0+ t<\1 5ummer/Fall V ~ 2008 E tJ) Webcasts -§i Odetta > \I) ~ :zV t­ V .. 1-> C Th:FS~I:::, i :~ O,:o~~:eb::': ~ C'U'OS from lh' ,'oS'oSofPm",' T,y"" V ¥e J Jd )1 n J J' IJJ JJ ,4,1 J. J }I;OJ j "W' J Dl 7 Now J'mlca-ving Li-vcr-pool, bound ouL for Fris-co Bay""'::::" I'm [cav-ing my sweet-heart be-hind me, but ['II U t W£ J J"Da ] I,LD 1)< J or j"rIJ~JJ IJ ) "J )1 ,LJ 311 come back and mar-ry you some-day_ Oh when I'm far a-waynt sea_ I'll nl-waysthink of you_ and the <l.) 4~' jJ J ;,1]:1 j J )IJ Ji J =1, 1J 0/) II " F' ) J. ~ IJ ) J. Jil t.__fl___ 19 day I'm Icav-ing Li-vcr-pooland the land ingstag!for sea. Sing fare you well, my own true love. when , ... LA E >Iun n I • J I} J J II _.--- F J J J J ~ m,. b" my do< , ling when I thinks of you. o gn"" u= American Folklite Center The Librar~ of Congress Folklife Center News AMERICAN FOLKLIFE CENTER “The LeaVING OF LIVERPOOL” ODETTA AFC WEBCASTS IN THE AFC ARCHIVE 1930-2008 NOW ONLINE BOARD OF TRUSTEES Congressional Appointees: C. Kurt Dewhurst, Chair, Michigan Daniel Botkin, California Mickey Hart, California Dennis Holub, South Dakota William L. Kinney, Jr., South Carolina Charlie Seemann, Nevada Kay Kaufman Shelemay, Massachusetts Librarian Appointees: Jane Beck, Vice-chair, Vermont Maribel Alvarez, Arizona Read about a unique re­ Odetta Holmes Felious AFC has recently made Tom Rankin, North Carolina 15 3 cording of an iconic song, 13 Gordon was a remarkable webcasts available of its Donald Scott, Nevada and the colorful sailor who sang it singer, and a longtime friend of the 2008 public events. Find out how Ex Officio Members for the Archive. AFC Archive. to watch them from home! James H. Billington, Librarian of Congress G. Wayne Clough, Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution AMERICAN FOLKLIFE CENTER Rocco Landesman, Chairman, National Endowment for the Arts The American Folklife Center was created in 1976 by the U.S. Congress to “preserve and present Jim A. Leach, Chairman, National Endowment American folklife” through programs of research, documentation, archival preservation, reference for the Humanities service, live performance, exhibition, publication, and training. The Center incorporates the Archive Elaine Lawless, President, American Folklore of Folk Culture, which was established in the Music Division of the Library of Congress in 1928 and Society is now one of the largest collections of ethnographic material from the United States and around the Deborah Wong, President, Society for world. Ethnomusicology Folklife Center News publishes articles on the programs and activities of the American Folklife Peggy A. Bulger, Director, American Folklife Center, as well as other articles on traditional expressive culture. It is available free of charge from the Center Library of Congress, American Folklife Center, 101 Independence Avenue, S.E., Washington, D.C. Judith McCulloh (Emerita), Illinois 20540–4610. Folklife Center News does not publish announcements from other institutions or reviews of books from publishers other than the Library of Congress . Readers who would like to comment on Center activities or newsletter articles may address their remarks to the editor. Folklife Center News Volume 30, Nos. 3-4, Summer-Fall 2008 The American Folklife Center’s Website provides ONLINE INFORMATION RESOURCES: Stephen D. Winick, Editor full texts of many AFC publications, information about AFC projects, multimedia presentations David A. Taylor, Editorial Advisor of selected collections, links to Web resources on ethnography, and announcements of upcoming Stanley Bandong, Designer events. The address for the home page ishttp://www.loc.gov/folklife/ . An index of the site’s contents is available at http://www.loc.gov/folklife/az-index.html. Cover: A 19th-century chromolithograph print The Website for The Veterans History Project provides an overview of the project, an online “kit” for of the Clipper Ship Thermopylae, signed by M. participants recording oral histories of veterans, and a brief presentation of some examples of video- Reilly, and a transcription of Patrick Tayluer’s and audio-recordings of veterans’ stories. The address is http://www.loc.gov/vets. rendition of “The Leaving of Liverpool,” prepared The Folkline Information Service is a cooperative announcement program of the American Folklore by AFC Folklife Specialist Jennifer Cutting. “The Society and the American Folklife Center. It is available only on the American Folklore Society’s Leaving of Liverpool” was sung during the era of server: www.afsnet.org. The service provides timely information on the field of folklore and folklife, the clippers, and might have been heard aboard including training and professional opportunities, and news items of national interest. the Thermopylae herself. AMERICAN FOLKLIFE CENTER STAFF Administration: Nancy Groce, Folklife