Tuesday Tunes 156: Still At Sea

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There are loads of songs about the sea and, having given you a few last week, I thought I’d play some more. I’m leaving out some of the more obvious possibilities though I expect you’ll know at least some of these. This is a mixture of fairly laid back songs, with a couple of narrative ones thrown in for good measure – one of which is quite jaunty, in case you were in danger of nodding off!

I’m starting with one which I expect you’ll know in its big hit cover version form. This, however, is the original:

The Sutherland Brothers released Sailing as a single in June 1972, and it reached #54 in the UK Singles chart. Rod Stewart was introduced to the band by his then girlfriend, who had seen them performing this on tv, and he became a fan after seeing them play live. His 1975 version was a UK #1 and topped the charts in many countries, but it only got to #58 in the US. He rather lost the Celtic feel of the song along the way, though, and I’ve always preferred the original. The song was written by Gavin Sutherland, whose brother Iain was the other one in the band. Gavin said in an interview that “most people take the song to be about a young guy telling his girl that he’s crossing the Atlantic to be with her. In fact, it’s got nothing to do with romance or ships; it’s an account of mankind’s spiritual odyssey through life on his way to freedom and fulfilment.” So now you know!

This next one is another classic hit. It’s about sitting by the sea, watching what is happening, and that’s a good enough excuse for me to play it:

Dock of the Bay was released in January 1968, a month after Otis Redding had been killed in a plane crash. It became the first posthumous single ever to top the US charts, and also reached #3 in the UK. It was also the title track of an album released in February 1968, which got to #4 in the US but made #1 over here. They don’t really make records much better than this one, do they. Otis recorded the song twice, the second time was just two days before he died: this is a very poignant reminder of what the world lost that day.

Next up is the first of my two narrative songs. I expect many of you will know this one:

Gordon Lightfoot wrote The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald to commemorate the sinking of the bulk carrier SS Edmund Fitzgerald on Lake Superior on November 10, 1975. It was recorded just a month after the disaster, and was released as a single and as a track on his album Summertime Dreams in June 1976. The album made #1 in Canada and #12 in the US, but wasn’t a hit here in the UK. The single was a massive hit in North America, peaking at #1 in Canada and #2 in the US, and even managed an appearance in the UK Singles chart at #40. Gordon died in May of this year, and it made me think how much we undervalued him over here: he wrote some fantastic songs and that clear, resonant voice of his was always a pleasure to hear.

I might be stretching the theme just a little with this next one, but it is by a band I’ve always liked and it is a lovely song too, with a nice video made by a fan:

Bad Company released Seagull as the closing track on their eponymous debut album in June 1974. The album was #1 in the US and #3 here in the UK, and I like to think my purchase helped a little along the way – it spent a lot of time on my record player that last year at uni! Only two of the album’s tracks were released as singles, but this didn’t feature on either of them, even as a B-side. I’ve always loved the song, though, and it always felt like a nice relaxing way to end the album. Mind you, having been born and brought up in a seaside town my own image of seagulls is a little different: to me they were nasty, noisy birds who crapped all over you, swooped down and pecked at you and, worst of all, stole your chips if they had a chance!

Today’s final tune – yes, already, five go quickly, don’t they – is the other narrative one. It is a fun little song to close with, and is also based on reality. It was written by Ralph McTell, whose version is great, but I’m playing you the cover made by Fairport Convention:

Around The Wild Cape Horn was originally included on Ralph McTell’s album Somewhere Down The Road in 2010, and was covered by Fairport for their album Festival Bell, which came out in January 2011. The band and Ralph are long time friends and there is a video of them playing the song together, but the sound quality isn’t great so I opted for this one instead. As I said, it is a jaunty little number, but behind it lies the story of an epic voyage around Cape Horn made by Irving Johnson in the 1920s, when he was just 20, on one of the last great sailing ships, The Peking, which is referenced in the song. There is quite a lot to learn about that voyage from a film that Irving made, far too much for me to include here, but if you want to know more this link to Ralph’s website fills in a lot of the background for you.

That’s all for now, and I hope you enjoyed them. Time for me to think of a new theme for next week, I think! I’ll see you again soon, so until then have a great week 😊

35 thoughts on “Tuesday Tunes 156: Still At Sea”

  1. Pingback: Goodbye July | Take It Easy

  2. Great songs of the sea! You are right about Gordon being very gifted. We almost had gone to a concert of his, but unfortunately it didn’t suit, wish we would have been able to.
    I love seagulls, but then I pretty much love everything about the ocean and seagulls naturally go with it. I know they can be a nuisance, but not to me. They circle around me when my friend and I go to the beach because I feed them, driving my friend crazy. LOL!
    My husband thought of another song you could have done with this theme. “Don’t Fight the Sea” by The Beach Boys. 🙂

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    • Glad you enjoyed them! A shame you didn’t make it to Gordon’s concert, as the chance has now gone.

      We used to call people like you ‘tourists’ – we locals knew better than to feed those horrible creatures!

      I’d never heard of that song so looked it up. Not bad, for latter day Beach Grandads 😊

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  4. I loved Gordon Lightfoot’s music. It was sad to say goodbye to him. And ‘Sittin by the dock on the Bay’—it’s years since I heard that! Thank you for bringing these old favorites to us! Love your blog,. I’ve read it for many years.

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    • Thanks, Diane, I’m pleased you enjoyed the memories with those. Gordon’s was a sad loss indeed. And thank you for your kind words: I read yours too but don’t always comment – and you don’t use the ‘like’ button!

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  5. The only one I wouldn’t listen to a second time was the last one. It’s not a bad tune; it’s just not my style. Like you, I’ve always been a big fan of Gordon Lightfoot’s voice, though I like his voice more than some of his songs (I realize that’s kind of an odd thing to say.) My favorite tune of his is If You Could Read My Mind.

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    • Glad you liked the choices. I was keen to get those two narrative ones in, as one of my uncles was in the Merchant Navy and he told me tales of a hard life. My summer working as a steward on the Cross-Channel ferries was tame by comparison😊

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    • I’m pleased you liked them, Erika. I’ve always preferred this version of Sailing, and Fairport Convention have been a favourite of mine since they first started in the late 60s. Their live version of this, when they have a full stage to play with, is even more lively!

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    • That has long been a favourite of mine. As I said in the post I don’t think we really did him justice here. Glad you liked Wild Cape Horn too: I’ve seen both Ralph McTell and Fairport play it in concert and it is a popular part of their shows 😊

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