Shrimp Boats

"Shrimp Boats" was a popular song in the 1950s.

It was written by Paul Mason Howard and Paul Weston and published in 1951. The original sheet music was arranged by Hawley Ades.[1]

Charting versions were recorded by Jo Stafford (Weston's wife)[2] and Dolores Gray. It was also recorded by Claude Gray (a country music singer) in 1963, and by Pete Fountain, Abdullah Ibrahim, The Orioles, and Buddy Tate.

The recording by Jo Stafford was made in July 1951 and released by Columbia Records as catalog number 39581, with the flip side "Love, Mystery, and Adventure".[3] It first reached the Billboard chart on November 9, 1951, and lasted for 17 weeks on the chart, peaking at number 2.[4]

The recording by Dolores Gray was released by Decca Records as catalog number 27832, with the flip side "More! More! More!" It first reached the Billboard chart on November 30, 1951, and lasted 6 weeks on the chart, peaking at number 25.[4] A British version was recorded by Billy Cotton and his band, also in 1951. A Yiddish parody by Mickey Katz, entitled "Herring Boats", was also recorded.[5]

  1. ^ Catalog of Copyright Entries: Third series. Copyright Office, Library of Congress. 1952. p. 248.
  2. ^ Marvin E. Paymer (July 1993). Facts behind the songs: a handbook of American popular music from the nineties to the '90s. Garland Pub. p. 271. ISBN 978-0-8240-5240-9.
  3. ^ "COLUMBIA RECORDS (USA), 78rpm numerical listing discography 39500 - 40000". 78discography.com. Retrieved 3 May 2021.
  4. ^ a b Whitburn, Joel (1973). Top Pop Records 1940-1955. Record Research.
  5. ^ "Freedman Catalogue lookup: work Herring boats are coming with bagels un lox". digital.library.upenn.edu. Retrieved 2021-11-12.