Specialist Judith A. Gray, Folklife Jeffrey Lofton, Public Affairs Specialist Peggy A. Bulger, Director Guha Shankar, Folklife Specialist Specialist, Coordinator Rachel Mears, Collections Mary Bucknum, Acting Assistant to Stephen D. Winick, Writer-Editor Stephanie A. Hall, Automation Management the Director Processing and Cataloging: Specialist Monica Mohindra, Senior Program Michael Taft, Head, Archive Catherine Hiebert Kerst, Archivist Todd Harvey, Folklife Specialist Officer David A. Taylor, Head, Research and Maggie Kruesi, Cataloger Ann Hoog, Folklife Specialist Gabrielle Sanchez, Archivist Programs Valda Morris, Processing Technician Audio Engineering: Tom Wiener, Historian Rada Stojanovich-Hayes, Marcia Segal, Processing Archivist Jonathan Gold, Audio Technician American Folklife Center: Administrative Assistant Nora Yeh, Archivist, Coordinator Digital Conversion: Tel: 202 707–5510 Research and Programs: Megan Halsband, Processing Technician John Barton, Specialist Fax: 202 707–2076 Theadocia Austen, Public Events Bert Lyons, Digital Assets Manager E-mail: [email protected] Veterans History Project: Coordinator Reference: www.loc.gov/folklife Peter Bartis, Folklife Specialist Bob Patrick, Director Jennifer A. Cutting, Folklife Specialist Ariel De, Program Officer “Sung With Gusto by the Men”: A Unique Recording of “The Leaving of Liverpool” in the AFC Archive By Stephen D. Winick n the 1960s and 1970s, during the flowering of the folk revival, everyone knew “The Leaving of Liverpool.” The song is the Ilyric lament of a nineteenth-century mariner who leaves his hometown of Liverpool for San Francisco, through the treacherous seas around Cape Horn. It was recorded by many of the important revival groups in Britain, Ireland, and the U.S. The melody and some of the lyrics were borrowed by Bob Dylan, and the melody alone was adapted as a banjo instrumental by Randy Scruggs [1]. In short, it was one of the most influential folksongs of the 1960s. One might think that such widespread success in the revival re­ flected a similar popularity in the oral tradition. Surprisingly, this is not the case. In fact, “The Leaving of Liverpool” was so rare in oral tradition that there is currently only one place in the world where the public can hear a field recording of it: the American Folklife Center Archive at the Library of Congress. “The Leaving of Liverpool” was collected from oral tradition only twice. On both occasions, the collector was William Main Top: William M. Doerflinger Doerflinger (1910-2000). The singers were both retired sailors (photo from Shantymen in New York City in the late 1930s and early 1940s; their names and Shantyboys). were Richard Maitland and Patrick Tayluer. As you will read, Middle: A retired sailor unfortunate circumstances arose to ensure that Tayluer’s version at Sailor’s Snug Harbor, remained obscure while Maitland’s became famous. Because of mending nets, LC Prints this, Maitland’s version is the source of all the well-known revival and Photographs Division. versions. Ironically, however, it is Tayluer’s version that has been Bottom: Doerflinger’s preserved in the AFC Archive, and thus Tayluer’s version that is book, Shantymen and available for the public to hear, not Maitland’s more famous rendi­ Shantyboys tion. This is most fortunate; as we shall see, Tayluer’s song has the potential to radically change our understanding of the song’s history and function. “The Leaving of Liverpool” in the folk revival Doerflinger published “The Leaving of Liverpool” in 1951, in Shantymen and Shantyboys, a book of sailors’ and lumberjacks’ songs that is now considered a classic in the field. He published only the version he had collected from Richard Maitland. Maitland AMERICAN FOLKLIFE CENTER NEWS 3 was a retired captain who lived at Sailor’s Snug Harbor, a retire- Farewell to Lower Frederick Street, ment home for sailors, in Staten Island, New York. The lyrics to Anson Terrace and Park Lane; Maitland’s version are as follows: Farewell, it will be some long time Before I see you again. Fare you well, the Prince’s Landing Stage, River Mersey, fare you well. I’ve shipped on a Yankee clipper ship, I’m off to California, Davy Crockett is her name; A place I know right well. And Burgess is the captain of her, And they say she’s a floating hell. Chorus: So fare you well, my own true love, It’s my second trip with Burgess in the Crockett, And when I return, united we will be. And I think I know him well. It’s not the leaving of Liverpool that grieves me If a man’s a sailor, he can get along, But my darling, when I think on you. But if not, he’s sure in hell. I’m off to California, The tug is waiting at the pierhead By the way of the stormy Cape Horn, To take us down the stream. And I will send to you a letter, love, Our sails are loose and our anchor secure, When I am homeward bound.