Smithsonian Folkways
has a long and distinguished reputation as champions of the maritime tradition, and the long overdue reissue of the 32 tracks on their
Classic Maritime Music
compilation is a wonder to behold. None of the records that these songs originally appeared on is in print, and the compilers have done a commendable job at choosing representative tracks from the large array of artists whose work has graced many a turntable over the course of the last 60 years. Opening the set are two cuts from New York's
South Street Seaport Museum
troubadours,
the X-Seamen's Institute
, a collective whose repertoire was as impressive in size as in execution, and whose several records for
Folkways
have been long sought after by collectors. Their version of
"Shenandoah"
is among the most beautiful ever recorded, and the fact that they appear four more times on the collection is a testament to their well-earned place alongside seafaring heavyweights like
Lou Killen
and
Cyril Tawney
. Also notable is the inclusion of three tracks from
the Foc'sle Singers
, a seafaring supergroup of sorts that included
Paul Clayton
Dave Van Ronk
, who released one of the genre's finest recordings,
Foc'sle Songs and Shanties
, in 1959. By focusing on the medium's excellent musicianship and clever vocal arrangements, contributions from the Bahamas-based
Dicey Doh Singers
(
"Sloop John B."
) and instrumentals from
Ellen Cohen
"Ten-Penny Bit"
) and
Tom Sullivan
"Homeward Bound/The Old Slipper Shoe"
) help to dispel the notion that all
sea shanties
were merely work songs with a call and response. Excellent tracks by everyone from "salty dogs" like
Ewan MacColl
to
Leadbelly
, whose version of the Atlantic sailing
shanty
"Haul Away Joe"
sees the bluesman adapting it to a Mississippi riverboat song, are wonderful windows into a world that's sadly diminishing. As an introduction to the genre,
is indispensable, but as a beacon of hope for those who covet the recordings still lost at sea, it's priceless. ~ James Christopher Monger