8 was great …. oh , to hear them live…. the roar of the greasepaint…. the smell of the crowd !!!
Christy's reply
Marty me auld flower
your got e thinking of Donegal gigs
Ballyshannon
Letterkenny
Ballybofey
Glenties
Donegal Town
Fintown
Bundoran
Buncrana
Dunlewey
Carndonagh
Dungloe
Killybegs
Pettigo
……….some great memories Planxty in Bundoran, Moving Hearts in “The Lake of Shadows” Buncrana, anti Uranium Mining gig in Fintown
“as down the Foyle the Waters boil
you’ll know the reason why” …(Johnny Moynihan)
a mad wild Festival in Ballyshannon …
the glories of Golden Grill in L’Kenny
the Mary from Dungloe Marquee ( duetting with Himself)
( who was the balladeer to cover “Mary from Dungloe”?)
a favourite venue of mine was “The White Strand” in Buncrana where Pat Barron ran great gigs in the 70s
used to love staying with his family…where Joan Fonda came to a gig one night
( if Rhonda Fleming married Henry Fonda she might have been called Rhonda Fonda)
Guilty songs: as a child I sang myself to sleep with:
Robin Hood, Robin Hood, riding through the Glen….
And
Hark when the night is falling, hear hear the trumpet calling, loudly and proudly….
And my father’s favourite
Swannie, Swannie, how I love ya, how I…
From the Black and White Minstrel show.
God forgive us, we even knew they were painted black, but loved it all the same!
On a more musical note, delighted to get in the post, all the way from Miltown Malbay Luka Bloom’s New CD, Bittersweet Crimson. Glorious. Well done your kid bro Christy.
Christy's reply
My Brother Luka is leading the way….
his work practice is inspirational..
he is a positive force in the family
there are six of us,
I’m the eldest and he is the youngest,
thankfully, we are all still here on the Island,
I’ve recorded 4 of his songs over 45 years (anyone ?)
and I produced his first album, The Treaty Stone, along side Brian Masterson
(with whom I am recording at the moment)
Hi Christy. You may, or may not, remember, several months ago, me asking which folk club in Chatham, Kent back in 1969, that you got Don’t Forget Your Shovel from. You tried to find the name of the venue but couldn’t, so I did a bit of research. I’m fairly sure it was the Old Ash Tree which is officially in Chatham as it’s about on inch over the boundary! The towns run into each other and most people would say it’s in Gillingham!
So, mystery solved.
Christy's reply
I appreciate your research and post
thon Old Ash Tree doth ring my bell
51 years ago
we were all criss crossing the Islands
knockin it out,
sharing contacts and info,
songs and chords
dossing on floors
curry rice and chapati
light and bitter
new sounds resounding
Sweeney’s Men, Fairport Convention,
When you,Rebecca and fellow music lovers get chance,there are great youtube posts of the Unthanks/brass band combo…inc a wonderful ‘King of Rome’ from the 2012 Folk Awards.I wonder if you were at The Lowry,Salford that night…lovely.mellow sounds D
Yesterday’s re discovered CD now has added links here…
The Unthanks-diversions Vol.2 with Brighouse and Rastrick Brass Band… ‘Blantyre’ prompted me to mention it (and great call for a lockdown song)as the Unthank/brass band combination works so well.Geordie/mining songs feature throughout,with a punchy version of Rory’s previously referenced,’Blue Bleezing Blind Drunk’.
Back to ‘The King of Rome’ now…not many songs about homing pigeons!
Have a good day
Dave
Christy's reply
Valerie and I went to hear The Unthanks in Whelan’s,Wexford St, Dublin a few years back…they were mighty…..also heard Bert Jancsh there a good while back, he was so welcoming and gentle, caught Chris Woods there too, that was a revealation….he enthralled us with his beautiful songs and playing…last time there we heard A Lazarus Soul….great Band, great Night,
Hi Christy ,, the new clips were a joy, Ordinary man in particular was nice, hope you all are keeping well, hopefully some gigs at some point will be nice, the antisipation, the sound of the audience waiting, seeing the lads setting the hall and paddy minding the merch table, Paddy, watching with a careful eye, Mick coming out to set the stage, polishing the lens and camera just before the lights go down and rushing to click record, let the music keep our spirits high.
Dogging in the window? That’s brightened my day up 😄
Hello Christy,
It’s a weird day today.
The harp is going like a dream. I’ve worked out how to do wild Jewish rhythms for 16 fishermen on the harp (sorry, there doesn’t seem to be a polite way of saying that). And I have a new tuner that hears the same things as me. So it’s either as accurate or inaccurate as I am.
The redundancy is not going like a dream. By the 5th one you’d think I’d have got used to them. I hate money and I wish it had never been invented.
Rebecca
Christy's reply
whats the difference between a duck?
one of its legs is both the same…..
