Lyr Req: Marianne / Mary Ann (calypso)

Subject: Need Help: Maryanne lyrics
From: Sarah
Date: 25 Mar 99 - 12:47 AM

I am trying to find the lyrics to All Day All night Maryanne down by the seaside sifting sand can anyone help

Subject: RE: Need Help: Maryanne lyrics
From: Ted from Australia
Date: 25 Mar 99 - 02:41 AM

Sarah, It is in the DT,
Type in Marryanne in the blue square at the top RH corner and press search.
To find out more about searching the biggest and best folk song database check out the how to thread that i have just refreshed.

regards Ted

Subject: RE: Need Help: Maryanne lyrics
From: Sarah
Date: 25 Mar 99 - 03:38 AM

Thanks Ted but the lyrics for that version are not the one that I am looking for....the ones I am looking for have to do with sifting sand and something about even little people like Maryanne

Subject: RE: Need Help: Maryanne lyrics
From: Roger in Baltimore
Date: 25 Mar 99 - 07:40 AM

Sarah,

The song for which you are searching was made popular by Harry Belafonte.

I have fragments of a verse which may stimulate other's memories.

Maryanne, oh, Maryanne, oh will you marry me. We would be so happy ...... We'll have little children all around the bamboo hut. One for every palm tree and coconut. (EVERYBODY!)

Roger in Baltimore

Subject: ADD Version: MARIANNE
From: Ferrara
Date: 25 Mar 99 - 08:11 AM

MARIANNE

     CHORUS:
     All day, all night, Marianne
     Down by the seaside sifting sand
     Even little children love Marianne
     Down by the seaside sifting sand.

When she walks along the shore, people pause to greet
Seagulls fly around her, little fish come to her feet.
In her heart there's love but I'm the only mortal man
Who's allowed to kiss my Marianne (CHORUS)

Marianne, oh Marianne oh won't you marry me
We could have a bamboo hut with brandy in the tea
Leave your fat old mama home she never will say yes
If Mama' don't know now, she can guess. (CHORUS)

When we marry we will have a time you never saw
I will be so happy I will kiss me mother in law (Phooey!)
Children by the dozens running round the bamboo hut,
One for every pine tree and coconut! (CHORUS)

Before the chorus, one of the groups that sang it (the Kingston trio?) would shout out a phrase, "My, My Now," "Hurry Up Now," "Don't Rush Me!" etc.

Hope I got all the verses. Rita

Subject: RE: Need Help: Maryanne lyrics
From: Roger in Baltimore
Date: 25 Mar 99 - 08:36 AM

Nice work Rita. Apparently my memory was even more fragmented than I imagined.

Roger in Baltimore

Subject: RE: Need Help: Maryanne lyrics
From: dick greenhaus
Date: 25 Mar 99 - 10:52 AM

Maryanne was the "official" Carnival song in Jamaica back in the late 40's: mostly unprintable verses (incomprehensible, too, if you weren't from the islands). Terry Gilkyson regularized it, wrote the words that Ferrara submitted, and made much money here in the States.

Subject: RE: Need Help: Maryanne lyrics
From: Will Bakker
Date: 25 Mar 99 - 01:07 PM

It was a #3 hit by The Hilltoppers in 1957. I'm getting old !

Subject: RE: Need Help: Maryanne lyrics
From: Ferrara
Date: 25 Mar 99 - 07:26 PM

After I impulsively type in one of these things, I always get it started running through my brain, and what usually happens is that the correct words start to come back to me, maybe a day later. For the first two lines of verse 1, I think it should be:

When she walks along the shore, people call to greet, white birds fly around her, little fish come to her feet

Subject: RE: Need Help: Maryanne lyrics
From:
Date: 25 Mar 99 - 08:39 PM

I seem to remember Maryanne as a Tarriers song. The only Hilltoppers song that I actually remember is Till Then, a song earlier popularized by the Mills Bros. Also, too, one of the Hilltoppers was Billy Vaughn who later had an orchestra of 1001 saxaphones and some other instrument.--- John (not jon)

Subject: RE: Need Help: Maryanne lyrics
From: Sarah
Date: 25 Mar 99 - 09:05 PM

Thanks a lot Rita it is most appreciated.....and thanks to everyone else who helped. It has been great talking with you all and once again thanks to you all for everything.

