Day #30 – Son Of A Son Of A Sailor
Day #30 – Son Of A Son Of A Sailor
Tomorrow marks two months on this earth without Jimmy with us. Today is Halloween, and tomorrow marks the Catholic holiday of All Saint’s Day, and then after that, All Souls Day. I wasn’t raised catholic, but Jimmy was, so I don’t know how he felt about these holidays, but in a worldwide perspective, with the season of Dia De Los Muertos with us, this seems like a perfect time to honor not just Jimmy, but his father and father’s fathers, and all the ancestors in his line, both paternal and maternal. If it was not for them, there would not have been him!
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Original post from 10/1/2023
Day #30 – Son Of A Son Of A Sailor
I have been waiting to share this one, waiting for the right time, and it occurred to me late in the night, the time was now.
This song contains perhaps my very favorite phrase and locale of all time wrapped up in a song … “southeast of disorder”.
It’s been one month today since Jimmy left this big blue ball of a planet that we call Earth, leaving so many people in sorrow and leaving his fans feeling adrift. Left us sailing the seas of our lives without him to help us navigate. So, this song seems the perfect way to honor him, a man who came from generations of seafaring souls.
Son Of A Son Of A Sailor was released on JB’s 1978 album of the same name. He never released it as a single, and I don’t know why… it’s a beautiful song. Certainly, a fan favorite and even people who don’t know much of his music will probably know this one.
“As the son of a son of a sailor, I went out on the sea for adventure, expanding the view of the captain and crew, like a man just released from indenture.”
Jimmy was a “dreamer of dreams” and wrote this song, about himself to some extent, but also to honor the sailors in his family, most especially his fathers’ father, a sailor who left Nova Scotia as a young man, who sailed the seas and eventually made Mobile, Alabama his home. A man who Jimmy wrote other songs about, including The Captain And The Kid, which I shared earlier. Jimmy was incredibly proud of that seafaring heritage, and his father and himself were sailors, Jimmy passed that on to his children, and I believe that pride showed in his love of the sea and his philosophy of life!
Jimmy performed this live on Saturday Night Live in 1978, sitting on a chair with his leg in a cast, propped up on a boat. It was the summer he “broke his leg twice” or thrice, but never stopped the shows, the summer of the You Had To Be There Tour and live album. In pain but with his sense of humor intact, he sang…
“This cast is no blast, but it’s coming off fast, and I feel like I’m pulling a trailer.” Haha!
Over the years he has played this song faster, played it slower, harmonized in maybe his most memorable version with the beautiful Nadirah Shakur, long time Coral Reeferette! He has never stopped playing it, and so I will continue to play it for him.
Please enjoy Son Of A Son Of A Sailor. He recorded many versions over the years, but I have chosen his original studio version to share, and I’ve included the link in the comments below.
And I say to you Jimmy, if you are listening, “Sail on, sail on, Sailor”
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As I said above, if it was not for them, there would not have been him! And I simply cannot imagine my world without Jimmy or his music! So, today and every day, I am grateful for him!
Also, today is the day that I have officially added Reeferette to my Word dictionary, and I am also grateful to Jimmy for giving us that!
Stacy
Please enjoy Son Of A Son Of A Sailor. I have included the link below. Enjoy!
The link is from Jimmy’s official YouTube channel, which I have no personal affiliation with.
