Well Christy, great result for Ireland in the rugby earlier today, tickets behind the clock for the Phil on Wednesday night and a new album on the horizon. All I need is for Seamus and the boys to do the business in Georgia this afternoon and Christmas will have come early. Ho Ho Ho
Christy's reply
Well Johnny Boy….its that time again…always a joy to roll the wagons onto Merseyside…52 years now since I first played Jacqui & Bridie’s Folk Club..that where I first heard
“He stood on the corner of Bevington Bush
astride of an old packing case”
that old Ballad of Seth Davy….
a lot of water past since then John….and lots of other great Liverpool songs….
Hi,
Just reading Speare‘s post… what a coincidence. Will be at Vicar St too on January 2nd, with my good friend Claus-Peter, who has long suffered from a heavy stroke: „St. Brendan‘s Voyage“ also is his favourite. He‘s so much looking forward to that gig, as am I.
Is it right or left for Gibraltar…and what tack do I take for Vicar Street?
So you see, Christy, though it’s seldom on the Setlist there’s already two calls for Brendan even now!
Herzliche Grüsse – greetings from The Rhine River Valley, Dietmar
Christy's reply
Dietmar auld stock..always a joy to hear from German listeners….ye have always been the most welcoming of audience….
Roll on January and we will give it the lash on Thomas St
“all along Thomas Street and over The Liffey
the sun it went down and the evening grew dark
on to Kingsbridge and begod in a jiffey
me arms were around her below in the Park”
Hi Christy,
My brother lee and I love your music! It reminds us of our grandad and has always been something we’ve bonded over. He has moved to San Francisco so he isn’t home very often. I got him a ticket to see you last Christmas at vicar street and he said it was the best Christmas present he ever got! We absolutely loved the gig, tears were shed and laughter was had. I have gotten him tickets for your show on Thursday, January 2nd at vicar street. Our favourite song is “St Brendans Voyage”, I know you get asked for a lot of shout outs but this would mean the absolute world to me! This would just make the night all the more special. Keep creating your amazing music! Cannot wait for the show!
Christy's reply
” all the girls were flabbergasted at St Brendan’s neck
to seek a wife so late in life and him a total wreck”
gonna have to practice that one with the band Speare…but if we get it together in time we’ll lash it out for the return of the prodigal Son
PS how can I give him a shout out when you dont give me his name !!! for jasus sake speare
The terror time ..yes like it.kinda spooky, love MacColl s writing, think his wife wrote one of my fav songs, life boat Mona, Kelly made a great fist of it , on the guitar thing.im starting a project, using a mahogany wooden banjo ring, with a cedar top, 2″ sound hole, with a six string banjo neck . Maybe a mahagony back. Has been on my mind for years, don’t tell anyone thell think I’m nuts.slan
Christy's reply
well Marty..all I can say is if it sounds half as good as your finger picked Martin you’ll be on a winner..
went to hear Peggy Seeger last month in Concert with her Son Calum MacColl… a superb gig….still as feisty as ever, still as challenging, inspiring, warmhearted, to the point….her playing still spot-on on a variety of instruments and Calum is a superb guitarist….
something I’ve never seen before ,Peggy walked among the audience before the gig, during the interval and afterwards spoke to everyone who wished to engage…
one of the best gigs we’ve seen this year….
Hya Christy
Long time mate!
I am lucky enough to see you in both Manchester and Liverpool next week.
My good friend is coming to see you for the first time on Tuesday in Manchester. She has been listening to all your stuff and is a bit obsessed. Any chance you could give a shout out to Kim Law and thrill her with a dedication
All the best mate
Steve
Christy's reply
“a bit” obsessed Steve….I’ve a lot of “shout out” requests already in place and I have to limit them to a lottery so you’ll be in the hat for two nights…its always a pleasure to “thrill”
on the Irish Sea now aboard SS Ulysses..Holyhead just coming into view….
Hi Christy,
I was listened to your music last evening and it came to my mind that I wanted to thank you.
I remember as a child, my Dad sat me down to listen to the Rose of Tralee song.
