Songs about the Great Lakes region?
Gerry Myerson
<TM...@psuvm.psu.edu> wrote:
->
-> I'm looking for songs about the Great Lakes, especially (but not
-> limited to) Lake Michigan.
Gordon Lightfoot, Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald ("Lake Michigan seems
like a young man's dreams/her [something-or-other] for sportsmen")
The State of Illinois (trad., recorded by Art Thieme)
Gerry Myerson
Tina Hay @ Penn State
Lake Michigan. I just spent a week up there on a national Sierra Club trip,
had a great time, and now want to play some songs about the area on my show.
Some possibilities that already have occurred to me include:
Sally Rogers/Claudia Schmidt -- Lovely Agnes
Lee Murdock -- The Banks of Cold Waters (The Keewenaw Light)
lots of other Lee Murdock songs, I assume
Stan Rogers -- White Squall
lots of other Stan Rogers songs, I assume
Howie Bursen -- The Soo Line (where exactly is this song set?)
Joel Mabus -- The Straits of Mackinac (instrumental)
Carla Sciaky -- Under the Quarter Moon (about Lake Superior)
Claudia Schmidt -- Beaver Island Jubilee
Any other ideas? Specific places I visited included Sleeping Bear Dunes
National Lakeshore, South Manitou Island, Beaver Island, and the Mackinac
Bridge.
Thanks!
Tina Hay, Folk Coordinator
WPSU-FM
Penn State
tm...@psuvm.psu.edu (814) 863-4325
kosi...@crd.ge.com
Gypsy on the rail by Chris Shaw on his Been to town and back again tape
Hudson River Co. 518-674-5620
Gary Martin
I'm looking for songs about the Great Lakes, especially (but not limited to)
Lake Michigan. I just spent a week up there on a national Sierra Club trip,
had a great time, and now want to play some songs about the area on my show.
Some possibilities that already have occurred to me include:
[list deleted]
Any other ideas? Specific places I visited included Sleeping Bear Dunes
National Lakeshore, South Manitou Island, Beaver Island, and the Mackinac
Bridge.
There's "The Cruise of the Bigler". The only recording I know is
by David Parry on _The Wind That Tramps The Barley_, which, being
a self-produced cassette album from Canada, your station may not
have. But surely there are other recordings.
Lake Michigan is mentioned in the last verse of Andrew Calhoun's
"Rye, New Hampshire" (though not by name). I guess that's stretching
it a bit. ("It's a long drive back to a mid-western city, by
a big, quiet lake, whose waves hardly break, and black and white
make gray.")
--
Gary A. Martin, Assistant Professor of Mathematics, UMass Dartmouth
Mar...@cis.umassd.edu
Nichael Cramer
Two Lake Superior songs come immediately to mind:
1] "Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald" (most notably by Gordon Lightfoot).
2] Leo Kottke has an instrumental called "The Ice <???Something>". On
his video "Home and Away" he describes it as being about/inspired by
freighters being trapped in ice fields on Lake Superior.
N
Wayne Francis
Christian Island (Georgian Bay), which is in Lake Huron. The song is
also on Gord's Gold Vol II.
Wayne Francis
Richard White
"Storm Warning" by Bill Edwards
Rich White
ag...@freenet.buffalo.edu
--
Larry A. Clifford
>
>Gordon Lightfoot, Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald ("Lake Michigan seems
>like a young man's dreams/her [something-or-other] for sportsmen")
Good song.
I was browsing through an old Life magazine the other day and
came upon an impressive photograph of the _launching_ of the
Edumund Fitzgerald. Big sucker; the largest ship, up to that
time, ever to be launched sideways. So the E.F. attained a measure
of fame both in Life and in death, so to speak.
Larry Clifford
Gene Wilburn
>-> limited to) Lake Michigan.
>
>Gordon Lightfoot, Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald ("Lake Michigan seems
>like a young man's dreams/her [something-or-other] for sportsmen")
>The State of Illinois (trad., recorded by Art Thieme)
>
farmer's wife who saves some shipwrecked sailors on Lake Erie. It's
on a Tanglefoot album (title escapes me and I'm away from my collection).
Tanglefoot is a Peterborough, Ontario group.
I still enjoy "The Erie Canal" by the Weavers.
Cheers, Gene>
BARRY M. SCHLESINGER
>>-> I'm looking for songs about the Great Lakes, especially (but not
>>-> limited to) Lake Michigan.
>>
Wreck of the Julie Plante - in Lomax "Folk Songs of North America".
I don't know of any recordings.
