Mike Couto’s Love Song to ‘New Bedford and Friends’

Mike Couto's love affair with his hometown of New Bedford, Massachusetts has lasted over eight decades.

A songwriter, Couto expressed his devotion to New Bedford in the song "New Bedford and Friends," which he offered up as an anthem as the city looked to expand tourism.

For years, Couto sang for his supper, writing and performing original music and cover songs for audiences from southern New England to Florida. He also taught school and was a professional photographer.

Get our free mobile app

Couto and Bill Mulligan met in 1963 while they were students at Stonehill College and helped form the folk music band Country Squires. After a while, the two branched out on their own.

In 1999, Couto retired from performing but continued to write music. In 2007, Couto & Mulligan reunited.

Mulligan passed away in 2015.

Couto began writing songs as a youngster.

"I started scratching the surface in high school," he said. "Not very poignant or worth remembering, but I've always been inclined to write."

"Back in the late 60s and 70s is when I started turning out songs regularly. I love that I can do a show, and all the songs are original," he said.

In 1981, upon returning home from spending the winter performing in Tampa, Florida, Couto penned the song "New Bedford and Friends."

"It felt so good to come back home to New Bedford," Couto said. "That inspired the lyrics."

Massachusetts had adopted the tourism slogan "Make it in Massachusetts," and New Bedford Mayor John Markey's administration took it a step further with "Feel Better in New Bedford."

Couto felt "New Bedford and Friends" was a natural fit, so he and Mulligan performed it live in Markey's office in August of 1981.

Markey told the Standard-Times, "I thought it was great."

"Let's hope they record it and it takes off. Like 'Old Cape Cod,'" Markey said.

Couto recalls struggling while writing the song.

"I remember I was having a tough time coming up with the melody, so I asked my 11-year-old daughter Lisa (singer/songwriter Lisa Couto) to give me numbers from one to eight in any order and then I applied those numbers to the do, re, mi scale. That's how I got the tune."

Now 83, Couto plays out "a bit here and there, or when I see Lisa is working, I'll do a set."

Following a recent visit to the Azores – "my dad's homeland," Couto said – Couto wrote the song "Home Again For the First Time." In 2016, Couto's "A Real Azorean Guy" was nominated for an International Portuguese Music Award for Best Traditional Performance.

Couto recently performed "New Bedford and Friends" during an interview on the The Pete Braley Show on New Bedford Cable Access.