Sea songs old and new

[Shas Cho]

Being new to the concertina,

I've thus far been limited to asking advice and learning from my musical elders.

I notice that the topic of nautical music has surfaced from time to time,

and am hope that for once I can offer some new information.

 

I used to build small wooden boats,

and inevitably got tangled up with sailors and singers

in the longshore pubs here in BC.

I got to know a very interesting Irishman named Tom Lewis

who, after a 24-year career in the Royal Navy,

has embarked on a second career as a shantyman.

 

Tom has written, performed, and released a number of albums

(www.tomlewis.net)

and performs at festivals and events around the world

where he seeks out songs and traditions from aging seamen.

In between tales and rants he sings his original songs,

accompanying himself on the ukulele, button accordion,

and (you knew there must be a connection, right?) concertina.

 

While Tom's songs range from rowdy to sentimental,

and from modern to traditional,

they are all infused with the unmistakable authenticity

of a life spent on the sea.

 

An offering that might be of particular interest to buskers

or to those relatively new to the concertina

is his book Worth the Singing.

Packed with crowd-pleasing songs and nautical trivia,

it includes a CD on which Tom performs one verse

from each of the forty songs in the book,

all of which are presented in conventional sheet music,

making them easy to learn and to play along with.

(One of my personal favourites is Christmas at Sea,

in which Tom sets to music

the words of the poem by Robert Loius Stevenson)

 

For the gregarious and travel-minded musician,

Tom leads an annual 2-week narrow boat trip in England

with nightly musical sessions in canal-side pubs,

all of which is fore play to a musical festival.

Sounds like fun to me!

[Mike Franch]

Thanks, I enjoyed finding out about this guy.

[Shas Cho]

Although my last sign post to sea fare

didn't elicit wild enthusiasm

(thanks for the response, Mike),

I'll offer another in the hopes that it may be useful to some here:

 

Roger McGuinn of the Byrds

(Turn, Turn, Turn, Mr. Tambourine Man...)

maintains THIS WEBSITE

on which he generously posts something like 200 (two Hundred!) mp3s

of himself singing a wide variety of folk songs.

He provides the lyrics and guitar chords for each one,

and includes a short preface about the history of the song.

 

Categories include shanties and sea songs, cowboy songs,

mountain (think "Celtic") songs, spirituals, blues, and more.

I have collected sea songs and shanties for years,

yet McGuinn has posted lyrics and even entire songs

that I had never encountered.

His mountain songs are similarly thorough and gratifying,

with over fifty offerings in that category alone.

 

For those interested in these genres

this site is a real gold mine.

 

Just sayin'.

[Chris Drinkwater]

And here's the link to Tom Lewis's website, for the nautically minded, or just plain curious.

 

Chris

[Anglo-Irishman]

For the gregarious and travel-minded musician,

Tom leads an annual 2-week narrow boat trip in England

with nightly musical sessions in canal-side pubs,

all of which is fore play to a musical festival.

Sounds like fun to me!

 

A musical narrow-boat cruise is just what I've been dreaming of since my first canal holiday! That time, we arrived at the Cape of Good Hope (a canal-side pub in Warwick) on session night, and had a great time until well past closing time in the back room. On my second trip, I had my Anglo with me, but we didn't encounter any sessions. It was nice just sitting, playing and watching the countryside glide past, and I did get to play a few solo tunes in a pub one evening.

A truly civilised way to travel, and a boatload of musicians would be quite something! (I suppose the one who doesn't know the tune gets to steer the boat?)

 

Cheers,

John

[Shas Cho]

A musical canal vacation would be about as much fun as I could handle!

You know, John, if Tom's cruises don't fit your schedule

or fit your fantasies,

maybe YOU could organize something similar

for interested C-netters!

The folks here already share common interests

and seem to be an enthusiastic and friendly community. one of the many

 

You wouldn't have to make it a narrow boat cruise, either-

the canals of Europe offer unlimited potential

for historical or special-interest cruising.

For that matter, a flotilla of rental boats

working its way from pub to pub up the Shannon

and culminating in one of the many fine music festivals in County Clare

might be the ultimate concertina-lovers' cruise!

[Anglo-Irishman]

A musical canal vacation would be about as much fun as I could handle!

You know, John, if Tom's cruises don't fit your schedule

or fit your fantasies,

maybe YOU could organize something similar

for interested C-netters!

 

Shas,

I have many talents (including modesty), but organisation is not one of them!

 

And I really couldn't imagine anything nicer than the Warwick Ring in 2 weeks.

 

Our first canal trip was the Warwich Ring in 1 (one) week. We were able to make the round trip because we had an excellent crew - our then teenage daughter and her male classmate. They were indefatigable at opening and closing locks - an average of about 5 minutes per lock, and fast legs to reach the lock before the boat did! And in between, a mug of hot cocoa for the helmsman (usually me) when the weather was not as warm as it mostly was. As Tom says, canal holidays are very "participatory".

 

I doubt whether you could find the charm of the narrow canals in Europe - or Ireland, for that matter. Negotiating a long tunnel is an almost other-worldly experience, and the robust, Industrial Revolution locks, which you have to operate yourself, have long been superseded elsewhere. (The locks on the Erne-Shannon canal in Ireland work with chip-cards, I believe!)

 

The link you gave is for 2011 - do you know if there are other trips planned for the future?

 

Cheers,

John

[JimLucas]

The link you gave is for 2011 - do you know if there are other trips planned for the future?

There's a Contact page on Tom's web site.

Why not email Tom and ask him?

[Shas Cho]

That sounds like an awesome vacation experience, John.

Add a musical crew and nightly pubs anticipating your arrival

and it would be darned hard to beat.

 

Maybe someone on the Northwest coast

(jeffn, are you listening?)

could collect a gang of musical mariners

to cruise through the beautiful islands hereabouts!

In fact, I may make a couple of emails about that today...

 

I haven't seen Tom for over a year

but as always, JimLucas has the practical answer

 

If this sort of thing sparks interest amongst C-netters

we could create a thread for Wandering Minstrels...

 

 

edited moments after posting because I rarely get it right the first time

Edited October 13, 2011 by Shas Cho

[asdormire]

Shas, have you a copy of Songs Of American Sailormen by Joanna C. Colcord from Oak Archives? Been meaning to mention this book to you for a while.

 

Alan