[Dixielandjazz] Bagpipes & Amazing Grace

[David Richoux]

A very close match for the Common Meter (eight and six) "Amazing  
Grace/New Britan"  is the theme to "Gilligan's Island" - it works  
well either way (and will drive your audience crazy at first trying  
to figure out what is going on ;-) "Mickey Mouse Club" and "House of  
the Rising Sun" lyrics also work, but not as well... (5 Blind Boys of  
Alabama recently recorded that AG/Rising Sun mix, BTW.)

http://www.andover.edu/english/jgould/singingmuse/sillysets.html

I don't think I have ever heard a bagpipe band doing "Gilligan's  
Island" (and I have heard many!) Maybe the strangest pipe tune I have  
heard was the "Star Wars Medley" done by a New Orleans solo piper.

Dave Richoux


On Aug 13, 2007, at 3:01 PM, TBW504 at aol.com wrote:
> snip Interestingly,
> the now familiar and  traditional melody of the hymn was not  
> composed by
> Newton, and the words were  sung to a number of tunes before the  
> now inseparable
> melody was chanced upon.  They first appear united in a shape note  
> hymnal from
> 1831 called Virginia  Harmony, where the tune is called "New Britain."