I remember aged 16 in a pub requesting Ride On and all my friends knew that was my favourite song.
For my 18th Birthday, I received your box set of CDs. almost 20 years later, I still have those in my car and often listen to a cd on long drives.
I enjoy the fun of raggle taggle gypsyo, I feel all riled up for justice when I listen to Dunnes Stores, I feel haunted by Everybody Knew, Nobody said. I feel love when I listen to the Voyage, and recently I came across Beeswing and I love it. Sure , I could go on, but the purpose of this is just to thank you.
I think it gave me so much hope when I was young to listen to someone saying it as it is and speaking sense. Also, capturing the essence of the beauty of ireland. thanks Christy.
Christy's reply
tá failte romhat ciarab..
that was some intro …”Me &The Rose” and you just a lad! I’d love to know what you made of my meanderings at such an early age…
It was the most difficult track to get down…I tried it on a number of different albums before finally nailing it on “King Puck”….
been getting a few requests lately to play it live..perhaps when the time is right I’ll give it a whirl…sometimes on sleepless nights I try and sing/rap it to myself but I’m always fast asleep before I get to Shepherds Bush
Dear Christy,
It is with mixed emotions that I will have when heading to see you at Liverpool Phil next Wednesday. For the first time since I first saw you in the National Concert Hall in Dublin in 1987, I will be coming to one of your gigs without my partner/wife Mary at my side. Mary died on September 20th this year aged 51 and counted herself among your most devoted of fans.
When I first started going out with Mary in 1987 she classed herself as your number one fan, she had in the back of her diary for many decades an autograph that you had kindly given her father for Mary sometime in the 80’s. One of my treasured memories from that time when we were only 19 she would sing me the Blantyre Explosion and occasionally replace poor Johnny Murphy’s name with my own.
And so over many years we have looked forward to your numerous visits to Liverpool and Manchester including the night when you even played some requests for our daughters Aisling and Grainne.
For this concert we had bought the tickets last Christmas even though Mary was having a tough time for some years with cancer by then. But she was full of life and optimism and was hoping to take her place in the Phil in October to be transported to a world of pleasure facilitated by your singing and playing. It was only in her last few days that she accepted that she wouldn’t be at the Phil to see you but as she told my daughter Grainne who is going in her place “I don’t think I will get there this time but maybe an other time instead”.
So Grainne and I are looking forward to another lovely night at the Phil and I will be remembering the very many happy hours that we have spent over the years with Mary enjoying your music.
Love always,
Brian Power
Christy's reply
Dear Brian,
I appreciate you sharing such personal loss here….Mary and yourself have been loyal listeners across the years and I thank you both….to you, to Aisling and Gráinne I send best wishes….Mary’s spirit lives on within ye and will be with us all in The Phil next Wed…..Sail on You Powers
Hello Christy,
Thanks for all the info about dalesman’s litany, I’m onto it 😊
Years ago when my grandma got together with her brother they spoke proper Yorkshire dialect. It’s not so far away.
We’ll be cheering you on in Manchester.
Rebecca
Christy's reply
Loved all those dialects on my travels around that great Island….. there was a smashing series on BBCRadio 4 about 20 years back….covered numerous dialects…they reckoned that the Edinburgh dialect down around Docks and Leith was the most difficult to penetrate….I had a soft spot for many different twangs, Leeds, Hull, Tyne,Mersey and Manchester among them……deep Causeway Foot dialect was probably my favourite particularly after a gallon or two of Websters….OR the old Hull vernacular could be very soothing after a gallon or two of Camerons….that said, the Birtle dialect around the Hills nr Bury was music to my ears after a gallon or two of John Willie Lees keg ..
Dont know where I’ll this came from…I may very well delete it in t’ morning
Hey Christy, my boyfriends 21st birthday is coming up and he idolizes you! I have booked our tickets to see you play in vicar street 08/01/19!! I would love if you could email me or contact me with a “happy birthday Mikey” video! I know you are very busy and I am chancing my arm big time but it would me the absolute world to him and me if this could happen! I would love to surprise him with a little video from yourself! Not sure how to use this at all but I hope you see this & can spare a moment to reply❤️
hi christy,
speaking to my daughter tonight, she works for a mental health charity and told me that yoday is world mental health day. she told me to stop working and do something that i enjoy instead.
so whilst i sent her the beautiful and poignant ‘clock winds down’ video that marty posted so she could listen as she cooked which is her passion, i turned to the Green disc to unwind.
