I don’t think I’d made a post about boat songs before, but there are quite a few good ones to choose from. Do you have any faves?
Let’s start with the Ozark Highballers performing the Stephen Foster tune, The Glendy Burke. The Glendy Burke was a Mississippi paddle boat. It was named for the 29th mayor of New Orleans.
The Glendy Burk is a mighty fast boat,
With a mighty fast captain too;
He sits up there on the hurricane roof
And he keeps his eye on the crew.
I cant stay here, for the works’ too hard;
I’m bound to leave this town;
I’ll take my duds and tote ’em on my back
When the Glendy Burk comes down.
Here’s the late Guy Clark performing a tune he wrote with Verlon Thompson called Boats to Build.
Another paddle boat tune – Cathy Barton and Dave Para do a great job on Waiting for the Belle. They recorded this one on their excellent Sweet Journeys CD, also with Cathy on autoharp.
The Sloop John B is not a Beach Boys tune, although they sure popularized it. As far as I know it’s a Bahamian folk song. I’m going to share a lovely version with lots of swing by Blind Blake Higgs
OK OK I know this is a long post, but how do I choose? Here’s a fun one, a cover of the delightful Don Freed tune, Being a Pirate performed by the Pirates Royale.
27th Street 