A Folk Song from The Boys of Summer
A quick review of summer songs and the story of an ancient songs of ner-do-well sailors turned American folk and rock standard.

Folk Singers Who Followed the Sun: The Beach Boys
Summer is upon us. It brings with it more sun and a few dark clouds. This is a time to rest, vacation, and get some re-creation. As a Southern Californian who came here by way of West Texas a few lifetimes ago, when the summer comes round, I turn to the music of The Beach Boys.
But first, let’s give some love to a few classics and obscurities that beg for summer music honors. Everyone from Gershwin to Dylan has written songs about the season of the sun. Personally, it always meant time off from school. Living in Manhattan Beach, California from 1958 to 1970 meant my summers were spent running wild as season by season the inevitable adolescence grew inside of me. So bear with me as I name a few songs of Summer that bring those times to back to life.
I remember Lovin’ Spoonful’s “Summer in the City,” written by John Sebastian and his brother Mark when he was stranded in the heat of a miserable Summer in New York City a forlorn teenager. But, at night it was a different world. John seized on that line and transformed Mark’s bossa nova romantic song into rock ‘n’ roll glory.
The Monkees delivered a late-in-their-career classic on 2016s magical compilation of decades of unreleased recordings, Good Times. The single for the album release was “You Bring the Summer.”
This allows me a shout-out to my friend and fifth Monkee, Valerie Kairys Venet, who gave me a first listen to this great song and a bittersweet reminder of the sweet innocence of the television-born band that included two folk & country singer-songwriters. But, the song captures the, okay, I’ll say it, the innocence of the summers of time’s past. It could be a Brian Wilson or a John Sebastian song. It sings with Summer joy.
If I didn’t mention two sea-bound classic songs from the great Fred Neil, I’d be remiss as a sun worshiper and a lover of the summer sea. “Everybody’s Talking” and “The Dolphins” are classic summer gems. The former is most identified with the late Harry Nillson, who made it his own and won a Grammy for his spine-tingling vocal on Fred Neil’s song. But, it came to be identified with cowboy, Jon Voight walking the proudly prowling the streets of New York in the classic Academy Award-winning film, Midnight Cowboy. But, the song is about the songwriter’s love for the solitude of the ocean. A close listen to the second classic by Fred Neil, “The Dolphins” reveals a soul deeply in love with the sea. Neil’s passion for things nautical, especially the dolphins, would eventually find him abandoning his search for success in music in favor of founding The Dolphin Research Project which helped to stop the capture, trafficking, and exploitation of dolphins. He eventually left the music business for over a decade to work for the protection of dolphins.
There are many more songs of Summer to consider. I’ll attach a playlist somewhere with other classics and obscurities.
The song “Sloop John B” is the ultimate Summer classic by The Beach Boys. It was guitarist/vocalist Al Jardine’s idea resulting from the love of The Kingston Trio. Back in the days when I thought myself hipper than I was, I considered the Trio to be comparable to the Pat Boone of folk music. I couldn’t have been less hip to what they were about. Here’s a quick bit of history. The first popular Folk Music period of the 1940s was rooted in the old folk tradition that included songs originally from the ‘people.’ This being the case the most authentic folk songs were the ones passed along by the oral tradition without an author. It was all about the story.
When the Folk Music Movement came to an abrupt end due to McCarthyism, the most popular group of the era, The Weavers, was banned from the concert circuit. So, Pete Seeger, in his wisdom and desire to be heard, found he could play at public schools of all kinds including elementary, high school and colleges. From 1953 until 1958, the folk songs championed by The Weavers were not heard except in live performances in schools around America. Enter the Folk Music Revival of the 1950s and 60s. The Kingston Trio with Carolyn Hester, Harry Belafonte, and the second Jimmie Rodgers attracted millions of listeners as they sang songs banned from the airwaves in 1953. The fans of the Kingston Trio included Beach Boy, Al Jardine, Steve Goodman, Marty Balin, Paul Katner of Jefferson Airplane, Timothy B Schmit of The Eagles, Jimmy Buffet, Lindsey Buckingham, Richie Furay and Stephen Stills of The Buffalo Springfield.
When Al Jardine brought “Sloop John B” to Beach Boys leader, Brian Wilson, it had been recorded by The Weavers and The Kingston Trio. While Wilson was not a fan of folk music, Jardine helped Wilson bring the song to life with The Beach Boys’ unique arrangement including lyrical changes. Brian and Al turned the song into a Top Five hit song in the U.S. and the U.K. It is now a classic rock song that frequently brings standing ovations and singalongs when performed by The Beach Boys over their six-decade career.
The song, originally titled “The John B. Sails,” was a Bahamian folk song. It was published in 1916 by Richard Le Gallienne. The song was included in American poet, author & folklorist, included the song in his classic American Songbag in 1927, a landmark of published folk songs. Sandburg was also a folk singer who recorded many of the songs from Songbag including “The John B. Sails.” The song was promoted by Alan Lomax during his travels in the Bahamas on his search for indigenous folk songs. Most likely through Lomax, it found its way to The Weavers in the late 1940s. It was the perfect song for The Kingston Trio to cover considering Dave Guard and Bob Shane were childhood friends from Honolulu. The discovery of Calypso and Harry Belafonte added to the appeal of the song for the folk music enthusiasts of the 1950s.
There’s no end to the irony that the story behind the song is all about a drunken sailing journey full of thievery and debauchery leading to the chorus, “I wanna go home!” But in the Bahamas and throughout American music history, the song has become a twisted anthem. It was even voted to be 276 of the “500 Greatest Songs of All Time,” by Rolling Stone.
While The Weavers sing lists Carl Sandburg as the author of this sunny, classic folk song, the origin dates back to 1647 and a Welshman named John Bethel, who led a crew with the “Wreck of the Sloop John B” as its theme song.
So it is as Summer makes its way to our California shores, we can be grateful that we can enjoy a song of misery that has been handed down nearly 400 years ago. I have to John Bethel and his crew of sailors my compliments on their contribution to the folk process and for giving my favorite American band one of their grandest moments. Let’s have a great summer full some homespun tales and the creation of more folk songs full of debauchary, theivery and a touch of love for our community of music.
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A Folk Song from The Boys of Summer
A quick review of summer songs and the story of an ancient songs of ner-do-well sailors turned American folk and rock standard.