Jamaica Farewell   WEST INDIES

A gentle calypso. A tourist has arrived in Kingston, (the capital of Jamaica), and meets a girl. However, as the chorus tells us, "I'm sad to say I'm on my way, won't be back for many a day. Me heart is down.....I had to leave my love in Kingston Town".  Piano - Cat no 1542 - price code D - duration c.2'20"

Kalinka   RUSSIA

A new treatment of the Russian folksong made famous by the Red Army Choir, plus a new English lyric.  Piano - tenor solo/duet - Cat no 1509 - price code D - duration c.2'45"

Lamorna  ENGLAND

A curious little tale from Cornwall, all about a young man who tries to seduce his own wife, having failed to recognise her in the "pale moonlight". She was not too pleased.  Unaccompanied - Cat no 1535 - price code D - duration c.2'40"

Li'l Liza Jane   USA

An imaginative, amusing and lively new arrangement of a very well-known song about a southern beauty from Baltimore, (just north of Washington D.C.)   Piano (arr. Geoffry Russell-Smith) - Cat no 1528 - price code D - duration c.1'50"

Londonderry Air   IRELAND

Also known as 'Danny Boy' this lovely melody is over 150 years old and needs little introduction here. However, the usual assumption that the song is about a girl who is sad that her boyfriend is going away and pleading with him to come back is probably not correct.  It is  more likely to be the boy's mother. In the second verse she tells us she will have died before he returns.   Piano - Cat no 1539 - price code B - duration c.3'15"

Malaika   TANZANIA?

Malaika  means “my angel” in Swahili and is a poignant love song about a boy who feels he cannot marry his “angel” because he is too poor. The song came to be popularised by international artists such as Hemut Lotti, Miriam Makeba, Harry Belafonte and Boney M. Some say the song originated in Kenya but in the Miriam Makeba version she introduces Malaika as coming from Tanzania. Piano/keyboard – English.  Cat no 1577 – price code D – duration c.2’25”

Skye Boat Song   SCOTLAND

Charles Edward Stewart, the Young Pretender to the English throne, was defeated on Culloden Moor in 1746. Aided by Flora MacDonald, Bonnie Prince Charlie escaped from the battlefield to the island of Skye. The tune is said to be based on an old sea shanty, and it was often used as a lullaby.  Piano - Cat no 1560 - price code D - duration c.3'50"

The Sloop John B   BAHAMAS

This popular calypso comes from the West Indies, and vividly describes the violent and alcoholic activities of the crew aboard a merchant ship on the Seven Seas.  Piano - Cat no 1513 - price code E - duration c.3'40"

Songs from the Land of the Long White Cloud   NEW ZEALAND

The Maori name for New Zealand is Aotearoa, meaning "land of the long white cloud", hence the title of this group of four Maori traditional songs. The oldest item in the collection is Kamate! Kamate! ("It is death! It is death!) and is a war chant or Haka. 

These days the chant is perpetuated by the New Zealand Rugby team. (The traditional arm and leg actions are illustrated and explained in an appendix to the score). The second song is the perenially popular Pokarekare, a love song that first appeared in 1919. The third, Hine e Hine, is a love song from the same period. It is a lullaby and remains to this day one of of the country's favourite songs. The final item is, in fact, a hymn. Missionaries introduced the Bible to the Maori in the 1830s, and today the majority of Maori are practising Christians. Au, e Ihu, Tirohia is the Maori for "Jesu, lover of my soul" and the tune a favourite with Maori congregations. It features in the Maori Anglican hymnbook. The English words are an approximate translation of the Maori ones. Both owe much to Charles Wesley.  Piano - English and (a little) Maori - Cat no 1568 - price code F - duration c.7'20"

Sospan Fach   WALES

This arrangement was premièred by a choir of 1000 voices celebrating the 21st anniversary of Canoldir Male Choir in the National Exhibition Centre. The first section is faithful to the Welsh words, cataloguing the troubles of a harassed housewife (Sospan fach means "little saucepan"), while the second half of the song is a somewhat irreverent English translation.  Piano - Welsh and English - Roberton Publications 53111 (please order direct)- price code Y - duration c.2'45"

Watching the Wheat   WALES

One of the most beautiful and enduring of Welsh folksongs with a new English version by Patrick Rooke as well as the traditional Welsh words.   Unaccompanied - English or Welsh - Cat no 1511 - price code D - duration c.2'45"

The Wild Mountain Thyme IRELAND

A two-part arrangement of an old Irish folksong. It is also known as “Will ye go, lassie, go” and sometimes as “Purple Heather”. The tune is thought to be based on an 18th century Scottish melody. It has been recorded by well over 50 artists, including Joan Baez, Bob Dylan, The Chieftains, Nana Mouskouri, Marianne Faithful, etc. Piano. Cat. no. 1587 - price code B - duration c.2’40”

Worried Man Blues   USA

A song that tells the story of a criminal on the run who is caught by the police, taken to court, and sentenced to 21 years hard labour (in a railroad construction prison gang). Astonishingly, he doesn't sound in the slightest bit worried by it!  Piano - Cat no 1532 - price code C - duration c.2'15"