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Seek advice on Sea Songs recordings

26 Aug 98 - 06:40 PM (#36037)
Subject: Seek advice on Sea Songs
From: Chet W..

Recently made a trip to the coast of Maine. Made me want to learn more about sea songs. Realized I know very few and not much about them. Could anyone recommend some essential artists and particular albums (cd's) to start out with.

Thanks, Chet W.

26 Aug 98 - 08:36 PM (#36052)
Subject: RE: Seek advice on Sea Songs
From: Joe Offer

Hi, Chet - the chantey CD I like best is "Blow, Ye Winds in the Morning." It used to be in regular distribution, but I couldn't find it at CDNow or MusicBlvd. Not to worry - you can order it direct from Revels Records. You can get it alone or packaged with two other CD's, and I heartily recommend all of the Revels recordings.
As Art Thieme will probably tell you, anything you can get by Lou Killen will be wonderful. Don't recall if Lou has visited Mudcat, but I've seen him here or at rec.music.folk.
Now, if you're like me and have a love for the Great Lakes, try the recordings of Lee Murdock. It's easiest to get Lee's recordings direct - they rarely appear in stores.
Tradition, a division of Rykodisk, has been reissuing some terrific stuff. One that's good is "Blow Boys Blow," by Ewan MacColl and A.L. Lloyd, TCD1024. Another is Paul Clayton's "Whaling and Sailing Songs," which was recently reissued on Tradition (but you may still be able to find it on the Legacy label at a cheaper price).
I just went to CDNow and found Paul Clayton listed on bot Legacy and Tradition. I clicked on the link for the Tradition label to see what else was available. I think I want one of each - the label really has some great stuff.
You'll also find good maritime music at Folk-Legacy, particularly the recordings of Gordon Bok. Bok's "North Wind's Clearing" is a nice collection, as is his "Schooners." Bok's songs are not always traditional, but they're good.
Hope that helps.
-Joe Offer-

27 Aug 98 - 02:06 AM (#36079)
Subject: RE: Seek advice on Sea Songs
From: Barry Finn

A great CD on Saydisc called "Sea Songs & Shanties" is from the Brittish tradition with the likes of Bob Roberts, Harry Cox, Tom Brown, Clifford Jenkins, the Fisherman's Group (a group of fisherman out of Cornwall) & some others. If you don't recognize some of the names it may be their mostly dead & gone, but Peter Kennedy got them on tape between the 50' & 60's. These were the people that supplied the songs to those that became famous singing sea songs. A tape by the Menhaden Chantymen by Globle Village called "Won't You Help Me To Raise 'Em" is a great collection of net hauling songs from the Afro American fishing industry off the mid Alantic coast, done by the same retired fisherman, a recent CD put out by Mystic Seaport called "American Sea Chanteys" as part of the French sea music collection of Le Chasse-Maree Antholgy Of Sea Songs, volume 11, is probably one of the best sea music recordings out in ages, it's focus is towards shanties influenced by Afro Americans, as would be anything by the great Georgia Sea Island Singers, a few tapes by a combination of Holdstock, MacLeod & Murphy are also great with their focus on San Francisco related shanties & one of sea music related to the gold rush. Some of the sampler type that are very good would be on Collector Records "Steady As She Goes" with Jeff & Gerret Warner, Lou Killen & Fud Benson, another is "Farewell Nancy" on Topic with Lou Killen, Cyril Tawney, Ian Cambell, Redd Sullivan, Bob Davenport & Dave Swarbrick, another from Topic called "Sea Shanties" with Roy Harris, A.L.Lloyd, Bernard Wrigley & Martyn Wyndham-Read. Another great whaling recording is called "Leviathan" by Lloyd on Topic. Dan Milner has a very nice collection of sea music on his "Irish Ballads & Songs Of The Sea" maybe self produced on Bilge Rat Productions. Some of the more contemporary nice stuff would be anything by Cyril Tawney, Tom Lewis, Jim Paine, Stan Rogers & Cindy Kallet (I leave out Gordon Bok here, too depressing, my son caught him at a festival & remarked the workshop should've been called "come down to the sea & die, sorry you Bok fans). The preceeding is only my opinion & I'll take the heat for the last comment. Barry

27 Aug 98 - 07:33 AM (#36098)
Subject: RE: Seek advice on Sea Songs
From: Dave T

If you're looking for more recent sea songs, try almost anything by Stan Rogers. Although his songs aren't exclusively about the sea, they never quite lose the feeling. Also, as far as songs go, one of my favourites has always been "The Ghost of Maggie's Sailor" by Colleen Peterson, even though she was more a country or folk artist.

