Sloop John B
"Sloop John B" (originally published as "The John B. Sails") is a Bahamian folk song from Nassau. A transcription by Richard Le Gallienne was published in 1916, and a version was included in Carl Sandburg's "The American Songbag" in 1927. Since the early 1950s there have been many recordings of the song with variant titles including "I Want to Go Home" and "Wreck of the John B". In 1966, the Beach Boys recorded a folk rock adaptation that was produced and arranged by their "de facto" leader, Brian Wilson. Released as the second single from their  album "Pet Sounds", the record peaked at number three in the U.S., number two in the UK, and topped the charts in several other countries. It was innovative for containing an elaborate a cappella vocal section not found in other pop music of the era, and it remains one of the group's biggest hits. In 2011, the Beach Boys' version of "Sloop John B" was ranked on "Rolling Stone"s list of "The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time". Earliest publications. "The John B. Sails" was transcribed by Richard Le Gallienne, with five verses and the chorus published in his  article “Coral Islands and Mangrove-Trees” in the December 1916 issue of "Harper’s Monthly Magazine" (pp. 81–90). The first two verses and chorus were also published in Chapter IV of Gallienne's 1917 novel "Pieces of Eight". Carl Sandburg included the first three verses and chorus of "The John B. Sails" in his 1927 collection of folksongs, "The American Songbag". He states that he collected it from John T. McCutcheon (a political cartoonist from Chicago) and his wife, Evelyn Shaw McCutcheon, who at the time owned Blue Lagoon Island, a Cay off of Nassau. The McCutcheons told him: The  Beach Boys version. Arrangement. The Kingston Trio's 1958 recording of "The John B. Sails" was recorded under the title "The Wreck of the John B." It was the direct influence on the Beach Boys' version. The Beach Boys' Al Jardine was a keen folk music fan, and he suggested to Brian Wilson that the Beach Boys should record the song. As Jardine explains: Jardine updated the chord progression by having the subdominant (D♭ major) move to its relative minor (B♭ minor) before returning to the tonic (A♭ major), thus altering a portion of the song's  progression from IV — I to IV — ii — I. This device is heard immediately after the lyric "into a fight" and "leave me alone". Wilson elected to change some lyrics: "this is the worst trip since I've been born" to "this is the worst trip I've ever been on", "I feel so break up" to "I feel so broke up", and "broke up the people's trunk" to "broke in the captain's trunk". The first lyric change has been suggested by some to be a subtle nod to the 1960s psychedelia subculture. Recording. The instrumental section of the  song was recorded on July 12, 1965, at United Western Recorders, Hollywood, California, the session being engineered by Chuck Britz and produced by Brian Wilson. The master take of the instrumental backing took fourteen takes to achieve. The vocal tracks were recorded over two sessions. The first was recorded on December 22, 1965, at Western Recorders, produced by Wilson. The second, on December 29, added a new lead vocal and Billy Strange's 12-string electric guitar part. Jardine explained that Wilson "lined us up one at a time to try out for the lead vocal. I had naturally assumed  I would sing the lead, since I had brought in the arrangement. It was like interviewing for a job. Pretty funny. He didn't like any of us. My vocal had a much more mellow approach because I was bringing it from the folk idiom. For the radio, we needed a more rock approach. Wilson and Mike ended up singing it." On the final recording, Brian Wilson sang the first and third verses and Mike Love sang the second. Kent Hartman, in his book "", described Billy Strange's contribution to the song. Brian Wilson called Strange into the studio one  Sunday, played him the rough recording, and told him he needed an electric twelve-string guitar solo in the middle of the track. When Strange replied that he did not own a twelve string, Wilson responded by calling Glenn Wallichs, the head of Capitol Records and owner of Wallichs Music City. A Fender Electric XII and Twin Reverb amplifier were quickly delivered (despite the shop they were ordered from being closed on Sundays), and Strange recorded the guitar part in one take. Wilson then gave Strange $2,000 to cover the cost of the equipment. Single release. A music video  set to "Sloop John B" was filmed for the UK's "Top of the Pops", directed by newly employed band publicist Derek Taylor. It was filmed at Brian's Laurel Way home with Dennis Wilson acting as cameraman. The single, backed with the B-side "You're So Good to Me", was released on March 21, 1966. It entered the "Billboard" Hot 100 chart on April 2, and peaked at on May 7, remaining on the chart, in total, for 11 weeks. It charted highly throughout the world, remaining as one of the Beach Boys' most popular and memorable hits . It was in Germany, Austria, and Norway—all for five weeks each—as well as Sweden, Switzerland, the Netherlands, South Africa, and New Zealand. It placed in the UK, Ireland (where it was the group's highest charting single), Canada, and in "Record World". It was the fastest Beach Boys seller to date, moving more than half a million copies in less than two weeks after release. It had a three-week stay at number 1 in the Netherlands, making it the "Hit of the Year". "Cash Box" described the single as a "topflight adaptation" that treats "the folk oldie  in a rhythmic, effectively-building warm-hearted rousing style." Other releases. In 1968, the recording's instrumental was released on "Stack-O-Tracks". Along with sessions highlights, the box set "The Pet Sounds Sessions" includes two alternate takes, one with Carl Wilson singing lead on the first verse, and one with Brian singing all parts. In 2016, to commemorate the fiftieth anniversary of "Pet Sounds", Brian Wilson and his touring band (including Al Jardine) performed "Sloop John B" live at Capitol Studios. Personnel. Per band archivist Craig Slowinski. The Beach Boys Additional musicians and production staff In popular culture. English  football. It has been popular amongst English football fans since the mid-2000s when Liverpool adapted the song to sing about their 2005 champions league final triumph in Istanbul. It was subsequently adopted by the supporters of English non-league team F.C. United of Manchester as a club anthem in 2007. Since then more high-profile teams have followed suit, usually with different lyrics for their own teams, including Watford, with Newcastle, Blackpool, Middlesbrough and Hull also adopting the song as their own. It was sung by Phil Brown, the manager of Hull City FC, shortly after Hull had avoided relegation  from the Premier League in 2009. The tune from the song's chorus is often sung with alternative lyrics, particularly "He scores when he wants", "You know what you are", "We know what we are", “We won it five times”, “He’s one of our own”, “We lose every week/You’re nothing special”, “We’re playing our kids”, “We’re winning away”, and “We’re playing Ali”. Scottish football. The melody of "Sloop John B" has been used as the basis for the "Famine Song", a sectarian anti-Irish Catholic song which refers to Irish migration to Great Britain in  the context of the Great Irish Famine and contains the line "the famine's over, why don't you go home?". The song has been sung by fans of Rangers F.C. in reference to rival club Celtic F.C., which was established by Irish Catholic migrants in Glasgow and retains a large Irish supporter base. The song was first sung publicly by Rangers fans at a match at Celtic Park in April 2008. Rangers have repeatedly asked their fans not to sing the song. In 2009 Scotland's Justiciary Appeal Court made a ruled that the song was racist, with judge  Lord Carloway stating that its lyrics "are racist in calling upon people native to Scotland to leave the country because of their racial origins". List of recordings. All versions titled "Sloop John B", except where noted. Chart history. Weekly singles charts Year-end charts