Subject: RE: Need Help: Maryanne lyrics
From: Mark Roffe
Date: 25 Mar 99 - 11:37 PM

In 1970's Virgin Islands, singers who were mostly from French islands like St. Lucia, St. Kitts, etc. called her "Miss Marianne" wherever her name was mentioned in the song. (Like "All day, all night, Miss Marianne...")

Mark

Subject: RE: Need Help: Maryanne lyrics
From: GUEST,Teresa
Date: 01 Mar 02 - 11:19 PM

Yes, yes the lyrics are neat. But what do they mean? Is there an underlying meaning to the song??? Do anyone know?

Subject: RE: Need Help: Maryanne lyrics
From: GUEST,ppborceb
Date: 10 Oct 07 - 01:20 PM

I would like to know if Harry Belafonte sang this on one of his albums, and if there were other versions, and by whom?

Subject: RE: Need Help: Maryanne lyrics
From: GUEST,BERNIE
Date: 10 Oct 07 - 05:37 PM

TERRY GILKYSON [FATHER OF ELIZA] RE-WORKED IT AND HAD A HUGE HIT WITH IT AROUND 1957 [TERRY GILKYSON,RICH DEHR AND FRANK MILLER,[THE EASY RIDERS]....MOST OF THEIR STUFF IS AVAILABLE ON CD COMPILATIONS,PROBABLY FROM REDISCOVER MUSIC..TRY THEM....

Subject: RE: Need Help: Maryanne lyrics
From: GUEST,Gerry
Date: 10 Oct 07 - 08:17 PM

I'm sure Belafonte recorded it, I know that's where I remember hearing it.

Then there's the Allan Sherman version:

All day, all night, Cary Grant.
That's all I hear from my wife, is Cary Grant.
What can he do that I can't?
Big deal, big star, Cary Grant.

(or something like that - going from higly fallible memory here)

Subject: ADD Version: Marianne (from Harry Belafonte)
From: GUEST, Lynne
Date: 11 Feb 08 - 10:39 AM

MARIANNE

     CHORUS:
     All day, all night, Marianne
     Down by the seaside sifting sand
     All the little children love Marianne
     Down by the seaside sifting sand.

When she walks along the shore, people pause to greet
white birds fly around her, little fish come to her feet.
In her heart there's love but I'm the only mortal man
Who's allowed to kiss my Marianne "My My now"!
(CHORUS)

Marianne, oh Marianne oh won't you marry me
We could have a bamboo hut with brandy in the tea
Leave your fat old mama home she never will say yes
If Mama' don't know now, she can guess "Don't Rush Me!"!
(CHORUS)

When we marry we will have a time you never saw
I will be so happy I will kiss me mother in law Phooey!)
Children by the dozens in Acabango hut
One for every palm tree and cokeenut! "Hurry up now"!
(CHORUS)


There is a place called Acabango, not sure of the spelling, and he says cokeenut not coconut, and yes there was someone shouting those phrases. Don't know if its was the Kingston trio or not though, sorry. Don't know what Islands this was from either. Does anyone else know where Harry Belafonte was from? What Islands?

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Marianne (from Harry Belafonte)
From: EBarnacle
Date: 11 Feb 08 - 10:44 AM

I always felt that that the Maryanne in the Belafonte version was not all that bright. Anyone else get that impression at the time?

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Marianne (from Harry Belafonte)
From: GUEST,TJ
Date: 11 Feb 08 - 04:22 PM

Just to buttress the input from Bernie, above, I recall the Terry Gilkyson version, which he wrote and for which he is credited, with the Easy Riders, perhaps in 1956 or early 1957. It was said to have been "sanitized" for a family audience but based on somewhat ribald earlier manifestations, as noted. Gilkyson, with and without his Easy Rider partners, did a lot of early television sound track work, perhaps movies too. Correct me if wrong, but did he not also write "Green Leaves of Summer" for the Brothers Four along with other parts of "The Alamo" (John Wayne) soundtrack? The Easy Riders had a good sound.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Marianne (from Harry Belafonte)
From: MorwenEdhelwen1
Date: 23 May 11 - 12:27 AM

Although this song is attributed to the Roaring Lion (Rafael de Leon), it is originally a folk song from Nicaragua called "Sand Bay Gal".

