The Sinking of the Reuben James
"The Sinking of the Reuben James" is a song by Woody Guthrie about the sinking of the U.S. convoy escort USS Reuben James, 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 Sinking of the Reuben James" | |
|---|---|
| Song by Almanac Singers | |
| Written | 1941–1942 |
| Published | 1942 |
| Composer(s) | music from "Wildwood Flower" by Joseph Philbrick Webster |
| Lyricist(s) | Woody Guthrie |
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
- 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
References
- Klein, Joe (1980). Woody Guthrie: A Life. Knopf. ISBN 978-0-394-50152-9.
- Smith, Rod, Rod's Encyclopedic Dictionary Of Traditional Music, archived from the original on December 1, 2002, retrieved 1 December 2002 via the Internet Archive.
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