Such a great ,earthy, selection of tunes.
however just as you think the disc’s collection ends you pop in speaking to someone with a list of some favourite artists but before that ,with perfect timing ,with these words “if you can touch someone’s heart, that’s what i try to do” and then play ‘strange ways’, it is moving ,and on such an important a day as this.
thank you,
see you in manchester.
rory
Christy's reply
There is a ring around the world
it ensnares the little ones
causes Governments to fall
brings all things to an end………….Strange Ways
Yes a 1974 D 28.you know yet twangs alright. Not my fav , still love the 89 enc10 Tak..tks for listening .it means more that you know.
Christy's reply
Ever since my first guitar in 1962 I’ve had 3 Martins but never found one that suited …still gigging with Old Taks..all from the very early 80s..I have a pair of Atkins that I play every day at home…every now and then I hear a Martin sound that rings true to me….
great whang off your guitar..its gotta be a Martin..thanks for sharing…if you get a chance , have a listen to Karine Polwart’s version of Ewan MacColl’s “The Terror Time”….your song reminded me of it…its on an album called “JOY OF LIVING-a tribute to Ewan MacColl”(cookcd624)
Hi there Christy.
Well the spirits are certainly lifted since last week. Even work is less of a bollocks. Spookily, the day after you replied last week two tickets came up for the Manchester gig. You have some mighty fine people posting on here. A huge shout to Brian in NYC for his kindness and trouble. Guess I’ll have to make a trip back out there sometime and get him a pint. So with the albatross to guide the mission I should have the tickets in time for next week. My wife is delighted. She’ll be able to watch Emmerdale and Corrie in peace. I’ll try and get my daughter Georgia (34) to come along. I dragged her to the Phil a couple of years back and she loved it. Maybe catch you for a brew.
Take care of yourself
best wishes
Frankie
Christy's reply
just getting the bags packed here…loading up the wagons for another trip “over”…the trips get shorter by the year but I look forward to them none the less…added anticipation this time as we visit a country that appears to be in crisis…a crisis that could bring hardship to so many..
Hope you and Georgia have a happy trip into Town….
Hello Christy,
I’ll be singing dalesman’s litany at the Brighouse arts festival tomorrow. I’ve been learning it over the last few days. It’s the first time I’ve sung a song in my own language. First heard it in York. Thankyou for introducing it to me.
Rebecca
Christy's reply
If you can,,,,try and research the old poem upon which this song is based…a longer piece, it is in the old Yorkshire dialect…in 1968 I heard it sung by Alastair Cameron, a Scottish singer living in Causeway Foot, I learned it from Denis Sabey who ran a great Club in The Bradshaw Tavern near Halifax…it was a learning time for me…finding songs that opened up new possibilites, allowing me to extend my repertoire…I wish you well upon your journey
Hello Christy, Bundoran was excellent – as always. When you sang ‘No time for love’ it made me think of another hero who died in a police cell in 1977, Bantu Stephen Biko. With the mighty Jim Higgins beating out time I thought we might get a rendition of ‘Biko Drum’ …. maybe next time. The song for Greta was superb, and important. You must keep singing it, for sure in years to come it will be seen as marking a seminal moment in our shared history – assuming we get to have one. Best regards, Nick
Christy's reply
“Transvaal Kids on a Transvaal Day
little by little they show the way
to a city of dreams on solid ground
thinkin some say soon we’re gonna come around”
Hi Christy,
Bundoran was braw.
Madchester will be magic.
Meantime today remembering the wonderful songsmith Philip Chevron ( great songs like thouands are sailing, faithful departed…) 6 years gone.
Life can be cruelly short ,but fond and lasting memories remain of all of his musical lives.
