Sea Songs & Shanties / Various

Good sea song sounds.

It's too bad we don't have such opportunities for public, non-professional, group singing. You will not be able to stop yourself from singing along.

love it

I bought this 20 yrs ago and I still play it once in a while. One of the songs from this CD was in the movie Gangs of New York. Great CD: Rough and very salty. None of your barbershop quartet polish here.

Possibly of historical interest for the songs and lyrics, but the performances are quite crude and unmusical.

I placed my order without realizing that this was not a CD but music I had to listen to on my computer, and that I couldn't access the music from my computer because my computer doesn't have that capability. So I didn't get what I paid for, and I had to re-order the songs on a real CD (which cost me $9 extra). It's my fault for not scrutinizing the product description carefully enough before ordering, but I'd really appreciate getting my money back for the non-CD purchase, if possible.

Shanties were used for all sorts of tasks on board ship. The "Shantyman" led the men in song to acompany these tasks and to help keep time as the men worked together in rhythm.This release is very special. It has a wonderful selection of sea songs and shanties. And it is an historic recording that was made in the 1950s.The famous folk song collector and performer Peter Bellemay recorded these songs on tape at various locations. His aim was to capture a dying breed of folk performers on tape before it was too late. The risk of this old traditional style of folk song fading away or being lost was a genuine concern.This release is a compilation of those classic recordings and it was released by Saydisc records in 1994.There is a raw but magical edge to both the recordings and the performances. And it truly makes a great testement to this branch of folk music.There are some interesting and familiar songs featured. The first song "Stormy weather boys" is rhythmic and rousing and sets the atmosphere of the hard work at sea. Also there is the classic "Maggie May" and the well known "what shall we do with the drunken sailor". There is also a song called "Cant you dance the polka?" which is also known by its american version "new york girls",The singers featured gained some fame from the folk revival that followed these recordings. Here we get the likes of Bob Roberts. He was experienced in sea life and song, from working on barges. Also featured is the Copper Family that had a long history of performing folk songs and sea shanties. And this release also has tracks by Harry Cox who was a respected source of sea shanties. He learned these sea songs from an early age. There are other notable performers on this very interesting release.Tunes and words were learned through "the oral tradition" generally. But there were a few squeeze boxes or accordions that were used and this is reflected on these recordings.The sound quality is what you would expect from the 1950s but it is very good and easily listenable. This is a great release. And it is full of the atmosphere and flavour of the old days of sailing ships.

These are recordings made in the fifties and sixties by Peter Kennedy. The singers are people who sang them as part of their working life or as entertainment. They're not professional singers, which takes nothing away from the perfomances, in fact it adds. When Kennedy recorded the songs he didn't just record the singers, he recorded the atmosphere as well. Highly recommended.

NOT QUITE 5 STARS.I WOULD RATHER GIVE FOUR AND A HALF. A COUPLE OF SONGS THAT ARE MORE ENGLISH FOLK SONGS,BUT ON THE WHOLE IT IS THOROUGHLY ENJOYABLE .A GOOD PLACE TO START IF YO ARE INTERESTED IN SEA SHANTIES.

This was a gift for my dad, he loves it and plays this cd all the time.

A good anthology of the best known (and some lesser known) sea shanties sung by traditional singers. No modern arrangements or instrumentation just straightforward, characterful performances.