Friday, December 4, 2009

A Sailor´s Life...




















...it is a merry life. That fado about Portuguese sailors in the post below made me think of other songs about that romantic but slowly disappearing profession. So while it seems that everybody else is busy blogging Christmas ditties (I won´t, promise...) here´s a six pack of delicious sailor songs for you. All hands on deck, lift the anchor, and hoist the main sail. The Titanic sails at dawn.

The alternative bluegrass trio Bad Livers tells all about Pee Pee The Sailor, in a hilarious Butthole Surfers cover. Anyone got the original btw? Never could track it down. Sandy Denny shines in Fairport Convention´s beautiful lament A Sailor´s Life, and master picker Leo Kottke finds a sailor´s grave in the strangest of places.

The Detroit Cobras do the marinero rock, while Tim Buckley goes way out there with some stellar vocal improvisation on Starsailor. Bob Dylan, in a rare live performance from ´92, relates of a female sailor. "In her jacket blue and trousers white, just like a sailor neat and tight, the sea, it was the heart's delight, of the female rambling sailor..." Heave ho!

Bad Livers - The Adventures Of Pee Pee The Sailor MP3
Fairport Convention - A Sailor´s Life MP3
Leo Kottke - The Sailor´s Grave On The Prairie MP3
Detroit Cobras - Hey Sailor MP3
Tim Buckley - Starsailor MP3
Bob Dylan - Female Rambling Sailor (live in Perth ´92) MP3

5 comments:

Peter said...

Clever topic. Here are three other sailor songs I'd recommend for any nautical playlist:

Beach Boys: "Sail on, Sailor"
Creedence Clearwater Revival: "Sailor's Lament"
Jimmy Bufett: "Son of a Son of a Sailor"

Ramone666 said...

Believe it or not Peter, but the working title for this post was Sail On, Sailor. A six pack is a six pack alas and you have to make your choices... Exit Brian & co.

ib said...

Nice to see you posting "A Sailor's Life", possibly my favourite Fairport Convention song.

I'm off now to listen to Codeine and Fotheringay in the above post, neither track I've heard previously.

Anonymous said...

And the Bad Livers and the Buttholes both totally ripped off George Bruns and Tom Blackburn.

Ramone666 said...

Please explain yourself Curmudgn. These names don´t exactly ring a bell here.