"Michael row your boat ashore"

[aykcroid]

Some say this is a German folk song pre-dating American civil war. Anyone with info on that?

[TheArizonaghost]

one of the member...Bob Burnett has passed away R.I.P.

[MrDhurandhar]

I had heard this song a long time ego and hoped to find on the u tube,The time I am referring to is 1966 when i was at Saint Joshephs school near Coonoor in Tamilnadu.

[finloy]

It's just to good.

The whistle!

Majestic!

[Sugaree1956]

They have voices sweeter than any sody water. God Bless Them..

[furtrader19]

Mr Gil Robbins passed away today..God Speed....

[furtrader19]

Mr

. Robbins passed away today..God Speed....

[Tonithenightowl]

I'm pretty sure the 3d guy from the left is Gil Robbins, father of actor Tim Robbins. I can see the resemblance very easily.

[chevyvictor]

@chevyvictor Now that is a real good way to teach skool children to live by

[thegreenieye]

Beautiful!!

[dollladie]

My grandfather loved this song! Used to sing it to me often.

[capt777737]

My mom used to sing this, when she took me back to Lander when i was a kid

She died in 1964 I miss her big time,

[ohflubby02]

my dad used to sing this to me as he wrung out the clothes with the mangle when i was only 3.im 53 now.great times back then.

[ohflubby02]

my dad used to sing this to me as he wrung out the clothes with the mangle when i was only 3.im 53 now.great times back then

[H33YGUR1]

lol i just heard about this from my mom, we play this song in orchestra

[mandyraeoflight727]

Dave Fisher is second from the left in a red shirt...RIP Dave...:(

[217789jimbo]

Are you stoned?

[tremsfan]

which one is Dave Fisher ? You might be interested to know that The Tremeloes did a nice version of this in the early-mid 60's before they became well known in the US

[Orbster25]

haha I just learned this as my first melody on the guitar!!!

[MyDeerhunter123]

I recall how my mother used to sing this song to me whenever I got lonely or sad when I was a young one. It sure was a comforting song to hear. I loved my mother's singing. I love her, too. And I will always love her!

[methodistgirl]

This brings so many memories. I grew up with this song since I will

be fifty this year. There will never be another 60s, 70s, or 80s ever

again. Those were magical years and times were no different than

it is now but for two things, You didn't have the technology as we do

now.

methodistgirl

[Hollcall]

R.I.P.--Dave Fisher.

[HisPrinceMichael]

May The True and Living God bless David, Steve, Bob, and Steven!

Thank-you for your beautiful contributions!

[rotory2002]

RIP Dave Fisher, You will be greatly missed and I thank you for all the happiness that you brought me through song. Godspeed to you my friend....

[7855waldo]

Good life you led, there, Mr. Fisher. Thank you.

[rydag11]

This is the one song I sound halfway good singing

[StarWarsObsession42]

I LOVE THE SMOTHERS BROTHERS!!!

[rotory2002]

I saw these guys play at cafe' Lena in Saratoga N.Y. a few years ago and they were the kindest people I have ever met. Simply the best...:)

[MrSailormon]

@rotory2002  - Cafe Lena now that's a blast from my misbegotten youth! I haven't been there in probably 35 or 40 years - brings back a lot of fuzzy memories - spent a lot of time there and over at Yaddo in the late 60's.

[mandyraeoflight727]

@MrSailormon -Yes that was the most fun i've had in years. Dave Fisher and the whole band signed CD's and chatted with us after the show for almost an hour. Great guys and a whole lot of fun..

[Loverboy721]

I never heard of this song till I purchased a DVD by the Cedarmont Kids. They sing it. They also sing Do Lord written by a lady named Julia Ward Howe that wrote Battle Hynm of the Republic.

[ProjectDingmans]

My goat knows the bowling score, hallelujah

[Pooshhead]

lol

[expocule]

i can play this on my trumpet

lot of high notes...

[markse4444]

It is interesting to see how this rowing song which originated with African-American slaves in the Georgia Islands

has been appropriated/adapted by Euro-American baby-boomers since the 1960s.

BTW, I would drop the whistling bit at the end and simply repeat the chorus. I prefer the Seeger original.

[emperor536]

it was a song they sang when the slaves were freed.

Funny how life is eh..but so many people criticize the youths today for 'Freestyle singing/ rap' but this was something as far back as the days of slavery and even further back...remember many african languages are non written languages and even during slavery the majority of slaves couldn't write so they rehearsed songs...not only in the US but also in Brazil, the caribbean search for 'Extempo' it's a West Indian version of freestyle

[iiEatCrayons]

Awesome performance.

I can't help but smile in the middle, when the audience begins to sing along.

[stafylides]

Does anyone know if all members of group are still playing? Thnx!

[Baddoggone]

My brother-in-law & my son's Godfather Michael Curran passed away yesterday & we are playing this song at his memorial. Thanks for sharing this treasure.

God Bless

[Pooshhead]

I'm sorry for your loss God Bless you and Michael's family.

[heydolz]

OMG used to listen to my mum playing this on her record player over and over again -great song

x

[arturamorim]

Hallelujah!

[uwasano8]

良いです

[tagasar]

hello hallo veldig veldig bra

[LjvAudo]

We had a group in the sixtes that sang this in Berkeley was good to hear it again

O to be back in those days. NOT.

Was a very trying time

[chevyvictor]

We use to sing this in Primary skool back when i was 5yrs old LOL. Things have changed, all Politically correct now and not allowed as condoned religious.

