Gloucester, Massachussetts

The Eastern Point Crew gathers for a freindly photo op.

Gloucester has several claims to fame including being the oldest seaport in the US,

 and as the setting for book and the film of the Perfect Storm.

I recently performed in the historic city of Gloucester. I was at the Eastern Point Day School which is located near a beach where you can see Boston in the distance. The school itself is in a fabulous old house situated above a huge rock formation. I wish I could have gone to school in such a setting. The kids, parents, and teachers were maRRRvelous. Special Seafarin' Salutations to Michelle, and especailly Tami!

I was able to tour the city (actually I was lost). While naviagting my way to Eastern Point, I observed that Gloucester is a working seaport... with plenty of  places to get fried calms. There are mansions beside the sea, Cape-style houses, and Colonial-era buildings - all along winding lanes - which makes it it chock full o' charm.

If you haven't been to this Cape Ann city on the North Shore, I would highly suggest you visit. I know I shall return, and dock the Friend Ship in this friendly port.   

Lobster cages by the shore.





Whirly Wind & Whirly Gigs

Twas a whirly wind that took the Friend Ship sailin' 'round the Northeastern United States. Off the starborad of the seaboard, if you will.

Me first port-o-call was the Pearl Rhodes School (perfect for the brother of Pearl the Purple Pirate Princess) in the Pioneer Valley of Massachussetts. It was Dress Like a Pirate Day and nearly all the students and teachers were sporting their seafarin' fashions and in some cases fake facial hair. Of course we sang, jigged, and joked like pirates - RRR! It was also a fundraiser for the Leyden Library, which I'm told, made its gold.

Then I followed the south bound currents to NYC (Enn Why Sea, the Big Apple, Gotham City, the City that never sleeps) for my Broadway Debut. Well, it wasn't exactly 'on Broaway', but an anchor's throw away - the Upper West Side between West End Ave. and Broadway. It was a party for Jolly Josh the Birthday Buccaneer. My back-up singers Talia and Valli were on board too. All the attendees received a treasure box with cookies, doubloons, and a "Give Me an RRR!" CD.

Finally I docked at Fields Elementary School in Connecticut for two rousing shows. The audience was Pre-K to 5th Grade. The older kids were initally sceptical but I eventually won them over. This was further proof that my pirate show works GREAT in schools, even with those unfamilar with me music. Don't tell anybody that me songs are educational and deal with language usage, values, and history, among other subjects. 

So, I'm pleased to tell ye the first (peg) leg of me World Tour was a smashing success. I even broke even - what are the 'odds' on that - haRRRdy haRRR. Special thanks to Stephanie, Betty, Andy, Jessica, Jocelyn, Karla, and Jeff!

Clear the gangplank - more Whirly Gigs are on the way!

April 26th, 1717

295 years ago today, the pirate ship the Whydah encountered a fierce storm, and sunk off the coast of Cape Cod. 28 years ago, Barry Clifford salvaged that same ship from its sandy and briney resting place. 2 years ago, Jim Cunningham, the docent of the Whydah Pirate Museum, decided to sell a CD called "Give Me an RRR!" by Rockin' Ron the Friendly Pirate. In honor of these events I have written a song (mostly accurate) about the ship and its captain. To paraphrase what they say in the biz... "read it, and weep".

1717 (Black Sam Bellamy)

