| The John B. Sails | |
| Type: | Traditional song |
| Published: | 1916 |
| Language: | English |
"Sloop John B" (originally published as "The John B. Sails") is a Bahamian folk song from Nassau. A transcription was published in 1916 by Richard Le Gallienne, and Carl Sandburg included a version in his The American Songbag in 1927. There have been many recordings of the song since the early 1950s, with variant titles including "I Want to Go Home" and "Wreck of the John B".
In 1966, American rock band the Beach Boys recorded a folk rock adaptation that was produced and arranged by Brian Wilson and released as the second single from their album Pet Sounds. The record peaked at number three in the U.S., number two in the UK, and topped the charts in several other countries. It was innovative for containing an elaborate a cappella vocal section not found in other pop music of the era, and it remains one of the group's biggest hits.
In 2011, the Beach Boys' version of "Sloop John B" was ranked number 276 on Rolling Stones list of "The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time".[1]
"The John B. Sails" was transcribed by Richard Le Gallienne, with five verses and the chorus published in his article "Coral Islands and Mangrove-Trees" in the December 1916 issue of Harper’s Monthly Magazine.[2] Gallienne published the first two verses and chorus in his 1917 novel Pieces of Eight.[3] The lyrics describe a disastrous voyage on a sloop, with the vessel plagued by drunkenness and arrests and a pig eating the narrator's food.
Carl Sandburg included the first three verses and chorus of "The John B. Sails" in his 1927 collection The American Songbag. He states that he collected it from John T. McCutcheon, a political cartoonist from Chicago. McCutcheon told him:
| Sloop John B | |
| Cover: | Sloop John B cover.jpg |
| Caption: | U.S. picture sleeve |
| Type: | single |
| Artist: | the Beach Boys |
| Album: | Pet Sounds |
| B-Side: | You're So Good to Me |
| Released: | March 21, 1966 |
| Studio: | United Western Recorders, Hollywood |
| Label: | Capitol |
| Producer: | Brian Wilson |
| Prev Title: | Barbara Ann |
| Prev Year: | 1965 |
| Next Title: | Wouldn't It Be Nice |
| Next Year: | 1966 |
The Kingston Trio's 1958 recording of "The John B. Sails" was recorded under the title "The Wreck of the John B." It was the direct influence on the Beach Boys' version. The Beach Boys' Al Jardine was a keen folk music fan, and he suggested to Brian Wilson that the Beach Boys should record the song. As Jardine explains:
Jardine updated the chord progression by having the subdominant (D♭ major) move to its relative minor (B♭ minor) before returning to the tonic (A♭ major), thus altering a portion of the song's progression from IV — I to IV — ii — I. This device is heard immediately after the lyric "into a fight" and "leave me alone".
Wilson elected to change some lyrics: "this is the worst trip since I've been born" to "this is the worst trip I've ever been on", "I feel so break up" to "I feel so broke up", and "broke up the people's trunk" to "broke in the captain's trunk". The first lyric change has been suggested by some to be a subtle nod to the 1960s psychedelia subculture.[1] [4] [5]
The instrumental section of the song was recorded on July 12, 1965, at United Western Recorders, Hollywood, California, the session being engineered by Chuck Britz and produced by Brian Wilson. The master take of the instrumental backing took fourteen takes to achieve. Wilson's arrangement blended rock and marching band instrumentation with the use of flutes, glockenspiel, bass saxophone, bass, guitar, and drums.[6]
The vocal tracks were recorded over two sessions. The first was recorded on December 22, 1965, at Western Recorders, produced by Wilson. The second, on December 29, added a new lead vocal and Billy Strange's 12-string electric guitar part. Jardine explained that Wilson "lined us up one at a time to try out for the lead vocal. I had naturally assumed I would sing the lead, since I had brought in the arrangement. It was like interviewing for a job. Pretty funny. He didn't like any of us. My vocal had a much more mellow approach because I was bringing it from the folk idiom. For the radio, we needed a more rock approach. Wilson and Mike [Love] ended up singing it."[7] On the final recording, Brian Wilson sang the first and third verses and Mike Love sang the second.
