Song - The Amateur Yachtsman

Subject: Song - The Amateur Yachtsman
From: GUEST,PJ
Date: 10 Mar 07 - 03:02 PM

Several years ago, when we still had the band, we recorded a song called The Amateur Yachstman. I believe it was about Donald Crowhurst who ws drowned in 1968. All we have now is the recording and a set of handwritten lyrics with NO clue as to where it came from or anything.

The first verse and chorus are;

He was no sailor
He ahd no sailor's chart,
His only compass was a human heart,
A driver needs a licence to be,
But you can't stop an Englishman putting to sea.

The salty sea said, 'I'll cover your traces',
The rosy sky beckoned him on,
The magic moon kept showing him space,
High tide, he's gone.

Can anyone help me source this song? It's really beautiful, but not knowing where it's from is driving me mad!

Subject: RE: Song - The Amateur Yachtsman
From: Peace
Date: 10 Mar 07 - 03:13 PM

Title:
The Amateur Yachtsman,
Author:
. W&M: C Grain, A Law
Category:
19th Century Songs
Description:
Victorian (plain). V Good.
Price:
£8.00
Stock Reference Number:
14223

It is available in sheet music form. I will go look. Couldn't tell anything about the words, so not sure this is the song you seek.

Subject: RE: Song - The Amateur Yachtsman
From: Peace
Date: 10 Mar 07 - 03:20 PM

CRUD. Forget the post above. WRONG. Sorry.

Subject: RE: Song - The Amateur Yachtsman
From: GUEST
Date: 10 Mar 07 - 03:22 PM

Yes, I found that one. The one we did mentions hang-gliding so I didn't think it could be 19c. Thanks for looking, tho.

Subject: RE: Song - The Amateur Yachtsman
From: GUEST
Date: 11 Mar 07 - 04:26 PM

OK - so we can probably assume no-one here has come across it.
Where do I go next?
Is there any way of asking the PRS or whoever if anyone has recorded it / copyrighted it?

Subject: RE: Song - The Amateur Yachtsman
From: Grab
Date: 12 Mar 07 - 09:14 AM

But you can't stop an Englishman putting to sea.

Unfortunately.

Where I used to sail (the Ribble estuary), an Afro-Caribbean guy decided he'd had enough of England and wanted to go home. They couldn't afford plane tickets, so he bought this knackered old hulk of a fishing boat, packed himself and his wife and kids on it (with totally inadequate supplies of food, water and fuel) and headed out. Luckily the boat sprung a leak about 10 minutes into the Irish Sea, before he could get out of reach of the lifeboats.

I'm still convinced that anyone who needs lifeboat assistance should have to pass a "common sense" check, or else be charged for their rescue if they were being blatantly stupid.

Graham.

Subject: RE: Song - The Amateur Yachtsman
From: Dartford Warbler
Date: 12 Mar 07 - 11:39 AM

I seem to remember that a local trio (Two men and a woman) called Sensible Shoes (from North Kent/SE London) did this song and that a member of the group wrote it. One of the guys played fiddle. The other played guitar and was responsible for the song and the woman concentrated on vocals.

I have also tried searching for this song that has haunted me for a long time since 198?. I think the line But you can't stop an Englishman putting to sea appears several times in the song. However, the tune appears to have disappeared from my head.

So not much help at the moment, but tomorrow I will be in the company of those that MAY know!

Subject: RE: Song - The Amateur Yachtsman
From: Purplejulia
Date: 23 Mar 07 - 04:43 AM

http://www.soundclick.com/bands/pagemusic.cfm?bandID=679421

OK. Here's the recording we made. Not sure if it appears automatically or if there's a delay whilst they check their database.

'Sensible Shoes' eh? May have been another band on the folk circuit at the same time as Chris and Alastair were there before they moved up to Leeds. Known a 'The Capital City Garden Gnomes'... well, they were very young at the time!

