RIP Pete Seeger

quote:

---

Jim Rockford
RIP Pete Seeger

---

quote:

---

"The Bells of Rhymney" is a song first recorded by folk singer Pete Seeger, using words written by Welsh poet Idris Davies. The lyrics to the song were drawn from part of Davies' poetic work Gwalia Deserta, which was first published in 1938. The work was inspired by a local coal mining disaster and by the failure of the 1926 General Strike and the "Bells of Rhymney" stanzas follow the pattern of the nursery rhyme "Oranges and Lemons". In addition to Rhymney, the poem also refers to the bells of a number of other places in South Wales, including Merthyr, Rhondda, Blaina, Caerphilly, Neath, Brecon, Swansea, Newport, Cardiff, and the Wye Valley.

Two decades after Gwalia Deserta was published, Seeger used one part of the work as lyrics for his song "The Bells of Rhymney" after discovering them in a book by Dylan Thomas. The song was first released as part of a suite of songs, including "Sinking of the Ruben James" and "There Was an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Fly", on Seeger and Sonny Terry's 1958 live album, Pete Seeger and Sonny Terry.

---

quote:

---

Arguably the most famous rendition of the song is the version recorded by the American folk rock band The Byrds. The Byrds' recording of "The Bells of Rhymney" was committed to tape on April 14, 1965 and released as part of the band's debut album, Mr. Tambourine Man.

---

quote:

---

Although The Byrds were anxious to correctly pronounce the Welsh place-names in the song's lyrics on their recording, they actually mispronounced the name Rhymney as "Rimney" (it should be pronounced as "Rumney").

---