Classic Maritime From Smithsonian Folkways

Leadbelly | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (May 25, 2004)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Smithsonian Folkways
• ASIN: B0001XXBC0
• In-Print Editions: MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #32,709 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Editorial Reviews

More than just sea chanteys, maritime musical tradition encompasses an ocean of songs from people who have lived and worked on the water. Onboard are Folkways favorite singers-Dave Van Ronk and the Foc’sle Singers, Lead Belly, and Paul Clayton and many more. Classic Maritime takes you from the folk songs of Martha’s Vineyard down to the Bahamas and beyond. Compiled and annotated by Jeff Place. Extensive liner notes, a whopping 32 tracks, 68 minutes of music!

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

44 of 45 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars water-soaked tunes, May 30, 2004

By 

Jerome Clark (Canby, Minnesota) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Classic Maritime From Smithsonian Folkways (Audio CD)

In a very happy move Smithsonian Folkways has taken to plumbing Folkways' deep catalog for a series of "Classic" anthologies of American roots music. The previous five are variously focused on Southern styles: blues, bluegrass, and mountain music. In the sixth of the series, SF turns to a non-Southern genre which has passed into neglect in recent years: songs of salt- and freshwater sailors. These are not field recordings, but the work largely of revival singers, who include such familiar names as Dave Van Ronk, Paul Clayton, and Lead Belly, along with others not so well known. They are taken from albums released between 1951 and 1997.

This is, as one would expect, a satisfying collection, not just for the performances but for the usual well-informed annotations and documentation. This grizzled folk fan learned a few things I didn't know, such as that "Run, Come See Jerusalem" -- once a folk-scare standard, done nicely here by the X-Seamen's Institute -- was written in 1929 by Blind Blake. No, not that Blind Blake, the bluesman/songster from Florida whose first name was Arthur, but the Bahamian singer Blind Blake, born Blake Higgs. I also learned that "Hilo" in the song "Johnny's Gone to Hilo" (here "Tommy's Gone to Hilo") is not in Hawaii, but in Peru (the port city of Ilo).

A small number of performances don't move me much. Tom Wisner's original, all-too-well-intentioned "Chesapeake Born" strikes me as purely cornball in that distinctively gooey Pete Seeger sort of way. Alan Mills and the Shanty Men perform in what sounds, at least to my ear, in so stilted, theatrical a fashion as to remind the listener why sea shanteys are so often parodied and ridiculed. (Admittedly, they're here for all of :36, in a mercifully brief "Paddy Doyle's Boots.") Done right, shanteys are wonderfully affecting, and most of the singers here do them proud. There are also a few ocean-going ballads, the standards "Greenland Whale Fisheries," "The Sloop John B," "Lord Franklin," and "The Handsome Cabin Boy," whose subjects range from the wryly comic to the heartbreakingly tragic.

If you already love this sort of thing, you'll want this album. And if you're looking for one representative anthology of maritime folk music to fill a hole in your collection, this one will do just fine.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A must-have for those who like this kind of thing..., December 15, 2007

By 

William E. Adams (Midland, Texas USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Classic Maritime From Smithsonian Folkways (Audio CD)

Smithsonian's reissues of old Folkways label records, and their creation of new complilations from the archives, are always done well, and it's no different with this one. The fan of songs from workers in the oceans gets 32 of them here, from many different artists, some well-known, some obscure. Same with the songs: some seem to appear on every collection of this kind of music that's ever been released, and some were new to me. In fact, the songs and singers I had never heard before were the stars of the disc for me. As always with Smithsonian projects, the booklet is wonderful, and considerably adds to the value of the product. (Original Folkways LP booklets were often wordy, but frequently careless and inaccurate.) If there is a flaw here at all for my taste, it is that some of the solos could have benefitted from the addition of a chorus, and the few a cappella tracks would have been more interesting with accompaniement. However, that's the tiniest of quibbles. I have listened to this three times in the past six days, and like it more with every hearing. The only thing like it I ever thought was better was a record released in the late '70's or early '80's on the National Geographic label called "Songs and Sounds of the Sea." That was fantastic, but only half as long as this one, and it has not been translated to compact disc.

5.0 out of 5 stars Great sea songs, December 6, 2011

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Bobbie Kielma - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Classic Maritime From Smithsonian Folkways (Audio CD)

I really enjoy this CD. The songs are all very well played and sung. Gives you the feeling of being along for the ride. I listen often and am surprised at how much I like this music.