The Cofer Brothers do a Titanic song called "Great Ship Went Down", though it is not the song done by Versey and Smith and others. Much more old-time. Hard not to like these fellars.
FIDDLE INTRO SOLO
Titanic was a ship, she was on a moderate trip To sail across the Atlantic Ocean wide Oh, it was a pleasure trip, millionaires on board the ship But none never lived to reach the other side
REFRAIN: Titanic was her name, Atlantic was her fame She sank about five hundred miles from shore Sixteen hundred were at sea, went down with angry waves Went down with angry waves to rise no more
FIDDLE SOLO
Oh, it was a fearful scene, just like an awful dream To see so many perish beneath the waves Children, husbands and their wives, were pleading for their lives But they all went down beneath the angry waves
REFRAIN: Titanic was her name, Atlantic was her fame She sank about five hundred miles from shore Sixteen hundred were at sea, went down with angry waves Went down with angry waves to rise no more
FIDDLE SOLO
Was a dark and moonless night, and not a rim of light To let them see the horrors of the sea Oh, it was a solemn sound, the ship was going down To hear the band play "Nearer My God To Thee"
REFRAIN: Titanic was her name, Atlantic was her fame She sank about five hundred miles from shore Sixteen hundred were at sea, went down with angry waves Went down with angry waves to rise no more
FIDDLE SOLO
« Last Edit: October 21, 2016, 09:04:02 PM by Johnm »
I gave a lecture years ago on this song in prewar music and how this event was repackaged as a form of social protest. The students couldn't rap their brain around what was being done and the imagery used in so many of these songs. I did burn off a bunch of these songs onto a cd to hand out to the students. Hopefully a few of them really listened later on and liked what the heard.
Hi all, Vernon Dalhart recorded a version of "The Sinking of the Titanic" in 1927. His version sounds to be influenced very much by Ernest Stoneman's 1924 version.
It was on one Monday morning, just about one o'clock When the great Titanic began to reel and rock Then the people began to cry, saying, "Lord, we're gonna die." It was sad when that great ship went down
REFRAIN: It was sad when that great ship went down It was sad when that great ship went down There were husbands and wives, little children lost their lives It was sad when that great ship went down
When they built the great Titanic, they said what would they do They said they'd build a ship that water could not go through But God, with His mighty hand, showed the world that it could not stand It was sad when that great ship went down
REFRAIN: It was sad when that great ship went down It was sad when that great ship went down There were husbands and wives, little children lost their lives It was sad when that great ship went down
Harmonica solo
When they heard the signal ring, they were headed for the shore The rich folks, they declared, they wouldn't ride with the poor So they sent the poor below, they was the first, then, had to go It was sad when that great ship went down
REFRAIN: It was sad when that great ship went down It was sad when that great ship went down There were husbands and wives, little children lost their lives It was sad when that great ship went down
When the people in the ship were a long ways from home With the people all around the, didn't know their time had come But Death came riding by, sixteen hundred had to die It was sad when that great ship went down
REFRAIN: It was sad when that great ship went down It was sad when that great ship went down There were husbands and wives, little children lost their lives It was sad when that great ship went down
I came across this fascinating animation on the sinking of Titanic. It's in real time, so it lasts 2 hrs 40 mins (!). Beneath the video, on the video's description, you'll find a list of main points to jump to.
For a soundtrack, why not listen to all the songs mentioned in this thread, that could be found on YouTube, on a songlist I compiled.
Some folk hereabouts might like to know that Chris Smith wrote an extremely interesting and detailed examination of the topic in "When That Great Ship Went Down: Black Songs About the 'Titanic'." Talking Blues no. 9/10 (1979, p 24-31, 43) which, of course, took on board all the 'travellin' man' elements and narrative 'toasts'. He updated this for talk he gave at a black music seminar in 1991, "The Titanic, a Case Study of Religious and Secular Attitudes in African-American Song". This was published in the 1996 as a chapter in the book Saints And Sinners (ed. R. Sacre). It's 15 pages long but should anybody require a OCR scan, PM me with an email address and I'll set about doing it.
I still have the scan of Sacre's Titanic feature mentioned in the Weenie discussion of July 2006. Unlikely that there's much interest after all this time but if there is....just do what it suggests in the bold typeface.
After reading the Chris Smith article, Bunker Hill mentions, I noticed that we haven't included Ma Rainey's "Titanic Man Blues", takes 1 & 2, in this thread. She uses Titanic more metaphorically than literally, I believe, but anyway, here are the two takes.
Hi all, It has been a while since this topic was posted to, but I recently found this version by George Reneau, "The Blind Musician of the Smoky Mountains", recorded in New York on October 14, 1925. Reneau accompanied himself on harmonica on a rack and backed himself out of D position in standard tuning. Here is his performance of "The Sinking of the Titanic":
INTRO
It was on one Monday morning, just about one o'clock When the great Titanic began to reel and rock The people all began to cry, saying "Lord, we're going to die." It was sad when that great ship went down
REFRAIN: It was sad when that great ship went down It was sad when that great ship went down There were husbands and wives, little children lost their lives It was sad when that great ship went down
When they built the great Titanic, they said what should they do They said they'd build a ship that water could not go through But God, with his mighty hand showed the world it could not stand It was sad when that great ship went down
REFRAIN: It was sad when that great ship went down It was sad when that great ship went down There were husbands and wives, little children lost their lives It was sad when that great ship went down
When they heard the signal ring, they were headed for the shore The rich folks declared, they wouldn't ride with the poor So they sent the poor below, they were cursed and had to go It was sad when that great ship went down
REFRAIN: It was sad when that great ship went down It was sad when that great ship went down There were husbands and wives, little children lost their lives It was sad when that great ship went down
Well the people on the ship were a long ways from home Well the people all around them didn't know their time had come But Death came riding by, sixteen hundred had to die It was sad when that great ship went down
REFRAIN: It was sad when that great ship went down It was sad when that great ship went down There were husbands and wives, little children lost their lives It was sad when that great ship went down
Hi all, Banjochris alluded to Darby & Tarlton's version, "After the Sinking of the Titanic", earlier in this thread. I'd never heard it, and thought to see if it had been put up on youtube. I apologize if this video is not viewable by non-U. S. weenies. It is very similar melodically to the Carter Family's version, as Chris noted. Here is "After the Sinking of the Titanic":
INTRO
When the moon rose in its glory And it drifted to the golden West It told a sad new story Sixteen hundred had gone to rest
Captain Smith surely must have been a-drinking Not knowing that he was doing wrong He tried to erase the record And let the Titanic go down
GUITAR INTERLUDE
Well, the porter had retired and was sleeping He was dreaming of some sad dream He dreamed the Titanic was sinking Way out on the bottom of the sea
GUITAR SOLO
Mr. Smith, he says to the rich man, "Oh, try and come to life. Try and save your baby, Also your little loving wife."
GUITAR SOLO
Mrs. Smith heard her husband was a-drowning Way out on the deep blue sea She cried out, "Oh Lord, have mercy, Oh Lord, send him back to me!"
When the sad new reached the city And the Titanic had gone down Many widows and poor little orphans Was walking all around the town