Patrick Sky - Luang Prabang (1971)

In our previous post to feature this artist, it was mentioned how Patrick Sky’s political point of view had become more radical toward the end of the 1960s as the American involvement in Vietnam escalated. Naturally, the more radical Sky’s views became, the more radical his lyrics became. When Sky finished recording tracks in March 1971 for his forthcoming album, Songs That Made America Famous, the radical lyrics within lead to rejection from several record labels who refused to pick up the album for distribution. Eventually, in 1973, Sky decided to release the album on his own record label, Rainbow Collection, and eventually got it picked up by Adelphi Records. With its radical lyrics and limited promotion, the album didn’t sell as well as it could have in a more lenient market, such as today’s.

Written by Dave Van Ronk (and eventually recorded/released by him in 1994), the first recording and release of the song was the version recorded by Patrick Sky in 1971 and heard below. Initially, Vank Ronk was intended to appear with Sky on the song, but for reasons not mentioned, it never happened. There’s a live version of the song which features both Van Ronk and Sky from a tour they did together in 1973, but the version heard below is the original featuring only Patrick Sky and released on his 1973 album, Songs That Made America Famous.



Patrick Sky - Luang Prabang (1971)

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Lyrics:

When I came back from Luang Prabang
I didn’t have a thing where my balls used to hang
But I got a wooden medal and a fine harangue
And now I’m a fucking hero

Mourn your dead, land of the free
If you want to be a hero, follow me
Mourn your dead, land of the free
If you want to be a hero, follow me

And now the boys all envy me
I fought for Christian Democracy
With nothing but air where my balls used to be
But now I’m a fucking hero

Mourn your dead, land of the free
If you want to be a hero, follow me
Mourn your dead, land of the free
If you want to be a hero, follow me

One and twenty cannon thunder
Into the bloody, wild, blue yonder
For a patriotic ball-less wonder
Now I’m a fucking hero

Mourn your dead, land of the free
If you want to be a hero, follow me
Mourn your dead, land of the free
If you want to be a hero, follow me

In Luang Prabang there is a spot
Where the corpses of your brothers rot
And every corpse is a patriot
And every corpse is a hero

Mourn your dead, land of the free
If you want to be a hero, follow me
Mourn your dead, land of the free
If you want to be a hero, follow me

Dave Van Ronk - Leave Her Johnny (1960)

Nicknamed the “Mayor of MacDougal Street,” Dave Van Ronk (June 30, 1936 – February 10, 2002) spent a large portion of his youth singing in a barbershop quartet and twice sailing with the Merchant Marine. In the mid-1950s, he desperately wanted to play with a traditional jazz band, and thus joined up with one in his native New York, playing the banjo and singing unamplified. Unfortunately, jazz had seen its day, and the outfit didn’t last very long. One day, while searching for jazz records in a music shop, Van Ronk stumbled upon blues artists like Mississippi John Hurt and Blind Lemon Jefferson. After finding this new style of music he could get into, he began to emulate the voices and styles which he heard during his own performances. And while doing so, Van Ronk continued to sing as if he was still unamplified and trying to be heard over the jazz arrangements. What resulted was a very loud, brash, and gritty style, which Van Ronk became known for, and which vastly contrasted with the other folk artists of the time who generally sang in a much more subdued style.

The song heard below was released in 1991 on the album The Folkway Years, 1959-1961. And although the specific year this song was recorded is not mentioned, the track listings for compilation albums such as these are usually listed in a sequential order. Assuming this to be true for this album, and noting that this song is smack-dab in the middle of the track listing, I'm taking the liberty of assuming it was recorded in 1960.

The song itself is a traditional sea shanty whose author or authors have been lost to time. Songs like this one were often sung by the crews of wooden ships to pass the time during the more menial tasks required to maintain a vessel. This song in particular was the song sung when a crew reached their final destination, after docking and being tied up in port, telling the everyman “Johnny” that it’s time to “leave her,” the ship.



Dave Van Ronk - Leave Her Johnny (1960)

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Lyrics:

Oh, times were hard and the wages low
(Leave her, Johnny, leave her)
I guess it’s time for us to go
(It’s time for us to leave her)
Beware these packet ships, I say
(Leave her, Johnny, leave her)
They’ll steal your stores and your clothes away
(It’s time for us to leave her)
There’s Liverpool Pat with his tarpaulin hat
(Leave her, Johnny, leave her)
And Yankee John, the packet rat
(It’s time for us to leave her)
She would not wear and she would not stay
(Leave her, Johnny, leave her)
She shipped great seas both night and day
(It’s time for us to leave her)
It’s rotten beef and waverly bread
(Leave her, Johnny, leave her)
It was “pump or drown,” the old man said
(It’s time for us to leave her)
The sails all furled, our work is done
(Leave her, Johnny, leave her)
And now ashore, we’ll take our run
(It’s time for us to leave her)
Oh, what will us poor shellbacks do?
(Leave her, Johnny, leave her)
Our money’s gone; no work to do
(It’s time for us to leave her)

Dave Van Ronk - Willie the Weeper (1961)

When Bob Dylan moved to Greenwich Village, New York, at the age of 20, he frequently stayed with this man and his wife. Van Ronk, five years older, taught Dylan guitar techniques as well as exposing him to material that Dylan would use in his later work. Finding his influences in jazz, he became an important figure to the folk scene where he befriended the likes of Dylan, Phil Ochs, Tom Paxton, Joni Mitchell, and many others. He rarely flew, never learned to drive, and never left Greenwich Village for an extended period of time.

Written by Frankie “Half-Pint” Jaxon in 1927, this folk song focuses around drug use. It’s been recorded by Louis Armstrong, the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, and others, but it is this version by Van Ronk that is said to have inspired The Velvet Underground’s song, “Heroin”.



Dave Van Ronk - Willie the Weeper (1961)

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Lyrics:

Oh, well a’this is the story about Willie the Weeper
Now, Willie the Weeper was a chimney sweeper
He had the habit, boy, he had it bad
Let me tell ya ‘bout a dream he had

Oh, well he went to the hop house the other night
Wearin’ his goulashes, boy, were shinin’ bright
Ah, well’a called to the boy to bring him some hops
Started then a smokin’ like he’d never stop

Oh, well after he had smoked about a dozen pills
He says, “This ought’a cure all my aches and ills”
Oh, well’a he turned on his side and went to sleep
Dreamed he was a sailor on the ocean deep

Oh, well he played draw poker as they left the land
He won a million dollars on the very first hand
Oh, well he played and he played until the crew went broke
Then he turned around and had another smoke

Oh, well he came to the island of Siam
He rubbed his eyes and said, “I wonder where I am”
He played craps with the King; he won a million more
Had to leave the island ‘cause the King got sore

Oh, well he went to Monte Carlo where he played roulette
He couldn’t lose a penny ‘cause he won every bet
Oh, well he played and he played until the bank went broke
Then he turned around and had another smoke

Oh, well’a then he thought he better be a’sailin’ for home
Oh, well he chartered his ship and sailed away alone
Ah, well the ship hit a rock, he hit the floor
Oh’ho well the dope gave out and the dream was o'er

Oh, well’a that was the story about Willie the Weeper
Now, Willie the Weeper was a yen-pox eater
Someday a pill, too many, he’ll take
And dreamin’ that he’s dead, he will forget to wake