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Marianne (from Harry Belafonte)
From: MorwenEdhelwen1
Date: 23 May 11 - 12:32 AM

Also, can anyone tell me how the bawdy version in the DT goes?

Subject: ADD Version: Marianne
From: GUEST,Don Stevens
Date: 23 May 11 - 10:56 AM

This is how I remember it:

MARIANNE
Terry Gilkyson & The Easy Riders - 1957


Marianne, Oh, Marianne, Oh won't you marry me?
We can have a bamboo hut and brandy in the tea,
Leave your fat old Nanna home,
She never will say yes.
If mamma don't know now,
She can guess, my, my, yes.

All night, all day, Marianne,
Down by the seaside sifting sand.
Even little children love Marianne,
Down by the seaside sifting sand.

When she walks along the shore,
People pause to greet,
While birds fly around her,
Little fish come to her feet.
In her heart is love, but I'm the only mortal man,
Who's allowed to kiss my Marianne,
Don't rush me.

All night, all day, Marianne,
Down by the seaside sifting sand.
Even little children love Marianne,
Down by the seaside sifting sand.

When we marry, we will have
A time you never saw,
I will be so happy,
I will kiss my mother-in-law.
Children by the dozen, in and out the bamboo hut,
One for every palm tree, and cok-y-nut, Hurry up now.

All night, all day, Marianne,
Down by the seaside sifting sand.
Even little children love Marianne,
Down by the seaside sifting sand.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Marianne (from Harry Belafonte)
From: Q (Frank Staplin)
Date: 23 May 11 - 01:14 PM

The "Brothers Four" also did well with this song.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Marianne (from Harry Belafonte)
From: GUEST,Alan Whittle
Date: 23 May 11 - 10:58 PM

Colin Scot used to do this one thus:-

'All day, all night Marianne!
What d'you think I am a bleedin' superman!!'

Subject: ADD Version: Maryanne
From: Q (Frank Staplin)
Date: 28 May 11 - 08:10 PM

MARYANNE
From traditionalmusic.co.uk

All day, all night, Maryanne
Down by the seaside, catchin' fish
Water from her pom-pom would float a boat
Hair around her pom-pom would tie a goat..

Well we got it already and it cost no money
It is softer than jelly, and it's sweeter than honey...
Said the mule to me donkey "Sidler-boy, don' you molest me.
Donkey, Ho! Don' you trouble my tail, I tell you."

Well I went down to the city, to circumcise me donkey,
And on the way me donkey met a mule.
Said the mule to me donkey "Sidler-boy, don' you molest me.
Donkey Ho! Don' you trouble my tail, I tell you."

For you're nothing but a donkey. And the same old donkey.
I don' love no donkey if he ain' got no money..."
Said the mule to me donkey "Sidler-boy, don' you molest me.
Donkey Ho! Don' you trouble my tail, I tell you."

Well I went down to the city, wid me uncle Willie,
And on the way me uncle met a girl.
Said the girl to me uncle "Sidler-boy, don' you molest me.
Uncle Ho! Don' you trouble my dress, I tell you."

"For you're nothing but an uncle, and the same old uncle.
I don' love no uncle, if he ain' got no money."
Said the girl to me uncle "Sidler-boy, don' you molest me.
Uncle Ho! Don' you trouble my dress, I tell you."

All day, all night, Maryanne,
Down by the seaside, catchin' fish
Water from her pom-pom would float a boat
Hair around her pom-pom would tie a goat...

Found also on http://en.allexperts.com/q/Bob-Marley-3273/Calypso-Lyrics.htm

I haven't looked at Marley lyrics. Not sure if this is his version or not. The entry in traditionalmusic.co.uk is unattributed.

(Not quite the Belafonte song)

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Marianne (from Harry Belafonte)
From: Q (Frank Staplin)
Date: 28 May 11 - 08:13 PM

Comparable to "Donkey City" of 1950s Jamaica (and Trinidad?).

