Hi Christy
Your archive with ITMA is a brilliant project…thanks to a TG4 newsletter,there’s info about a Christmas time programme about the work involved.
There’s a YouTube promo about the programme.I’m hoping that the whole thing will hit YouTube asap,because of TV copyright restrictions etc
All the best
Dave
Christy's reply
after 18 months it is almost done and dusted….it has been a joyful experience
Yesterday evening was absolutely amazing once again. Your energy on stage is impressive and always leaves me wanting more. I’m looking forward to seeing and hearing you again next Monday. Thanks for that perfect Night in Vicar Street. All the best to you!
Christy's reply
happy to have 5 days to prepare for another Vicar St outing…. different songs in the set….
Dec 2nd
Chicago
Quinte
How Long
Pagan Ritual
Black & Amber
Matty
Sweet Thames
Lingo Politico
Stardust
Delerium Tremens
Sacco & Vanzetti
Gonna hear Bob Dylan
Nancy Spain
Weekend Amsterdam
Beeswing
Ordinary man
Yellow Triangle
Johnny Boy
Ride On
Smoke & Whiskey
Boy in The Wild
Companeros
On The mainland
Back Home in Derry
Time has come
Joxer
If I Get an Encore
Cliffs Dooneen
past two years I always commence with same two songs…..settles it down, gets everyone singing, communal opening of voices, healing, settling, opening up the room to all possibiliies….then song 3 kicks in and anything can happen…
lets see how many different songs we do next week…. any forecasts ?….
Another great concert and set of songs. Having been to 15+ gigs over the years
So happy to hear my favourite Companeros in concert for first time
Cracker night…..thank you !
Christy's reply
I stumbled slightly on the first verse…so many words, so many twists and turns between the Gulf of Mexico and Terra Del Fuego…..
Ewan’s songs engages so vividly…..I heard him sing it live 3 times….
(Grimsby Folk Club, The Mucky Byre in St Andrew’s Fife, The Union Tavern in London…he bought me a Ball of Malt )
it always evokes pictures in my mind;
being frightened at school during the Cuban Missile crisis,
those scenes in the Godfather Two when Batista and the Gangster Yanks fled from Havana,
when we flew Aeroflot from Shannon to Havana to sing it for Fidel all those years ago,( he never showed !!)
Who followed that Your Party initial Conference. I’d have loved if someone there had waved aloft a delegate card and spoke from the floor, quoting one Brendan Behan: “The first item on the agenda is the split.”
Seeing as we have someone here who spoke on BBC’s Question Time.
Hi Christy ,I’ve been watching some great TV (and soundtracks) over this side of the water recently. Just finished watching Trespasses which included ‘Old Note’ by Lisa O’Neill and last night was the first episode of Say Nothing which included ‘Go Dig My Grave’ by Lankum. A few weeks back I went to see Amble on their sold out UK tour, the lads have come a long way since I posted the video of their song ‘ Marys Pub’ on the guestbook last December. You can beat a carpet but you can’t beat a good auld tune, and may I be the first to wish you a Very Merry …. (no too early).
Christy's reply
always a buzz to hear famiiar tracks show up in good movies
Bradford University, they knew their music, see 29 October ’65, Ian Campbell. Did he write “The Sun is Burning”? An apt day to be referencing that song.
Christy's reply
Yes..Ian wrote that song…also wrote “The Old man’s Song” among many others….his Band were very popular in the 60s..featured ,among others, Dave Pegg and Dave Swarbrick…Ian’s club in Birmingham was a too gig to play…..his Sister Lorna aalso a great singer ..his parents Dave & Winnie were always present and involved….Ian’s Sons went on the form UB40
How’s things Christy? I was just watching some gig footage and I noticed you always have the bridge of your guitar taped, can I ask why that is? Is it for a pickup or does it add strength to the strings? Because I don’t know how you do it, I try to strum the same way but always bust a string, I couldn’t make it to the end of the yellow triangle without a popped b string. You must use some heavy ones they do you well!