Red Iron Ore
CarolynA2
(Larry A. Clifford) writes:
>I was browsing through an old Life magazine the other day and
>came upon an impressive photograph of the _launching_ of the
>Edumund Fitzgerald. Big sucker; the largest ship, up to that
>time, ever to be launched sideways. So the E.F. attained a measure
>of fame both in Life and in death, so to speak.
>
After listening to - and enjoying playing - Lightfoot's song, I felt
remarkably ignorant a few years ago when I discovered it referred to a
contemporary ship rather than some Great Lakes vessel out of the 19th
century!
Carolyn
Greg Bullough
Herald?'
If not, shouldn't there be?
Greg
Matthew Fifer
> >came upon an impressive photograph of the _launching_ of the
> >Edumund Fitzgerald. Big sucker; the largest ship, up to that
> >time, ever to be launched sideways. So the E.F. attained a measure
> >of fame both in Life and in death, so to speak.
> >
When Gord played SoundStage for PBS (about a million years ago), there was
some film footage of the Fitz that was shown as he played the tune, and
one of the clips was of the ship been launched. There were many men
hitting at telephone pole-sized logs with sledgehammers -- then the big
ship slowly slid to the left and hit the water. It wavered just a bit and
then straightened up. There seemed to be a large crowd on hand.
The ship was a bit of a legend among ore carriers of the time. It set
many speed and tonnage records for various trips between Duluth and
Cleveland and other places. If you're more interested, e-mail me and I
e-mail you some more info on the ship. I've always been a Fitz-ophile and
have a good amount of material.
-- Matthew
Jamie DePolo
> <TM...@psuvm.psu.edu> wrote:
> ->
> -> I'm looking for songs about the Great Lakes, especially (but not
> -> limited to) Lake Michigan.
>
to the lakes. In Barb Barton's "Letter to Joshua" she refers to the
Great Lakes. I think there's a song on Dave Crossland's album
about Michigan and the Great Lakes.
Good luck.
Jamie
dep...@msuces.canr.msu.edu
Jeffrey M. Osier
I didn't see your original list, but if you haven't run across it yet,
Stan Rogers' "From Fresh Water" album is almost exclusively about that
area. Some great tunes, too... esp. listen to "The Nancy".
Jefro
Aaron Priven
>I still enjoy "The Erie Canal" by the Weavers.
I think that's "The E-Ri-E Canal", which is a different song. "The
Erie Canal" is different.
"Five centimeters on the Ear Canal.
We've hauled some music in our day
Chopin Mozart and Bizet
and we know every inch of the way
from the outer ear to the cochlea-a
low note, everybody down
low note, for we're haulin' down a sound
..."
-- me
=Aaron=
--
Aaron Priven; Santa Clara, CA, USA. aar...@netcom.com, aa...@rail2000.org.
"ILLUSTRATIONS -- The scenes that illustrate this book are all about us.
For illustrations, please look closely at real cities. While you are
looking, you might as well also listen, linger, and think about what
you see." -- Jane Jacobs, _The Death and Life of Great American Cities_
Chuck Harrington
>In article <940810234...@macadam.mpce.mq.edu.au>, ge...@macadam.mpce.mq.edu.au (Gerry Myerson) writes:
>>In article <94222.16...@psuvm.psu.edu>, Tina Hay @ Penn State
>><TM...@psuvm.psu.edu> wrote:
>>->
>>-> I'm looking for songs about the Great Lakes, especially (but not
>>-> limited to) Lake Michigan.
>>
>>Gordon Lightfoot, Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald ("Lake Michigan seems
>>like a young man's dreams/her [something-or-other] for sportsmen")
>>The State of Illinois (trad., recorded by Art Thieme)
>>
>>Gerry Myerson
>>
ought to include "The Great Lakes Song" by Shel Silverstein / Pat Daley, a
tribute to all the Great Lakes ("a diamond on the hand of North America /
bright shining jewel on the Friendship Border ring"). It captures the
spirit and heroism of the region very well, and has been recorded by Bob
Gibson, among others, on his CD _Stops Along the Way_.
Carla Sciaki (I know I've misspelled her name; perhaps someone from Denver
can correct me!) has written an enchanting song about Lake Superior. I'll
bet someone on the net knows it and can be more specific.
I'd like to see your list when you get it compiled. Will you send me a
copy?
--Chuck
Tom Kozma
In article <94222.16...@psuvm.psu.edu>, Tina Hay @ Penn State
<TM...@psuvm.psu.edu> wrote:
>> ->
>> -> I'm looking for songs about the Great Lakes, especially (but not
>> -> limited to) Lake Michigan.
Tina,
Here are a few sources and resources to help you with your quest.
