Roast Beef of Old England (Traditional Sailor Songs)
by Sailing Jacket on Thursday, October 6th, 2011 | 3 Comments
Roast Beef of Old England (Traditional Sailor Songs)
If Roast Beef of Old England isn’t enough to spawn a dose of contact scurvy, many other of these two dozen salty tunes will set the boat a-rocking. Treasures such as “A Jolly Sailor’s True Description of a Man-of-War” and “Drops of Brandy” detail life among British seamen of the early 1800s without dredging up too much of the usual pirates, shipwrecks, or mutiny. It’s an historical document of the regular life at sea, inspired by the British Navy novels of Patrick O’Brian, with intentions to anc
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“Light along the toasted cheese there Killick”,
Patrick O’Brian would have been proud to know that such a well researched and presented musical companion piece to his Aubrey/Maturin novels had been produced. He may have been distressed at first to discover that it was the Americans who had done it, but certainly would have forgiven them. This recording is wonderful, whether or not the listener is a fan of O’Brian’s series. A familiarity with the characters aboard Jack Aubrey’s ships makes it all the more enjoyable. This is not the high blown music of Stephen Maturin and his captain or of the High Lords of the Admiralty, but rather the songs and tunes so dear to the hearts of the common sailors the likes of Killick and Bonden. This is the music of the lower decks, the forecastle and the pubs of Portsmouth, Plymouth and London. The songs are well researched, arranged and presented to please the ear of scholar and casual listener alike. A truly authentic sound of the Royal Navy as it did battle with “Boney.” A marvelous insight into the history of the songs that gave voice to the fighting sailor of the day. I recommend this recording highly.
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|Continuing Enjoyment,
I’ve owned this CD for a few years now, and it hasn’t become stale yet.
Being a ‘younger’ person with generally ‘younger’ preferences in music, and yet still a person thoroughly devoted to Patrick O’Brian and all his works, on first listening I was doubtful.
Another two or three spins around the CD player, though, and I was hooked. Crisp, clear and obviously as historically accurate as they can be, these songs give delight even now.
Best use? Volume dialled up to eleven for the morning drive to work, bellowing along at the top of my voice – and often the bottom of my range! Heart of Oak, Roast Beef of Old England, The Shannon and the Chesapeake – uproarious. Sailor’s Jacket is the foot-tappingest instrumental; it still sets my toes a-jumping. And the sweeter songs? Give them plenty of wellie .. Adieu Sweet Lovely Nancy is fabulous.
Other big numbers: A Jolly Sailor’s True Description of a Man-of-War, A New Sea Song (Sweethearts & Wives) – which has some fabulously ‘historically accurate’ narrative within (POB readers will know whereof I speak! ;-} – and Distressed Men-of-War – another song referred to within the POB Canon.
Heartily recommended.
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|Great collection but lacking spirit,
I’m trying hard to really like this CD as there are many good shanties, all of them well-performed and apparently well-researched. The vocals are very clear and the harmony quite good throughout. Alas, most of this offering leaves me flat. Nearly all the songs feel as if they are being sung without spirit. It’s almost as if the performers were given the lyrics and just read them all to a pre-defined “shanty” style. For example, you just don’t sing a line like “we’ll rant and we’ll roar like true British sailors” without emphasizing any of the words, especially the words rant, roar and true, as I believe the real sailors would have done. (Note: I did find that using a surround sound setting as opposed to regular stereo added some depth I felt was missing from the vocals).
All the songs are presented acapella (historically correct for the era) and several very fine fiddle and pennywhistle instrumentals punctuate the 24 tracks (`St. Patrick’s Day’, `Drops of Brandy’, `Nancy Dawson’, `Sailor’s Hornpipe’/'Rickett’s Hornpipe’, `Nelson’s Victory’/'Hull’s Victory’, `The Banks of the Nile’/'Sailor’s Cravat’, `Chevy Chase’, `Sailor’s Jacket’). If you are looking for the old standards like `Drunken Sailor’, `Rio Grande’, `Blow the Man Down’, etc., they aren’t here (except for `Spanish Ladies’). This is by design as Bryant’s whole point was to offer a collection of authentic early 1800′s shanties sung aboard the ships of the Royal Navy. In that respect, the CD is a gold mine for fans of the genre.
If you really enjoy your sea shanties authentically performed, you probably won’t be disappointed as there are many here you won’t find elsewhere. But if you are looking for a rousing performance of the same, you may be left wanting.
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