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(as of 2025-07-11)

NOTE: RIV 1062 - Silent Night does not appear in its proper location in this listing because it had to be split up into several smaller downloads. It is currently by far the top download for the year 2019!

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May Releases

Posted on Wednesday May 28, 2025

It's almost the end of May, but we do have seven new releases for you, including three new patters:

• RIV 1459 - Oktoberfest Is Coming (Vocal by Jason Raleigh)
• RIV 1458 - Dancing In The Street (Vocal by Stephen Noseck)
• RIV 1457 - Down To The River To Pray (Vocal by Dean Black)
• RIV 1456 - God Only Knows (Vocal by Renee Ruud, courtesy of Fine Tune / Gold Wing Music)
• RIV 1455 - Take Me Home (Patter)
• RIV 1454 - Pinecone (Patter)
• RIV 1453 - Happy Farmer, The (Patter)

"God Only Knows" was by the Beach Boys in 1966, and Renee makes another guest appearance to lend her vocals to it. "Down To The River To Pray" is an old spiritual song dating back to before the Civil War. "Dancing In The Streets" is a 1965 song from Martha and the Vandellas, while "Oktoberfest Is Coming" has a polka beat that'll liven up your fall parties!

We've released a number of patters based on classical music: Ode To Joy and Fur Elise to name a couple. "The Happy Farmer" (also known as "The Merry Peasant") comes from Robert Schumann's 1848 "Album For The Young," composed for his three daughters. The melody was used as the basis for a number of popular songs, such as "Red Wing," as well as part of the score for the 1939 movie "The Wizard Of Oz." Undoubtedly, you'll recognize it!

Several of our staff callers will be at the National Square Dance Convention in Shreveport next month, and at the USAwest Convention in Spokane the following month. Look us up!

April Releases

Posted on Wednesday April 23, 2025

Our April releases are here! Three patters and four singing calls make up this batch:

• RIV 1452 - Gold Rush Town (Vocal by Tim Tyl)
• RIV 1451 - I Can See Heaven (Vocal by Renee Ruud of Fine Tune Gold Wing Music)
• RIV 1450 - Campfire On The Trail (Vocal by Scott Coon, Steve Edlund, Brent Mawdsley)
• RIV 1449 - Yesterday's Gone (Vocal by Steve Edlund, Brent Mawdsley)
• RIV 1448 - Gonna Be (Patter)
• RIV 1447 - Ring Those Bells (Patter)
• RIV 1446 - Great Escape Patter, The

Brent Mawdsley has been busy, and has supplied harmony/background vocals on two of the four singing calls this month. We have a nice gospel number from Fine Tune / Gold Wing's Renee Ruud, and Tim Tyl gives us one of his trademark fast-paced humorous songs. Be sure to check out our patters this month, especially The Great Escape!

Memorial Day is coming up next month, so if you haven't already, check out our patriotic-themed patters and singing calls. They're listed under 4th of July, but they're good for any patriotic holiday...especially the one where we acknowledge all those who have fallen while serving their country.

March Releases

Posted on Wednesday March 26, 2025

March is nearly over, but we have six new releases for you: three patters, and three singing calls, including one re-release from the classic Red Boot library

• RIV 1445 - Dancing Through Life (Vocal by Larry Marchese)
• RIV 1444 - I Ain't Never (Vocal by Ted Kennedy; formerly RB 3061)
• RIV 1443 - Make A Little Magic (Vocal by Brent Mawdsley, with backgrounds by Heather Reynolds)
• RIV 1442 - Gonna Be (Patter)
• RIV 1441 - Tomahawk Patter
• RIV 1440 - After Thought (Patter)

"Make A Little Magic" is a 1980 song by the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, from the album of the same name. "I Ain't Never" was written by Webb Pierce and Mel Tillis and released by Pierce in 1959, then later by Tillis in 1972; both versions were hits. And Larry Marchese pulls "Dancing Through Life" from the stage play and recent motion picture musical Wicked to give us something fresh.

Please keep the family of the recently departed Tom Miller in your thoughts. Tom was a staff artist for ESP Recordings, but he lent his vocal to four titles in the Riverboat library: "Follow That Dream," "Please Help Me I'm Falling," "Say Hello" (with his great friend Bill Harrison), and "The Girl With Gardinias In Her Hair."

