Talk:Sloop John B

First Appearance
The first sentence of this article says the song first appeared in a 1917 novel, but a later sentence says it appeared in a 1916 magazine. — Preceding unsigned comment added by ShawnVW (talk • contribs) 17:49, 2010 April 29


 * The early publication details have been updated. Richard Le Gallienne's transcription is the oldest known publication (1916 magazine article, 1917 book). —MJBurrage(T•C) 04:16, 12 May 2013 (UTC)

Lyrics
Lyrics for "The John B. Sails" from Le Gallienne's Pieces of Eight, pages 30–31:
 * Come on the sloop John B.
 * My grandfather and me,
 * Round Nassau town we did roam;
 * Drinking all night, ve got in a fight,
 * Ve feel so break-up, ve vant to go home.


 * Chorus
 * So h'ist up the John B. sails,
 * See how the mainsail set,
 * Send for the captain&mdash;shore, let us go home,
 * Let me go home, let me go home,
 * I feel so break-up, I vant to go home.


 * The first mate he got drunk,
 * Break up the people trunk,
 * Constable come aboard, take him away;
 * Mr. John&mdash;stone, leave us alone,
 * I feel so break-up, I vant to go home.


 * Chorus
 * So h'ist up the John B. sails, etc., etc.

— Preceding unsigned comment added by ScoopScoopScoopPushPushPush (talk • contribs) 02:10, 2008 June 25

Page edit requests
It's funny that this song started as a folk song, was covered by the Kingston Trio, and then by the Beach Boys, and it's that cover of a cover that gets a Wikipedia article. Shouldn't the song itself have a page?

Of course, the article lays out the history. So it isn't wrong or messed up. Just funny. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 165.123.89.244 (talk • contribs)

There are no references that Dick Dale already covered the song in his album Surfer's Choice. Since the Beach Boys at least covered 2 songs in that album (well, at least Misirlou and Let's go tripping... then this one, and i am not sure if more); i thik it is worth a mention. Just because what the booklet says about the Kingston Trio seems supicious (as if they don't want to give credit to Dick Dale for the surf sound) 85.53.201.98 (talk) 22:09, 5 June 2009 (UTC)

I would like to also mention the 1962 Dick Dale version - the Beach Boys covered the Dale version of Misirlou from this album (the first time this traditional greek folk song at that tempo) so they must have been aware of the Dale version of Sloop John B in which he also uses the phrase "broke into the captain's trunk" thus pre-dating the alyrical change attributed to the Beach Boys in the wiki page by 4 years. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 81.110.212.183 (talk) 17:09, 5 May 2011 (UTC)


 * I really don't see how this song is a song that has a "surf sound". Why does everyone think that everything the Beach Boys did had a surfing sound? So I guess "Our Prayer" is a great surfing anthem too? Sorry, it just frustrates me when I hear people say things like "Good Vibrations is a great surf song".--220.236.184.169 (talk) 02:44, 30 August 2009 (UTC)
 * Well, the Beach Boys did have a very distinctive sound in the mid 60s, and for many people this is the 'surf sound'. Strictly speaking the 'surf sound' only applies to early 60s groups like the Surfaris. The Beach Boys built on and progressed from that original sound throughout the 60s, just as the Beatles moved on from Please Please Me. --80.176.142.11 (talk) 00:23, 20 September 2009 (UTC)

I added a line under Cover Versions to include a recent recording from 2014 that had John Cowsill and Scott Totten singing and playing on the track and in the video. The group that organized the recording sessions is known as the Fendertones. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Panel457 (talk • contribs) 19:42, 14 December 2015 (UTC)

Fair use rationale for Image:Beach Boys - Sloop John B.jpg
Image:Beach Boys - Sloop John B.jpg is being used on this article. I notice the image page specifies that the image is being used under fair use but there is no explanation or rationale as to why its use in Wikipedia articles constitutes fair use. In addition to the boilerplate fair use template, you must also write out on the image description page a specific explanation or rationale for why using this image in each article is consistent with fair use.

