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Top Downloads
(as of 2023-11-28)

All TimeLast 12 MonthsLast 30 Days
  1. RIV 242 - Fur Elise (Patter)
  2. RIV 347 - Ode To Joy
  3. RIV 1015 - Lone Ranger (Patter)
  4. RIV 524 - You Raise Me Up
  5. RIV 615 - Bollywood Patter
  6. RIV 295 - Fuji Mountain Breakdown (Patter)
  7. RIV 506 - Mariah
  8. RIV 805 - Queen Of The Dance (Patter)
  9. RIV 1022 - Boogie Sticks (Patter)
  10. RIV 403 - Good Bad Ugly (Patter)
  1. RIV 1257 - Barrels Of Fun (Patter)
  2. RIV 1214 - Hot and Spicy (Patter)
  3. RIV 1267 - Smooth Santanna Patter
  4. RIV 1282 - Dragon Fire (Patter)
  5. RIV 1273 - Scarborough Fair
  6. RIV 1252 - An Irish Lullaby
  7. RIV 1121 - Be Our Guest
  8. RIV 1249 - Hot Cocca (Patter)
  9. RIV 1233 - Irish Countryside (Patter)
  10. RIV 1261 - Trombone Song (Patter)
  1. RIV 1311 - Santa's Sleigh Ride Patter
  2. RIV 1312 - Dueling Jingle Bells Patter
  3. RIV 1326 - Navidad (Patter)
  4. RIV 1310 - Carol Of The Bells Patter
  5. RIV 1323 - Dominique
  6. RIV 1039 - Holiday Patter
  7. RIV 1331 - Stumble (Patter)
  8. RIV 1015 - Lone Ranger (Patter)
  9. RIV 1214 - Hot and Spicy (Patter)
  10. RIV 1223 - Hawaiian Christmas (Patter)

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!

book cover Lois Elling

Now Available

Lois Elling's book, Teaching Clogging is now in its second edition. Buy a downloadable PDF copy here for $25

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November Releases

Posted on Monday November 20, 2023

Here come our November selections, right before Thanksgiving. If you're looking forward to St. Patrick's day next year, two of them should be right up your alley:

The two Irish-themed songs are "Sentimental Irish" by our Irish friend Jack O'Leary, and "Clancy Lowered The Boom" (made famous by Dennis Day of The Jack Benny Program). There's also a lively and humorous Pete Seeger tune from Tim Tyl, "My Get Up And Go," and a cute Chet Atkins gem, "Frog Kissin'" from Dean Black. Not to mention three patters!

In addition, Heather Reynolds has contributed a female vocal for RIV 340 - Riverboat Blues, which was originally done by ESP's Elmer Sheffield. This isn't just a female vocal to the same music, but the instrumental has been key-shifted to the female vocal range as well. As always, if you've already purchased the tune (part of the 2013 Gold package), contact Bob Elling directly to receive the new tracks.

Have a wonderful Thanksgiving!

October Releases

Posted on Friday October 27, 2023

Trying to get our October releases up before Halloween, and just barely made it. Not that we have anything particularly Halloween-y this year, but we do have a couple of re-releases, new patters, and several new singing calls:

If you want to hear a younger-sounding Bob Elling, check out Sloop John B — he sounds ready to set sail himself! Dominique is a song originally introduced by a French singer known as The Singing Nun, and Jack includes both English and French versions. Tim provides a nicely energetic version of Lucky Lucky Lucky Me, not to be confused (as Google does) with a similarly-named song by Marvin Gaye. And Ten Guitars is a song originally done by Englebert Humperdinck, and done well by Steve.

In addition, we've had a female vocal by Heather Reynolds added to RIV 426 - The Lion Sleeps Tonight, in a slightly lower key from the original. We've also included the lower music track (with background vocals) that Heather used. As always, if you've already bought the title and would like the new tracks, contact Bob Elling directly.

Have fun on the 31st!

2023 Christmas Releases

Posted on Friday September 29, 2023

With Christmas less than three months away, we're bringing out a group of Christmas releases so that you can practice and learn them with plenty of time before the season to use them rolls around! We have three patters, a re-release from the classic Red Boot library, and a couple of brand new releases that we think you'll like:

Check out all of the patters -- "Dueling Jingle Bells" has a little bit of guitar / banjo back-and-forth reminiscent of "Dueling Banjos," and "Santa's Sleigh Ride" sounds like a lot of fun.