Our good friend Elmer Sheffield, Jr. also passed away, last month. Elmer was the owner and producer of ESP Recordings, but he had a hand (or throat) in nearly 70 Riverboat titles, including some that he originally recorded for Red Boot Records. Elmer may be gone,  but ESP is still going and still producing quality square dance music.

The 50th CALLERLAB convention is coming in April. Some of our staff will be attending. Please say hello, and let them know if you like our music!

January Releases

Posted on Thursday January 30, 2025

January is almost over, but we have eight new releases. Three are patters, and five are singing calls, including one re-release from the classic Red Boot library:

• RIV 1439 - Long Haul (Vocal by Brent Mawdsley)
• RIV 1438 - Hawaiian Wedding Song (Vocal by Scott Coon)
• RIV 1437 - Stay (Vocal by Stephen Noseck)
• RIV 1436 - 39 And Holding (Vocal by Ted Kennedy; formerly RB 3073)
• RIV 1434 - Two Sleepy People (Vocal by Linda Rawlinson)
• RIV 1433 - Magnificent Seven (Patter)
• RIV 1432 - Simple Patter
• RIV 1431 - Help me (Patter)

We welcome Scott Coon and Stephen Noseck to our Riverboat staff. Scott's first tune is Elvis Presley's "Hawaiian Wedding Song" from the movie "Blue Hawaii," while Stephen brings us "Stay," made famous by Maruice Williams and the Zodiacs. (Although this rendition leans more toward Jackson Browne.) "Two Sleepy People" was conceived as the followup to Bob Hope and Shirley Ross' Academy Award-winning "Thanks For The Memory" in 1938, and was a hit for Fats Waller that same year; Linda Rawlinson follows Shirley's example of performing both songs. And, of course, "Magnificent Seven" is the title song for the motion picture of the same name, from the hand of the incomparable Elmer Bernstein, who wrote so many memorable movie themes.

Groundhog Day is coming up...do you have a Groundhog Day song? I do...but I can't mention it here because it's not on Riverboat! Check out our love songs for Valentine's Day, instead! (See our Themes page, under Holidays.)

December Releases

Posted on Friday December 20, 2024

Merry Christmas! We have a bunch of releases for you, just before Santa makes his yearly run:

• RIV 1430 - I Fought The Law (Vocal by Mike Seastrom of Rhythm Records)
• RIV 1429 - I'm A Little Bit Lonely (Vocal by Heather Reynolds)
• RIV 1428 - Tennessee Wagner (Patter)
• RIV 1427 - Memory Lane (Vocal by Brent Mawdsley)
• RIV 1426 - Carolina In The Pines (Vocal by Adam Christman of Rhythm Records)
• RIV 1425 - Happiness Starts With A Smile (Vocal by Lawrence Johnstone)
• RIV 1423 - Swingin Doors (Vocal by Ted Kennedy)
• RIV 1422 - Thanks For The Memory (Vocal by Linda Rawlinson)
• RIV 1421 - Erin Tennessee (Vocal by Jack O'Leary of Silver Sounds Music, and Renee Ruud)
• RIV 1420 - Orange Blossom Special (Patter)
• RIV 1419 - Oklahoma Land Rush (Patter)

Erin Tennessee is a song about an Irishman coming to America and finding love in a small town, so you might think about it for St. Patrick's Day in a couple of months. Memory Lane is from a 2024 song by Old Dominion, while Swingin Doors was a Red Boot Star release based on a Merle Haggard and Willie Nelson song. And, of course, Thanks For The Memory won the Academy Award for Best Original Song in 1938, after Bob Hope and Shirley Ross sang it in The Big Broadcast Of 1938.

We also have a few new vocal tracks on older releases. Jason Raleigh provided a new yodeling vocal on RIV 368 - Climbing Them Golden Stairs, and Heather Reynolds added her take on RIV 1287 - Gone Gone Gone. Also, Dean Black adds a male vocal on last month's release of RIV 1414 - Boxcar Blues. As always, if you've purchased one of those titles and would like the new track, please contact Bob Elling directly.

We'll see you in the new year! (And don't forget RIV 1217 - Bringing In A Brand New Year or RIV 621 - Auld Lang Syne for New Year's Eve!)