Keep Hauling (Music from the Movie)

Thirty years ago a group of friends – some actually fishermen – got together on the Platt (the hard ground by the harbour beach) in Port Isaac, Cornwall, to sing sea shanties and raise money for local charities. The Fisherman's Friends were spotted, got a record deal, went on to play Glastonbury and made it into the Top Ten.

Keep Hauling is a heart-warming feature film based on their unlikely tale. The Friends are scarcely seen, but they are certainly heard. Returning to St Kew church (where they made their first, self-produced album) they recorded 17 songs, which are woven through the film. And here they are. Most are sea shanties, which they sing full-heartedly, the strong Cornish male voice choir and chapel singing traditions apparent in their relish of harmony and embellishment. The very familiar – ‘(What Shall We Do With the) Drunken Sailor’, ‘Blow the Man Down’ – are interspersed with the interesting and unusual – some of the lyrics of ‘John Kanaka’, for instance, are in Hawaiian.

Among the shanties are particularly Cornish songs. ‘The ‘Trelawny’ National Anthem’, also known as ‘Song of the Western Men’, is considered Cornwall's national anthem and threatens rebellion (which has happened, more than once). ‘Little Liz I Love You’, is American, brought back by Cornish miners; full of harmonic opportunity, it's a favourite in pub sing-songs in Cornwall. ‘Widow Woman’ is about Port Quin, abandoned after the fishing fleet foundered and the entire male population of the village drowned. That strikes a rare sombre tone; Keep Hauling is joyous, raucous and ribald. Fisherman's Friends are in fine voice, enjoying themselves and, as they might say, ‘givin' un bell tink.’