The Sinking of the Reuben James explained

The Sinking of the Reuben James
Artist:	Almanac Singers
Written:	1941–1942
Published:	1942
Composer:	music from "Wildwood Flower" by Joseph Philbrick Webster
Lyricist:	Woody Guthrie

"The Sinking of the Reuben James" is a song by Woody Guthrie about the sinking of the U.S. convoy escort, 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 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
• Dennis Weaver 1962
• 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
• The Highwaymen on Homecoming 1963
• Pete Seeger on Waist Deep in the Big Muddy and Other Love Songs 1967
• 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
• Cyril Tawney on The Song Goes On 2007

See also

• USS Reuben James (DD-245)

External links

• Web site: 'The Sinking Of The Reuben James' lyrics . Official Woody Guthrie website .

Notes and References

1. Book: Klein, Joe . Woody Guthrie: A Life . Knopf . Joe Klein . 1980 . 978-0-394-50152-9 . registration .
2. via the Internet Archive.