Christy's reply
Some years ago, I was doin some frantic box bashin in Nell’s Cafe in London….I wore the skin of my hand away with friction from the string peg-heads, the gaffaa tape softens the blow ….I use medium gauge bronze wound…seldom break a string these times thanks be..
things are good tonight…..the end of another day….
Dear Christy..
Yes, Barbara and I arrived this morning
in the Fair City, to come to Vicar Street
tomorrow for your concert.
We are happy and excited to be here again..
There is no cd, no album,no YouTube Video, no streaming service that could compare with the joy that it brings, to see you in person, and to hear you sing life.
20 or so years ago, in Alte Oper in Frankfurt ,when I heard you sing : Nancy Spain , I
immediatly fell in love with your warm and tender voice..
Ever since, your music is very important for me, and I have indroduced many of my friends (including Barbara) to your great work.
So we are looking forward very much to your performance tomorrow.
Dear Christy, stay well and healthy..
Love and Peace
Trudy and Barbara
Christy's reply
we’re gonna rattle the rafters…shake the spiders into dancing…welcome our long haul-listeners from Frankfurt, Moate,Chicago, Knocknagoshel , Timoleague, Boolea and Pakistan
Catching up on the chat Christy, I’d forgotten about the gondola’s that would hopefully breed! Now the alligators is a snappish story all together but sadly we are well used to it! Now listening to Paul Brady’s Lakes of Ponchartrain… so thanks for that Hilary!
I said my pretty Creole girl, me money here’s no good
If it weren’t for the alligators I’d sleep out in the wood
Christy's reply
from Mike Waterson to mé féin to Paul Brady to Bob Dylan and to many others besides…and we dont know who wrote it or from whence it originated….
I believe it to be the ultimate test for a great song…when it long survives the memory of who wrote it …
Mike Waterson was convinced that it had an Irish connection..it does now !!
what a privilige it was to have been a student at Bradford University..such an amazing array of entertainments to while away those student years….then up to Manningham Lane for an authentic curry and a good healthy lump of black Pakistan hash to help the digestion
Hello Christy,
Ok, this is a long shot. Could you have met Guy Carawn through Hamish Imlach at the gigs they were both doing around Bradford in the mid 60s?
music-at-the-university-of-bradford-students-union-1965-1970.pdf https://share.google/MOPMyeACaCg0S7Lso
“It’s freezing cold, the snow comes down, there’s ice on the barbed wire” .. Listening to this song as we enter another December.. I know you mentioned previously it can dull the energy of a gig.. but the recording of December 1942 on “Flying into Mystery” album is powerfully done.. Let us remember… Good luck to all with upcoming gigs at HQ…
Christy's reply
Ricky Lynch’s song is outstanding…..as good a song as I’ve ever encountered…it was a highlight to hear, learn,arrange, accompany and record of it ..every step of the way an emotional heartbreaking experience…..I sang it twice at gigs …I felt that the audience could not handle the descriptions of what the Nazis did to those millions of innocents…..I still sing it here occasiinally….
best wishes to you Kevin and a call out too to our fellow Balladeer…Ricky Lynch, that miggty man of Cork
Hello Christy. I hope you’re doing fine.
Thanks to Gippmeister for the link to a great song from the great album Parallel Lines. During the link there are some pictures which were taken at the windmill of the German songwiter Hannes Wader. 1978 to 1980 he formed a temporary international group FOLK FRIENDS with Irish, Scottish, US and German musicians. They published two albums and made one or two tours. Gaughan, Irvine, Wizz Jones, Davey Arthur, Finbar Furey, Guy Caravan, A.Campbell, D.Keane, J.Faulkner…were involved during one of the two sessions. Good memories for me. Thanks again.
All the best
Günter
Christy's reply
what a great line up of musicians mentioned with Hannes Wader….I have fond memories of everyone you mention except for Guy Carawan…BUT atthe back of my mind I have faint suspicion that perhaps I met Guy once….I’m thinking maybe in Dublin circa 1972…Guy and Carrie in a VW camper….somewhere in Dublin….a lovely warm smiley happy couple, maybe around the time that Planxty played in The Carlton Cinema in 1972…but I can find no reference to Guy being in Ireland at that time..was it a dream….any clues out there…
Hello Christy,
“I was so much older then”
What a line!