Rory
Christy's reply
“This Graveyard hides a million secrets
The trees know more then they can tell
The Ghosts of the Saints and the Scholars will haunt you
in Heaven and in Hell.
Rattled by the glimmerman, the bogey man, the holy man
Livin in the shadows in the shadow of a gunman
Rattled by the coppers in your greasy till
Rattled until time stood still.
Look over your shoulder hear the school bell ring
Another day of made to measure History
I dont care if your heros have wings
Your Terrible Beauty ‘s been torn”……
…………(from “Faithfull Departed” by Phil Chevron)
Looking forward to Manchester next week. Bringing along the boss, mum Mary who watched you previously with my passed dad. Special memories of those gigs at the Phil with them both. Hope you’ve had chance to hear Ian Prowse’s latest offering….hes a talent.
For some reason, that Elvis Costello (Declan McManus) song “Any King’s Shilling” popped into my head tonight and I listened to it. I hadn’t heard it in years. I looked at what album it was from and lo and behold I saw you listed as playing bodhran. The pipes are predominant on the recording so I knew there were Irish musicians present, but I didn’t know yourself was on it. Another interesting feature of an interesting life.
Christy's reply
Met up with Declan when he was living nearby in Ireland… we did a little bit of work together..he did a beautiful backing vocal when I recorded Missing You ..later I did a cover of his Deportee’s Club and tapped a bit of Bodhran on the album he recorded here in Dublin… a sound man, a pleasure to know….and a great singer
Thanks for the reply Christy. I would happy if you sang Faithful Departed or A Pair of Brown Eyes(there is no problem even if you not). Roll on Manchester!
Ah … I was hoping to hear Little Musgrave in bundoran. …. you were on such a roll both nights and ” jukebox time” was pretty hectic so I didn’t call for it …..
Two great gigs …. a little bit of Saturday night fever but only one or two going over the top with the shouts and nonsense. … soon settled down.
Safe travelling.
Plenty of quare hawks in Westminster. …plenty of wolves in Leinster house too.
Christy's reply
in future Marty… dont hold back…..let me know when ye are next coming and I’ll try and rustle up Musgrave
Well Christy, great result for Ireland in the rugby earlier today, tickets behind the clock for the Phil on Wednesday night and a new album on the horizon. All I need is for Seamus and the boys to do the business in Georgia this afternoon and Christmas will have come early. Ho Ho Ho
Well Johnny Boy….its that time again…always a joy to roll the wagons onto Merseyside…52 years now since I first played Jacqui & Bridie’s Folk Club..that where I first heard
“He stood on the corner of Bevington Bush
astride of an old packing case”
that old Ballad of Seth Davy….
a lot of water past since then John….and lots of other great Liverpool songs….
Hi,
Just reading Speare‘s post… what a coincidence. Will be at Vicar St too on January 2nd, with my good friend Claus-Peter, who has long suffered from a heavy stroke: „St. Brendan‘s Voyage“ also is his favourite. He‘s so much looking forward to that gig, as am I.
Is it right or left for Gibraltar…and what tack do I take for Vicar Street?
So you see, Christy, though it’s seldom on the Setlist there’s already two calls for Brendan even now!
Herzliche Grüsse – greetings from The Rhine River Valley, Dietmar
Dietmar auld stock..always a joy to hear from German listeners….ye have always been the most welcoming of audience….
Roll on January and we will give it the lash on Thomas St
“all along Thomas Street and over The Liffey
the sun it went down and the evening grew dark
on to Kingsbridge and begod in a jiffey
me arms were around her below in the Park”
Hi Christy,
My brother lee and I love your music! It reminds us of our grandad and has always been something we’ve bonded over. He has moved to San Francisco so he isn’t home very often. I got him a ticket to see you last Christmas at vicar street and he said it was the best Christmas present he ever got! We absolutely loved the gig, tears were shed and laughter was had. I have gotten him tickets for your show on Thursday, January 2nd at vicar street. Our favourite song is “St Brendans Voyage”, I know you get asked for a lot of shout outs but this would mean the absolute world to me! This would just make the night all the more special. Keep creating your amazing music! Cannot wait for the show!
