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Top Downloads
(as of 2023-11-28)
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!


Now Available
Lois Elling's book, Teaching Clogging is now in its second edition. Buy a downloadable PDF copy here for $25Breaking News!
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:
- RIV 1333 - Sentimental Irish (Vocal by Jack O'Leary, courtesy of Silver Sounds Music)
- RIV 1332 - Over The River (Patter)
- RIV 1331 - Stumble (Patter)
- RIV 1330 - Calgary Stomp (Patter)
- RIV 1329 - Clancy Lowered The Boom (Vocal by Lawrence Johnstone)
- RIV 1328 - Frog Kissin' (Vocal by Dean Black)
- RIV 1327 - My Get Up And Go (Vocal by Tim Tyl)
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:
- RIV 1326 - Navidad (Patter)
- RIV 1325 - Barbeque (Patter)
- RIV 1324 - Roaring Twenties (Patter)
- RIV 1323 - Dominique (English and French vocals by Jack O'Leary of Silver Sounds Music)
- RIV 1322 - Lucky Lucky Lucky Me (Vocal by Tim Tyl, formerly JBK 111)
- RIV 1321 - You're Sixteen You're Beautiful And You're Mine (Vocal by Jason Raleigh)
- RIV 1320 - Sloop John B (Vocal by Bob Elling, formerly RIV 200)
- RIV 1319 - Don't Let This Cowboy Ride Away (Vocal by Dave Stuthard, formerly G&W 604)
- RIV 1318 - Ten Guitars (Vocal by Steve Edlund)
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:
- RIV 1317 - Wonderful White World Of Winter (Vocal by Dean Black)
- RIV 1316 - Jingle Bells Medley (Vocal by Dean Black)
- RIV 1315 - Cowgirl For Christmas / Cowboy For Christmas (Vocal by Tim Tyl, Nelda Eaton)
- RIV 1314 - Sleigh Ride (Vocal and harmony by Brent Mawdsley)
- RIV 1313 - Snowflake (Vocal by Jason Raleigh, formerly RBS 1314)
- RIV 1312 - Dueling Jingle Bells Patter
- RIV 1311 - Santa's Sleigh Ride Patter
- RIV 1310 - Carol Of The Bells Patter
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...
- RIV 1309 - Happy Times (Patter)
- RIV 1308 - Emerald Isle, The (Patter)
- RIV 1307 - Call Me Irish (Patter)
- RIV 1306 - Sound Of Silence, The (Vocal by Steve Edlund)
- RIV 1305 - Thinking Tonight Of My Blue Eyes (Vocal by Jason Raleigh, Pam Courts)
- RIV 1304 - All That Jazz (Vocal by Mike Seastrom (courtesy of Rhythm Records) and Heather Reynolds)
- RIV 1303 - I Don't Know A Thing About Love (Vocal by Nelda Eaton)
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:
- RIV 1301 - Love Struck Baby (Vocal by Brent Mawdsley)
- RIV 1300 - Bring On The Good Times (Vocal by Brent Mawdsley)
- RIV 1299 - Wham Bam Thank You Ma'am (Vocal by Jason Raleigh)
- RIV 1298 - Cutting The Boogie (Patter)
- RIV 1297 - Destination (Patter)
- RIV 1296 - Hammer And Anvil (Patter)
"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 Recordsc/o Bob Elling
16000 Marcella St.
San Leandro, CA 94578
510-278-8621
bob.elling@gmail.com