Subject: Lyr. Add: Mary Ann (Lord Lebby)
From: Q (Frank Staplin)
Date: 29 May 11 - 08:06 PM

MARY ANN (Marian)
performed by Lord Lebby, Montego Beach Hotel

All day and all night, Miss Mary Ann
She was sitting by the wayside sieving sand
When the water from her eye could fill a boat
And the hair around her head skull it couuld hang a goat.

That's why we love her so
That's why we love her so
That's why we love her so
She's the gal named Mary Ann
(Repeat four lines)

Why do all the boys love Mary Ann?
Why do all the boys love Mary Ann?
It's because she can dance like no one can
That's why all the boys love Mary Ann.
Mary Ann she love to dance
And she give each boy a chance
If the boy don't dance so well
Mary Ann would not be swell

Now all the boys love Mary Ann
Now all the boys love Mary Ann
It's because she can kiss like no one can,
That's why all the boys love Mary Ann.

That's why we love her so
That's why we love her so
That's why we love her so
She's the gal named Mary Ann
(Repeat four lines)

Typescript with souvenir LP, Montego Beach Hotel, Calypso Band, Lord Lebby, vocalist, 1950s.

http://www.mentomusic.com/images/LLL_MaryAnn.jpg

Subject: Lyr Add: MARY ANN (Roaring Lion)
From: Jim Dixon
Date: 02 Jun 11 - 11:53 AM

Here's my transcription from the recording at YouTube. Note that several words are uncertain or missing.


MARY ANN
As sung by Roaring Lion

CHORUS 1: All day, all night, Miss Mary Ann,
Down by the seaside, she's siftin' sand.
Strings on her banjo could tie a goat.
Water from the ocean could sail a boat.

1. DJ(?) there was bacchanal.
The whole island big carnival.
People were jumping to and fro
To the rhythm of the Lion's calypso.
They were singing— CHORUS 1

2. Oh, this thing was really a scene.
Pandemonium reigned supreme.
Red(?) like a day you can't forget.
Young and old, black and white was in de fête.
They were singing— CHORUS 1

CHORUS 2: All day, all night, and all around,
Big cities, countries, and back in town,
Wise as a serpent, that cunning fox,
Strings on her banjo could darn her socks.

3. The whole island was on parade.
'Twas a royal masquerade.
De ...(?), de ...(?), and de cong,
The Indian ...(?)
They were singing— CHORUS 1 TWICE

REPEAT VERSE 1 AND CHORUS 1.


[In verse 3, I assume "cong" means "congo drum" and I suspect the other missing words represent other instruments.]

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Marianne (from Harry Belafonte)
From: Q (Frank Staplin)
Date: 19 Jun 11 - 12:48 PM

Source of relation to "Sand Bay Gal"?
Lyrics to "Sand Bay Gal"? I could not find this song on Google.
Nicaragua lyrics should be in Spanish.

The "Easy Riders" were Richard Dehr, Terry Gilkyson and Frank Miller.

Xavier Cugat played a version in the 1940s.
Roaring Lion sang Maryanne at the VJ Day, 1945, "carnival."

Subject: Lyr ADD : Sound Bay Gal
From: MorwenEdhelwen1
Date: 19 Jun 11 - 05:51 PM

Q, "Sand Bay Gal" is actually "Sound Bay Gal" (sorry!) and comes from San Andres, an island that is part of Nicaragua, with community of English speaking Afro-Caribbean immigrants. Here are the lyrics, from the liner notes of the Smithsonian Folkways album "Caribbean Rhythms":

SOUND BAY GAL

CHORUS: All day, all night Mary Ann,
Sittin' by the roadside diggin' sand;
All day, all night Mary Ann,
Sittin' by the roadside diggin' sand.

Verse:
Sound Bay gal don't eat good food they buy their codfish,
Sound Bay gal don't eat good food they buy their codfish,
Sound Bay gal don't eat good food they buy their codfish.

Subject: ADD Version: Maryan (Mary Ann / Marianne)
From: Q (Frank Staplin)
Date: 22 Jun 11 - 01:53 PM

Much modified version, but with guitar chords.