” all the girls were flabbergasted at St Brendan’s neck
to seek a wife so late in life and him a total wreck”
gonna have to practice that one with the band Speare…but if we get it together in time we’ll lash it out for the return of the prodigal Son
PS how can I give him a shout out when you dont give me his name !!! for jasus sake speare
The terror time ..yes like it.kinda spooky, love MacColl s writing, think his wife wrote one of my fav songs, life boat Mona, Kelly made a great fist of it , on the guitar thing.im starting a project, using a mahogany wooden banjo ring, with a cedar top, 2″ sound hole, with a six string banjo neck . Maybe a mahagony back. Has been on my mind for years, don’t tell anyone thell think I’m nuts.slan
well Marty..all I can say is if it sounds half as good as your finger picked Martin you’ll be on a winner..
went to hear Peggy Seeger last month in Concert with her Son Calum MacColl… a superb gig….still as feisty as ever, still as challenging, inspiring, warmhearted, to the point….her playing still spot-on on a variety of instruments and Calum is a superb guitarist….
something I’ve never seen before ,Peggy walked among the audience before the gig, during the interval and afterwards spoke to everyone who wished to engage…
one of the best gigs we’ve seen this year….
Hya Christy
Long time mate!
I am lucky enough to see you in both Manchester and Liverpool next week.
My good friend is coming to see you for the first time on Tuesday in Manchester. She has been listening to all your stuff and is a bit obsessed. Any chance you could give a shout out to Kim Law and thrill her with a dedication
All the best mate
Steve
“a bit” obsessed Steve….I’ve a lot of “shout out” requests already in place and I have to limit them to a lottery so you’ll be in the hat for two nights…its always a pleasure to “thrill”
on the Irish Sea now aboard SS Ulysses..Holyhead just coming into view….
Hi Christy,
I was listened to your music last evening and it came to my mind that I wanted to thank you.
I remember as a child, my Dad sat me down to listen to the Rose of Tralee song.
I remember aged 16 in a pub requesting Ride On and all my friends knew that was my favourite song.
For my 18th Birthday, I received your box set of CDs. almost 20 years later, I still have those in my car and often listen to a cd on long drives.
I enjoy the fun of raggle taggle gypsyo, I feel all riled up for justice when I listen to Dunnes Stores, I feel haunted by Everybody Knew, Nobody said. I feel love when I listen to the Voyage, and recently I came across Beeswing and I love it. Sure , I could go on, but the purpose of this is just to thank you.
I think it gave me so much hope when I was young to listen to someone saying it as it is and speaking sense. Also, capturing the essence of the beauty of ireland. thanks Christy.
tá failte romhat ciarab..
that was some intro …”Me &The Rose” and you just a lad! I’d love to know what you made of my meanderings at such an early age…
It was the most difficult track to get down…I tried it on a number of different albums before finally nailing it on “King Puck”….
been getting a few requests lately to play it live..perhaps when the time is right I’ll give it a whirl…sometimes on sleepless nights I try and sing/rap it to myself but I’m always fast asleep before I get to Shepherds Bush
Dear Christy,
It is with mixed emotions that I will have when heading to see you at Liverpool Phil next Wednesday. For the first time since I first saw you in the National Concert Hall in Dublin in 1987, I will be coming to one of your gigs without my partner/wife Mary at my side. Mary died on September 20th this year aged 51 and counted herself among your most devoted of fans.
When I first started going out with Mary in 1987 she classed herself as your number one fan, she had in the back of her diary for many decades an autograph that you had kindly given her father for Mary sometime in the 80’s. One of my treasured memories from that time when we were only 19 she would sing me the Blantyre Explosion and occasionally replace poor Johnny Murphy’s name with my own.
And so over many years we have looked forward to your numerous visits to Liverpool and Manchester including the night when you even played some requests for our daughters Aisling and Grainne.
For this concert we had bought the tickets last Christmas even though Mary was having a tough time for some years with cancer by then. But she was full of life and optimism and was hoping to take her place in the Phil in October to be transported to a world of pleasure facilitated by your singing and playing. It was only in her last few days that she accepted that she wouldn’t be at the Phil to see you but as she told my daughter Grainne who is going in her place “I don’t think I will get there this time but maybe an other time instead”.
