape somewhere (the one I am looking for) but unfortunately no onw knows where...we did a lot of remodeling in the house so who knows where it got stuck or even got tossed..I hope not!!!!!
I have tried everything searching for it..it seems like you are the only one who says have even heard of it...if you like to search..try Jim Post....someone told me to try him but haven't had time yet
THanks Katy

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Title & words please: Mark Twain
From: Dave Bryant
Date: 25 Feb 03 - 10:28 AM

BTW - Samuel Clemens did gain a Riverboat Pilot's license (although it seems unlikely that he considered it as a serious career) and his book "Life on the Mississippi" is well worth reading.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Mark Twain (on the Mississippi)
From: GUEST,Phil d'Conch
Date: 27 Dec 17 - 07:22 PM

Two updates:

I posted the Belafonte lyrics mentioned above here:
https://mudcat.org/thread.cfm?threadid=163347


and I think this thread's song is on:

The Back Porch Majority, Riverboat Days!, LP (Mono) Epic LN 24149, 1965, trk. A5, w. P. Garvey, m. V. Garvey.

For more on the former Mr. & Mrs. G. see here:
https://mudcat.org/thread.cfm?threadid=129278

The copyright was held by Randy Spark's Cherrybell Music. (also New Christy Minstrels &c)

Couldn't find it on YT and my copy has gone walkabout so lyrics to follow... hopefully.