This may be akin to Klemperer conducting Bach -- but his recording of the St. Matthew Passion is a classic, and so is this set by Shaw and his chorale.

The arrangements are never less than entertaining, and take full measure of the chorale's prowess. But "Lowlands" and "Shenandoah" are performed with with such attention to vocal lustre along with emotional commitment that they must rank among the finest choral performances available to us. In "Lowlands," especially, the sheer sound -- the rise and fall of the voices --embodies the the sense of loss the words seek to express, so that the repeated phrase "My dollar-and-a-half a day..." assumes a tragic dimension, like "Poor Tom's a'cold" in King Lear.

It does beat the version I sing with my dog, in my rough, authentic baritone.


These Renditions Won't Make You Set Sail   September 6, 2002
 10 out of 15 found this review helpful

The vibe of this album is all wrong. It sounds like you're listening to a collection of Christmas carols, not sea shanties. This is more like Pavarotti and the Benedictine Monks sing Barnacle Bill's favorites. There is no adventurous ambiance. If you're looking for nice singing, and elevator renditions of sea shanties, this album is a must buy. I would suppose Mr. Shaw's other albums are just great, but this one misses the mark.


Childhood memories   September 29, 2001
 7 out of 8 found this review helpful

My fisherman father had this as a 33 LP. I remember listening and singing along to this album as a child. My father is gone now and his copy lost. I am happy to have found this.


One of the great recordings of all time   September 7, 2001
 6 out of 7 found this review helpful

This recording, done in the '60s and not transferred to CD until recently, was one of the best kept secrets in the world. It is one of the fine examples of the work Shaw and his frequent collaborator, arranger Alice Parker, did for many years. The arrangements are musically sublime and the singing is, as is usual with Shaw, wonderful. The rhythm of each song derives, probably, from the fact that many of these songs are, or emulate, sailors' work songs, and are meant to accompany repetitious movements of work aboard ship. The music evokes that world while at the same time just flowing and resounding through you.

One of the great recordings of all time, a classic. Thanks to BMG/RCA for finally gettng this out on CD.


Some good basic stuff   November 7, 2001
 6 out of 6 found this review helpful

They're a bit more stylized than I usually like (mainly because they felt a need to package this stuff more for appeal to the "mainstream" audience back then) but some really good songs, including the best recorded rendition of "Spanish Ladies" that I've ever heard.

I still have a scratched-up, well-used LP of this that I wouldn't part with.