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 On 04/12/2013 at 08:18 PM by Ranger1 See More From This User » |
Today's theme is work songs. Most trades where there were groups of people working together doing jobs that required specific rhythms ended up creating songs that helped them keep the rhythm and stave off boredom. Sea shanties and prison work songs are probably the best known examples of these types of songs. Sea shanties are frequently and unfortunately sung way too fast, especially when the singer doesn't have the knowledge of why the rhythm is important. Sea shanties came in different flavors, too, each type associated with a different task - hauling sails, turning the capstan, pumping the bilge. I don't know enough about them to tell you which is which, but I bet if we tried them out doing those different tasks, we'd figure it pretty quick, lol. I used a lot of videos and songs from people I know in this one, mostly because I know that these versions are fairly authentic.
My friend Tom Hall will be opening for us with Bound Away for Australia. Tom has a vast knowledge of all kinds of songs and he and his wife Linn are two of my go-to people when I have a question about something and I don't have the time, energy, or desire to dig around on the internet myself. This recording was done at a gathering at our friend Mary's house by English singer Joe Stead.
The Johnson Girls are a lot of fun, both to listen to and to hang around with. I couldn't find my favorite song that they do on YouTube, though, so you'll have to be satisfied with Essequibo River.
This one is Haul Away for Rosie, sung by Pete and Joanne Souza and John Roberts. More people I love singing with 
.
Barry Finn I've already mentioned in my St. Patrick's Day edition. This is one of my favorites. The other guy was his singing partner Neil. Together they performed as Finn and Haddie and put out one CD - Fathom This. Available as a download at CD Baby, if anyone is interested.
This video is from the 2010 Portsmouth Maritime Folk Festival, of which friends Tom and Linn help organize. Some day I may actually get to attend! The song is called London Julie
This next one isn't traditional at all, and I'm not sure if it works as a true shanty, even. I'm sure my friend Linn will check today's entry and let me know either way. Anyway, the song was written as a tribute to Barry Finn by a mutual friend named Ernie Johnson who lives in the midwest, tune was written by David Coffin of Gloucester, MA, and is sung by David.
OK, had enough shanties yet? How about some prison work songs to liven things up. Anyone who's seen O Brother, Where Art Thou? will recognize this one. Alan Lomax did a field recording of these guys singing the spiritual Po Lazarus while chopping wood.
Another song by Barry Finn. This was recorded by Joe Stead at the same gathering as the one of Tom Hall.
Waulking is "the technique of finishing the newly-woven tweed by soaking it and thumping it rhythmically to shrink and soften it - all done by hand in the old days. The songs served to keep the rhythm and lighten the work." Definition taken from the official website of Sgioba Luaidh, a Scottish group that performs authentic waulking songs and other working songs traditionally sung by women. Unfortunately, embedding is disabled on this one, so you'll either have to click here or just go to the playlist. The funny thing is I'd picked out the song first, then went looking for a good definition of what waulking is, and their official website is where I found the best one.
Another waulking song. This one was apparently recorded at a competition, I'm not sure if the competition was for waulking or for singing, though. Ends a bit abruptly.
There are other types of work songs or songs that can be sung to help keep rhythm, like military cadences (thanks, Linn!), but I wanted to get this up while it was still Friday here on the east coast.
O Brother, Where Art Thou? Of course which takes place in Mississippi. And on the new car tags that are issued this year in Mississippi, it reads,
Mississippi: birthplace of America's Music. Im not sure if that's true, but Mississippi claims it to be true...so, who knows?
I dunno about MS being the birthplace of all American music, but it may well be the birthplace of the blues.
Jimmie Rodgers, Father of Country Music was born in MS. Robert Johnson, Father of Blues was born in MS and Elvis Presely, King of R-n-R was born in MS. 3 out of 4.....no Folk music...but thats not really American original?
What an interesting group of songs you put together. First thing that came to mind while I was listening to the Johnson Girls sing was Harry Belafonte. The song he was famous for. The one about picking bananas and daylight coming. Definitely a work song,so I guess that is why I thought of that one. I loved the maritime folk songs. They brought back a good memory for me. When I was in the Navy we had a chief on our ship who could really sing. He knew some of those songs and would sing them for us up on the signal bridge at night sometimes. Made being at sea a bit less lonely. Your friend,Tom Hall,reminded me of him a bit. I admire people who can fill a room with music using just their voice. They make it look so easy,but it isn't at all. As for myself,I did a lot of cadence calling while marching about in boot camp and OS A school. We would make up songs to march to and take turns leading the march. The prison songs were kind of like that! Felt that way at times. Least it was only for 8 weeks. I loved the waulking music a lot. Thanks so much for adding that.
I have fun doing these, even if they are freakin' time-consuming! I spent about four hours on this one alone, if I include research, messages, coming up with an idea, and then finding the videos, and probably another half-hour writing it up. So I appreciate your listening and commenting more than you realize.
I knew you'd like the waulking songs. There was one I almost included, by the same group that did the first song, that has a young girl leading the song that was pretty neat. My friend Holly knows a bunch of waulking songs and sings them in Gaelic.
I'm glad to have reminded you of a good memory. Tom has a CD, might be able to get you a copy. He can't sing like that any more because of vocal chord cancer 
.
When I think of a work-related song, I think of "16 Tons", a song that recalls the days of the truck system when companies would keep workers in indentured servitude by paying them with vouchers that could only be redeemed at the company commissary. Supposedly Merle Travis wrote this song based on the experiences of his father, who was a coal miner under the truck system.
Merle Travis wrote a lot of great songs about coal mining. One of my faves is Dark As a Dungeon. These are more songs that one would work to, as opposed to work-related, though.
"16 Tons" would almost be a song you could sing while working. It's certainly catchy enough. However, I think most managers would take a very dim view of their employees singing the song at work, especially in front of customers. 
Really loved all the vocal harmonizing today, particulary "Yangtze River Shanty" and the one with the long name anteceding it.
Only one I wasn't really fond of musically was Po Lazarus, it just bothered me they weren't all in sync with each other.
I'm sad to hear your friend Tom has vocal cancer, I like his voice.
As for work songs, "16 Tons," "I've Been Working On the Railroad," and a couple other obvious ones come to mind. I also thought to myself after seeing this, "wait, wouldn't the women from Princess Mononoke have a work song?" I was correct in that assumption, but sadly the version from the movie is not available; the one I saw up was muted for copyright infringement, the rest are covers. Oh well, you can at least get the nice melody from it off Youtube; although it's nothing like the cadence of these work songs, really.
Ok so heres one I added for ya.after all i am from Texas lol
Very nice selections Tami. A buddy of mine had this tape of a guy singing. It was just the guy and his hands. This music today reminded me of that tape.
As you probably know by now, I'm not too much into this type of music but I do appreciate the laid-back nature of the genre.
It has been about ten years since I've seen O Brother so I can't even recall that scene!
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