Listen To Podcast & Vote Below!

7/16/10 – The “Sloop John B” Cat Fight

Posted: July 16th, 2010 | Author: | Filed under: Rock n' Roll | Tags: , , , | 9 Comments »

Friday Night Cat Fight Podcast

“Sloop John B”

This week’s Friday Night Cat Fight takes on a classic folk tune and shanty, “The Sloop John B.”  It began as a Bahaman folk tune and was first recorded by archivist Alan Lomax in 1935.  From there, groups like The Weavers, Kingston Trio and The Beach Boys made it a part of popular culture.  Listen to all five versions of the “Sloop John B” that are in competition this week and vote for the one you dig the most.

Which One Do You DIG The MOST? - "Sloop John B"

View Results

Loading ... Loading ...

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

9 Comments on “7/16/10 – The “Sloop John B” Cat Fight”

  1. 1 Yum Yum said at 12:30 pm on July 16th, 2010:

    Would’nt It Be Nice if we get Matt and his Good Vibrations back on radio !! But God Only Knows when that will happen !! So to all the California Girls to Kokomo and beyond let’s hope they let Matt The Cat Do It Again !! Guess by now you know who my vote goes too !! Yum Yum

  2. 2 Sierra said at 3:33 pm on July 16th, 2010:

    I agree with Yum Yum; Beach Boys for me this week, though not my fave of their songs by any stretch. What a wild sloop trip that musta been!

  3. 3 Virginia said at 4:31 pm on July 16th, 2010:

    It’s the Kingston Trio for me. 1958 I was still in highschool my last free summer and that was a very big tune here. I loved all the versions, well except maybe the first version from 1935. Thanks again Matt for all the time you spend doing these FNCF’s for us. Also I think we will have to watch “The Long Hot Summer” again tonight. Paul Newman, WOW, doesn’t get much better then that.

  4. 4 PFM said at 8:07 pm on July 16th, 2010:

    RIP Hank Cocoran, songwriter supreme

  5. 5 Steve in Arizona said at 9:55 pm on July 16th, 2010:

    Listening to the Weavers it’s hard to believe they were blacklisted. Damn 50’s leftists. I voted for Jimmy, just liked the rhythm of it.

  6. 6 Bruce said at 2:13 am on July 17th, 2010:

    How I wish I had had Allen Lomax’s job, to think of all the standards he unearthed including this jem. At the moment I’m feeling really stupid having never realized the life this song had before the Beach Boys had a hit with it. Given the Beach Boys version is one of my favorite songs of all time, they get my vote, and Deb’s vote and even Bella the dog’s vote. I’m really trying to come to grips at the moment that anybody else would vote for any other version other than the Beach Boys. I’d tend to disagree with you Matt on what version the Beach Boys based their song on, it almost sounds more like the Weavers to me, but then again I didn’t know anybody else did it besides the Beach Boys so I’m probably wrong. Great Cat fight Matt, I feel more educated.

  7. 7 Freddie Morgan said at 9:08 pm on August 6th, 2010:

    The Beach Boys for this long time favorite. Bought it on 45 by Jimmy Rodgers, loved it then. But Brian did phenom production for the Boys. Have lots of BB versions, of course this was the best. Thanks MTC!

  8. 8 Raj said at 4:41 am on August 26th, 2010:

    Awesome. I think the carnival-like sound of the Beach Boys version really works well with the absurd lyrics. The earlier versions don’t work quite as well for me, though I do love the guitar part in the Dick Dale version.

  9. 9 Jim G said at 2:00 am on February 12th, 2011:

    Jimmie Rodgers – no contest IMHO.
    As much as I liked the Beach Boys, and as much as I still admire Bryan Wilson, their version just did not work for me.

Leave a Reply