Merry Christmas From Beatles Songwriting Academy

And so this is... ah skip it... well another year - a few more songs... Merry Christmas Everyone! - hope you had a good year and have an even better year to come. Thanks for the comments and likes, shares and things (especially to everyone on the Forum).

Here's a few Christmas gifts for you all....

Dang I must find out how to make that link work - here it is

And here's more info about Lennon's borrowing on this and other songs

And finally here's a free download of my holiday tune One More Hour With You (A Christmas Song)  more info here

The Strange Tale Of Stewball

Skewball was a racehorse born in England in 1741 who went on to win many races in England and Ireland. His most famous race in Kildare inspired a folk ballad. Over the years the song travelled and mutated as it was taken up by English, Irish & French singers and American slaves turned the ballad into a chain gang song called Stewball. Popular recordings by Leadbelly and Woody Guthrie followed.

The Greenbriar Boys took the lyrics from a Cisco Houston version and added a new tune written by banjo player Bob Yellin. This version was recorded by Peter, Paul & Mary in 1963.

In 1971 John & Yoko released their Vietnam protest song - Merry Xmas (War Is Over) with a melody and chord progression that sounded suspiciously like Stewball with a key change, descant and a refrain added. Though the The Greenbriar Boys's new tune and arrangement means that the song is not in the public domain even now, to my knowledge there has never been any legal challenge over John and Yoko's appropriation of the tune.

 Stewball written by Ralph Rinzler/ Robert Yellin/ John Herald