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Title: Neat songs from the rough-hewn men who sang them
Review: Recorded in the 40s (in one case by a man preparing to sing before FDR!) the sea songs, chanteys and work songs captured on this CD are sung by the men who learned them first hand in the last days of the great wooden ships. The men are elderly, and their voices are tremulous and faltering, but they are the real thing. The recordings appear to have been made as part of an oral tradition exercise, and are of middling quality, including asides, interruptions and questions from an interviewer. So don't expect the songs to be delivered with pretty accompaniment and manly gusto, but with age and authenticity. A great historical document of a bygone age, though of less interest for casual listening.
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