Sea shanties in "Roots" (1977)

Part 1 of the miniseries "Roots" (1977), set prior to the American Revolutionary War, featured the brig "Unicorn." To give it a proper maritime feel, I suppose, they included two shanties (chanteys):

"Haul the Bowline"

"Haul Away, Joe"

These short-drag shanties don't match, however, any of the tasks we see the men doing. Oh well!

Incidentally, a few years later an excellent album was released with Tom Sullivan leading a crew on the very same vessel, in actual work while chanteying, "Salt Atlantic Chanties" (Folkways, 1980).

Category:

Music

Tags:

• sea
• shanties
• roots
• slave
• ship
• brig
• unicorn
• haul
• away
• joe
• bowline

[Varangian1915]

The ship in the beginning is shown as having all the sails unfurled, but then the close up after the shot of Ralph Waite shows them unfurling another sail. Does not make sense- the furled up sail is not shown in the prior shot.