Michigan in Song: Traditional and Contemporary Songs of Michigan. Produced by
the Michigan Traditional Arts Program, Michigan State University Museum, East
Lansing, MI 48824. c. 1990. Cassette tape of 22 songs. Includes "Traverse
Town," "The Bigler," The Keweenaw Light," "North Country Tragedy" and other
songs about Michigan and the Great Lakes. Performers include Sally Rogers,
Kitty Donohoe, Claudia Schmidt, Joel Mabus, and others. There is an
accompanying booklet with lyrics and an Introduction. To get a copy, contact
the Traditional Arts Program at the MSU Museum.
Kitty Donohoe, one of the performers on the above collection, has many Great
Lakes songs in her repertoire, as does a group called Mustard's Retreat.
Kitty lives in the Lansing, Michigan area; Mustard's Retreat is based in Ann
Arbor. They each have several albums, which you could get from Elderly
Instruments in Lansing (517-372-7880). The folks at Elderly will be able to
steer you towards other albums with Great Lakes songs, I'm sure.
A group known as Sweetwater Journey has a cassette tape called "Lakes and
Lighthouses" with 12 songs of the Great Lakes. It is distributed through
GLLKA, P.O. Box 580, Allen Park, MI 48101. A songbook is also available.
"Songs of the Great Lakes," a field recording of Canadian sailors made in 1964
by Edith Fulton Fowke is available from Folkways Records (FE 4018).
Folklorist Ivan Walton collected many songs during field trips around the
Great Lakes region from the 1930s to the 1950s. Copies of his collection are
deposited at the Wayne State University Folklore Archive (313-577-4053), the
Library of Congress Archive of Folk Culture, and the University of Michigan
Bentley Historical Library.
Matt Watroba does a weekly radio program, "Folks Like Us," for WDET, the
public radio station in Detroit. Bob Blackman hosts "The Folk Tradition" on
WKAR, East Lansing. Both of them are very knowledgeable about folk music in
general, and I'm sure they'd know of many songs and recordings to help you
out. You can probably reach them through their respective stations. WDET:
313-577-4146; WKAR: 517-355-6540.
I know that there are lots and lots of Great Lakes songs; I hope the above
information will help you find many of them! Good luck with your search, and
let me know how it goes.
========================================================================
/\ /\ /\ Thomas W. Kozma
\ \__\ \__\ \__/ Planning & Support Services
\ /__\_/__\__/ Computing & Information Technology
/ \__/ \___/ 5950 Cass Avenue
\__/ \___/ Detroit MI 48202
Wayne State University tko...@cms.cc.wayne.edu
========================================================================
Dexter Medley
I believe) who sang exclusively seafaring songs of the Great Lakes. As
I recall, they were terrific, and had what might be a landmark
collection of material. Does anyone know who they might be? (if Vic
Heyman reads this list, I *know* he and Reba can come up with the answer!)
-- Larry
Gene Wilburn
>>> -> limited to) Lake Michigan.
This summer I caught a concert at the Bruce County Museum in Southampton,
Ontario, featuring folkie David Archibald in a multimedia presentation
called Spirit of the Inland Seas for which he had composed several
new songs about Lake Huron and the various lighthouses along the coast.
He also included an excellent song called "The Night Michigan Burned"
about a seriously large forest fire that drove some Michigan settlers
across the lake to Ontario to escape.
I talked to David after the concert and he said none of this had been
recorded yet, but there's a chance it will. If I hear anything further
I'll post it here.
Cheers, Gene
Dennis Bartley
Jamie DePolo <35.8....@msuces.canr.msu.edu> wrote:
>> In article <94222.16...@psuvm.psu.edu>, Tina Hay @ Penn State
>> <TM...@psuvm.psu.edu> wrote:
>> ->
>> -> I'm looking for songs about the Great Lakes, especially (but not
>> -> limited to) Lake Michigan.
>>
While not exactly a boating song, Sally Rogers has a fine song about
her grandmother moving from Wisconsin to Michigan to marry. Don't
remember the name of the song (or which album of course), but it's
certainly worth hearing.
Gordon Small
"yuppers" (sp?) - focus just on the upper peninsuala of Michigan. Not
sure you are interested, but they are funning
folks. Please excuse the mess on this message - I am accessing Delphi
from a remote term. and the usual commands don't seem to work.
There is also a group called Barely - make that Blarney, from
Milwaukeee< WI that sings a song called the "Great Michigan" that
I have always enjoyed.
Gordon
Adam Lang
writes:
In article <gregCuF...@netcom.com> Greg Bullough, gr...@netcom.com
writes:
Never heard of that one, but there IS a parody called 'The Nervous Wreck
of Edna Fitzgerald', about a pleasant and soothing boat trip that didn't
turn out to be. (The poor CAT!)
