Classic Maritime Music from Smithsonian Folkways Recordings

by CLASSIC MARITIME FROM SMITHSONI

Overview

Smithsonian Folkways has a long and distinguished reputation as champions of the maritime tradition, and the long overdue reissue of the 32 tracks on their Classic Maritime Music compilation is a wonder to behold. None of the records that these songs originally appeared on is in print, and the compilers have done a commendable job at choosing representative tracks from the large array of artists whose work has graced many a turntable over the course of the last 60 years. Opening the set are two cuts from New York's South Street Seaport Museum troubadours, the X-Seamen's Institute, a collective whose repertoire was as impressive in size as in execution, and whose several records for Folkways have been long sought after by collectors. Their version of "Shenandoah" is among the most beautiful ever recorded, and the fact that they appear four more times on the collection is a testament to their well-earned place alongside seafaring heavyweights like Lou Killen and Cyril Tawney. Also notable is the inclusion of three tracks from the Foc'sle Singers, a seafaring supergroup of sorts that included Paul Clayton and Dave Van Ronk, who released one of the genre's finest recordings, Foc'sle Songs and Shanties, in 1959. By focusing on the medium's excellent musicianship and clever vocal arrangements, contributions from the Bahamas-based Dicey Doh Singers ("Sloop John B.") and instrumentals from Ellen Cohen ("Ten-Penny Bit") and Tom Sullivan ("Homeward Bound/The Old Slipper Shoe") help to dispel the notion that all sea shanties were merely work songs with a call and response. Excellent tracks by everyone from "salty dogs" like Ewan MacColl to Leadbelly, whose version of the Atlantic sailing shanty "Haul Away Joe" sees the bluesman adapting it to a Mississippi riverboat song, are wonderful windows into a world that's sadly diminishing. As an introduction to the genre, Classic Maritime Music is indispensable, but as a beacon of hope for those who covet the recordings still lost at sea, it's priceless. ~ James Christopher Monger

Product Details

Release Date:	05/25/2004
Label:	Smithsonian Folkways Recordings
UPC:	0093074005323
Rank:	57463

Tracks

1. Roll, Alabama, Roll (The Alabama)  -  X Seamen's Institute
2. Shenandoah  -  X Seamen's Institute
3. Clear the Track and Let the Bullgine Roll  - Sam Eskin
4. Greenland Whale Fisheries  - Stuart Gillespie
5. Paddy Doyle's Boots  - Alan Mills  -  Shantymen
6. The Black Ball Line  -  Foc'sle Singers
7. The Sloop John B.  -  Dicey Doh Singers
8. Tommy's Gone to Hilo  - Stuart M. Frank
9. Lord Franklin  -  Gold Ring
10. The Handsome Cabin Boy  - Stuart Gillespie
11. Rio Grande  -  Foc'sle Singers
12. Run Come See  -  X Seamen's Institute
13. Ten-Penny Bit  - Ellen S. Cohn
14. South Australia  -  Hugill
15. Haul Away Joe  -  Lead Belly
16. Blood-Red Roses  - A.L. Lloyd  - Ewan MacColl  - Peggy Seeger
17. All for Me Grog  -  Benson  - Louis Killen  - Gerret Warner  - Jeff Warner
18. Haul on the Bowline  -  Foc'sle Singers
19. Bully in the Alley  -  Morrigan
20. Chesapeake Born  - Mark Wisner  - Tom Wisner
21. A Hundred Years on the Eastern Shore  - A.L. Lloyd  - Ewan MacColl  - Peggy Seeger
22. Dredgin' Is My Drudgery  - Mark Wisner  - Tom Wisner
23. Liverpool Judies  - Stuart M. Frank
24. Santiano  -  Hugill  - Louis Killen  -  X Seamen's Institute
25. Reuben Ranzo  -  X Seamen's Institute
26. The Girls Around Cape Horn  - Tom Goux  - Jacek Sulanowski
27. Adieu, My Lovely Nancy  -  Morrigan
28. The Dreadnaught  - Tom Sullivan
29. Married to a Mermaid  - Tom Goux  - Jacek Sulanowski
30. Boney  -  X Seamen's Institute
31. Homeward Bound/The Old Slipper Shoe  - Tom Sullivan
32. Homeward Bound  - Stuart M. Frank

Album Credits

Performance Credits

A.L. Lloyd   Primary Artist,Vocals
The Foc'sle Singers   Primary Artist
Peggy Seeger   Primary Artist,Vocals
Jacek Sulanowski   Primary Artist,Vocals
Shantymen   Primary Artist,Vocals
Lead Belly   Primary Artist,Guitar,Vocals
Ewan MacColl   Primary Artist,Vocals
Alan Mills   Primary Artist,Vocals
Tom Goux   Primary Artist,Vocals,Concertina
Sam Eskin   Primary Artist,Guitar,Vocals
Gold Ring   Primary Artist
The Dicey Doh Singers   Primary Artist
Ellen S. Cohn   Primary Artist,Concertina
Gerret Warner   Primary Artist,Vocals
Stan Hugill   Primary Artist,Vocals,Choir/Chorus
Tom Sullivan   Primary Artist,Banjo,Vocals,Concertina
Jeff Warner   Primary Artist,Vocals
Mark Wisner   Primary Artist,Vocals
Morrigan   Primary Artist
Stuart M. Frank   Primary Artist,Vocals,Melodeon,Concertina,Button Accordion
Stuart Gillespie   Primary Artist,Vocals,Concertina
The X-Seamen's Institute   Primary Artist
Tom Wisner   Primary Artist,Guitar,Vocals
Fud Benson   Primary Artist
Louis Killen   Primary Artist,Vocals,Choir/Chorus
Frank Woerner   Vocals
Bill Caldwell   Vocals
Roger Abrahams Ph.D   Vocals
Dwayne Curtis   Vocals
Bernie Klay   Vocals
Kermit Strachan   Vocals
Danny Aguiar   Vocals
Paul Clayton   Vocals
Terry Corcoran   Vocals
Edward Bethel   Vocals,Soloist
Crew of the USCG Polar Star   Vocals (Background)
Garland Dean   Vocals
Marty Dutcher   Vocals
Marc Bridgham   Vocals
Tex Turnquest   Vocals
Teresa Whitaker   Vocals
Gilbert LaCombe   Guitar
Bob Brill   Vocals
John Fud Benson   Vocals
John Townley   Vocals
Dave Van Ronk   Vocals
William Pint   Vocals
Bob Yellin   Vocals

Technical Credits

Jeff Place   Annotation,Liner Notes
Danny Aguiar   Group Member
Frank Woerner   Group Member
Arthur Rothstein   Photography
Roger Abrahams Ph.D   Group Member
Dwayne Curtis   Group Member
Bernie Klay   Group Member
Kermit Strachan   Group Member
Paul Clayton   Group Member
Terry Corcoran   Group Member
Jamie Freedman   Production Assistant
Howard Liberman   Photography
Jacob Love   Editing
Mary Monseur   Production Coordination
John Collier   Photography
Edward Bethel   Group Member
Harold Orne   Photography
Garland Dean   Group Member
Edwin Rosskam   Photography
Marc Bridgham   Group Member
Tex Turnquest   Group Member
Bob Brill   Group Member
John Townley   Group Member
Pete Reiniger   Mastering
Dave Van Ronk   Group Member
Gordon Parks   Photography
Dan Sheehy   Production Supervisor
William Pint   Group Member
Bob Yellin   Group Member
D.A. Sonneborn   Production Supervisor