Yesterday, I posted Brian Wilson and Al Jardine's 2016 rendition of "Sloop John B." that their Beach Boys made especially famous 50 years earlier. I noted that my only quibble was that in their discussion beforehand, talking about getting the song from the Kingston Trio, no one noted that the song had words written by Carl Sandburg and music by Lee Hays of The Weavers, who recorded the song as "The Wreck of the John B.", in 1950. (In fact, that version was itself adapted from a 1916 Bahamian song, "The John B. Sails.") I figured it would be good to post the Sandburg-Hays version recorded by The Weavers. While certainly different, with this having a more Caribbean, moody, simple sensibility, as opposed to a more fully orchestrated, light-rock syncopation, the foundation of the two recordings (which both harken the open seas) have more similarities than I suspect most people would think, including keeping the lyrics pretty close to the same..
2 Comments
8/27/2021 05:08:51 am
Carl Sandburg a songwriter? Actually, despite the label notation on the 45 rpm disk, Sandburg didn't write the words. He quoted an existing folk song, including the music, in his 1927 collection "The American Songbag." It had been sung in the Bahamas since at least 1916.
Reply
Robert Elisberg
8/27/2021 09:47:18 am
Tom, thanks for your note. In fact, I do clearly write in my article that the song is adapted from a 1916 Bahamian song.
Reply
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorRobert J. Elisberg is a political commentator, screenwriter, novelist, tech writer and also some other things that I just tend to keep forgetting. Feedspot Badge of Honor
Categories
All
|
© Copyright Robert J. Elisberg 2024
|