Spoken: come with me to the Golden Age of Pirates…

born in Old England, was Sam Bellamy

he came to Cape Cod across the sea

to see the New World and make a new start

then he saw her face and he lost his heart

to win her hand he went sailing for gold

southward to Florida, he was so bold

but having no luck he went on Account

for pirate treasure stolen or found

These tales they tell-a-me of Black Sam Bellamy

and 1717, hey-ho, 1717

his crew came from countries all over the world

but they had one cause when Roger unfurled

with John Julian, a Honduran man

from Wales, Thomas Davis, hammer in hand

with Hendrick Quintor, African Dutch

of sailing and ships he knew so much

and Little John King - eleven years old

left Mama’s side for pirates and gold

            These tales they tell-a-me of Black Sam Bellamy

and 1717, hey-ho, 1717

the crew had a vote and the Captain was fair

‘cause they signed the Articles, all who were there

when in the Bahamas they spied with their eyes

the galley the Whydah and she was a prize

she was a ship in the Triangle Trade

transporting humans to sell them as slaves

they captured the Whydah, and loot, it was seized

but her crew and her passengers, all were released

           These tales they tell-a-me of Black Sam Bellamy

and 1717, hey-ho, 1717

back to New England for unfinished deeds

the Captain and Whydah they went with such speed

her name was Maria and Sam loved her so

he longed to see her but naught did he know

a wicked nor’easter on April Two Six

took all but a few, turned timber to sticks

went down with his ship – Captain Sam Bellamy

Prince of the Pirates, Robin Hood of the Sea

          These tales they tell-a-me of Black Sam Bellamy

          and 1717, hey-ho, 1717

By RRR Carter © 2012

Pictured below - Whydah Pirate Museum, next to the Whale Watch, Provincetown, MA.

Lights, Camera, RRR!

Hear Ye! Hear Ye! Pirates & Princesses!! You RRR invited to be in

Music Videos with Rockin’ Ron the Friendly Pirate!!!

Matt Richardson of  Bear Pond Productions (photo above), assisted by Nick Stefani will be directing this production with 3 cameras filming 9 songs performed by 100 pirates (and 2 ballerinas). Matt and Nick recently produced a wonderful piece with Itzak Pearlman at the Stowe Performing Arts Center. A historic hand-painted curatin depicting a castle by a bay with a sailing ship, will serve as a visual buccaneer backdrop. I plan to post all of the songs on YouTube and produce a DVD. Because I'll be miming to the songs, I'm thinking of calling the collection "Loose Ships Lip Sync"!  

If ye be on board, pirate costumes, props and signs are not required, but encouraged, and Pirate attitude is mandatory! If you are a Princess -  put on PURPLE... please, oh pretty please with pears, peaches, pumpkins, parsnip, pickles, and peanut butter on top. This is an all ages show 1 - 101 yrs old (that means Buccaneer Babies like Anastasia). Kids bring your parents.  

Songs from the "Give Me an RRR!" CD to be filmed include: I’m the Friendly Pirate, Pearl the Purple Pirate Princess, Aweigh and a Hey, Buccaneer Bounce, Seven C’s, Twinkle Twinkle Little StaRRR, Cranky Pirate, Give Me an RRR!, and FP Dance.

WHEN: Sunday, April 22^nd from 1:00 – 4:00 pm

WHERE: Cambridge Elementary School Gym, Jeffersonville, VT

CONTACT: RockinRonCarter@gmail.com 

The Beatles as buccaneers sailing the sea... or, just naviagting middle C

I know it sounds far-fetched that the fab four would fly the Jolly Roger, but, its true me Buccaneer Beatle Freaks! Well, at least in my mind. The Beatles came from the seaport city of Liverpool, which is mentioned in many maritime songs. The seaport influence on the Beatles is pointed out  in the liner notes of the Rogue's Gallery CD - a collection put together by Gore Verbinski and Johnny Depp, and featuring Bono, Bryan Ferry, Sting, Lou Reed, Nick Cave, and others (note: this is not a kids CD).

The notes intimate that John Lennon in particular betrayed this buccaneer influence, at least melodically and harmonically. I they're refering to Norwegian Wood with its dorain scale chord progression, and Working Class Hero in the minor key. Try to think of these songs being sung in a dockside tavern with a mug o' grog at hand.

Then there's Macca. Paul McCartney recorded with a guitarist named Mick Green, who originally played with a band called Johnny Kidd and the Pirates. OK, me hearties, I know that's pretty skimpy evidence. So, I ask you to consider the song Morse Moose and the Grey Goose written with Denny Laine, from the London Town album. Here is one of the verses:

     she flew into the stormy
     Davy Jones was callin' me
     but headin for tranquility
     the Grey Goose flew away

Also, Paul's Beatle classic Blackbird is begging for a 'Blackbeard' parody. Alright, I've already written one. More about that in a future blog.

What about the Quiet Beatle? George Harrison, as it turns out, was not so quiet. He recorded a silly chantey with Monty Python called The Pirate Song with these lines "I have a Jolly Roger, its black and wide and vast" and "I sail the BBC". You can find it on YouTube.

Last, but not least, we have Ringo. Octopus's Garden! Need I say more? Octopus collect shiny objects and put them outside their caves. In an anthropormorphic sense, they are making a sculpture garden. Ringo brought forth a sunken treasure with that gem of a song.

Hey, I gotta go and "rest my head on a sea bed".

