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29 Oct 21 - 03:57 AM (#4124509) Subject: Origins: Old Bill Bolliver From: Joe Offer Email request from Morris: I'm looking for the origin of the attached song "Old Bill Bolliver." I learned it from my father a very long time ago. Old Bill Bolliver Old Bill Bolliver, Patsy Dolliver, Skipper of the “Sweet Marie”. On the good ship “Soap” they sailed, They sailed out to sea. The wind did blow, and the Waves did roar. The Good ship “Soap” sailed back to shore. Old Bill Bolliver--- who was he? Patsy Dolliver--- Holy Gee! Old Bill Bolliver, Patsy Dolliver, Skipper of the “Sweet Marie”. I think this is the song. Anybody available to transcribe it? |
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29 Oct 21 - 09:02 AM (#4124532) Subject: RE: Origins: Old Bill Bolliver/Bill Oliver From: cnd Looks like it comes from a musical called Captain Careless, released either 1906 or 1907 depending on the source. Written by Bob Adams. It was described in Donald J. Stubblebine's Early Broadway Sheet Music as "a regional show in Chicago, Illinois, 1906." (link) Here's the link to the US Copyright Entry: https://books.google.com/books?id=jwI4AQAAMAAJ&pg=PA888&lpg=PA888 (top right corner). A copy of the score appears to be available at both the Library of Congress (click) or the Smithsonian (click). What may be the whole thing is available on HathiTrust (click) however I didn't see the song requested. |
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30 Oct 21 - 10:45 PM (#4124699) Subject: ADD: Bill Oliver (Sam Prout) From: Joe Offer BILL OLIVER (1910) (by Old Sam Prout and his brother Jert) We were eight days out in the China Sea, In the good ship Cantelope, When with an awful creak she sprung a leak With a cargo of Babbitt's Soap We were eighteen thousand miles from land, And perhaps a trifle more When we threw the soap into the sea And wash'd ourselves ashore. CHORUS Old Bell Oliver, Old Bell Oliver, Skipper of the Sweet Marie, Now these are some of the fairy tales He told of the deep blue sea. All he learn'd when but a boy Was how to holler "Ship ahoy!" Old Bill Oliver, Old Bill Oliver, Skipper of the Sweet Marie We were sailing many moons ago In the good ship Crocodile, When a storm came up and cast us on A sandy, desert isle. Well, we wandered up and down the shore, And we tho't it quite a lark For we saw a dog and killed him, Then we sail'd home on his bark. We were anch'ring many years ago The good ship Annabelle, We were in the northern latitudes And it was cold as —— Well, the Captain he got sickly, And we tho't he'd catch the grip, So the painter he got wise and threw Three coats up on the ship. from Tufts Songs, Nineteen-fifteen: A Collection of Music for an by Alumni and Students of Tufts College, Including Pages from the Songbooks of 1895 and 1906, by Tufts University, 1915 (pages 364-365) https://www.google.com/books/edition/Tufts_Songs_Nineteen_fifteen/e4HqUvGg10cC?hl=en Note that Bill's name is also spelled "Bell" in the chorus. Probably a typo. |