27 Aug 98 - 08:23 AM (#36101)
Subject: RE: Seek advice on Sea Songs
From: Bob Schwarer

Just saw a blurb in my hometown paper that Rykodisc has aquired the Tradition/Everest material and is reissuing it on CD. Had an interview with Pat Clancy & how he sold the Tradition material to Everest for $40,000.

Bob S.

27 Aug 98 - 12:39 PM (#36122)
Subject: RE: Seek advice on Sea Songs
From: belter

A duo I like to recomend is William Pint and Felicia Dale. Check out there web site http://members.aol.com/Pintndale

27 Aug 98 - 01:00 PM (#36126)
Subject: Lyr Add: SAFE IN THE HARBOUR (Eric Bogle)^^^
From: Mo

Another truly great one, which never fails to move me after I've been sailing on my beloved Tall Ships is Eric Bogle's "SAFE IN THE HARBOUR". I believe it was written in tribute to the late, great, Stan Rogers and you'll find it on Eric's "When The wind Blows" album (Larrikin CD LRF 144). Words are below:

Have you stood by the ocean on a diamond hard morning,
and felt the horizon stir deep in your soul?
Watched the wake of a steamer as she cuts through blue water?
Been gripped by a fever you just can't control?
Ah, to throw off the shackles, and fly like the seagulls,
To where green wave tumble before a driving sea wind;
Or to lie on the decking on a warm summer's evening,
And watch the red sun fall burning beneath the earth's rim.

Chorus: But to every sailor comes time to drop anchor,
Haul in the sails, and make the lines fast.
You deep water dreamer, your journey is over,
You're safe in the harbour at last.

Some men are sailors but most are just dreamers,
Held fast by the anchors they forge in their minds.
Who in their hearts know they'll never sail over blue water
To search for a treasure they're afraid they won't find.
So in sheltered waters they cling to their anchors,
Bank down their boilers and shut down their steam.
And wait for the sailors to return with the treasures
Which will fan the dull embers and fire up their dreams.
Chorus:

And some men are schemers who laugh at the dreamers,
Take the gold from the sailors and turn it to dross.
They're men in a prison - they are men without vision,
Whose only horizon is profit or loss.
So when storm clouds come sailing across your blue ocean,
Hold fast to your dreaming for all that your worth,
For as long as there's dreamers there will always be sailors
Bringing back their bright treasures from the corners of earth.
Chorus:

Hope you'll like it as much as I do.
Cheers,

27 Aug 98 - 05:58 PM (#36153)
Subject: RE: Seek advice on Sea Songs
From: Chet W.

Thanks, guys. This looks like a great start.

Chet W.

05 Mar 18 - 01:04 PM (#3909606)
Subject: RE: Seek advice on Sea Songs
From: EBarnacle

I expect to be at a friend's funeral in the immediate future and will probably do either "Safe in the Harbor" or the current reworking of "Fiddler's Green."

05 Mar 18 - 01:12 PM (#3909611)
Subject: RE: Seek advice on Sea Songs
From: The Sandman

contact chris roche, this guy is an expert,mariner@chrisroche.co.uk

05 Mar 18 - 07:49 PM (#3909676)
Subject: RE: Seek advice on Sea Songs
From: Sandra in Sydney

20 years later & the Revels link in Joe's post no longer exists but MusicBlvd does, & Wikipedoia says "CDNow.com was an online retailer." Lee Murdock's page is not found,

Barry Finn's post has some interesting stuff (tapes!)

I love those old threads from when the internet & Mudcat were very new!

07 Mar 18 - 08:42 AM (#3909918)
Subject: RE: Seek advice on Sea Songs
From: GUEST,julia L

If you are looking for traditional sea songs from Maine, check out Castlebay's new album "Bound Away". All songs we have harvested from archives of songs sung in Maine.