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 😊