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Thread: River tunes

  1. #1

    Default River tunes

    I'm also member of a German ukulele forum, and lately they started a "Theme of the month"-section, where you choose songs according to a given topic.
    This month's topic is "City-Country-River", that is, songs with references to Cities, Countries and Rivers.
    I decided to limit myself to river tunes, record an instrumental version with uke and mandolin and let the others guess what river the tune is about.

    So far, I came up with 6 tunes:

    -"Mississppi": a big 70s hit in Europe for the band "Pussycat" from the Netherlands.
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z5r9UQNKXqM&t=42s

    -The murder ballad "Banks of thr Ohio"
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t9m25IaNZGA

    -"Volga Boatmen"
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dxU1tyCv1qw

    -"Bald gras ich am Neckar, bald gras ich am Rhein": German folk song including two rivers
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nc0hXe0TUYg

    "Flow gently sweet Afton" based on a poem by Robert Burns
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MSlSx0dcDP8

    -"Waves of the Danube" Waltz by the Romanian composer Ion Ivanovici
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F954UecspQY

    But now, I'm running out of ideas. Ten river tunes would be nice.
    Do you have any ideas?
    -The river's name should be in the tune's title (unlike "Take me home..., where the Shenendoah river is mentionedI)
    -It should be an existing river, not something like "Moon River".
    -It would be nice if the song or tune had a melody, that, played on the mandolin, was easily recognizable and the tune was rather easy to reproduce.
    -Free sheet music for public domain tunes would be ideal.
    -Language doesn't matter, since I don't plan to sing, but will stay true to my uke and mando. (and a little tenor guitar...)

    I'm sure, you know some great river tunes, that simply do not come to my mind.
    Thanks in advance for the ideas!

  2. #2

    Default Re: River tunes

    Miss the Mississippi and You

    Oh Shenandoah

  3. #3
    Registered User Mike Snyder's Avatar
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    Default Re: River tunes

    Big Sciota
    Mike Snyder

  4. #4

    Default Re: River tunes

    Thanks for the suggestions!
    I already have a Mississippi song and "Oh Shenendoah" is about the Missouri river.
    That could lead to some confusion, though it is a nice tune for sure.
    But Big Sciota is on my list.
    Gotta practice this one!

  5. #5
    but that's just me Bertram Henze's Avatar
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    Default Re: River tunes

    Practising makes thirsty.



    Sorry, couldn't resist
    the world is better off without bad ideas, good ideas are better off without the world

  6. #6

    Default Re: River tunes

    "Roll on Columbia, Roll on" - Woody Guthrie:

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=20ZffI6by3A

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  8. #7

    Default Re: River tunes

    "Shenandoah" - "Across the wide Missouri:"
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9gtJkeXAMt0

    "Ol' Man River"
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eh9WayN7R-s

    "Hudson Song"
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H9fBlHKDLPA

    "Hudson River" - same name, different song:
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=btC6UJjkppk

    Also, check out Pete Seeger's songs - he was into rivers in a big way, the Hudson in particular ...

  9. #8
    two t's and one hyphen fatt-dad's Avatar
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    Default Re: River tunes

    "The Falls of Richmond." You get a river tune and a city tune.

    f-d
    ˇpapá gordo ain’t no madre flaca!

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  10. #9

    Default Re: River tunes

    Thanks again for the suggestions, I will check them out (and afterwars enjoy a River Cola).
    I remembered another one: The sea shanty "Banks of Sacramento"
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dm6T_xk43Us
    (at least I suppose, it's the Sacramento river)

    In Germany the Song is known as "Hamborger Veermaster" (four-master from Hamburg)
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AWhYlEY03bc

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  12. #10
    I may be old but I'm ugly billhay4's Avatar
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    Default Re: River tunes

    IM(NS)HO

  13. #11

    Default Re: River tunes

    Of the tunes you suggested, I chose Woody Guthrie's " Roll on Columbia, Roll on".
    It is quite simple and has a vocal melody, where the name of the river appears in the song's title.

    I discovered another one: The civil war song "All quite on the Potomac tonight"
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3dVMpRfiD0s

    Gotta start practising strumming 3/4 and 6/8 on my uke...

  14. #12
    Moderator MikeEdgerton's Avatar
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    Default Re: River tunes

    I always introduce Banks of the Ohio as a one-sided prenuptial agreement.

