John
has produced
recordings for labels as wide-ranging as Columbia
Records and the National
Geographic Society. A pioneer of
professional multitrack
recording and production,
he designed and built the first
12-track
recording studios
in both New
York and San Francisco and still writes extensively on the recording
business.
As founding president
of The Confederate
Naval Historical Society,
he
received the first-ever Federal
award for leading an F.B.I.
investigation and prosecution
of looters of historic sunken ships under the
federal Abandoned
Shipwrecks Act.
Former program developer
at The
Mariners' Museum
in Newport News, Virginia and New York's South
Street
Seaport Museum,
his research papers have been published by the Society
for
Historical
Archaeology, Mystic
Seaport Museum,
and the U.S. Naval Academy.
He has been officer, crew, performer and instructor aboard historical
tall ships
in the U.S., Canada, and Europe, including Polish staysail schooner Zawisza
Czarny
and Washington,
D.C.'s Baltic trader Alexandria.
More tales and details here: Houseplant Studio interview...
NEW: Couch Concert VIDEOS and MUSIC on YouTube!
EVEN
NEWER!! : album release from Berlin: The
Old Sailor !!
And newer
than THAT!!!:
The Sailor and the Mermaid
Music
CDs and Videos by John Townley
The Sailor and the Mermaid (2021 CD)
The
Old Sailor (2020 CD)
A
Chesapeake Sailor's Companion (CD
listen)
A Chesapeake Sailor's Companion (CD notes)
The Starboard List (CD)
Classic Maritime Music (CD)
An Invitation To Cry: The Best Of The
Magicians (CD)
O Glory: The Rev. Gary Davis
Apostolic Studio Sessions (CD)
Concertina Tutor (DVD) Seaman's
Fantasy (DVD)
Concertina
and Accordion Repair (DVD)
for recording buffs...the story of pioneering Apostolic Studios, where
Frank Zappa recorded Lumpy Gravy
and Uncle
Meat... and for
astro-songwriters...the magical, mystical Harmony
Crystal
1966 Magicians' CBS "Four
To Go" TV
special, parts 1,
2, 3...
Podcasts:
and our own
new music and tales podcast
page, featuring
The
Solitary Seaman's Band
...and
from the
Bicentennial,
the complete original album, featuring the drinking song that
became
"The
Star Spangled
Banner..." available in digital form from Adelphi Records...
...just
back in circulation...the complete
maritime album...
...all fifteen cuts, free -- listen,
download and enjoy... ------>>>>
...plus ten more recorded in Poland, just added, featuring...
The
Warsaw Mermaid!
Most of these are now available, with
pop-level remastering, on Lillipoppe Shoppe
Records as The Sailor and The Mermaid...
...and suddenly,
for the first
time, the Merseyside recordings of the
performing
crew of the Polish 140-ft staysail schooner
...a sixteen-cut musical documentary of her voyage, along with a forty-day
journal with photos!
Just
rereleased, the original
Liverpool recording of the group that
started and still leads the Polish shanty movement today, all
seventeen cuts ...
Rare never-realeased
pop album with Jay
Ungar, Lyn Hardy, John Townley and more, from the Apostolic archives,
to be out soon in blue vinyl and CD on Lolliop Shop Records, Berlin,
Germany:
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