Reviewed in Sing Out! (Vol. 42 # 3 p. 155)

SHANGHAIED ON THE WILLAMETTE Weighing Anchor

Shanghaied on the Willamette 101

The duo Shanghaied On the Willamette consists of Jonathan Lay and Gordy Euler and in this, their debut recording, they offer a fine balance of traditional and composed songs drawn from the maritime workers of the Northwest. The ballad "The Star Of Oregon" tells the true story of some green sailors on a ill-fated trip from the Willamette to the Pacific; "Eagle Alley" is a capstan chantey collected in the early1900s; and "Rollin' Down The River" is from the modern commercial shipping trade. While not all technically from the Pacific Northwest, the songs give a good accounting of life on the waves, both fresh and salt, in the days when Oregon and Washington were being settled. Two nice additions are Archie Fisher's lament "Men Of Worth" and the perennial favorite "Old Zeb" from the pen of Larry Kaplan, both of which give the sailor's view of modern industry. Lay and Euler play guitar, banjo, bodhran, whistle and fiddle, and are joined by some talented friends on bass, cello, mandolin and chorus singing. In explaining their name, they note that Portland and Port Townsend were two notorious West Coast shanghaiing ports during the late 1800s - shanghaiing being the practice of abducting men from the waterfront communities to work aboard outgoing ships. You won't have to be shanghaied into enjoying Euler and Lay's music, however: Let's hear more from them. -- MD