The 1937 Flood Watch Podcast

About The 1937 Flood Watch Podcast

Each week The 1937 Flood, West Virginia's most eclectic string band, offers a free tune from a recent rehearsal, show or jam session. Music styles range from blues and jazz to folk, hokum, ballad and old-time. All the podcasts, dating back to 2008, are archived on our website; you and use the archive for free at: http://1937flood.com/pages/bb-podcastarchives.html 1937flood.substack.com (https://1937flood.substack.com?utm_medium=podcast)

Publisher

Charles Bowen

Category

music · music

Language

en

Explicit

No

First episode

9 Jun 2022

Latest episode

9 Oct 2026

Latest episodes

286 episodes in the feed.

1. 

   9 Oct 2026

   Michelle’s Magic

   Whenever Michelle Hoge (https://1937flood.substack.com/p/michelle-the-chick-singer-lands-amongst) comes back to visit her old band mates, as she did last week (https://1937flood.substack.com/p/floods-folka-band-does-oktoberfest), this tune (http://1937flood.com/audio/podcasts/floodcast848.mp3) is among the ones we trot out. Just listen to how Michelle’s superb harmonies seal the deal on this song (http://1937flood.com/audio/podcasts/floodcast848.mp3) that Ivory Joe Hunter recorded 77 years ago this month. The Extraordinary Mister Hunter As reported here earlier, (https://1937flood.substack.com/p/i-almost-lost-my-mind) on Oct. 1, 1949, Ivory Joe recorded a 12-bar blues that was released a year later as “I Almost Lost My Mind.” (http://1937flood.com/audio/podcasts/floodcast848.mp3) Topping the 1950 R&B chart, it had sold a million copies by 1956. Hunter’s output — some estimate he wrote more than 7,000 songs in his 60 years — ranged from R&B to blues, boogie-woogie to country music, and he made a name in all of those genres. Uniquely, he was honored at both the Monterey Jazz Festival and the Grand Ole Opry. The Song “I Almost Lost My Mind,” (http://1937flood.com/audio/podcasts/floodcast848.mp3) in particular, has had an extraordinary life. While Hunter’s original interpretation secured its place in R&B history, the composition was destined for an even broader commercial reach. Over the decades, the song has been a vehicle for a diverse array of performers. It has been recorded by jazz artists like Lionel Hampton and Nat King Cole, by country crooners like Hank Snow and Conway Twitty, by pop stars like Connie Francis and Patti Page and rockers like Chubby Checker and Bill Haley, and by R&B players like Fats Domino and Arthur “Big Boy” Crudup. It has also been a darling of instrumentalists Duane Eddy, Billy Vaughn, Jimmy Smith, Roy Clark, Woody Herman and others. For white teens in the 1950s, it was probably best known for Pat Boone’s vanilla version, bridging the gap between traditional rhythm and blues and pristine, mainstream pop sensibilities that defined his career. Entering the Billboard 100 on June 2, 1956, at No. 68, the track immediately signaled strong upward momentum, reaching No. 1 two months later. Boone’s single stayed on the charts for 23 weeks. Click here to read our earlier back story on Ivory Joe Hunter and this song (https://1937flood.substack.com/p/i-almost-lost-my-mind). More from Michelle If this tune has you in the mood to get more Michelle into your Flood Friday, it’s as easy as dropping into the free Radio Floodango (http://1937flood.com/pages/bb-radioflood.html) music streaming service and clicking on the Michelle Channel (http://1937flood.com/pages/bb-Michelle-radioflood.html). We’ve now got ways to mobilize the ol’ Floodanago. Click here to find out how (https://1937flood.substack.com/p/putting-the-flood-in-your-pocket) to put the Flood radio on your computer desktop and on an iPhone so your Flood fix is always just a click away. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit 1937flood.substack.com (https://1937flood.substack.com?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_1)

2. 

