♫ Sloop John B ♫

Posted on by under Bits 'n Pieces, History, music

I’ve always liked this song, but never had a clue of its origins or meaning … but then, that’s typical of me, for I either like or dislike a song based on its sound more than anything, being nearly dear and rarely understanding the sung lyrics.  So the other night I played Kokomo by the Beach Boys, and this was one of several that Keith recommended, and Clive said that he liked most of the songs on the Pet Sounds album, so hopefully they’ll both enjoy this one and the rest of you will too!

According to SongFacts …

“Sloop John B” is a traditional West Indies tune about a sunken boat. It was adapted in 1951 by Lee Hays of the Weavers (as “The John B Sails”) and revived in 1960 by Lonnie Donegan. The Beach Boys’ folk music buff, Al Jardine, turned Brian Wilson onto the Kingston Trio’s recording of the song. For their updated version, Wilson added elaborate vocals and a 12-string guitar part. He also changed some of the lyrics, including “This is the worst trip since I’ve been born” to “…I’ve ever been on” as a wink to acid culture.

The song was popularized by The Kingston Trio, who adapted it from a version in poet Carl Sandburg’s 1927 songbook The American Songbag. The Kingston Trio’s version stays true to the song’s Calypso roots, and was released on their first album in 1958. Eight years later, The Beach Boys changed the title to “Sloop John B,” and came away with a hit. Their debt to The Kingston Trio goes far beyond this song: The Beach Boys adopted the group’s striped, short-sleeved shirts and wholesome persona as well.

This was the biggest hit from The Beach Boys landmark album Pet Sounds. The album was the brainchild of Brian Wilson, who got the title when Beach Boy Mike Love suggested dogs were the only creatures that would like it. To keep the animal theme, Wilson put some barking dogs on the album.

Brian Wilson hired 13 musicians to record this song on a midnight – 3 a.m. session on July 12, 1965. The session players packed into United Western Recorders in Los Angeles that night were:

  • Hal Blaine (drums)
  • Carol Kaye (electric bass)
  • Al De Lory (keyboards)
  • Al Casey (guitar)
  • Lyle Ritz (upright bass)
  • Billy Strange (guitar)
  • Jerry Cole (guitar)
  • Frank Capp (Glockenspiel)
  • Jay Migliori (clarinet)
  • Steve Douglas and Jim Horn (flutes)
  • Jack Nimitz (sax)
  • Charles Britz (engineer)

According to pop historian Joseph Murrells, this was the Beach Boys’ fastest selling record to date – over 500,000 within two weeks in the US alone.

During a discussion and performance at the Grammy Museum in Los Angeles in January 2009 Wilson said that Pet Sounds was named using Phil Spector’s initials. Wilson’s approach to the producing of the album was influenced by Spector’s “Wall of Sound” technique.

This one reached #2 in the UK and Canada, #3 in the U.S.

Sloop John B

The Beach Boys

We come on the sloop John B
My grandfather and me
Around Nassau town we did roam
Drinking all night
Got into a fight
Well, I feel so broke up
I wanna go home

So hoist up the John B’s sail
See how the mainsail sets
Call for the captain ashore
Let me go home
Let me go home
I wanna go home, yeah, yeah
Well, I feel so broke up
I wanna go home

The first mate, he got drunk
And broke in the captain’s trunk
The constable had to come and take him away
Sheriff John Stone
Why don’t you leave me alone? Yeah, yeah
Well, I feel so broke up
I wanna go home

So hoist up the John B’s sail (hoist up the John B’s sail)
See how the mainsail sets (see how the mainsail sets)
Call for the captain ashore
Let me go home
Let me go home
I wanna go home
Let me go home (hoist up the John B’s sail)
(Why don’t you let me go home?)
Hoist up the John B’s sail (hoist up the John B’s sail)
Feel so broke up
I wanna go home
Let me go home

The poor cook, he caught the fits
And threw away all my grits
And then he took and he ate up all of my corn
Let me go home
Why don’t they let me go home?
This is the worst trip I’ve ever been on

So hoist up the John B’s sail (hoist up the John B’s sail)
See how the mainsail sets (see how the mainsail sets)
Call for the captain ashore
Let me go home
Let me go home
I wanna go home
Let me go home

Writer/s: Brian Wilson
Publisher: Universal Music Publishing Group
Lyrics licensed and provided by LyricFind

50 thoughts on “♫ Sloop John B ♫”

  2. Pingback: ♫ Sloop John B. ♫ |jilldennison.com | Ramblings of an Occupy Liberal

  3. You will never go wrong if you play a Beach boy’s song. 🙂 There are songs of theirs that are definitely better than some. I have my favorite songs, but I really can’t think of a song that I strongly dislike by them. Different from the Beatles, who also have songs that I love, a wonderful band, BUT they also have songs like “Yellow Submarine!” that may make me “smack my head!” LOL!

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  4. The Beach Boys were okay, until the British Invasion made them irrelevant. Surf songs could not compete with revisioned blues masterpieces, or the new social commentary that followed. Brian Wilson should have stayed in bed.
    But I guess there were those fans who wanted a return to the innocence of surf music. I was not one of them. Had you played the Kingston Trio version, I would have been more upbeat about the song.

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    • Eh, I wouldn’t necessarily say the British Invasion made them irrelevant. It may have taken some of the spotlight from them, but they still did pretty well. There’s a place in the world for all types of music, even lighthearted beach music. I considered including the Kingston Trio version, but it was quite late when I was putting this post together and my energy reservoir had shut down. Maybe next time.

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          • That was the topc of a quick survey on American Bandstand one show back in the Sixties. Teens were asked which was more important, the words or the danceability of the music. The result of the mini-poll that day was “All i wanna do is dance. Words are just words. Who needs them!”
            I never understoid that then, and I still do not understand it now. Why have lyrics if the sound is all that is important?
            Instrumentals have gone the way of the Dodo Bird on Billboard, etc. If songs have to have lyrics to become hits, there must be something to them.
            But each to their own, Jill. If I understood everything humans do I would not be considered human anymore.

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  5. Jill, thanks for the shout out and back story on the song, of which I was unaware. I love this song as it is different from their earlier stuff, likely due to its roots. Keith

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  7. You’re right, I love this one! Out of curiosity I just looked it up on the UK Charts Archive. Its final week – of a 15 week stay in our top 40 – was the week England won the World Cup. Memorable times for a 12yo lad here! The Beach Boys also had a new chart entry that week: God Only Knows, which also got to #2 here.

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