The Raging Sea How it Roars- Stoneman (VA) 1925; 1928
[Earnest Stoneman; The Sailor's Song 1925; Ernest Stoneman and his Blue Ridge Corn Shuckers, Victor 78 RPM #21648 The Raging Sea how It Roars; 1928
Stoneman cut two records of this song for Ralph Peer first in 1925 in Asheville, changing the title to avoid copyright issues with Okeh. It was recorded under the "Sailor's Song" title by Dan Tate of Fancy Gap but it's not a cover of Stoneman's. His version was covered by The New Lost City Ramblers.
Stoneman sings "Landlord" on the last line of the chorus in place of the more well known landsmen (see Lofgren's notes below). Landlord is found or implied (see 1867 Larkin version) in several other versions. Dusenberry sang "landlord." When she was asked what the landlord was doing on the ship she replied, "Sleepin', I reckon." [Randolph]
R. Matteson Jr. 2014]
Notes from Lyle Lofgren:
This version was sung by Ernest Stoneman and his Blue Ridge Corn Shuckers, and released as Victor 78 RPM #21648 (I don't know if it's been re-released; it should be on one of the Stoneman or Galax re-issues). The "landlord" is a puzzler, even in the old British versions, where they are landlubbers: "We poor sailor boys were all up aloft, and the land-lubbers lying down below." Well, good grief! someone has to reef the sails. But if you've been in a storm at sea, you know that those land-lubbers down below weren't asleep and dreaming.
Ernest was born near Galax, Virginia, and, with his wife Hattie and several other Galax singers, recorded about one hundred sides in the 1920s, most of them excellent. They moved to Maryland, near Washington DC, in 1931, where Ernest (later known as "Pop") got a regular job in a naval gun factory, and they raised thirteen children, forming what might be the world's record for the biggest family band. Legend has it that Pop ensured that all his children would learn music by putting the guitars, fiddles, and banjos under the bed when he left and forbidding the children to touch them while he was gone. During the 1940s and 1950s, Pop and Hattie and the thirteen children traveled around the Washington area on weekends, playing for dances and entertainments for other displaced mountain folk. In the late 1960s, some of the children formed their own bluegrass band, "The Stonemans," and brought Pop along on tour with them.
The Raging Sea How it Roars- Earnest Stoneman; 1928 version
It's nine times around, said the captain of the ship
And it's nine times around, said he
Nine times around, are we sinking in the deep
While the landlord lies dreaming down below
Chorus: Oh, the raging sea, how it roars
And the cold chilly winds, how they blow
And tonight us poor sailors are sinking in the deep
While the landlord lies dreaming down below
First on the deck was the captain of the ship
And a fine looking fellow was he
Saying, I have a wife in Old Mexico
And tonight she is looking for me
Next on the deck was the lady of the ship
And a fine looking lady was she
Saying, I have a husband in New Mexico,
And tonight he is looking for me
Last on the deck was the sassy little cook
And a sassy little cook was he
He cared no more for his wife and his child
Than he did for the fish in the sea
The Raging Sea How it Roars (Child 289) sung by Ernest Stoneman & The Blue Ridge Corn Shuckers. Recorded 22nd February, 1928, Victor 21648, Re-issued on 5-String diouble CD set Ernest V Stoneman, The Unsung Father of Country Music 5SPH 001.