[JohnnySplattWadd]

Indeed chevyvictor. This video serves as a living reminder of the better world we used to live in.

[chevyvictor]

@JohnnySplattWadd so very true. i have 6children and i make sure they see values, peace, love and their lives

[stafylides]

Why is that?

[mdunnish]

@chevyvictor My daughter just came home now there are new words to this beautiful song it now is about Martin Luther King kind of sad to me.

[chevyvictor]

The whistle at the end sounds so good too just like 30years ago. Hi from New Zealand

[yesdedhed]

hello chevyvictor from America God Bless Merry Christmas

[zinpgh]

Praise the Lord for the Highwaymen, still singing and going strong. Well done.

[KNOWhereURgoing]

Excellence!

[AllenOption8]

Yes they are original:

L to r: Bob Burnett, David Fisher, Judge Steven Trott, Steve Butts - these guys are still playing and recording and are still awesome!

[wilddavey48]

great lyrics about the destiny of all men !

[savagex466]

keep singing . im 21 . and for some reason this song is BETTER with older mans voice . well done long live ! take care friends :)

[Bhaktigirl]

This song always makes me want to cry, and I'm not sure why....but I love it! :)

[Ciada91]

To you ... my bro Micheal. You were named for this song, and thank god for parent's with enough independence for us all :)

[lumberjavk]

i seen the highwaymen in concert 3 years ago and sang along this song with the audience. i sang along this song when it first came out in 1961 which charted #1 on the billboard charts in the country, and the whole country was singing this tune.this song is a true all time classic

[54spiritedwill54]

great to see this live performance!!!!

[portabellaprincess]

This is a classic, everyone learned this one is grammar school in the seventies, didn't they?

[guitmartiman]

Try the sixties!

[Aristes]

You're right! I couldn't live without carbon filaments, or street lights, and many of our soldiers couldn't live without gas masks. But African slavery was the cheap alternative to the paid/near slave labor they had lost. But it's not just the Africans. Chinese, Arabs, Indians, even caucasians. Africans were just easier to obtain after the Muslims cut off access to Asia.

[bladesmark2]

Very touching indeed,reminds me of my late brother.

[weddingsheep]

we sing this song in school...

[StewedTomato]

I fell in love with this song in the 60's and as a result I named my first baby boy Michael !

[uchihahaha]

so sweet..........:)

[stalwart911]

Praise the Lord...

Thanks for uploading

[angelstears13]

This song is in nintendo DS, in "more brain training". It's my fav in there!

Is this baptist independant?

[SquidSpankerz]

Not Baptist Independant but "The Highwaymen" the original group that made it popular during the early 60's.

[Quester550]

Thank-You, Brings back wonderful memories of youth & my Camp Meeting days.

[elsieluvstopper]

oh my goodness, yes this brings back so many memeories isnt it just fabulous a song about a boat!! er no

[chg657]

Wow...Thanks ! When did this one come out, 1960 or '61 thereabouts? I remember singing it as a kid..

[iotbs6]

It was early 1961.

[Jeph629]

It's a traditional negro spiritual: It "came out" on the order of 500 years ago, or about the time native Africans were enslaved by American and European slave traders.

[bestiaccia]

Very nice!

[justjannie]

This really brings back memories

[dearmalika]

ich lieb dieses lied, fuer mich: wunderbare erinnerungen an koeln und hamburg!

[blair227]

Thanks for this wonderful post and the memories of my youth this brought back.

[JohnnySplattWadd]

Glad you enjoyed it. Alot of teary-eyed folks in the audience after this number.

[cypruschick]

I really like this song - anyone know the story behind it- is it a Bible story?

[JohnnySplattWadd]

It's actually a negro slave hymnal.

[cypruschick]

Hey thanks I didnt know that- makes it more poignant ...

[msnadct]

@cypruschick i dunno but it's great

[mabuab]

@cypruschick  This song originated from Negro slaves living on an island off the Georgia coast--as they rowed to the mainland they sang this song

[xdaphnejx]

This song originally appeared in an 1867 collection called "Slave Songs of the United States". It was heard and notated by Charles Pickard Ware on a boat to Port Royal (Sea Islands). Oar crews (slaves) from different plantations would make up songs that no other boat crew was singing, and this was one of them.

[xdaphnejx]

@cypruschick This song originally appeared in an 1867 collection called "Slave Songs of the United States". It was heard and notated by Charles Pickard Ware on a boat to Port Royal (Sea Islands). Oar crews (slaves) from different plantations would make up songs that no other boat crew was singing, and this was one of them.

[adrysuiza07]

i love this song, michael row the boat ashoooreeee(8)

[bill9729]

One of them is a federal judge now.

[justonegfmt]

an ode to those great folk Masses of the sixties

[cskwan]

Wooo..... The original Highwaymen!! great to see this live performance!!!!

[kuri29]

Thanks...Gracias

Saludos desde Guadalajara Mexico

[Gfritzy]

No one can sing Michael Row the Boat Ashore like the Highwaymen thanks

[Rollin558]

This is a great song. It was a treat to see the originals do it. And they sounded great. Thanks for the post, Johnny.

[JohnnySplattWadd]

All but one of the 5 were the originals. Their bass player passed away & was replaced 20 years ago so I aimed my Kodak mostly at the 4 older gents. Glad you enjoyed it. That's why I put it here. John.

[nucleuscontour]

Actually, not bad at all. Barry in PA.