The Cremation of Sam McGee Recited by Robert Service

[tinkerbell2u2]

Wonderful !!! ~ Thank you !!!

[SeannyOConnor]

This poem was recited by my friend at the opening campfire every week at the Boy Scout camp I worked at over the summer. I can't think of a more perfect campfire story. It's always amazing to hear the poet recite their own work; to hear the poem as they intended it be read.

[stressstress99]

This is Sparta!

[clearly]

Great stuff, love it!

[Baneoverlord]

How fantastic!

[ncbeachladybug]

If you will go to the Robert Service homepage, you will find this and some other pieces he recorded.

[puppyluv554445]

I have to remember this hole poem for ELA by friday \:

[beauch]

Didn't know that Robert W. Service so liked his dramatic flair!

[Sarahbeth32297]

I was freakin' out because I had to memorize it for a class by tomorrow and I sorta forgot! I'm abusing the replay button hoping to memorize it!

[john9944]

That God there was recording of Service reciting this masterwork as well as Dan McGrew. I only wish there was a recording of Ernest Thayer doing Casey at the Bat. This is a great post.

[melcina]

Thanks so much for sharing this. We grew up with my dad reading Service to us and have always loved them. It's so neat to hear the Poet actually read his own works!

[frankiejo6988]

@melcina - I grew up with my dad reading Robert Service to me and always loved it, also. Although my dad's been gone for about 8 years I still feel such a connection, to him listening to this masterwork, in Service's own voice. My dad would have absolutely LOVED this.

[DonQuixote109]

This is one of my favourite poems. Epic, serious, but lighthearted, too.

It's great to be able to hear the author present it with his own meter and enthusiasm/emphasis.

Mr. Cash's presentation is good, too, but the life Robert Service injects into the work is captivating.

Thank you for sharing this with us.

[45dartagnan]

Over 30 years ago i was coming home from work .Caught in rush hr traffic, I heard Burgess Meredith Reciteing The Cremation of Sam McGee over the radio. I loved it so much that it has been on my mind for years. I never ever heard it again. I have read it hundreds of times but never stoped looking for the reciteing by Burgess. Can someone please help me in my 30 years + quest?

[handsomechapxxx]

Great stuff-such enthusiasm Thanks

[Fretkillr]

A nice read by it's author but wouldn't it have been great if Boris Karloff, the narrator of "How The Grinch Stole Christmas", recorded this one?

[jajaja69nyc]

this is the best rendition of this poem on YT (of course!) I heard it from my Scoutmaster Bob Carpenter in NJ, 50 years ago, who did a very dramatic version at the campfire - quite electrifying. I proceeded to memorize it and give my own versions to my friends. My scoutmaster's phrasing is very, very much like R.W. Service's here. I think he must have heard Service recite it, or maybe heard a recording of Service.

[streetwhereulive]

Sam McGee is my absolute favorite! Thank goodness someone had the forethought to save his voice. Thanks for posting this.

[gypo53]

Yes, this is an actual recording recited by Robert Service himself. The record was first introded at the Robert Service Exhibit at the Alaska'67 Centenial Exposition at Fairbanks Alaska. Will try to post more recordings, which include Surtax, Toilet Seats, Distracted Druggist, The Three Bares. etc.

[dtmcintyre]

@gypo53 How can I obtain a copy of this?

[Tomhenrygiles]

does anyone else think he sounds a bit like dan castellaneta?

[oggendoggen2]

Does anyone have 'Tragic O'Hara?' I can't find it anywhere...

[normalil]

Vinial100, I would love to know the results of your query.

[Dhbrydon]

I had the great pleasure of meeting Robert Service in Monte Carlo in around 1947-8, he had lived in France since after WW1 when he had married a Frenchwomen

[vinial100]

in that case you may have met his daughter Iris, who by that time had two daughters Anne & Armelle

[bhunter89]

This is horrible, to assume this is Robert Service is a curse upon his good name.

[Walt4]

this is not Robert Service. Robert Service was my uncle, there is no know audio recording that my family knows of. This is a fraud.

[vinial100]

hi, im curious as to who you are becasue robert service is my great grandfather. my mother (robert service's grand daughter) died many years ago and the only family on my mothers side which i am aware of is her sister who we (myself and my siblings) have no contact with. i am intrested in finding more more of my family from my mothers side.if you could please write back it would be much appreciated.

[NHL245564]

haha. i doubt that Walt4 has anything to do with Robert service.

[tjnadrie]

Why cant he be? I am. my grandmother was a Service

[Plans4Nobody]

so, is the recording authentic, or not? has gypo53 responded? is there a Service family member with the middle initial "T" (OK, the last question wasn't really serious, but the other two were...)

[tjnadrie]

Realy? he was also my uncle some odd times removed. My Grandmother was a Service.

[vinial100]

if Robert Service was your Uncle did you know his daughter Iris?

[depressed0hyes]

That's fuckin siiick.

[existential]

What a combination: poet, storyteller, actor. Robert Service excells in all three.

[samanthaellis]

Is that actually Robert Service?

[Westernchaos]

wonderful

[fungdar]

Amazing, Its so cool to hear the poem recited exactly the way the author wanted

[Tahllulah]

Ohhh! What a treasure! Thank you for posting.

[Urgelt]

Fascinating. He reads it differently from what I expected. Still seems to be in the "tale tale" mode, and it's agreeably lighthearted, as I'd imagined, but it almost approaches "blase" at times, as though he was a little sick of it. Perhaps he was; by that point in his life he must have read it thousands of times to audiences.