"Sloop John B" (originally published as "The John B. Sails") is a Bahamian folk song from Nassau. A transcription by

Richard Le Gallienne Richard Le Gallienne (20 January 1866 – 15 September 1947) was an English author and poet. The British-American actress Eva Le Gallienne (1899–1991) was his daughter by his second marriage to Danish journalist Julie Nørregaard (1863–1942) ...

was published in 1916, and a version was included in

Carl Sandburg Carl August Sandburg (January 6, 1878 – July 22, 1967) was an American poet, biographer, journalist, and editor. He won three Pulitzer Prizes: two for his poetry and one for his biography of Abraham Lincoln. During his lifetime, 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 The Beach Boys are an American Rock music, rock band that formed in Hawthorne, California, in 1961. The group's original lineup consisted of brothers Brian Wilson, Brian, Dennis Wilson, Dennis, and Carl Wilson, their cousin Mike Love, and frie ...

recorded a

folk rock Folk rock is a hybrid music genre that combines the elements of folk music, folk and rock music, rock music, which arose in the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom in the mid-1960s. In the U.S., folk rock emerged from the American fo ...

adaptation that was produced and arranged by their ''de facto'' leader,

Brian Wilson Brian Douglas Wilson (born June 20, 1942) is an American musician, singer, songwriter, and record producer who co-founded the Beach Boys. Often called a genius for his novel approaches to pop composition, extraordinary musical aptitude, and m ...

. Released as the second single from their album ''

Pet Sounds ''Pet Sounds'' is the 11th studio album by American rock band the Beach Boys, released on May 16, 1966, by Capitol Records. It was initially met with a lukewarm critical and commercial response in the United States, peaking at number 10 on the ...

'', 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 ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner, and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. It was first known for its co ...

''s list of " The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time".

Earliest publications

"The John B. Sails" was transcribed by

, 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''. The lyrics describe a disastrous voyage on a

sloop A sloop is a sailboat with a single mast typically having only one headsail in front of the mast and one mainsail aft of (behind) the mast. Such an arrangement is called a fore-and-aft rig, and can be rigged as a Bermuda rig with triangular ...

, with the vessel plagued by drunkenness, arrests and a pig eating the narrator's food. In the chorus, the narrator repeatedly expresses a desire to return home. 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 John Tinney McCutcheon (May 6, 1870 – June 10, 1949) was an American newspaper political cartoonist, war correspondent, combat artist, and author who won a Pulitzer Prize for his 1931 editorial cartoon, "A Wise Economist Asks a Question," an ...

(a political cartoonist from Chicago) and his wife, Evelyn Shaw McCutcheon, who at the time owned

Blue Lagoon Island Blue Lagoon Island is a private island located 5 km ( three miles) from Nassau, Bahamas and serves as a local tourist attraction. History Prior to the late 19th century the island's lagoon was a salt marsh and was referred to legally as Sa ...

, a Cay off of Nassau. The McCutcheons told him:

The Beach Boys version

Arrangement

The Kingston Trio The Kingston Trio is an American folk and pop music group that helped launch the folk revival of the late 1950s to the late 1960s. The group started as a San Francisco Bay Area nightclub act with an original lineup of Dave Guard, Bob Shane, ...

'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 Folk music is a music genre that includes traditional folk music and the contemporary genre that evolved from the former during the 20th-century folk revival. Some types of folk music may be called world music. Traditional folk music has ...

fan, and he suggested to

that the Beach Boys should record the song. As Jardine explains: Jardine updated the

chord progression In a musical composition, a chord progression or harmonic progression (informally chord changes, used as a plural) is a succession of chords. Chord progressions are the foundation of harmony in Western musical tradition from the common practice ...

by having the subdominant (D♭ major) move to its

relative minor In music, relative keys are the major and minor scales that have the same key signatures (enharmonically equivalent), meaning that they share all the same notes but are arranged in a different order of whole steps and half steps. A pair of major ...

(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 Psychedelia refers to the psychedelic subculture of the 1960s and the psychedelic experience. This includes psychedelic art, psychedelic music and style of dress during that era. This was primarily generated by people who used psychedelic dr ...

subculture.