If anyone knows who did this, or would like to post the words, it'd be
much appreciated.
(If you can, email 'em to me, too... I'm going to be offline for much of
the next week and a half, and my news server doesn't keep articles that
long in groups with this high a volume. :)
--Adam Lang
---------
Adam Lang tha...@cs.pdx.edu (axl...@psu.edu, tha...@eecs.cs.pdx.edu)
LAP Technologies 100-1 Cherry Ln, State College, Pa 16802 (814) 867-7138
"Last night the moon sold another million discs -- the bitch."
--John Haag
Steven Alexander
Adam Lang <tha...@cs.pdx.edu> wrote:
>> Isn't there a parody that's something like 'The Wreck of the New Triumph
>> Herald?'
>
>of Edna Fitzgerald', about a pleasant and soothing boat trip that didn't
>turn out to be. (The poor CAT!)
>
>If anyone knows who did this, or would like to post the words, it'd be
>much appreciated.
The Nervous Wreck of the Edna Fitzgerald
(Camille West)
We sailed away from Huntington Bay
And the waters were calm as could be-oh
On our new cabin cruiser,
the first time we used her
'Twas just the family and me-oh
And my husband stood proud in his new captain's hat
Using words like "Ahoy there" and shit like that
So we took the kid and Cleo our cat
And set out to conquer the sea-oh
Everyone loved it but Clee-oh
And it's yo ho over the sea
The salt and the spray and the cool ocean breeze
Pass me a bottle of Perrier, please
This is the life for me
The tranquility three miles out to sea
Suddenly came to an end-oh
When the kid started saying,
"No way am I staying
I'd rather be playing Nintend-oh."
And the captain cried, "Ho there, you little snot
I paid sixty grand for this family yacht
You're gonna enjoy yourself, like it or not
So you'd better learn how to pretend-oh"
(We all caught the man's innuend-oh)
So it's yo ho over the sea
The salt and the spray and the cool ocean breeze
Pass me a bottle of Dramamine, please
This is the life for me?
My husband the captain was checking the charts
While the cruiser was burning up fuel
And the kid threw the cat in, trolling for sharks
He called it a project for schoo-el
I reached down to pull the cat in by the tail
When I saw what was left my complexion went pale
That's when I lost my lunch over the rail
The kid thought the whole thing was coo-el
Mama was not feeling too-well
So it's yo ho over the sea
The salt and the spray and the cool ocean breeze
Pass me a bottle of Valium, please
Is this the life for me?
We ran out of fuel by mid-afternoon
And the clouds were moving in fast-er
And the captain did say, "There's no more Perrier"
Which made it a total disast-er
With hardly a warning it started to pour
And we drifted 'til we reached the New Jersey shore
(Never thought I'd be glad to see Jersey before)
We started drifting in fast-er
Tried to steer the ship, but we crashed-her
And it's yo ho over the sea
The salt and the spray and the cool ocean breeze
Pass me a bottle of cyanide, please
This is no life for me
Epilogue
I'm back in my condo, the cruiser's a wreck
My husband is spending the insurance check
On something for dry land or I'll break his neck
'Cause this is the life for me
Yo ho
Steven
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Steven Alexander
Comp Sci grad student ste...@cs.berkeley.edu
& non-practicing lawyer
ghost
>Never heard of that one, but there IS a parody called 'The Nervous Wreck
>of Edna Fitzgerald', about a pleasant and soothing boat trip that didn't
>turn out to be. (The poor CAT!)
>
>If anyone knows who did this, or would like to post the words, it'd be
>much appreciated.
Don't know them, don't want to know them. A cautionary plea to cats like
"Somebody's Maugie" is funny (watch out cat...watch out cat...
I *told* you, cat...splat), but the fate of the cat in "Edna" is neither
avoidable nor funny. The cat gets chewed up by the outboard motor in the 3rd
or 4th verse, with Edna nonchalantly relating this fate. I kind of felt like
I'd walked in on a slasher folksong. All those women who go walking out with
Willy, all those women whose brothers kill their lovers...some of them at
least had a *bit* of warning. Hell, the folklistener at least knows what's
coming. Not in this one. But now you know. So sorry if I spoiled it for
anyone. Yes, I have a cat.
Kregg Brooks
tributary of Lake Erie?
--
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Edward L. Stauff
> The Nervous Wreck of the Edna Fitzgerald
> (Camille West)
What gives?!?
The words do NOT fit the music!
+------------------+--------------------+----------------------------------+
| Edward L. Stauff | e...@stauff.uucp | "Specialization is for insects." |
| Nashua, NH USA | ed_s...@avid.com | -- Lazarus Long |
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