Friday Music

A traditional West Indies song about a sunken boat - The John B. Sails - it also happens to have been included in Carl Sandburg's 1927 collection of folk songs The American Songbag.   It is best known for its adaptation of the 1958 Kingston Trio version by the Beach Boys which was produced and arranged by Brian Wilson and Al Jardine.

I stumbled-across this iteration of the song at the suggestions of YouTube's algorithm by Bev Pegg and his Railroad Skiffle Group.  The track is from Bev's 2007 album All Aboard. 

There not much to know about the song other than  Musicians on this album: Bev Pegg – vocals/guitar/mandolin/banjo, Paul Degville – guitar, Harry Rowlands – bass guitar/backing vocals,  Ken Wright – drums/backing vocals, Pete Hartley - violin and Jim Merris - harmonica.

The group is an altogether different story.  The definitive history can be found here.  It is much richer than I would have imagined and is a fascinating read.  Robert Plant would periodically stop by to jam with the group.  Funny I hadn't heard of them before.

I Wanna Go Home - The John B Sails...