Recording

The instrumental section of the song was recorded on July 12, 1965, at United Western Recorders,

Hollywood Hollywood usually refers to: * Hollywood, Los Angeles, a neighborhood in California * Hollywood, a metonym for the cinema of the United States Hollywood may also refer to: Places United States * Hollywood District (disambiguation) * Hollywoo ...

California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the ...

, the session being engineered by

Chuck Britz Charles Dean Britz (November 7, 1927 – August 21, 2000) was a recording engineer who worked with Jan and Dean, Brian Wilson and The Beach Boys, P.F. Sloan and The Grass Roots on numerous albums between 1962 and 1967. Biography Britz was bor ...

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 oveended 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 '' The Wrecking Crew'', 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 Capitol Records, LLC (known legally as Capitol Records, Inc. until 2007) is an American record label distributed by Universal Music Group through its Capitol Music Group imprint. It was founded as the first West Coast-based record label of note ...

and owner of Wallichs Music City. A Fender Electric XII and

Twin Reverb The Fender Twin and Twin Reverb are guitar amplifiers made by Fender Musical Instruments Corporation. The Twin was introduced in 1952, two years before Fender began selling Stratocaster electric guitars. The amps are known for their characterist ...

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 ''Top of the Pops'' (''TOTP'') is a British music chart television programme, made by the BBC and originally broadcast weekly between 1January 1964 and 30 July 2006. The programme was the world's longest-running weekly music show. For most o ...

'', directed by newly employed band publicist Derek Taylor. It was filmed at Brian's Laurel Way home with

Dennis Wilson Dennis Carl Wilson (December 4, 1944 – December 28, 1983) was an American musician, singer, and songwriter who co-founded the Beach Boys. He is best remembered as their drummer and as the middle brother of bandmates Brian and Carl Wilson. ...

acting as cameraman. The single, backed with the

B-side The A-side and B-side are the two sides of phonograph records and cassettes; these terms have often been printed on the labels of two-sided music recordings. The A-side usually features a recording that its artist, producer, or record company ...

" 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 2011, the song was sung by Fisherman's Friends at Cambridge Folk Festival. and released on ''Suck'em and Sea''. It was featured in the compilation album ''Cambridge Folk Festival 2011'' 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 Capitol Studios are recording studios located at the landmark Capitol Records Tower in Hollywood, California. The studios, which opened in 1956, were initially the primary recording studios for the American record label Capitol Records. While t ...

. In 2021, another UK based group, Isle 'Ave A Shanty sang the song at the 2021

Harwich Harwich is a town in Essex, England, and one of the Haven ports on the North Sea coast. It is in the Tendring district. Nearby places include Felixstowe to the north-east, Ipswich to the north-west, Colchester to the south-west and Clacton- ...

Sea Shanty Festival and included the song on their 2022 debut album ''Swinging the Lamp''.

Personnel

Per band archivist Craig Slowinski. The Beach Boys *

Bruce Johnston Bruce Arthur Johnston (born Benjamin Baldwin; June 27, 1942) is an American musician, singer, songwriter, and record producer who is a member of the Beach Boys. Johnston also collaborated on many records with Terry Melcher (his bandmate in ...

— backing vocals * Mike Love – lead and backing vocals * Al Jardine – backing vocals *

– lead and backing vocals *

Carl Wilson Carl Dean Wilson (December 21, 1946 – February 6, 1998) was an American musician, singer, and songwriter who co-founded the Beach Boys. He was their lead guitarist, the youngest sibling of bandmates Brian and Dennis, and the group's ''de ...

– backing vocals *

– backing vocals Additional musicians and production staff *

Hal Blaine Hal Blaine (born Harold Simon Belsky; February 5, 1929 – March 11, 2019) was an American drummer and session musician, thought to be among the most recorded studio drummers in the music industry, claiming over 35,000 sessions and 6,000 singles ...

–

drums A drum kit (also called a drum set, trap set, or simply drums) is a collection of drums, cymbals, and other auxiliary percussion instruments set up to be played by one person. The player (drummer) typically holds a pair of matching drumsticks ...