MARIAN

(A)All day all night Miss (B7)Mar-i-an
Down by the seaside (A)sift-ing sand
Even little children join in (E7)the band
(B7)Down by the seaside (A)sift-ing sand.

If you come to our (B7)Port of Spain you'll
never want to go (A)home a-gain-
(A7)You'd do ev-ery-thing (D)that you can-
(E7)Just to be with Miss (A)Mar-i-an-

Our island is so very fine,
Land of hummingbird and sunshine.
You'll agree it's so very nice,
Miss Marian make it Paradise.

All of the people come to the Carnival,
Go and join in the Bacchanal
Every islander, boy and man,
Want to see Miss Marian.

"Many native Trinidadians insist the original song referred to a woman of the streets and that the reference to "sifting sand" conveys the idea of a vast number of men with whom Miss Marian conducted business."

Pp. 174-175, Musical score with chords.
Jom Morse, Coll., Folk Songs of the Caribbean, 1958, Bantam Books.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Marianne (from Harry Belafonte)
From: MorwenEdhelwen1
Date: 22 Jun 11 - 05:43 PM

Q, I guess that in the version above "Marian" is pronounced in the same way as "Mary Ann" or "Marianne" in the other versions. And also, I think that it's pretty obvious she's a streetwalker.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Marianne (from Harry Belafonte)
From: Q (Frank Staplin)
Date: 22 Jun 11 - 07:38 PM

Another version of the first verse:


MARY ANNE

(All day, all night, Miss Mary Anne
Down by the seaside shifting sand
Strings on her banjo can tie a goat
Water from the ocean can sail a boat.)

Original perhaps this:

All day, all night, Miss Mary Ann
Down by the seaside she taking man
Hair on she tun-tun could tie a goat
Water in she cunny-hole could sail a boat.

From V. S. Naipaul, 1959, Miguel Street

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Marianne (from Harry Belafonte)
From: MorwenEdhelwen1
Date: 22 Jun 11 - 11:20 PM

If I'm right, the original (Sound Bay Gal, a few posts up) has "Sittin' by the roadside diggin' sand." Unless you're talking about Roaring Lion's version.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Marianne (from Harry Belafonte)
From: Q (Frank Staplin)
Date: 23 Jun 11 - 01:38 PM

I think the idea that Sound Bay Gal" is the "original" is purely speculative.

Moreover, any lyrics printed without a verifiable source and author cannot be called "original." Performers do their "own thing."

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Marianne (from Harry Belafonte)
From: MorwenEdhelwen1
Date: 23 Jun 11 - 04:52 PM

Well, Thomas Price, the writer of the liner notes, collected these songs from singers in San Andres. He calls them "traditional", so I would call "Sound Bay Gal" a traditional song".

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Marianne (from Harry Belafonte)
From: Q (Frank Staplin)
Date: 23 Jun 11 - 05:37 PM

"Traditional" does not imply "original" or place of origin. Only that it is (or was) sung where it happened to have been collected, sung by one (or more) informants, and may have related forms in other areas.
No time frame, migrational pattern, or original source, can be determined without firm evidence.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Marianne (from Harry Belafonte)
From: Gibb Sahib
Date: 13 Aug 11 - 05:46 PM

re: "sifting sand"

1906        Gilchrist, Annie G., Frank Kidson, Lucy E. Broadwood, Cecil J. Sharp, and J.A. Fuller-Maitland. "Sailors' Songs, Collected by Annie G. Gilchrist." Journal of the Folk-Song Society 2(9): 236-249.

Gilchrist got this chanty ca.1906-06 from a Mr. W. Bolton, a 66 yr old retired sailor of 35 yrs (merchant and navy), last voyage in 1887.

THE HAWK'S-EYE MAN. Capstan Chanty.

Oh, the 'awk's-eye man is the man for me,
And when he comes ashore he has a jolly spree,
And the 'awk's-eye—
Roll the boat ashore, And the 'awk's-eye—
Roll the boat ashore, And the 'awk's-eye, Ho!
She wants the 'awk's-eye man.

