A fellow forum member posted a private request to see what could be dug up on a 1954 Harry Belafonte recording entitled _MarkTwain_. Thought I'd share the results with the rest of the forum. The info comes from Paul Stamler who found the apparent rare album at a thrift shop last year. _Mark Twain and Other Folk Favourites_, Harry Belafonte, RCA Victor LPM-1022 [1954] According to the liner notes, it was recorded in two sessions, on April 22 and 29, 1954, in RCA Victor's Manhattan Center and 24th St. Studios, under the supervision of Hugo Winterhalter. The only other musician credited is Millard Thomas, guitar. No information on the recording engineer or producer, but the notes mention the use of the "RCA ultra-directional microphone, the newest acoustical development of the David Sarnoff Research Center", being used "to lend clarity and presence to the solo instruments". In other words, it was multi-miked, presumably with one of Harry Olson's ribbon mike designs. It's possible that the master tape was recorded in two-channel format (I'd prefer to reserve the word "binaural" for dummy- head recordings), but this disk was released in mono--at least, my copy was. According to the liner notes the song was composed by Belafonte "for which he delved in Library of Congress files for the theme". The lyrics to _Mark Twain_ are: [Spoken introduction] Many years ago on the Mississippi riverboats, they had men called "gaugers", and the job of the gauger was to hang off the side of the boat with one hand; and in the other hand he had a ball of twine with a hunk of lead on the end of it. He'd wheel the lead around his head and let it fly into the water; wherever the water marked the twine, he'd call up to the skipper and say: Markin' on the twine is four fathoms. 'Course, day in and day out, year after year, this would get pretty monotonous. Until in the 1800s, a little man came along and revolutionized the whole gauging industry. Instead of saying, "Marking on the twine", he said, "Mark twain". And in between each marking, he'd fill it in with a little patter about himself and his everyday life. Well, if you'd been living at that time, coming up from a distance on the Mississippi, it would have sounded like this: Mark twain! Four fathoms off the starboard bow. I got a gal named Cindy Lou, feeds me gin and baked beans too Mark twain. Mark twain! Three fathoms off the starboard bow. I got a friend, his name is Pete, sings dirty songs down on Beale Street Mark twain. Mark twain! Two fathoms off the starboard bow. I been working the river since ninety-two, I get a penny a day and bad liquor too Mark twain. I'm 'a save my money 'til I die, they gonna bury me all but my good right eye Mark twain. Mark twain! No fathoms off the starboard bow! Look out skipper, pull it to the side, you gon' bust your bow and split your hide Oo, good God, we done run aground, skipper gonna chase me with a big bloodhound Mark twain. --Lyrics by Harry Belafonte, from traditional sources. According to Paul Stamler, owner of the LP: The phrase "Mark twain" at the end of each verse is drawn out with an almost laughing sound, becoming "Ma-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha- ark Tw-ain". Incidentally, the writer Twain describes the phrase somewhat differently: in _Life on the Mississippi_, Mark Twain is one of several phrases used, each denoting a different depth. One of them was "Quarter-less-twain", as I recall. I happened to find the album last year at a thrift store. As far as I know, the recording has not been reissued. Thanks to Paul Stamler for sharing his info and transcribing the words from the original recording. Barb