Recently, I was flipping through Hootenanny Tonight!, a collection of songs compiled by James F. Leisy. Even just by looking at the notation for "Nine Hundred Miles," I knew I was familiar with the tune from an-other song. It took me a few days to place it, but eventually I discovered that it has some similarity to the melody in "Lookin' at Tomorrow (A Welfare Song)."
While I was doing research to try to place the tune, I discovered that it's also used for the Kingston Trio's "The Wanderer." This may be where Al Jardine, who co-wrote "Lookin' at Tomorrow (A Welfare Song)," got the melody. As is often mentioned in connection with "Sloop John B," Jardine was a fan of the Kingston Trio.
