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I have known this song since childhood and always enjoyed it. It could also often be heard being sung by the great and famous on the radio at the back end of the 1940's. I did not take into my repertoire however, until coming across it Folk Songs of the British Isles. It originates from a Cecil Sharp collection and is a jolly account of an arduous young man wooing a charming young captain's daughter who had been taught always to say "No" as a defence against masculine wiles. Our hero is up to the mark by wittily conducting a conversation such that even when the girl always says "No", matrimony is the final result.
"Oh, no, John!" has been recorded by:
Paul Robeson on "Paul Robeson" CD(s) & MP3 Album(s)
The Oxford New College Choir on "Early One Morning"
The Oxford New College Choir on "The Peace Arch Concerts"
Geoff Grainger on "Manifold Love"
Roy Henderson on "Roy Henderson - Centenary Release"
Roy Henderson on "Great Voices of the Century- Paul Robeson"