   2 Oct 2026

   “Sloop John B”

   Say “Sloop John B” (https://1937flood.com/audio/podcasts/floodcast847.mp3) to most baby boomers and their likely response is, “The Beach Boys!” They’re not wrong. But they’re also not right enough. Not by a long shot. It turns out the tune (https://1937flood.com/audio/podcasts/floodcast847.mp3) that Brian Wilson and his lads put on their beloved Pet Sounds album was decades older than everyone on that room in 1966. About the Song In fact, it was a century ago that “Sloop John B” (https://1937flood.com/audio/podcasts/floodcast847.mp3) — which tells a story from the Bahamas of an ill-fated sea voyage plagued by a drunken crew, fights and legal trouble, leaving a weary sailor just wanting to go home — was collected by poet Carl Sandburg (as “The John B. Sails”) in his hugely popular 1927 collection of folk songs, The American Songbag. Sandburg said he got the song (https://1937flood.com/audio/podcasts/floodcast847.mp3) from a friend, Chicago political cartoonist John T. McCutcheon, who in turn learned it while on holiday with his wife in the West Indies. McCutcheon told Sandburg, “Time and usage have given this song almost the dignity of a national anthem around Nassau.” But the tune (https://1937flood.com/audio/podcasts/floodcast847.mp3) goes back further than that. Ten years before Sandburg published it, British author Richard Le Gallienne (1866-1947) wrote a novel called Pieces Of Eight in which the narrator says at one point, “We sang one of the quaint Nassau ditties.” Then the text records these opening lines: Come on the sloop John B, my grandfather and me, Round Nassau town we did roam; Drinking all night, we got in a fight, We feel so break-up, we want to go home. But our roots quests takes us back even further. Fourteen years before Le Gallienne’s novel came the first published mention of a song (https://1937flood.com/audio/podcasts/floodcast847.mp3) called “Hoist the John B Sails,” sheet music for which (as a “two step for piano”) was released in the U.S. in 1903 by Eddy Warren Prouty, a Massachusetts-based orchestra leader and violinist. In those days, Prouty’s band provided music for hotels owned by oil and railway magnate Henry Flagler. Those properties included two in Nassau, which gives us our link to the Bahamas. Historians think Prouty probably arranged an existing melody for the piece he copyrighted. Writing in Financial Times in 2023, author David Cheal noted, “The Henry Flagler connection has given rise to suspicions in folk-music circles that the ‘John B’ song is not ‘authentic,’ that it was created for the tourism industry. But it tells a true story.” Fact Checking Cheal found evidence of a 19th century vessel that was named after a Welsh captain named John Bethel. It seems that Captain John built the sloop and sailed it until it was wrecked (some versions of the song are named “The Wreck of the John B”), ”though it’s not known if his boat was the scene of the revelry described” in the song. Bahamian singer Blake Alphonso Higgs, who brought the song (https://1937flood.com/audio/podcasts/floodcast847.mp3) back home with his 1952 version, said the sloop called “John B” had been a sponger boat that one day went under with no one returning. Over the years, the popularity of the song and its legend triggered interest in the wreck’s whereabouts. Weathered ribs of the craft were found in the 1920s, remnants imbedded in the Bahamian sands at Governor’s Harbor. Excavated relics