I feel as if I grew up when I retired. The body may be older but the spirit has never been younger.
Thanks to Gipp for posting a beautiful recording of a beautiful song.
Rebecca
Re
Christy's reply
I created this site that it might be a place for sharing…thankfully it has grown to fulfil its purpose..the traffic is calm & manageable , the users have created a friendly cohort…thank you all
With all the great discussion here lately of Bobby D and Dick Gaughan, you’d have to give a shout out to Dicks cover of “My Back Pages”. Always gets a regular spin here on the juke box. Powerful!
Dick always ploughed a straight furrow….never deviated …..I only met the man 3 or 4 times over almost 60 years…. found kindness, good humour and a steely determination to stand firm ….. a pillar of Auld Reekie and a fucking deadly guitar player….
Going to Vicar Street on Tuesday, Tue 02 Dec 2025 with my sister (from Baldoyle), daughter Ellen (coming from Limerick) and my Dutchman: Jogchem – If Christy, I could put a special request to you: could you play The Dutchman for my Dutchman : JOGCHEM – it’s a big deal for him to come to Dublin, he’s a true fan (We’ve seen you together in Brussels) ? Go raibh mile maith agat!
Brussels Brenda
Christy's reply
I’ve never sung that particular song Brenda…… pick one from the repertoire for your Dutchman and I’ll put it in the call-out Tombola (which is currently up to 13 for next Tues)
Hi Christy
I was in a record shop today,asking about the BBC Gaughan CD…info there and online info was a bit vague.
But,I’ve just ordered the CD easily. So,if anyone fancies the music,I’d suggest accessing
http://www.talkingelephant.co.uk
Dave
no turntable, no cd player, no cassette player….just a guitar, piano and bodhrán …like when it started…
Hi Christy
Your archive with ITMA is a brilliant project…thanks to a TG4 newsletter,there’s info about a Christmas time programme about the work involved.
There’s a YouTube promo about the programme.I’m hoping that the whole thing will hit YouTube asap,because of TV copyright restrictions etc
All the best
Dave
after 18 months it is almost done and dusted….it has been a joyful experience
Yesterday evening was absolutely amazing once again. Your energy on stage is impressive and always leaves me wanting more. I’m looking forward to seeing and hearing you again next Monday. Thanks for that perfect Night in Vicar Street. All the best to you!
happy to have 5 days to prepare for another Vicar St outing…. different songs in the set….
Dec 2nd
Chicago
Quinte
How Long
Pagan Ritual
Black & Amber
Matty
Sweet Thames
Lingo Politico
Stardust
Delerium Tremens
Sacco & Vanzetti
Gonna hear Bob Dylan
Nancy Spain
Weekend Amsterdam
Beeswing
Ordinary man
Yellow Triangle
Johnny Boy
Ride On
Smoke & Whiskey
Boy in The Wild
Companeros
On The mainland
Back Home in Derry
Time has come
Joxer
If I Get an Encore
Cliffs Dooneen
past two years I always commence with same two songs…..settles it down, gets everyone singing, communal opening of voices, healing, settling, opening up the room to all possibiliies….then song 3 kicks in and anything can happen…
lets see how many different songs we do next week…. any forecasts ?….
Another great concert and set of songs. Having been to 15+ gigs over the years
So happy to hear my favourite Companeros in concert for first time
Cracker night…..thank you !
I stumbled slightly on the first verse…so many words, so many twists and turns between the Gulf of Mexico and Terra Del Fuego…..
Ewan’s songs engages so vividly…..I heard him sing it live 3 times….
(Grimsby Folk Club, The Mucky Byre in St Andrew’s Fife, The Union Tavern in London…he bought me a Ball of Malt )
it always evokes pictures in my mind;
being frightened at school during the Cuban Missile crisis,
those scenes in the Godfather Two when Batista and the Gangster Yanks fled from Havana,
when we flew Aeroflot from Shannon to Havana to sing it for Fidel all those years ago,( he never showed !!)
Who followed that Your Party initial Conference. I’d have loved if someone there had waved aloft a delegate card and spoke from the floor, quoting one Brendan Behan: “The first item on the agenda is the split.”