    Check out John Hartford's song "Let him go on mamma". It's a great river song.

    Every school kid in Portland, Oregon when I was growing up knew Roll on Columbia.
    "It's comparable to playing a cheese slicer."
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  15. #13
    Innocent Bystander JeffD's Avatar
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    Default Re: River tunes

    Elk River Blues
    A talent for trivializin' the momentous and complicatin' the obvious.

    The entire staff
    funny....

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    Tobin 

  17. #14

    Default Re: River tunes

    Oh Cumberland

  18. #15

    Default Re: River tunes

    Thanks again for the suggestions.
    Elk River Blues and Big Sciota are great fiddle tunes that I will learn if I find the time, but for this challenge, I'm looking for simple vocal melodies that I just can sit down and record.
    I have completed three others, where the name of the river figures in the song's title.

    -An der Saale hellem Strande(On the bright banks of the river Saale). German Volkslied in 3/4 time
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0sFnSO2r1D8

    -Roll on Columbia roll on by Woodie Guthrie
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lBy1Lf_zLfg

    -All quiet along the Potomac. Great Civil War song.
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DvZ6m2zKSpA

    Now, to complete the number of ten songs, I need but one.

    Candidates are:
    -Love letters from the Nile (Dixieland)
    -Away Rio (Sea Shanty)
    -Roll Jordan roll(Gospel)
    -or the German Schlager Kalkutta liegt am Ganges
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hO7EqVfkwpI

    If nothing else, I learned a lot about geography...

  19. #16
    String-Bending Heretic mandocrucian's Avatar
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    Default Re: River tunes






  20. #17
    String-Bending Heretic mandocrucian's Avatar
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    Default Re: River tunes

    (Shenandoah River)


    Let's not forget the Mekong

  21. #18
    mandolin slinger Steve Ostrander's Avatar
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    Default Re: River tunes

    "Wabash Cannonball" --a song about a train that runs along the Wabash River. It's a two-fer!!
    Living’ in the Mitten

  22. #19
    Mando accumulator allenhopkins's Avatar
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    Default Re: River tunes

    Red River Valley, obviously.

    Old Folks at Home, or "'Way Down Upon the Swanee River"

    Need I go into the dozens of songs mentioning the Jordan River?
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  23. #20
    bon vivant jaycat's Avatar
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    Default Re: River tunes

    The Fugs, "Wide, Wide River." Look it up for yourself, I'm not about to post a link.
    "The paths of experimentation twist and turn through mountains of miscalculations, and often lose themselves in error and darkness!"
    --Leslie Daniel, "The Brain That Wouldn't Die."

    Some tunes: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCa1...SV2qtug/videos

  24. #21
    coprolite mandroid's Avatar
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    Default Re: River tunes

    there is a ship/ the river is wide, peter paul and mary..

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8DAlv3suXkQ
    writing about music
    is like dancing,
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  25. #22
    Registered User Mandobart's Avatar
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    Default Re: River tunes

    "Off the Chama" by Cahalen Morrison and Eli West

    "Big River" Johnny Cash

    "Dry River" Dave Alvin

    "Laughing River" Greg Brown

  26. #23
    but that's just me Bertram Henze's Avatar
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    Default Re: River tunes

    Einst ging ich am Strande der Donau entlang
    the world is better off without bad ideas, good ideas are better off without the world

  27. #24

    Default Re: River tunes

    Einst ging ich am Strande der Donau entlang
    Too bad I already have a Danube tune.(Waves of the danube by Ion Ivanovici)

    Nice tunes so far, but as I said in my initial post, I'm looking for songs about existing rivers with the river's name in the song's title.
    In addition to the six songs already posted I recorded:

    -"An der Saale hellem Strande"; German Volkslied about a river in east Germany
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0sFnSO2r1D8

    -"Roll on Columbia roll on" by Woodie Guthrie (Thanks billkilpatrick!)
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lBy1Lf_zLfg

    -"All quiet along the Potomac tonight"; Civil war song
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DvZ6m2zKSpA&t=22s

    -"Roll Jordan,roll"; Gospel song that is most often done a-capella
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uZjXpx2iuTI

    Now I have ten songs with 11 rivers and the quiz can start.

  28. #25

    Default Re: River tunes

    Shanty Boat by the Tillers is a Great river tune. They have videos on YouTube.

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