I remember this song well from hearing it when I was younger (and sometimes since) but I didn't realize that this is something of a weird situation. Is the fisherman's daughter referenced in the lyrics literally actually tied to the dock? WTF?
Every Mother's Son (I've seen it written as Every Mothers' Son, including in the sleeve photo shown above, but I'm going with the grammatically correct name) evolved out of the Greenwich Village folk rock scene in New York. MGM Records signed them because, as their Wikipedia entry put it, they were a clean-cut alternative to the 1960s counterculture. (Well, there you go.)
"Come On Down to My Boat" reached #6 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1967. The follow-up, "Put Your Mind At Ease", reached #46 on the Billboard chart, and apparently made it to #8 in Canada, but did not appear on the CHUM chart. Two additional singles reached the lower regions of the chart, again without airplay in Toronto. The band broke up in 1968.
The song was originally recorded by a band called The Rare Breed in 1966 and was called "Come And Take A Ride In My Boat". The fuzz-tone guitar and organ on this version remind me of Detroit-area bands of that era. Another song by the Rare Breed, "Beg, Borrow, and Steal", was rebranded as being by The Ohio Express and charted in 1967. The Ohio Express had several other hits, performed by different musicians, including "Yummy Yummy Yummy".
Created January 1, 2026.