Encouraging and actively promoting the art (and
tool) of the shantymen.
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boats for sale | canoes & kayaks | nautical phrases | sea glossary | sea shanties
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(Obviously no longer hosted at SeaShanty.org)
"...for shanty singing was of the very essence of seafaring life, a part of its special flavor as well as a practical necessity in the work that daily and hourly went forward. Once the situation had become established, ships could hardly be handled without shanty singing. And in a folk sense, they were a ship's local color; as such we find them used in every story of ships sailing today."
Colcord, Joanna. Roll and Go: Songs of American Sailormen. Bramhal House, New York, 1924.
Sea Shanty Singers Wanted!
The Galveston Bay Area Sea Shanty Choir is forming!
If you enjoy music of the sea, please join us!
Celebrate our musical maritime heritage by singing shanties and songs of the sea.
Where there are sailing ships, there have always been music and song. In merchant vessels of old, the tasks of raising anchor, hauling on the halyards to raise sail, pumping ship, handling cargo, etc., were done by hand without the assistance of engines. Subsequently, a vast number of "work songs" were developed and used aboard ships as a way of rhythmically working in unison and allaying the boredom of this sometimes longs and tedious work.
We want YOU!
Lyrics will be provided.
No instruments needed - just voices.
It doesn't matter whether you think you can sing. The fun comes from participation, and since we will be mainly singing as a group, individual voices will just blend in .... Plus, we will have a bucket handy to help carry tunes!
If you are interested, please send an email to info@seashanty.org
We will begin meeting as soon as we have 4 or 5 singers.
Sea Shanty and Fire Shanty Lyrics and Audio While the audio material presented here may not be the best renderings of the songs, they should suffice in helping you learn the tunes. Please forgive any off-key singing. :-)
You may have to save the mp3 audio files to your computer to play them (right-click "Save Target As").
UPDATE FEB 27, 2006 - ALL AUDIO FILES HAVE BEEN LOST. THANKS GODADDY.
Title &
Link to LyricsAudio Notes A-Rovin' a.k.a. Maid of Amsterdam All For Me Grog Audio Banks of Sacramento See Hamborger Veermaster for the tune.
See Sarcamento for additional lyrics.Blow Boys Blow Audio a.k.a. Congo River Bonnie Ship THE DIAMOND Boston Harbor Audio British Tars from M&C - "Come all you bold young thoughtless men..." Cape Cod Girls Audio Brian singing badly in his truck
Chicken on a Raft Audio by Cyril Tawney. It is a fried egg on toast, by the way. Clean Song Audio by Oscar Brand
Congo River Audio a.k.a. Blow Boys Blow Crew of the ELISSA by Bob Brown Dead Horse, The Audio Don't Forget Your Old Shipmates from M&C officers' mess scene - "Folly rolly rolly rolly rye oh" Drunken Sailor Audio ELISSA Song Audio a.k.a. Tall Ship for Texas ELISSA ELISSA Volunteer Song by Simon Spalding and friends, 1990 Fire Down Below General Taylor Audio Hamborger Veermaster, De Audio Hanging Johnny Audio Haul Away Joe Audio w/ ELISSA lyrics Haul on the Bowline Audio Hoffnung, De Audio I've Been Working on Elissa Audio by Val Rocker, 1991 John Kanaka Audio1
Audio2Leave Her Johnny Audio Limejuice Ship Long Time Ago, A See Hoffnung for the tune. Maid of Amsterdam a.k.a. A-Rovin' Mingulay Boat Song Only Seventeen Pay Me My Money Down Audio Everyone got the giggles so bad during the grunts that I had to chop and edit it - the edit makes it really jerky & disjointed (not to mention yours truly failing to stay anywhere near "on key") Poor Old Man Audio Reuben Ranzo Rio Grande Audio do Rio Grande em Brazil Roll the Old Chariot Along Audio Runnin' Down To Cuba Sacramento See Hamborger Veermaster for the tune.
See Banks of Sarcamento for additional lyrics.Sailor's Prayer Audio by Tom Lewis Sam's Gone Away Santiano Audio Barkentones version w/ Galveston lyrics Shallow Brown Audio Romantic version w/ ELISSA lyrics Spanish Ladies
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A Good Book To Have
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External Links
Los Angeles Area Sea Shanty Sing - lots of lyrics, multiple versions
Shanties & Sea Songs - lots of lyrics
Songs of the Sea - lots of lyrics but the MIDI music gets annoying pretty quickly
Stormy Weather SoftWare - shanty history and background
The Bitter End - links to festivals and performers
Shanty Sings
Probably best to double check with the event contact before making a trip out
California
Los Angeles Area Sea Shanty Sing - Last Friday of the Month - You're welcome to come sing with us in San Pedro (Los Angeles Harbor.) We usually meet at 8 PM on the last Friday of the month at The Whale and Ale on 327 West 7th Street. Food and drinks are available at this restaurant-pub. Many people show up around 7 PM to have dinner before the rest of us show up for shantying. To get there, take the 110 freeway south all the way to the end. Exit onto Gaffey Street. Turn left onto 7th Street. The Whale and Ale is on the right, a few blocks down. See the map, right. Plenty of parking is available on the street. We usually have our own room upstairs.
Contact: For more information, or to subscribe to our mailing list, contact John Ward or Dustin Laurence.
Reservations required: call 415-556-6435 or email peter_kasin@nps.gov.
Connecticut
Maryland
Wheaton - On the first Tuesday of the month from 8 to 10 p.m., join us at the Royal Mile Pub, 2407 Price St. in Wheaton, Maryland (near University & Rt. 97). (301) 946-4511.
Baltimore - On the second Wednesday of the month from 8 to 10 p.m., join us at the Wharf Rat, 801 S. Anne Street, Baltimore, Maryland (Fells Point) (410) 276-9034
Annapolis - On the third Thursday of the month from 8 to 10 p.m., join us at The Drummer's Lot, Main Street in Annapolis, Maryland 21401 (410) 263-2641
For booking or general information about these lovely boisterous nights of merriment contact Myron Peterson.
New Hampshire
New York
The event occurs at the Seaman's Church Institute, 241 Water Street, from 8PM until 11PM. There's a decent (pay) parking lot directly across the street from the venue, inside a chain-link fence.
Texas
Please come and join the fun! It doesn't matter whether you think you can sing. The fun comes from participation, and since we will be mainly singing as a group, individual voices will just blend in .... Plus, we will have a bucket handy to help carry tunes! We want YOU! Lyrics will be provided. No instruments needed - just voices. Non-volunteers will have to pay for museum admission. Rates are published here.Contact: Brian Berlin - brian . berlin @ gmail . com (281) 535-2626
Texas Seaport Museum is at
Pier 21, Number 8
Galveston, TX 77550
(409) 763-1877
www.tsm-elissa.org
Houston Liederkranz
5100 Ella Boulevard
Houston, Texas 77018
Phone (713) 957-9004Washington
The sings are less formal than the concerts. Although we always have a designated leader, anyone can start and lead a song. We focus on sea chanties, the work songs used during the great age of sail in the mid-1800s. We also song other nautical songs.
Although there is no formal admission charge, donations in support of Northwest Seaport's many programs will be gratefully accepted. Baked goods and hot and cold beverages will be available for purchase.
Northwest Seaport ~ Maritime Heritage Center
1002 Valley St., Seattle, WA 98109-4332
206-447-9800
seaport@oz.net
http://www.nwseaport.org