were preserved in a watch tower on the coast. Enter Lomax and Seeger Now let’s flash forward to 1935. That’s when folk song collector Alan Lomax flew from Florida to Nassau to record music of the islands. He hoped, Cheal wrote in his Financial Times article, “to capture the authentic spirit of Africa that he believed could be found in the songs, ‘chanteys’ and dances of the islanders, particularly the sponge fishers of Cat Island.” Lomax’s July 1935 field recordings included “Sloop John B” (https://1937flood.com/audio/podcasts/floodcast847.mp3) being sung by the Cleveland Simmons Group in Nassau and is probably the song’s oldest recording. Fifteen years later, Pete Seeger and The Weavers brought the song (https://1937flood.com/audio/podcasts/floodcast847.mp3) to a wider U.S. audience, waxing it for Decca Records in the spring of 1950. Lee Hays, The Weavers’ bass singer and vocal arranger, modified the melody a bit to fit the quartet’s vocal style. Because of his work, the label on the 1950 Decca single officially credited the songwriting/adaptation to Sandburg and Hays (taking advantage of standard copyright practices for traditional folk material at the time). From There… We’re almost up to The Beach Boys’ recording, but the sloop has a few more stops to make on its way to 1966. Eight years after The Weavers’ seminal recording, The Kingston Trio brought the song (https://1937flood.com/audio/podcasts/floodcast847.mp3) into its repertoire. Then along came Johnny Cash who gave it what Cheal termed “a hopalong country-tropical vibe in 1959 under the title ‘I Want to Go Home.’” A year later, British skiffler Lonnie Donegan put his spin on it with a tango rhythm, trombones and strings. Then six years later, Beach Boy Al Jardine, a fan of The Kingston Trio’s rendition, urged the band’s maestro Brian Wilson to let them cover it. Speaking of the version that boomers remember so fondly, Cheal observed, “A hit single from their Pet Sounds album, it is notable for its pin-sharp harmonies and lush instrumentation and also for its a cappella section, unusual for a pop song of the time.” Our Take on the Tune All of which brings us home to Floodlandia. When Jim Rumbaugh (https://1937flood.substack.com/p/honoring-jim-rumbaugh-new-ohio-harmonica) and his sweet wife Donna dropped in at last week’s rehearsal, we drew them into The Flood’s latest project (https://1937flood.com/audio/podcasts/floodcast847.mp3). Listen (https://1937flood.com/audio/podcasts/floodcast847.mp3) to Jim join in singing chorus as well as contributing a cool bit of harmonica on this century-old siren song of the islands. (https://1937flood.com/audio/podcasts/floodcast847.mp3) In Other News, Live Tonight at Bahnhof! By the way, if your Friday night dance card isn’t already full, we hope you’ll take a spin with us. The Flood is pleased to be playing tonight as part of Bahnhof Wvrsthaus & Biergarten’s Oktoberfest fun. We’re playing from 6 ro 9 at the 745 7th Ave. venue in Huntington. And best of all, Floodster Emerita Michelle Hoge (https://1937flood.substack.com/p/michelle-the-chick-singer-lands-amongst) — the original Chick Singer! — is visiting from her Loveland, OH, home and will be sitting in with us for the entire show. Come on down for good food, good tunes and good times. Let’s make memories! This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit 1937flood.substack.com (https://1937flood.substack.com?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_1)