Scraps of other verses were recollected as follows:

Sally in the garden sifting sand,
And Jenny in the house with the hawk's-eye man.

With his hawk's-eye ...
And when he comes ashore
He rattles at my door,
Oh, Johnnie is my hawk's-eye man.

1917        Robinson, Captain John. "Songs of the Chanty-Man: IV." The Bellman 23(577) (4 Aug. 1917): 123-128.

It's possible that the words of this one were edited for publication.

The Ox-eyed Man.

The ox-eyed man is the man for me,
For he is blind and he cannot see,
With his ox-eye,
[cho.] I knew an old nigger with an ox-eye!
Row the boat ashore, with the ox-eye,
All she wants is the ox-eyed man!
…
"The girl on the shore, whose name is Sall,
Is waiting there, for the ox-eyed man.

"Sall is in the garden, picking peas,
Here long brown ringlets hang to her knees.

"Sall is on the beach, a-sifting sand,
And is thinking much of the ox-eyed man.

"Go home, Sall, he will come no more,
For he got drowned, as he rowed ashore."

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Marianne (from Harry Belafonte)
From: GUEST,Marianne
Date: 03 Nov 11 - 07:03 PM

I want a CD of Harry Belafonte singing that so bad! That's always been 'my' song. My mother hated it because of the description of the mother, but it was my song. If anyone knows where to find the CD of it please let me know I've searched for ages for it.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Marianne (from Harry Belafonte)
From: Q (Frank Staplin)
Date: 03 Nov 11 - 07:46 PM

Hard to find. There is a low-priced lp at Ebay- enter Belafonte, Marianne, in music.

Subject: ADD: Marianne (from Harry Belafonte)
From: Joe Offer
Date: 04 Nov 11 - 03:20 AM

Gee, we have lots of songs titled "Marianne," but not the Belafonte song that was requested. I found it on a CD called Island in the Sun (Pair Records) that has a number of less-usual Belafonte recordings.

MARIANNE
(songwriter: ???)

Oh fare you well my own true love
Oh fare you well for awhile
For the ship is a-waiting and the wind blows free
And I'm bound for the sea Marianne

I will bring you diamonds for your hair
And of gold a cloak so fine
And wake you from your slumber with a silver bell
And rings for your ev'ry finger Marianne

Oh there's some that say of a sailing man
That his life is free and wild
But this love that leaves you with the setting sun
Will come back on the morning tide Marianne.

Subject: ADD: Mary Ann (Belafonte)
From: Joe Offer
Date: 04 Nov 11 - 03:31 AM

Well, the requested song was "All Day All night Maryanne down by the seaside sifting sand," and somebody else said that was sung by Belafonte. I couldn't find a Belafonte recording of that song, but I did find a jazzy song called "Mary Ann" recorded by Belafonte that begin, "Well, hello Mary Ann, you know you sure look fine." I thought that was a Ricky Nelson song....

-Joe-

---

MARY ANN
(songwriter: ???)

Hello Mary Ann you know you sure look fine
Hello Mary Ann you know you sure look fine
Hello Marry Ann I could love you all the time
Oh Mary Ann I say baby don't you know
Oh Mary Ann well baby don't you know
Don't you know, don't you know pretty baby
That I love you so
Ah Mary Ann can I take you home tonight
Ooh Pretty baby can I take you home tonight
Ooh if you let me pretty baby
I make everything alright
Well Mary Ann you know you sure look fine
Ah well ah Mary Ann you know you sure look fine
Oh Oh Mary Ann I could love you all the time
MMmmmm Mary Ann, oh Mary Ann

source: http://www.lyricsmania.com/mary_ann_lyrics_harry_belafonte.html

....not Belafonte's finest recording, IMHO - from Belafonte Sings the Blues

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Marianne / Mary Ann
From: Q (Frank Staplin)
Date: 04 Nov 11 - 04:24 PM

Two Marianne-Mary Ann(e) songs, one Caribbean, the other Mary Ann posted by Joe, both Belafonte.
Confusin' !.
The lp offer I linked is for the Caribbean song; not all versions have a disparaging take on the mother. Lynne, 11 Feb 08, posted the Belafonte lyrics in this thread; it does poor-mouth the ma.