– engineer * Frank Capp –

glockenspiel The glockenspiel ( or , : bells and : set) or bells is a percussion instrument consisting of pitched aluminum or steel bars arranged in a keyboard layout. This makes the glockenspiel a type of metallophone, similar to the vibraphone. The ...

* Al Casey – acoustic rhythm guitar * Jerry Cole – 12-string lead guitar * Steve Douglas – temple blocks *

Carol Kaye Carol Kaye (née Smith, born March 24, 1935) is an American musician. She is one of the most prolific recorded bass guitarists in rock and pop music, playing on an estimated 10,000 recordings in a career spanning over 50 years. Kaye began play ...

–

electric bass The bass guitar, electric bass or simply bass (), is the lowest-pitched member of the string family. It is a plucked string instrument similar in appearance and construction to an electric or an acoustic guitar, but with a longer neck and ...

Al De Lory Alfred V. De Lory (January 31, 1930 – February 5, 2012) was an American record producer, arranger, conductor and session musician. He was the producer and arranger of a series of worldwide hits by Glen Campbell in the 1960s, including John H ...

–

tack piano A tack piano (also known as a harpsipiano, jangle piano, and junk piano) is an altered version of an ordinary piano, in which objects such as thumbtacks or nails are placed on the felt-padded hammers of the instrument at the point where the ha ...

* Jay Migliori – flute *

Jim Horn James Ronald Horn (born November 20, 1940) is an American saxophonist, woodwind player, and session musician. Biography Horn was born in Los Angeles, and after replacing saxophonist Steve Douglas in 1959, he toured with member Duane Eddy for ...

– flute *

Jack Nimitz Jack Nimitz (January 11, 1930 – June 10, 2009) was an American jazz baritone saxophonist. He was nicknamed "The Admiral". Career A native of Washington, D.C., Nimitz started on clarinet in his early teens before playing alto saxophone. Dur ...

–

bass saxophone The bass saxophone is one of the lowest-pitched members of the saxophone family—larger and lower than the more common baritone saxophone. It was likely the first type of saxophone built by Adolphe Sax, as first observed by Berlioz in 1842. I ...

* Lyle Ritz –

string bass The double bass (), also known simply as the bass () (or by other names), is the largest and lowest-pitched bowed (or plucked) string instrument in the modern symphony orchestra (excluding unorthodox additions such as the octobass). Similar ...

* Billy Strange – 12-string lead guitar, overdubbed 12-string lead guitars * Tony (surname unknown) – tambourine

In popular culture

* In many Jewish communities, the Shabbat table song " D'ror Yikra" is sometimes sung to the tune of "Sloop John B" because of its similar meter.

Television and film

*1966 – Dr. Miguelito Loveless, in the TV series ''

The Wild Wild West ''The Wild Wild West'' is an American Western, espionage, and science fiction television series that ran on the CBS television network for four seasons from September 17, 1965, to April 11, 1969. Two satirical comedy television film sequels ...

'' sang a version of this in a duet with Antoinette in the episode titled "The Night of the Raven" (original air date 30 September 1966). *1967 –

Bill Mumy Charles William Mumy Jr. (; born February 1, 1954) is an American actor, writer, and musician and a figure in the science-fiction community/comic book fandom. He came to prominence in the 1960s as a child actor, which included television appeara ...

as Will Robinson and Marta Kristen as Judy Robinson, sang a version of this song in the "Castles in Space" episode of the TV series ''

Lost in Space ''Lost in Space'' is an American science fiction television series, created and produced by Irwin Allen, which originally aired between 1965 and 1968 on CBS. The series was inspired by the 1812 novel '' The Swiss Family Robinson.'' The series ...

'' (original air date 20 December 1967). * – The phrase and melody of "I Want To Go Home" appeared on a

drunk driving Drunk driving (or drink-driving in British English) is the act of driving under the influence of alcohol. A small increase in the blood alcohol content increases the relative risk of a motor vehicle crash. In the United States, alcohol is ...