Subject: RE: Song - The Amateur Yachtsman
From: GUEST,Dartford Warbler
Date: 23 Mar 07 - 10:30 AM

Thank you for giving details for the link to the recording. Here is a 'blue clicky' for it: The Amateur Yachtsman

I asked the 'company of those that may know'. However, we did not come up with any more info apart from confirming the fact that Sensible Shoes did a booking at Dartford Folk Club back in late '70s/ early '80s.

I must say that Sensible Shoes performed the song with a bit more vigour and emotion. But then again, I was witnessing the song played live and probably by the composer.

The search continues.......

Subject: RE: Song - The Amateur Yachtsman
From: GUEST,Sarah from Sensible shoes
Date: 30 Jul 11 - 04:29 PM

This is probably way too late given the dates of these threads. I just answered one where you were looking for the band, and now I find this too. Ok I'll sign in to SoundClick and see what happens next. Yes, we did this one, it was written by Roger wagner, the guitarist.
Sarah

Subject: RE: Song - The Amateur Yachtsman
From: Charley Noble
Date: 30 Jul 11 - 07:03 PM

Sarah-

Welcome aboard!

Tell us some more about this song, if you would.

Cheerily,
Charley Noble

Subject: RE: Song - The Amateur Yachtsman
From: GUEST,sensible sarah
Date: 31 Jul 11 - 12:48 PM

Hi Charley,
Wasn't expecting to get a reply so fast, the thread was pretty old when I chanced upon it and I hung around a bit before replying.
Roger Wagner and I started as a duo, collected other members along the way, notably a guy called Alastair who played fiddle. We sang in and around London between 1982 and 1985. Roger wrote the song, among many others, and we also did covers, trad, American, bit of everything. Amateur Yachtsman was based on Roger's own experience in lurv, the way songs are, though one night we dedicated it to a friend of my husband's, who'd just committed suicide, and I get goosebumps remembering how right it was on that occasion too.
Hope that solves what seems to have been a mystery. No idea where Roger is now, I've been in France for years.
Good wishes and wherever you are, keep the music going!
Sarah

Subject: RE: Song - The Amateur Yachtsman
From: GUEST,Sensible Sarah
Date: 31 Jul 11 - 12:51 PM

PS. when I've minute in the middle of redecorating I'll unearth all my lyric sheets and look for the other verses, and hope people will credit it to Roger now, wherever he may be.
Sarah

Subject: RE: Song - The Amateur Yachtsman
From: Charley Noble
Date: 31 Jul 11 - 02:38 PM

Sarah-

Thanks for your quick response. Some of us here are always interested in seeing old questions resolved and I'd love to see the lyrics.

Cheerily,
Charley Noble

Subject: RE: Song - The Amateur Yachtsman
From: GUEST,sensible sarah
Date: 13 Oct 11 - 06:43 AM

Hi Charlie,
At last,I'm now going through much old paperwork and files and came across the lyrics to Amateur Yachtsman which reminded me I promised them to you back in July. They are as follows:

He was no sailor - he had no sailor's chart;
his only compass was a human heart,
A driver needs a licence to be,
But you can't stop an Englishman putting to sea.
(chorus)
The salty sea said "I'll cover your traces"
The rosy sky beckoned him on,
The magic moon kept showing him spaces,
High tide, he's gone...

He was no sailor, his vessel not new,
And needless to say, he had no crew.
A menace you say, and I would agree,
But you can't stop an Englishman putting to sea.
(Chorus)

He was no sailor, no son of Drake,
But he would not admit that he'd made a mistake,
He said, I cannot mountaineer, hang glide or ski,
but you can't stop an Englishman putting to sea.
(Chorus)

So there you go, Charlie. Sorry it took me so long to get round to it.
Credit it to Roger Wagner, who I looked up and who was still playing and singing in 2009.
Now I'm going to explore Mudcat a bit more and see who else is around...
I occasionally(very occasionally like once a year) sing with my brother-in-law Rob Bartlett in Dearbyshire, look out for Belper Folk club this winter, nothing organised as yet, but we're on it!
Cheers, Sarah

Subject: RE: Song - The Amateur Yachtsman
From: Leadfingers
Date: 13 Oct 11 - 07:51 AM

Nice that the link still workd , so we can hear the song ! Heard a LOT worse !