Dunno why this one doesn't appear on current Belafonte cds- copyright trouble vs. Easy Riders?

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Marianne / Mary Ann
From: Joe Offer
Date: 04 Nov 11 - 06:01 PM

Are we really sure that Belafonte recorded the "sifting sand" "Mary Ann"?

There's a Bear Family Records box set titled Marianne by the Easy Riders. Notes were written by the estimable Mary Katherine Aldin, who sometimes posts here at Mudcat. The Easy Riders Discography in the CD booklet says that the song "Marianne" was written by Gilkyson-Dehr-Miller, and recorded by the Easy Riders on May 31, 1956 [ the members of the Easy Riders were Hamilton Terry Gilkyson, Richard James Dehr, and Frank Miller].

We have a couple of songs posted above that appear to be traditional antecedents of the Gilkyson-Dehr-Miller song. I found recordings of the song by the Brothers Four and by the Highwaymen, but no sign of a Belafonte recording. The person who sings lead on the Easy Riders recording sounds a lot like Belafonte - maybe people just think Belafonte recorded it.

-Joe-

Subject: ADD Version: Mary Ann
From: Joe Offer
Date: 04 Nov 11 - 06:25 PM

There's a Smithsonian/Folkways CD by Lord Invader titled Calypso In New York. The CD, issued in 2000, is a collection of recordings which Lord Invader (Rupert Westmore Grant, 1914-1962) recorded for Moses Asch in the 1940s and 1950s. One cut is "Mary Ann," recorded in the Summer of 1947:

MARY ANN

V-Day was a holiday,
So Colored and White start to breakaway,
Ah ha, V-Day was a holiday,
Colored and White start to break-away,
Everybody join in the bacchanal,
Playing their Royal Carnival.

Chorus:
Singing all day, all night Miss Mary Ann,
Went by the seaside and sifting sand,
Even little children join with the band,
Singing, "All day, all night Miss Mary Ann."

Yes, I was not there but I read and heard,
That the steel band was the first on the road,
John Williams with his Orchestra,
Make bacchanal like fire!
You couldn't tell the old from the young,
Everybody shaking around.
Chorus

The United States President,
Said he didn't want any excitement,
Because America was at war,
So we couldn't have our amusement as before,
I really miss my bacchanal,
I wish I was in Trinidad for the Carnival.
Chorus.


Notes:
From 1942 onwards during the war years, the ban on carnival street parades was rigorously enforced. It was first relaxed on V-E Day—8 May 1945—on the surrender of Germany, when festivities lasted two full days. A similar jubilation was held at the capitulation of Japan on 14 August—V-J Day. On both occasions the burgeoning steel bands took to the streets en masse, and the principal theme song of each celebration was "Mary Ann." As he indicates in his second verse— "Yes, I was not there but I read and heard"—Invader did not attend either revelry, being in the United States to pursue his copyright suit.
Atilla the Hun attributes this composition to the Lion (Quevedo, Atilla's Kaiso p. 85). By reputation, however, its chorus is based on a very bawdy lyric, a version of which was collected by Thomas J. Price in the small island of San Andreas ("Sound Bay Girl" in Caribbean Rhythms, Folkways 8811).

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Marianne / Mary Ann
From: Joe Offer
Date: 04 Nov 11 - 06:54 PM

Oh....look at this, from History of Songs, 1957:

Marianne - Terry Gilkyson & the Easy Riders [Columbia 40817] (Dehr, Gilkyson, Miller). The lyrics are based upon a song 'Sound Bay Girl' from San Andreas, on the Folkways collection Caribbean Rhythms. The song 'Mary Ann' was written and recorded by the Roaring Lion (Raphael de Leon) in 1941. Lord Invader recorded it for Moses Asch in New York in 1947, and Xavier Cugat recorded it that year. Other recordings before the Easy Riders include Sir Lancelot & Chino Ortiz & the Trinidad Serenaders ['50s], Blind Blake & the Royal Victoria Hotel Calypso Orchestra, from the Bahamas ['53], and Charmer [aka Louis Farrakhan] ['54]. [much of this info. is from Rypens]

