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Lyr ADD: Sinking of the Reuben James^^^

13 Dec 96 - 01:28 PM (#772)
Subject: ballad of the Reuben James
From: Pete Seeger ?

Chorus:

What wre their names, tell me what wre their names
Did you have a friend on the good Reuben James? (bis)

The Sinking of the Reuben James in the Digital Tradition database

Search for "Reuben James" threads

13 Dec 96 - 01:32 PM (#773)
Subject: ballad of the Reuben James
From: L.Laurier

Chorus:

What were their names, tell me what were their names Did you have a friend on the good Reuben James? (bis)

I believe this was sung by Pete Seeger. I would like to have the lyrics for this song.

13 Dec 96 - 04:32 PM (#776)
Subject: Lyr Add: THE SINKING OF THE REUBEN JAMES (Guthrie)
From: Kevin

THE SINKING OF THE REUBEN JAMES by Woody Guthrie

Have you heard of a ship called that good Reuben James,
Manned by hard fighting men, both of honor and fame?
She flew the Stars and Stripes of the land of the free,
But tonight she's in her grave at the bottom of the sea.

(Chorus) Tell me, what where their names, tell me, what where their names?
Did you have a friend on that good Reuben James?
What where their names, tell me, what where their names?
Did you have a friend on that good Reuben James?

One hundred men went down to their dark watery grave.
When that good ship went down only forty-four were saved.
'Twas the last day of October that they saved the forty-four
From the cold icy waters by the cold Iceland shore. (Chorus)

It was there in the dark of that uncertain night
That we watched for the U-boat and waited for a fight.
Then a whine and a rock and a great explosion roared,
And they laid the Reuben James on the cold ocean floor. (Chorus)

Well, many years have passed since those brave men are gone,
And those cold icy waters are still and they're calm.
Many years have passed, but still I wonder why
The worst of men must fight and the best of men must die. (Chorus)

Enjoy,
Kevin

HTML line breaks added. --JoeClone, 25-Jun-02.

14 Dec 96 - 09:27 AM (#782)
Subject: RE: ballad of the Reuben James
From: dick greenhaus

Thanx, Kevin- I could have sworn we had it, but we didn't. Now we will.

19 Dec 96 - 09:53 PM (#839)
Subject: RE: ballad of the Reuben James
From: gary (belter)

Johny Horton did made an excelent recording of it.

20 Dec 96 - 08:51 AM (#842)
Subject: RE: ballad of the Reuben James
From: wfoster@unanov.una.edu [Bill Foster]

On the off chance that someone might wonder about the tune, Woody set this song to the tune of The Wildwood Flower.

12 Jan 97 - 11:53 AM (#1280)
Subject: RE: ballad of the Reuben James
From: Rodney Rawlings

I think The Kingston Trio also did this.

12 Jan 97 - 01:58 PM (#1285)
Subject: RE: ballad of the Reuben James
From: Ralph Butts

I have several versions - Seeger, The Weavers, The Gateway Singers. All are nearly identical words, but the Gateway version is best, IMHO.

....Tiger

12 Jan 97 - 04:18 PM (#1286)
Subject: RE: ballad of the Reuben James
From: raredance@aol.com

Sinking of the Reuben James was also recorded twice by the Chad Mitchell Trio (Singing Our MInds - Mercury Records and Mighty Day/The Chad Mitchell Trio Reunion - Folk Era Records). A Woody Guthrie version of it has also been released recently by Smithsonian Folkways on the CD- That's Why We're Marching. Woody started out by wanting to list the names of all 120 or so sailors killed, but the Almanac Singers balked at the length of the song. Apparently the Almanacs suggested the "What were their Names" line as a substitute for all the names and Millard Lampell of the Almanacs wrote the last verse. Thus credt for the song is usually given to Woody Guthrie and the Almanac Singers. I do not know if Guthrie's verses with all the names survive anywhere.

rich r

11 Mar 99 - 11:30 PM (#62545)
Subject: Reuben James
From: Kevin Crouch

I am looking for the words and chords to the song Reuben James sung by the Kingston Trio. any help would be appreciated.
Messages from multiple threads combined.
-Joe Offer-

11 Mar 99 - 11:37 PM (#62549)
Subject: RE: Reuben James
From: catspaw49

Two are listed in the database. My assumption is you are looking for the "Sinking of the Reuben James" by Woody Guthrie to the tune of "Wildwood Flower."

See the box in the upper right hand corner? Type in Reuben and click on search or Reuben James enclosed in square brackets...[]

Welcome to Mudcat Kevin!!!

catspaw

12 Mar 99 - 11:20 PM (#62750)
Subject: RE: Reuben James
From:

Look for an old thread on this forum, too.

25 May 99 - 01:51 AM (#81478)
Subject: THE GOOD REUBEN JAMES
From: Bojangles

The Reuben James,I learnedd somewhere along the way was a destroyer in the US Navy fleet and the first to be sunk (by torpedo, I think) at the beginning of WWII. Woody Guthrie wrote w fine song about it. Recently I was asked who Reuben James was, and I had no answer. Can anyone help?
Messages from multiple threads combined.
-Joe Offer-

25 May 99 - 02:38 AM (#81487)
Subject: RE: THE GOOD REUBEN JAMES
From: Joe Offer

Hi, bojangles - after much pleading whimpering and whining and and cajoling, we finally convinced Dick Greenhaus to include The Sinking of the Reuben James in the database. There are several interesting threads about the song, but this one will tell you about the man.
-Joe Offer-