Kent Hartman, in his book The Wrecking Crew, described Billy Strange's contribution to the song. Brian Wilson called Strange into the studio one Sunday, played him the rough recording, and told him he needed an electric twelve-string guitar solo in the middle of the track. When Strange replied that he did not own a twelve string, Wilson responded by calling Glenn Wallichs, the head of Capitol Records and owner of Wallichs Music City. A Fender Electric XII and Twin Reverb amplifier were quickly delivered (despite the shop they were ordered from being closed on Sundays), and Strange recorded the guitar part in one take. Wilson then gave Strange $2,000 to cover the cost of the equipment.[8]
A music video set to "Sloop John B" was filmed for the UK's Top of the Pops, directed by newly employed band publicist Derek Taylor. It was filmed at Brian's Laurel Way home with Dennis Wilson acting as cameraman.[9]
The single, backed with the song "You're So Good to Me", was released on March 21, 1966 in the US and on April 15, 1966 in the UK. It entered the Billboard Hot 100 chart on April 2, and peaked at on May 7, remaining on the chart, in total, for 11 weeks. It charted highly throughout the world, remaining as one of the Beach Boys' most popular and memorable hits. It was in Germany, Austria, and Norway—all for five weeks each—as well as Sweden, Switzerland, the Netherlands, South Africa, and New Zealand. It placed in the UK, Ireland (where it was the group's highest charting single), Canada, and in Record World. It was the fastest Beach Boys seller to date, moving more than half a million copies in less than two weeks after release.[10] It had a three-week stay at number 1 in the Netherlands, making it the "Hit of the Year".[11]
Cash Box described the single as a "topflight adaptation" that treats "the folk oldie in a rhythmic, effectively-building warm-hearted rousing style."[12] Record World said that "The Beach Boys have taken a tune from the folk books and given it an intriguing rock backing."[13]
In 1968, the recording's instrumental was released on Stack-O-Tracks. Along with sessions highlights, the box set The Pet Sounds Sessions includes two alternate takes, one with Carl Wilson singing lead on the first verse, and one with Brian singing all parts.
In 2011, the song was sung by Fisherman's Friends at Cambridge Folk Festival.[14] and released on Suck'em and Sea.[15] It was featured in the compilation album Cambridge Folk Festival 2011 [16] In 2016, to commemorate the fiftieth anniversary of Pet Sounds, Brian Wilson and his touring band (including Al Jardine) performed Sloop John B live at Capitol Studios.[17]
In 2021, another UK based group, Isle 'Ave A Shanty sang the song at the 2021 Harwich Sea Shanty Festival and included the song on their 2022 debut album Swinging the Lamp.[18] [19]
Per band archivist Craig Slowinski.[20]
The Beach Boys
Additional musicians and production staff
| Mister John B | |
| Type: | single |
| Language: | French |
| Artist: | Sylvie Vartan |
| B-Side: | La chanson |
| Released: | July 1966 |
| Recorded: | Summer 1966 |
| Genre: | Pop |
| Length: | 2:45 |
| Label: | RCA Victor |
| Prev Title: | ll y a 2 filles en moi |
| Prev Year: | 1966 |
| Next Title: | Ballade pour un sourire |
| Next Year: | 1966 |
In 1966, the song was adapted into French by Giles Thibaut, Georges Aber, and Eddie Vartan as "Mister John B" and performed by Vartan's sister Sylvie and released as a single in July 1966 as a non-album single, based on the Beach Boys version from earlier that year.[21] The song had on-and-off chart success from mid-to-late 1966 on the French Belgian charts, peaking at Number 35 on the French Belgian charts on November 19, 1966.[22] Vartan would go on to re-record the song for her 2013 album "Sylvie In Nashville" but failed to chart unlike the former version.[23] [24]
It has been popular amongst English football fans since the mid-2000s when Liverpool adapted the song to sing about their 2005 Champions League final triumph in Istanbul. It was subsequently adopted by the supporters of English non-league team F.C. United of Manchester as a club anthem in 2007.[27] [28]
Since then more high-profile teams have followed suit, usually with different lyrics for their own teams, including Watford, with Newcastle, Blackpool, Middlesbrough and Hull also adopting the song as their own. It was sung by Phil Brown, the manager of Hull City FC, shortly after Hull had avoided relegation from the Premier League in 2009.
The melody of "Sloop John B" has been used as the basis for the "Famine Song", a sectarian anti-Irish Catholic song which refers to Irish migration to Great Britain in the context of the Great Irish Famine and contains the line "the famine's over, why don't you go home?". The song has been sung by fans of Rangers F.C. in reference to rival club Celtic F.C., which was established by Irish Catholic migrants in Glasgow and retains a large Irish supporter base.[29] [30] The song was first sung publicly by Rangers fans at a match at Celtic Park in April 2008.[31] Rangers have repeatedly asked their fans not to sing the song. In 2009 Scotland's Justiciary Appeal Court ruled that the song was racist, with judge Lord Carloway stating that its lyrics "are racist in calling upon people native to Scotland to leave the country because of their racial origins".
All versions titled "Sloop John B", except where noted.
Weekly singles charts
| Charts (1966) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| Australian Singles Chart | 17 |
| Canada RPM Singles Chart[32] | 2 |
| Finland (Suomen Virallinen)[33] | 39 |
| New Zealand (Listener) | 1 |
| South Africa (Springbok)[34] | 1 |
| Sweden | 1 |
| UK Singles Chart[35] | 2 |
| U.S. Cash Box Top 100[36] | 5 |
Year-end charts
| Chart (1966) | Rank |
|---|---|
| UK [37] | 21 |
| U.S. Billboard Hot 100[38] | 61 |
| U.S. Cash Box [39] | 53 |