| The Kingston Trio: Their Greatest
Hits and Finest Performances |
The Wreck of
the "John B" (Traditional; adapted and arranged
by Hays-Sandburg-Waihall) Lee Hays of The Weavers adapted
this old folk tune from the Bahamas from a version in
poet Carl Sandburg's 1927songbook The American Songbag.
The Kingston Trio's version, true to its calypso roots,
is from their first LP in 1958. Then, eight years later,
The Beach Boys changed the title to "Sloop John B,"
altered the lyrics and walked away with a No. 3 hit. But
their debt to the Trio goes far beyond one song: The
Beach Boys adopted the group's striped, short-sleeved
shirts and wholesome persona as well. © 1994 The Reader's Digest
Association, Inc. © 1994 The Reader's Digest Association
(Canada) Ltd. © 1994 Reader's Digest Association Far
East Ltd. Philippine Copyright 1994 Reader's Digest
Association Far East Ltd. All rights reserved. Printed in
the United States of America.
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| Posted by
Pete Curry
to the Musicians' Rendezvous on
8/15/2001, 8:04 pm
, in reply to "Sloop John B Author (s)" |
I made a detailed posting about "Sloop John B" here about a
year ago--which of course now I cannot find. As I recall, the earliest
known version of this song was contained in Sandburg's 1927
"American Songbag," as has been mentioned here by others. In
the head-note to the song, Sandburg says:
"John T. McCutcheon, cartoonist and kindly philosopher, and
his wife Eveleyn Shaw McCutcheon, mother and poet, learned to sing
this song on their Treasure Island in the West Indies. They tell of
it, "Time and usage have given this song almost the dignity of a
national anthem around Nassau. The weathered ribs of the historic
craft lie embedded in the sand at Governor's Harbour, when an
expedition, especially set up for the purpose in 1926, extracted a
knee of horseflesh and a ring-bolt. These relics are now preserved and
built into the Watch Tower, designed by Mr. Howard Shaw and built on
our southern coast a couple of points east by north of the star
Canopus."
The words Sandburg includes are virtually identical to the ones the
Weavers and the KT sang.
As mentioned previously, Alan Lomax recorded a version "from
the singing of Bahamian Negroes" in Nassau, in 1935. The text of
this version appeared in various Lomax collections. His field
recording of the song is available from Smithsonian Folkways.
Various singles and groups recorded "Sloop John B" before
the KT. But since the KT credit Sandburg and Lee Hayes (of the
Weavers), the Weavers recording was probably their source (see:
"The Weavers On Tour," Vanguard VSD6537, 1958).
Used copies of the Sandburg book are plentiful on the used market.
I believe it has also been reprinted within the past few years in
paperback. Every student of folk music in general and the KT in
particular should try to get a copy. It is also available at many
libraries, and at ANY library via interlibrary loan.
Regards, Pete Curry
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| FOLKSONGS
OF NORTH-AMERICA (p. 517-518), by Alan Lomax, © Alan
Lomax, 1960, Published by Doubleday & Company, Inc.,
Garden City, NY |
NOTE: In his book, " FOLKSONGS OF NORTH-AMERICA,"
John Lomax offers short bits of descriptive prose to set
the scene for his collected works. Here is his entry for
" THE JOHN B's SAILS" (Sloop John B.): 280.THE JOHN B's SAILS
The small boat piers of Nassau Harbor form the market-place
of the Bahamas. The dirty, sea-scarred sloops, tethered
on the pale blue water, are like so many country wagons
loaded with produce for sale in the capital. A sixteen-footer
stands in towards the dock, its deck only a few inches
above the waves, carrying a cow, five goats, a dozen
hens, four women, six children, and four of five sailors.
This crowded little boat is ending a journey from an
island, perhaps two or three hundred miles away. As it
noses into the pier, a similar craft lifts its ragged
sail and departs, its deck packed with passengers and
freight, for some coral islet far down the chain toward
Haiti.
These vessels carry no
charts, no compasses, and no auxiliary engines, yet few
of them come to grief, foe the Bahaman is at home in his
reef-filled azure seas. They tell and believe a story
about an old Negro pilot, grown blind, who could stick
his finger in the water and tell precisely where his boat
lay.
Recorded and arranged by
Alan Lomax from the singing of Bahaman Negroes, Nassau,
1935. "See: Sandburg, 22, (a reference to Carl
Sandburg's book, "The American Songbag," (Harcourt
Brace & Co., NY, 1927) The first, and saltiest, and
the most charming general anthology,
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