Ken Mansell

The S.S. Vancouver

1965 · Not On Label · Australia

Artist
Ken Mansell
Title
The S.S. Vancouver
Release
Unreleased
Year
1965
Label
Not On Label
Format
Unreleased · Unreleased
Language
English
Country
Australia
Songwriter
Ken Mansell
Genre
Folk · Contemporary Folk
Primary theme
Peace, Protest & Anti-War

Annotation

Australian contemporary folk artist Ken Mansell, active in the protest and labour movement in Melbourne, in the 1960s and 70s. He later wrote several scholarly articles about the history of the movement, including "The Yeast Is Red: A History of the Bakery (Off-Campus Centre of the Monash University Club 1968-71)", for Labour History Melbourne, published April 1994, and "Taking to the Streets against the Vietnam War: A Timeline History of Australian Protest 1962-1972", also for the Labour History Melbourne, published 8 May 2020. Mansell composed the song "The S.S. Vancouver", although no recording has been identified at the moment. The lyrics of this song featured in The Vietnam Songbook published in 1969, and compiled by Barbara Dane and Irwin Silber (founders of Paredon Records) - containing 100+ Vietnam War protest songs, 9 of which came from Australia & New Zealand. According to the notes in the book: "this song was written in 1965 on the arrival of the U.S.S. Vancouver in Australia". The title dropped the "U", leaving just the "S.S.", a reference to the infamous Nazi paramilitary group. The U.S.S. Vancouver (LPD-2) was an amphibious transport dock, commissioned on 11 May…

Annotation by Justin A. Brummer

About the artist

Unreleased. Lyrics featured in "The Vietnam Songbook". Australian artists

Themes

Anti-War · ANZUS

In collections

Australian & New Zealand Songs · Peace, Protest, & Anti-War Songs