Public Service Announcement A public service announcement (PSA) is a message in the public interest disseminated by the media without charge to raise public awareness and change behavior. In the UK, they are generally called a public information film (PIF); in Hong Kong, ...

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the wor ...

area television stations in a humorous ad depicting golf balls with the intoxicated driver as the ball rolling erratically and singing the phrase, being pursued by a plain white ball with a single black stripe accompanied by a siren sound effect. *1994 – Featured in the film '' Forrest Gump'', when Forrest first arrives in Vietnam. *1999 – Featured in the closing scene of Season 1, Episode 18 of Aaron Sorkin's '' Sports Night'' (ABC Television) *2000 – In the film ''Glory Glory'', the piano player in the bar is playing "Sloop John B" as the main characters are flirting with the posse. *2003 – In the film ''

Calendar Girls ''Calendar Girls'' is a 2003 British comedy film directed by Nigel Cole. Produced by Touchstone Pictures, it features a screenplay by Tim Firth and Juliette Towhidi, based on a true story of a group of middle-aged Yorkshire women who produc ...

'', the Beach Boys instrumental track is used as the press swoops down on the little village of Knapely after the calendar comes out. *2007 – In the film '' Full of It'', the main character Sam and his family sing the song while driving Sam to school. *2009 – A choral arrangement was performed in episode 3 of the BBC Drama ''All the Small Things''. It was arranged by Colin Hanson-Orr and Chris O'Hara. *2013 – The film '' The Wolf of Wall Street'' prominently features the cover of "Sloop John B" by Me First and the Gimme Gimmes.

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 In sports leagues, promotion and relegation is a process where teams are transferred between multiple divisions based on their performance for the completed season. Leagues that use promotion and relegation systems are often called open league ...

from the

Premier League The Premier League (legal name: The Football Association Premier League Limited) is the highest level of the men's English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Foo ...

in 2009.

Scottish football

The melody of "Sloop John B" has been used as the basis for the " Famine Song", a

sectarian Sectarianism is a political or cultural conflict between two groups which are often related to the form of government which they live under. Prejudice, discrimination, or hatred can arise in these conflicts, depending on the political status quo ...

anti-Irish Catholic song which refers to

Irish migration to Great Britain Irish migration to Great Britain has occurred from the earliest recorded history to the present. There has been a continuous movement of people between the islands of Ireland and Great Britain due to their proximity. This tide has ebbed and fl ...

in the context of the

Great Irish Famine The Great Famine ( ga, an Gorta Mór ), also known within Ireland as the Great Hunger or simply the Famine and outside Ireland as the Irish Potato Famine, was a period of starvation and disease in Ireland from 1845 to 1852 that constituted a h ...

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. Rangers Football Club is a Scottish professional football club based in the Govan district of Glasgow which plays in the Scottish Premiership. Although not its official name, it is often referred to as Glasgow Rangers outside Scotland. The fo ...

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 Celtic Park is the home stadium of Celtic Football Club, in the Parkhead area of Glasgow, Scotland. With a capacity of 60,832, it is the largest football stadium in Scotland, and the eighth-largest stadium in the United Kingdom. It is al ...

in April 2008. Rangers have repeatedly asked their fans not to sing the song. In 2009 Scotland's Justiciary Appeal Court 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

References

External links

* {{The Beach Boys singles 1966 singles 1966 songs Folk rock songs The Beach Boys songs Song recordings produced by Brian Wilson Capitol Records singles Number-one singles in Austria Number-one singles in Germany Number-one singles in Norway Number-one singles in New Zealand Number-one singles in Sweden Number-one singles in Switzerland Number-one singles in South Africa Chamber pop songs Song recordings with Wall of Sound arrangements Tom Fogerty songs Roger Whittaker songs Jerry Jeff Walker songs Dick Dale songs The Ventures songs Relient K songs Barry McGuire songs Gary Lewis & the Playboys songs Jerry Butler songs Simple Minds songs Football songs and chants The Kingston Trio songs The Brothers Four songs Songs about boats Sea shanties Year of song unknown Songwriter unknown RPM Top Singles number-one singles Bahamian songs Folk songs