So Grainne and I are looking forward to another lovely night at the Phil and I will be remembering the very many happy hours that we have spent over the years with Mary enjoying your music.
Love always,
Brian Power
Dear Brian,
I appreciate you sharing such personal loss here….Mary and yourself have been loyal listeners across the years and I thank you both….to you, to Aisling and Gráinne I send best wishes….Mary’s spirit lives on within ye and will be with us all in The Phil next Wed…..Sail on You Powers
Hello Christy,
Thanks for all the info about dalesman’s litany, I’m onto it 😊
Years ago when my grandma got together with her brother they spoke proper Yorkshire dialect. It’s not so far away.
We’ll be cheering you on in Manchester.
Rebecca
Loved all those dialects on my travels around that great Island….. there was a smashing series on BBCRadio 4 about 20 years back….covered numerous dialects…they reckoned that the Edinburgh dialect down around Docks and Leith was the most difficult to penetrate….I had a soft spot for many different twangs, Leeds, Hull, Tyne,Mersey and Manchester among them……deep Causeway Foot dialect was probably my favourite particularly after a gallon or two of Websters….OR the old Hull vernacular could be very soothing after a gallon or two of Camerons….that said, the Birtle dialect around the Hills nr Bury was music to my ears after a gallon or two of John Willie Lees keg ..
Dont know where I’ll this came from…I may very well delete it in t’ morning
Hey Christy, my boyfriends 21st birthday is coming up and he idolizes you! I have booked our tickets to see you play in vicar street 08/01/19!! I would love if you could email me or contact me with a “happy birthday Mikey” video! I know you are very busy and I am chancing my arm big time but it would me the absolute world to him and me if this could happen! I would love to surprise him with a little video from yourself! Not sure how to use this at all but I hope you see this & can spare a moment to reply❤️
roll on …wish you well, kelsey & mikey….
hi christy,
speaking to my daughter tonight, she works for a mental health charity and told me that yoday is world mental health day. she told me to stop working and do something that i enjoy instead.
so whilst i sent her the beautiful and poignant ‘clock winds down’ video that marty posted so she could listen as she cooked which is her passion, i turned to the Green disc to unwind.
Such a great ,earthy, selection of tunes.
however just as you think the disc’s collection ends you pop in speaking to someone with a list of some favourite artists but before that ,with perfect timing ,with these words “if you can touch someone’s heart, that’s what i try to do” and then play ‘strange ways’, it is moving ,and on such an important a day as this.
thank you,
see you in manchester.
rory
There is a ring around the world
it ensnares the little ones
causes Governments to fall
brings all things to an end………….Strange Ways
Yes a 1974 D 28.you know yet twangs alright. Not my fav , still love the 89 enc10 Tak..tks for listening .it means more that you know.
Ever since my first guitar in 1962 I’ve had 3 Martins but never found one that suited …still gigging with Old Taks..all from the very early 80s..I have a pair of Atkins that I play every day at home…every now and then I hear a Martin sound that rings true to me….
https://youtu.be/D8nbrBtW9mk poor fecker’s get blamed for everything.
great whang off your guitar..its gotta be a Martin..thanks for sharing…if you get a chance , have a listen to Karine Polwart’s version of Ewan MacColl’s “The Terror Time”….your song reminded me of it…its on an album called “JOY OF LIVING-a tribute to Ewan MacColl”(cookcd624)
Hi there Christy.
Well the spirits are certainly lifted since last week. Even work is less of a bollocks. Spookily, the day after you replied last week two tickets came up for the Manchester gig. You have some mighty fine people posting on here. A huge shout to Brian in NYC for his kindness and trouble. Guess I’ll have to make a trip back out there sometime and get him a pint. So with the albatross to guide the mission I should have the tickets in time for next week. My wife is delighted. She’ll be able to watch Emmerdale and Corrie in peace. I’ll try and get my daughter Georgia (34) to come along. I dragged her to the Phil a couple of years back and she loved it. Maybe catch you for a brew.