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From the Folkways Caribbean Rhythms album:

SIDE I, Band 3: SOUND BAY GAL (Calypso) Vocal by: "Sonny" Dilbert and
Sandino Ellis

SOUND BAY GIRL

CHORUS:
All day all night Mary Ann,
Sittin' by the roadside digging sand;
All day all night Mary Ann,
Sittin' by the roadside digging sand (or catching nian)

Sound Bay gal don't eat good food they buy their codfish
Sound Bay gal don't eat good food they buy their codfish,
Sound Bay gal don't eat good food they buy their codfish.


...no further lyrics, and I can't find an online recording.

Notes: The lyrics of "Sound Bay Gal," for example, the song known throughout the Caribbean and to American calypso enthusiasts as "Mary Ann," refer to the practice of eating codfish, a food associated with the lower class, in a part of the island where the "poorer set" is said to live. (recorded in 1957 on the Island of San Andrès by Thomas J. Price, Jr. San Andrès is a small, English-speaking island community of approximately five thousand inhabitants off the coast of Nicaragua.

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Oops! - posted by Morwen above, but this one includes a bit more background information.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Marianne / Mary Ann (calypso)
From: Q (Frank Staplin)
Date: 04 Nov 11 - 07:57 PM

There actually are three original tracks, Joe.

First, the Mento (Calypso) Marianne-
http://www.mentomusic.com
Mento Music, under Harry Belafonte, has the following:
"A good number of Harry Belafonte's "calypso" songs are part of the Jamaican folk/mento repertoire:
(a list of 23 songs follow, which includes-
"Marianne (part of the mento repertoire, but originally a calypso song))."

Looking into his complete repertoire, there are two Marianne original tracks and a third song, Mary Ann.

http://www.belafontetracks.ca/original_tracks.htm
lists 525 tracks for Belafonte.
Two Marianne tracks are listed:
Marianne (Fare You Well) Eaton A31 - RCA-LSP-4301; "Belafonte By Request"
Marianne (Sifting Sand) Eaton A35 - RCA-VPSX-6077; "Belafonte ... Live!"
Marianne (Sifting Sand) Eaton A37 - Victor RCA-9101/9102; "Belafonte Concert in Japan."

The last three entries indicate that there are two songs titled "Marianne.".

Joe has posted the lyrics to the "Fare You Well" song.

The third song is, Mary Ann (Well Oh) Ray Charles A9 - RCA-LOP/LSO-1006/LSP-1972; "Belafonte Sings The Blues."

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Marianne / Mary Ann (calypso)
From: Q (Frank Staplin)
Date: 04 Nov 11 - 07:59 PM

Albums listed above are those containing the original tracks; there are many re-issues and compilation lps and discs.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Marianne / Mary Ann (calypso)
From: Joe Offer
Date: 04 Nov 11 - 08:11 PM

Here's the one I found on Belafonte Sings the Blues - (YouTube) - although it sounds to me like "Well, hello, Mary Ann." Lyrics here (click)

Here's the "Fare You Well, Mary Ann" song that is part of the Folk Canon - (YouTube) - Lyrics here (click). Click here for a DTStudy thread on the canonical version.

But I still can't find a "shifting sand" recording by Belafonte, and I'm fwustwated!!!!


-Joe-

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Marianne / Mary Ann (calypso)
From: Q (Frank Staplin)
Date: 05 Nov 11 - 02:15 PM

RCA-VPSX-6077 was recorded in Toronto at the O'Keefe Centre on a double LP, released in 1972; "Marianne" is on track 17, a medley, with six other tunes. In a comment, the compiler says, "An interesting inclusion in [the medley] is "Mariannes," a song Belafonte never committed to vinyl before (the hit was by the Easy Riders)."
Audio is indicated but the file is corrupted and only the first 30 seconds of the medley can be heard.
http://www.akh.se/harbel/vpsx6077.html

The medley track (14) can be bought as mp3 here: http://www.discoogle.com/wiki/Belafonte_Harry_-_Belafonte...Live!_(Us,1972,Vpsx-6077,LIVE)