Seeing as we have someone here who spoke on BBC’s Question Time.
whatever your havin yourself Ed
It’s perfect to be back in Dublin, and even more so to see you tonight. May it stay this way for many years to come! All the best to you.
good room last night
such a choir I’ve seldom heard before
Thank You One And All
Hi Christy ,I’ve been watching some great TV (and soundtracks) over this side of the water recently. Just finished watching Trespasses which included ‘Old Note’ by Lisa O’Neill and last night was the first episode of Say Nothing which included ‘Go Dig My Grave’ by Lankum. A few weeks back I went to see Amble on their sold out UK tour, the lads have come a long way since I posted the video of their song ‘ Marys Pub’ on the guestbook last December. You can beat a carpet but you can’t beat a good auld tune, and may I be the first to wish you a Very Merry …. (no too early).
always a buzz to hear famiiar tracks show up in good movies
Bradford University, they knew their music, see 29 October ’65, Ian Campbell. Did he write “The Sun is Burning”? An apt day to be referencing that song.
Yes..Ian wrote that song…also wrote “The Old man’s Song” among many others….his Band were very popular in the 60s..featured ,among others, Dave Pegg and Dave Swarbrick…Ian’s club in Birmingham was a too gig to play…..his Sister Lorna aalso a great singer ..his parents Dave & Winnie were always present and involved….Ian’s Sons went on the form UB40
How’s things Christy? I was just watching some gig footage and I noticed you always have the bridge of your guitar taped, can I ask why that is? Is it for a pickup or does it add strength to the strings? Because I don’t know how you do it, I try to strum the same way but always bust a string, I couldn’t make it to the end of the yellow triangle without a popped b string. You must use some heavy ones they do you well!
Some years ago, I was doin some frantic box bashin in Nell’s Cafe in London….I wore the skin of my hand away with friction from the string peg-heads, the gaffaa tape softens the blow ….I use medium gauge bronze wound…seldom break a string these times thanks be..
things are good tonight…..the end of another day….
Tá brón orm a Christy…senior moment meant to say tú fèin agus Planxty! Oíche mhaith
ná bach mo cara…ceart go leór
as long as we keep singing the songs, thats what counts..
sé sin an rud is mó
Dear Christy..
Yes, Barbara and I arrived this morning
in the Fair City, to come to Vicar Street
tomorrow for your concert.
We are happy and excited to be here again..
There is no cd, no album,no YouTube Video, no streaming service that could compare with the joy that it brings, to see you in person, and to hear you sing life.
20 or so years ago, in Alte Oper in Frankfurt ,when I heard you sing : Nancy Spain , I
immediatly fell in love with your warm and tender voice..
Ever since, your music is very important for me, and I have indroduced many of my friends (including Barbara) to your great work.
So we are looking forward very much to your performance tomorrow.
Dear Christy, stay well and healthy..
Love and Peace
Trudy and Barbara
we’re gonna rattle the rafters…shake the spiders into dancing…welcome our long haul-listeners from Frankfurt, Moate,Chicago, Knocknagoshel , Timoleague, Boolea and Pakistan
Catching up on the chat Christy, I’d forgotten about the gondola’s that would hopefully breed! Now the alligators is a snappish story all together but sadly we are well used to it! Now listening to Paul Brady’s Lakes of Ponchartrain… so thanks for that Hilary!
I said my pretty Creole girl, me money here’s no good
If it weren’t for the alligators I’d sleep out in the wood
from Mike Waterson to mé féin to Paul Brady to Bob Dylan and to many others besides…and we dont know who wrote it or from whence it originated….
I believe it to be the ultimate test for a great song…when it long survives the memory of who wrote it …
Mike Waterson was convinced that it had an Irish connection..it does now !!