Take care of yourself
best wishes
Frankie
just getting the bags packed here…loading up the wagons for another trip “over”…the trips get shorter by the year but I look forward to them none the less…added anticipation this time as we visit a country that appears to be in crisis…a crisis that could bring hardship to so many..
Hope you and Georgia have a happy trip into Town….
Hello Christy,
I’ll be singing dalesman’s litany at the Brighouse arts festival tomorrow. I’ve been learning it over the last few days. It’s the first time I’ve sung a song in my own language. First heard it in York. Thankyou for introducing it to me.
Rebecca
If you can,,,,try and research the old poem upon which this song is based…a longer piece, it is in the old Yorkshire dialect…in 1968 I heard it sung by Alastair Cameron, a Scottish singer living in Causeway Foot, I learned it from Denis Sabey who ran a great Club in The Bradshaw Tavern near Halifax…it was a learning time for me…finding songs that opened up new possibilites, allowing me to extend my repertoire…I wish you well upon your journey
Hello Christy, Bundoran was excellent – as always. When you sang ‘No time for love’ it made me think of another hero who died in a police cell in 1977, Bantu Stephen Biko. With the mighty Jim Higgins beating out time I thought we might get a rendition of ‘Biko Drum’ …. maybe next time. The song for Greta was superb, and important. You must keep singing it, for sure in years to come it will be seen as marking a seminal moment in our shared history – assuming we get to have one. Best regards, Nick
“Transvaal Kids on a Transvaal Day
little by little they show the way
to a city of dreams on solid ground
thinkin some say soon we’re gonna come around”
( from Wally Page’s 1984 song “Biko Drum”)
Hi Christy,
Bundoran was braw.
Madchester will be magic.
Meantime today remembering the wonderful songsmith Philip Chevron ( great songs like thouands are sailing, faithful departed…) 6 years gone.
Life can be cruelly short ,but fond and lasting memories remain of all of his musical lives.
Rory
“This Graveyard hides a million secrets
The trees know more then they can tell
The Ghosts of the Saints and the Scholars will haunt you
in Heaven and in Hell.
Rattled by the glimmerman, the bogey man, the holy man
Livin in the shadows in the shadow of a gunman
Rattled by the coppers in your greasy till
Rattled until time stood still.
Look over your shoulder hear the school bell ring
Another day of made to measure History
I dont care if your heros have wings
Your Terrible Beauty ‘s been torn”……
…………(from “Faithfull Departed” by Phil Chevron)
Looking forward to Manchester next week. Bringing along the boss, mum Mary who watched you previously with my passed dad. Special memories of those gigs at the Phil with them both. Hope you’ve had chance to hear Ian Prowse’s latest offering….hes a talent.
Hope all goes well for you both….
For some reason, that Elvis Costello (Declan McManus) song “Any King’s Shilling” popped into my head tonight and I listened to it. I hadn’t heard it in years. I looked at what album it was from and lo and behold I saw you listed as playing bodhran. The pipes are predominant on the recording so I knew there were Irish musicians present, but I didn’t know yourself was on it. Another interesting feature of an interesting life.
Met up with Declan when he was living nearby in Ireland… we did a little bit of work together..he did a beautiful backing vocal when I recorded Missing You ..later I did a cover of his Deportee’s Club and tapped a bit of Bodhran on the album he recorded here in Dublin… a sound man, a pleasure to know….and a great singer
Thanks for the reply Christy. I would happy if you sang Faithful Departed or A Pair of Brown Eyes(there is no problem even if you not). Roll on Manchester!
Noted and anticipated Yas….
Ah … I was hoping to hear Little Musgrave in bundoran. …. you were on such a roll both nights and ” jukebox time” was pretty hectic so I didn’t call for it …..
Two great gigs …. a little bit of Saturday night fever but only one or two going over the top with the shouts and nonsense. … soon settled down.
Safe travelling.
Plenty of quare hawks in Westminster. …plenty of wolves in Leinster house too.
in future Marty… dont hold back…..let me know when ye are next coming and I’ll try and rustle up Musgrave