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If there is other other fair use media, consider checking that you have specified the fair use rationale on the other images used on this page. Note that any fair use images uploaded after 4 May, 2006, and lacking such an explanation will be deleted one week after they have been uploaded, as described on criteria for speedy deletion. If you have any questions please ask them at the Media copyright questions page. Thank you.BetacommandBot 02:28, 1 June 2007 (UTC)

Music video
There's a black-and-white music video (though I'm sure it wasn't called that when it was first made) which shows them clowning around in and near a pool (wearing full clothes rather than swimwear), all trying to climb into a small rubber dinghy, etc., ending with a closeup on the cover of Tiger Beat magazine... AnonMoos (talk) 20:34, 7 November 2010 (UTC)

What did Al do?
"Al updated the chord progression by having the IV, D♭ major, move to its relative minor, B♭ minor before returning to the tonic, A♭."

I've tried to understand but haven't enough knowledge of music and english. Wouldn't it be nice to see Al's chord progression compared to the original? 81.231.164.31 (talk) 02:16, 12 August 2014 (UTC)


 * Essentially the chord progression involved "D♭ major => A♭ major". All he did (according to the text) is put a B♭ minor chord in between. "IV" just means it's the fourth note up the scale (A♭ major). Look at Roman numeral analysis for more info. The alteration occurs right after "got into a fight..."--Ilovetopaint (talk) 02:46, 12 August 2014 (UTC)


 * Thank you, Ilovetopaint. That's what I thougt I heard, but since I don't know about tonic, subdominant (IV) etc the text confused me, and I suspected Al did something more that I didn't understand, but at least I tried before asking - I just play a little guitar for fun ;) 81.231.164.31 (talk) 12:04, 12 August 2014 (UTC)

Proposed merge of Sloop John B with The John B. Sails
The song's the same, so why not merge? N.B. I didn't propose the merge, but started this section to discuss it. Aarghdvaark (talk) 03:07, 14 December 2017 (UTC)


 * I agree, and only tagged the articles hoping that somebody else would save me the effort--Ilovetopaint (talk) 12:17, 21 December 2017 (UTC)


 * I oppose. Merging the article on the original into an article on a specific remake just seems wrong. There are so many recorded variations of The John B Sails under so many different names. This article is about the origin and variations. The article for The Sloop John B is about that arrangement and recording and its context in the album it first appears in. The Beach Boys covered a famous folk song. If anything, I would say the merge goes the other direction and the cover by The Beach Boys becomes part of this article... except the article on the cover version is rather substantive on its own. Curses to the variations of song name! delirious  &amp;  lost  ☯ ~hugs~ 00:05, 22 February 2018 (UTC)


 * If merged, the articles would be revamped in a similar fashion to Shortenin' Bread. But "Sloop John B" is definitely the right title for the article, not "The John B. Sails", per WP:COMMONNAME.--Ilovetopaint (talk) 04:37, 23 February 2018 (UTC)
 * Support. It should be possible to merge the content in such a way that the article is primarily about the song with all its history and versions, while paying due attention to the Beach Boys version. --Lambiam 21:22, 17 July 2018 (UTC)
 * Move? The "John B. Sails" to "Sloop John B." and "Sloop John B." to "Sloop John B. (Beach Boys)" or something? The song was well known before the Beach Boys covered it. I came here after hearing The Kingston Trio, who called it "Sloop John B." first. I think WP:COMMONNAME for the base song should be "Sloop John B." even though it is not the original name. But the current "Sloop John B." is too big to merge into anything else. Sammy D III (talk) 18:38, 25 July 2018 (UTC)

Deletion of text?
I'm curious about this edit of yours. The deleted text looks reasonable and is referenced to a reliable source. Could you explain why you deleted it? -- RoySmith (talk) 17:46, 23 June 2020 (UTC)
 * I added that line, originally, and have recently learned that the date of Parks and Wilson's meeting was actually in January 1966 and had very little to do with the recording of "Sloop John B". ili (talk) 17:48, 23 June 2020 (UTC)

original ship
https://www.funtrivia.com/askft/Question146829.html talks about the John B. being the owner of the original ship John Bethel — Preceding unsigned comment added by 88.112.30.115 (talk) 06:50, 13 March 2021 (UTC)

The guy who uploaded the performance is just singing the beach boys version anyways..
title. I think the traditional melody would be more appropriate Fsdefde (talk) 03:39, 26 April 2024 (UTC)