Speaking of "Sleigh Ride," Brent's done a great job on that song that was covered by many artists, but originally performed by the Boston Pops in 1948. Tim Tyl introduces a fun version of a cowboy's lament for someone to share his life...and Nelda gives it a turnabout! Jason Raleigh brings a Jim Reeves classic back to our lineup, while Dean Black introduces a Bing Crosby song that many might not be familiar with.

Don't forget...if you pick ten songs (including our newest ones), you can bundle them together in your cart and save 50%!

September Releases

Posted on Monday September 11, 2023

It's September, the month in which summer turns into fall, and we have seven new titles to celebrate: three patters and four singing calls...

All That Jazz features tracks in both male and female keys, with a female vocal by Heather and a male vocal by the wonderful (and recently retired from dentistry) Mike Seastrom of Rhythm Records. Thinking Tonight Of My Blue Eyes features two harmony tracks, one with Jason's voice and one with Pam's, and several vocals including Jason alone, Pam alone, both together singing, and yodeling. And with St. Patrick's Day only six months away, there are a couple of Irish-themed patters to add to your collection!

August Releases

Posted on Tuesday August 22, 2023

We're a little late getting the August releases out because our webmaster got slightly overloaded in the past few weeks, but they're now up on the website. We have three new patters, and three new singing calls:

"Love Struck Baby" is a Stevie Ray Vaughan tune from 1983, while "Bring On The Good Times" is a 2015 song from Lisa McHugh. But surprisingly, "Wham Bam Thank You Ma'am" is a Dean Martin tune released in 1950 that Jason puts a bit of a country spin on. Take a listen to all of them!

Also, take a look at one of our releases from January, "My Old Home In Mayo" (RIV 1245) — Krista Baird has just supplied a great female vocal for it, to accompany Jack O'Leary's male vocal.

About Riverboat Records

Riverboat Records was purchased in the 1980s by Bob Elling in the San Francisco Bay Area. His love of both square dancing and good music has driven his dedication to create the finest square dance music available. The early years produced several square dance records using top-notch musicians, including Phil Aaberg and Norton Buffalo.

Due to the priorities of raising a family, there was no new music produced for almost 20 years. Around 2005 Bob began to teach and call square dancing to local 3rd and 4th graders once a week. He loves teaching the kids and has a desire to use music that they could relate to.

A good friend and caller, Ken Bower, encouraged Bob to start recording square dance music again, and so he did. Ken then recorded the vocal for the first "new" recording on Riverboat, Misty.

Bob enjoys producing many types of songs and especially ones appropriate for grade schoolers. Some of his more popular songs for all ages include: Mickey Mouse, Oh Johnny Oh, Y.M.C.A., Heigh Ho, Funky Town, Best Years of Our Lives, Big Pig Jig, American Land, and On With the Show. Most of these recordings include alternate choreography that can be taught in just a few minutes to kids or adults. The kids have responded with amazing enthusiasm.

In addition, there has been a great deal of support from some of the best talent in the country to bring variety and more life to the music. These fun square dance tunes are fun for both kids and adults. Bob's dream is to have this music used in the classroom by school teachers all over the world.

Riverboat Records also has modern patter music with a great dance beat. The variety of music ranges from bluegrass to funky, so there's something for everyone.

In 2010, Riverboat introduced its Gold subscription series. For just $100, a package of 20 new hoedowns and singing calls is made available exclusively to subscribers. At the end of the year those titles enter the regular Riverboat catalog and a new package is made available to Gold subscribers.

Bob would like to acknowledge the help and support that he has received from Elmer Sheffield (ESP Records), Jack O'Leary (Silver Sounds), Michael Salacuse (Circle Left Recording), Bobby Kennedy, Carl Kaye, Tracy Brown, Rich Reel, and Lawrence Johnstone. He also wants to thank his wife, Lois, for her support in this endeavour that he loves so much.

Contact Us

Riverboat Records
c/o Bob Elling
16000 Marcella St.
San Leandro, CA 94578
510-278-8621
bob.elling@gmail.com

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