3. 

   25 Sept 2026

   Autumn of ‘63

   In the autumn of 1963, as students were adjusting to a new school year, a song (http://1937flood.com/audio/podcasts/floodcast846.mp3) that hit the charts sparked the imagination of all the aspiring folksingers in our area. Radio stations throughout the Huntington-Ashland-Ironton area 63 years ago this fall seemed to hourly played Bobby Bare’s new song. “500 Miles Away From Home” (http://1937flood.com/audio/podcasts/floodcast846.mp3) had a special local interest, because Bobby is famously one of us. We all knew the young singer/songwriter had been born in 1935 in Ironton, Ohio, where he led a hard-scrabble life. His mother died when Bobby was just five years old, and his father, unable to feed and care for the children himself, was forced to split up the family. By the time he was 15, Bobby was working to help make ends meet, first on a farm and later in nearby factories. At the same time, Bare discovered his love of music and built his own guitar out of a coffee can and a stick. “I got some strings off of a screen door and wired it up,” he once told filmmaker Ken Burns. “I’d sit around and flog on that, you know?” In 1953, an 18-year-old Bobby Bare left Ohio, catching a ride to California and playing music all along the way, earning tips to help pay for the gas. Those days of struggle were much on his mind a decade later when he began crafting his version of “500 Miles.” (http://1937flood.com/audio/podcasts/floodcast846.mp3) Bare, as we reported here in an earlier article (https://1937flood.substack.com/p/500-miles-away-from-home#details), recalled years later how the song (https://1937flood.com/audio/podcasts/floodcast846.mp3) came to him while returning from a gig. “I was driving back from San Diego one night,” Bare told interviewer Gary James. “I was surfin’ the radio and I heard Peter, Paul And Mary singing the old campfire version of ‘500 Miles’ (https://1937flood.com/audio/podcasts/floodcast846.mp3) and I thought, ‘Boy, that’s great!’” As soon as he got home to his North Hollywood apartment — down the street from his sometimes drinking buddy, Glen Campbell — “I got Glen’s album and it was an instrumental. There were no lyrics.” Now the story turns to Bare’s friend Charlie Williams, whom Bobby called up. “I said, ‘Hey Charlie, come over and let’s write some lyrics to this.’” “500 Miles” (http://1937flood.com/audio/podcasts/floodcast846.mp3) put Bobby Bare firmly on the musical map. His version, recorded for RCA, became a Top 10 hit on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100, as well as a Top 5 hit on both the country and adult contemporary charts. (Incidentally, on that same album, Bobby’s take on “Abilene” would influence The Flood’s take on that tune as well (https://1937flood.substack.com/p/abilene).) About the Song As Autumn 1963 rolled on, “500 Miles Away from Home” (http://1937flood.com/audio/podcasts/floodcast846.mp3) had an impact on all those fledgling guitarists who were starting to answer the call to come to folk music. On park benches and in living rooms, at parties and in bars, on school buses and in nascent coffee houses, earnest young singers were sharing those poignant lyrics: Teardrops fell on mama’s note when I read the way she wrote. She said, “We miss you, son. We love you. Come on home.” I didn’t have to pack. I had it all right on my back. Now I’m five hundred miles away from home. Detective Work The more scholarly among those early song-slingers/-hunters wanted to trace the roots of Bare’s source song. Sure, Bobby told that interviewer he had been inspired by a radio broadcast of an “old campfire” song by Peter, Paul and Mary, but where did they get it? As reported here earlier (https://1937flood.substack.com/p/500-miles-away-from-home#details), the composition of “500 Miles” (https://1937flood.com/audio/podcasts/floodcast846.mp3) is generally credited to one of Flood co-founder Dave Peyton’s favorite folksinger, Hedy West (https://1937flood.substack.com/p/dave-peytons-fantasy-girlfriend). (As noted (https://1937flood.substack.com/p/dave-peytons-fantasy-girlfriend), Peyton even brought another of Hedy’s tunes — “Gambling Man” (https://1937flood.substack.com/p/dave-peytons-fantasy-girlfriend) — into the early Flood repertoire.) ”500 Miles” (http://1937flood.com/audio/podcasts/floodcast846.mp3) went on to be covered by everyone from The Kingston Trio and The Country Gentlemen to Sonny & Cher, from The Brothers Four and Elvis to Reba McEntire, Jackie DeShannon and Johnny Rivers. Internationally, it has been recorded in Albanian, Assamese, Bengali, Chinese, Czech, Finnish, French, Germany, Hebrew, Hindi, Indonesian, Japanese, Slovenian, Spanish and Vietnamese. More Flood Folkishness? Meanwhile, if all this folk talk has you wanting more of The Flood’s roots repertoire, drop by our free Radio Floodango (http://1937flood.com/pages/bb-radioflood.html) music streaming feature and click on the Folk Channel (http://1937flood.com/pages/bb-folk-radioflood.html). There you can hear a randomized playlist of more than a hundred tracks recorded by the band over the years. We’ve now got ways to mobilize the ol’ Floodanago. Click here to find out how (https://1937flood.substack.com/p/putting-the-flood-in-your-pocket) to put the Flood radio on your computer desktop and on an iPhone so your Flood fix is always just a click away. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit 1937flood.substack.com (https://1937flood.substack.com?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_1)

Podcast Authority Score: 53 / 100

A composite of feed quality, social presence, YouTube performance and engagement. Read the methodology.

Quality

96

Social presence

0

YouTube

0

Engagement

27

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