A BUCCANEER’S BACK STORY

Why do I call myself Rockin’ Ron the Friendly Pirate? Let’s break it down: Rockin’ is about music, attitude, and a ship’s motion on the sea; Ron is the name given to me by my mother; Friendly means thoughtful and nice; and finally, Pirate is a daring, fun-loving, and costume wearing purveyor of nautical-themed mischief. But why do I wear the patch above my eye? It is non-threatening to little children, it is less cliché than wearing it on me eye, I get dizzy when I wear it over me eye for an extended period of time, and it looks silly on my nose.

Isn’t the name Friendly Pirate an oxymoron, like the term Jumbo Shrimp? Yes, it is an oxymoron (just don’t call me a moron, unless you want ‘MORE Ron’ – haha). Generally, pirates are defined as thieves on a body of water. There have been pirates as long as people have been sailing. The pirates we are most familiar with in Western Culture are those from the Golden Age of Piracy when the European Powers were dividing up the spoils of the New World. Listen to my song "Pirates and Privateers" to hear about some of the Golden Age Pirates. Anyway, I talk and sing like a Pirate (no bad words of course), and I also dress and dance like a Pirate, but the only thing I want to steal is your heart! 

What about me family, you ask? Me pappy Renaldo makes locks for Treasure Chests. His locks are so fancy and so expensive, he has to give away the keys at no extra charge. So, they call him the "Free-key Pirate". Me mum Penelope loves tropical fruit such as oranges, bananas, and pineapple (her favorite). So ,they call her the "Fruity Pirate". The union of “Free-key” and “Fruity” produced “Friendly”, and my sister Pearl the Purple Pirate Princess (huh?). Other family includes my cousin named Silver Long Johns, who is known as the Cranky Pirate. I have pets - Polly Esther Pants, Scurvy Dog, and Scaredy Cat.

How did we end up in Vermont? Well, it is close to the St. Lawrence Seaway, but the real reason is that me mum, the "Fruity Pirate", heard that Vermont has pineapple trees. At first, she was disappointed that there were no pineapple trees... but there are pine trees and apple tress. So, we docked the Friend Ship and dropped anchor.

One last question. Am I the famous jazz bassist Ron Carter? No, but he did release an album called Peg Leg – haha!

Maiden Voyage & First Review

Unfurl the sails and unleash the adjectives! Its time for the first Avast Ye Pirates Blog from yours truly, Rockin' Ron the Friendly Pirate. As I say in my song 'FP Rap (Pirates on Board Go RRR!)', "I don't have a sword and I don't have a knife, I roll like a Pirate but I roll real nice". What I mean is that I am family-freindly fellow, but by jove, I'm also a Pirate. On this Blog I will explore various topics related to the world of Pirates. Below is my first review, which I posted on Amazon. Until next time... Fair Winds & Following Seas.  

Roger McGuinn's CCD gets an A!, February 24, 2012

By Rockin' Ron the Friendly Pirate

This review is from: Ccd (Audio CD)

As a singing pirate, the first buccaneer ballad that inspired me was Roger McGuinn's `Jolly Roger'. I then discovered sea-faring songs buried like treasure on Byrds' albums. Soon, `John Riley' and Jack Tarr the Sailor (which closely resembles `Go to Sea Once More' from CCD) also became favorites.

Therefore, me timbers shivered with excitement when I read in Mojo magazine that the legendary Mr. McGuinn was releasing an album of sea chanteys. I alternately like and dislike the title CCD. The pun of sea and `c' is nifty, but referring to a transitory format is naught. That is my only quibble.

McGuinn has created a sumptuous sounding group of songs. Acoustic guitar is to the fore (foci's) and he uses what sounds like electric guitar for texture on several tracks. Banjo is also prominent, but it is never overbearing and it fits the material perfectly. He sings the songs with a sailor's knowing and his trademark harmony vocals are the breezes that fill the sails.

Most of the songs will be familiar to maritime music buffs. `Drunken Sailor', `Let the Bullgine Run', and `Spanish Ladies' are among the 23 traditional songs on board. Two of the songs have new music and lyrics by McGuinn. My favorite song is `Back to Sea' with the rousing line, "her topsail's blowing free".

A reason to buy the CD of CCD is the sleek and classy package. Along with ship images and a picture of the artist, there are annotations for all the songs.

If you are a fan of sea chanteys, folk music, the Byrds, and of course, McGuinn's solo work, you will love CCD! Jolly GREAT Roger!!!