The Sinking of the Reuben James
| "The Sinking of the Reuben James" | |
|---|---|
Song by Almanac Singers | |
| Written | 1941–1942 |
| Published | 1942 |
| Composer(s) | music from "Wildwood Flower" by Joseph Philbrick Webster |
| Lyricist(s) | Woody Guthrie |
"The Sinking of the Reuben James" is a song by Woody Guthrie about the sinking of the U.S. convoy escort USS Reuben James, which was the first U.S. naval ship sunk by German U-boats in World War II. Woody Guthrie had started to write a song including each name on the casualty list of the sinking. This was later replaced by the chorus "tell me what were their names."[1]
The song is set to the melody of "Wildwood Flower", an antebellum[clarification needed] tune by Joseph Philbrick Webster.[2]
Recordings
The Almanac Singers on Dear Mr. President 1942
Will Geer on Bound for Glory 1958
The Weavers on At Carnegie Hall, Volume 2 1960
Johnny Horton on Johnny Horton Sings History 1960
Oscar Brand on Every Inch a Sailor 1960
Kingston Trio on Close-Up 1961
The Chad Mitchell Trio on Reflecting 1963
Jon Mark and Alun Davies on Relax Your Mind 1963
Cisco Houston on Cisco Houston sings the songs of Woody Guthrie 1963
James Talley on Woody Guthrie and Songs of My Oklahoma Home 1999- Folk Family Robinson on Songs of America (2007). Folk Family Robinson is Chris and Rich Robinson of the Black Crowes and their father Stan Robinson.
Country Joe McDonald on Thinking of Woody Guthrie 1969
References
^ Klein, Joe (1980). Woody Guthrie: A Life. Knopf. ISBN 978-0-394-50152-9..mw-parser-output cite.citation{font-style:inherit}.mw-parser-output .citation q{quotes:"""""""'""'"}.mw-parser-output .citation .cs1-lock-free a{background:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/65/Lock-green.svg/9px-Lock-green.svg.png")no-repeat;background-position:right .1em center}.mw-parser-output .citation .cs1-lock-limited a,.mw-parser-output .citation .cs1-lock-registration a{background:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/d6/Lock-gray-alt-2.svg/9px-Lock-gray-alt-2.svg.png")no-repeat;background-position:right .1em center}.mw-parser-output .citation .cs1-lock-subscription a{background:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/aa/Lock-red-alt-2.svg/9px-Lock-red-alt-2.svg.png")no-repeat;background-position:right .1em center}.mw-parser-output .cs1-subscription,.mw-parser-output .cs1-registration{color:#555}.mw-parser-output .cs1-subscription span,.mw-parser-output .cs1-registration span{border-bottom:1px dotted;cursor:help}.mw-parser-output .cs1-ws-icon a{background:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/4/4c/Wikisource-logo.svg/12px-Wikisource-logo.svg.png")no-repeat;background-position:right .1em center}.mw-parser-output code.cs1-code{color:inherit;background:inherit;border:inherit;padding:inherit}.mw-parser-output .cs1-hidden-error{display:none;font-size:100%}.mw-parser-output .cs1-visible-error{font-size:100%}.mw-parser-output .cs1-maint{display:none;color:#33aa33;margin-left:0.3em}.mw-parser-output .cs1-subscription,.mw-parser-output .cs1-registration,.mw-parser-output .cs1-format{font-size:95%}.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-left,.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-wl-left{padding-left:0.2em}.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-right,.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-wl-right{padding-right:0.2em}
^ Smith, Rod, Rod's Encyclopedic Dictionary Of Traditional Music, archived from the original on December 1, 2002, retrieved 1 December 2002 via the Internet Archive.
External links
"'The Sinking Of The Reuben James' lyrics". Official Woody Guthrie website.
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