Does that link work? Here’s a different version of it…
https://100objectsbradford.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/music-at-the-university-of-bradford-students-union-1965-1970.pdf
what a privilige it was to have been a student at Bradford University..such an amazing array of entertainments to while away those student years….then up to Manningham Lane for an authentic curry and a good healthy lump of black Pakistan hash to help the digestion
Hello Christy,
Ok, this is a long shot. Could you have met Guy Carawn through Hamish Imlach at the gigs they were both doing around Bradford in the mid 60s?
music-at-the-university-of-bradford-students-union-1965-1970.pdf https://share.google/MOPMyeACaCg0S7Lso
Rebecca
“It’s freezing cold, the snow comes down, there’s ice on the barbed wire” .. Listening to this song as we enter another December.. I know you mentioned previously it can dull the energy of a gig.. but the recording of December 1942 on “Flying into Mystery” album is powerfully done.. Let us remember… Good luck to all with upcoming gigs at HQ…
Ricky Lynch’s song is outstanding…..as good a song as I’ve ever encountered…it was a highlight to hear, learn,arrange, accompany and record of it ..every step of the way an emotional heartbreaking experience…..I sang it twice at gigs …I felt that the audience could not handle the descriptions of what the Nazis did to those millions of innocents…..I still sing it here occasiinally….
best wishes to you Kevin and a call out too to our fellow Balladeer…Ricky Lynch, that miggty man of Cork
Hello Christy. I hope you’re doing fine.
Thanks to Gippmeister for the link to a great song from the great album Parallel Lines. During the link there are some pictures which were taken at the windmill of the German songwiter Hannes Wader. 1978 to 1980 he formed a temporary international group FOLK FRIENDS with Irish, Scottish, US and German musicians. They published two albums and made one or two tours. Gaughan, Irvine, Wizz Jones, Davey Arthur, Finbar Furey, Guy Caravan, A.Campbell, D.Keane, J.Faulkner…were involved during one of the two sessions. Good memories for me. Thanks again.
All the best
Günter
what a great line up of musicians mentioned with Hannes Wader….I have fond memories of everyone you mention except for Guy Carawan…BUT atthe back of my mind I have faint suspicion that perhaps I met Guy once….I’m thinking maybe in Dublin circa 1972…Guy and Carrie in a VW camper….somewhere in Dublin….a lovely warm smiley happy couple, maybe around the time that Planxty played in The Carlton Cinema in 1972…but I can find no reference to Guy being in Ireland at that time..was it a dream….any clues out there…
Hello Christy,
“I was so much older then”
What a line!
I feel as if I grew up when I retired. The body may be older but the spirit has never been younger.
Thanks to Gipp for posting a beautiful recording of a beautiful song.
Rebecca
Re
I created this site that it might be a place for sharing…thankfully it has grown to fulfil its purpose..the traffic is calm & manageable , the users have created a friendly cohort…thank you all
With all the great discussion here lately of Bobby D and Dick Gaughan, you’d have to give a shout out to Dicks cover of “My Back Pages”. Always gets a regular spin here on the juke box. Powerful!
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=4prTyqsV4CU&list=RD4prTyqsV4CU&start_radio=1&pp=ygUaRGljayBnYXVnaGFuIG15IGJhY2sgcGFnZXOgBwE%3D
Dick always ploughed a straight furrow….never deviated …..I only met the man 3 or 4 times over almost 60 years…. found kindness, good humour and a steely determination to stand firm ….. a pillar of Auld Reekie and a fucking deadly guitar player….
Going to Vicar Street on Tuesday, Tue 02 Dec 2025 with my sister (from Baldoyle), daughter Ellen (coming from Limerick) and my Dutchman: Jogchem – If Christy, I could put a special request to you: could you play The Dutchman for my Dutchman : JOGCHEM – it’s a big deal for him to come to Dublin, he’s a true fan (We’ve seen you together in Brussels) ? Go raibh mile maith agat!
Brussels Brenda
I’ve never sung that particular song Brenda…… pick one from the repertoire for your Dutchman and I’ll put it in the call-out Tombola (which is currently up to 13 for next Tues)
Great Gaughan memories,Christy
Really enjoyed,playing support,chat and his folk club gig,decades back…
BBC recordings are ace,if they survive culls and cutbacks…I wonder if any of your crew might ever take on similar research/release for your BBC work?
Dave
which club was that dave….I did many the support slots myself around that great City