Christy,
a quick word of warning to any fellow subscribers who are thinking of Googleing your ‘guilty pleasure’ song list, please ensure that you type in ‘Doggie In The Window’ and not ‘Dogging In The Window’. a totally different thing altogether (as I found out to my cost), but it did remind me of your song ‘The Weekend We Spent In Amsterdam’.
Amazing what there is to be found…in a rain sodden bunker,looking at a variety of online/arts/lockdown projects.
Struck by one that I missed a few weeks ago.Now,a familiar name having been immersed in his sounds for a few days – on youtube,Gerry Divers adding music mojo to the lockdown words of Br Richard Hendrick +singers in Assisi,Italy…superb visuals too.
When Italy was battered by Covid,nightly images of balcony/roof top singers were powerful…the sound of a human voice is truly special – excellent that ‘sean nos’, Julie Fowlis et al keep traditions alive as well.
Thanks for your list of ‘guilty pleasure’ songs Christy, (I hope you fell better for getting them off your chest) an interesting fact (or maybe not) but well before Frankie Vaughan, The Beatles, Gerry & The Pacemakers, Cilla Black & Frankie Goes to Hollywood (etc, etc) the first Liverpool artist (and female solo artist) to have a No1 UK hit was Lita Roza in 1953 with ‘Doggie in the Window’.
P.S. Can I request ‘I’ve got a loverly bunch of cocanuts’ for the next lockdown session (go on, dont be SHY) John.
That’s a great stream of consciousness gig thoughts ,Christy…nights missed so much – and into ‘City of Chicago’ a wonderful song-and amazing opener…a classic of its kind from Luka’s pen.D
July ’69 was a busy time,for sure…milestone of 1st LP recording and strange to see ‘Mr Smith’s’nightclub as a venue…folkies must have been allowed in when the ‘trendies’ were away…similarly incongruous that I saw Tim Hart and Maddy Prior play at ‘Rotters’ nightclub in 1971.
Grim weather here,but the bunker will have ;Smoke and strong whisky’…I’d forgotten that Ewan MacColl wrote ‘Green Island’ and always admire Declan’s slide playing on ‘Blackjack…’.I hope he’s well and that all companeros can soon reunite to hit the roads…
Dave
Christy's reply
Mr Smith’s ,as I recall, was a sorta contemp,smoothie Folk Club..saw Al Stewart there, I played support to someone, cant remember who. maybe it was Al….I was very fond of my Ale back then
Hi C. Thanks so much for session 8, I cried, tears of happiness, and maybe a small bit of lonesomeness for the gigs, beir bua agus beannacht go deo, H
Christy's reply
Beatin up and down the highways & bye ways
tearing around the countries and the counties
opera houses,ballrooms,art centres,dodgy kips,
cities,villages,towns, crossroads
get-ins,sound-checks,gigs, get-outs,
Gay Byrne,Pat Kenny,Ryan Tubridy,
Marian Finucane,Bibi Baskin, Gloria Hunniford
The Point, The Odyssy,The Albert Hall,
Ryston,Washinton,Boston,
Knocknagoshel,Leitrim’s Mayflower,
Cars Buses Vans and Trains
Companeros,Trad Outfits,Solo Skirmishes
Barrowland,East End, Clydeside,
Kentish Town,
its all only the half of it,
very few realise the ins and outs of it
4711ers, Loyal and true,
Johnny-Come-Latelys,
bewildered dates wondering what the fuck am I doin here
after shave,perfume,music from Cal,
Johnny’s Final look around,
Mick positions the prompts,
David clears his throat,
Paddy Dims the Lights,
Jeff fades up the Jells,
Dickon shakes himself into alert position
“Ladies & Gentlemen,
There will be no interval in tonights Performance”
The Glorious Welcoming Cacophony
Decky,Me,Cathal and Jimmy
outa the startin gates,
like four two-year-olds ready for action
buoyed up by the buzz
Ye raise us up……………….
“Hows it goin there everbody
from Cork,New York, Dundalk, Glenamaddy”
PS
a reminder from Suffragette City ..
“In the City of Chicago
as the evenin shadows fall
there are people dreamin
of The Hills Of Donegal”
Forgot to add guilty secrets, have aired most of them on here! This will be worse than anyone’s but I know all the words to Joseph Locke’s songs, my granny loved him and we bought her a tape which she played constantly and I guiltily quite enjoyed it too. Pam
Christy's reply
“I’ll join the Legion,that’s what I’ll do,
and in some far distant region…….”
Hi Christy, as usual one of the last out of the blocks- but want to add thanks for session 8, Woody Guthrie, Bob Dylan the first kind of music I appreciated. Really grateful you intend to carry on with these sessions, think it’ll be the main memory of lockdown for me.
Talking of Dundalk songs, we used to go to a club, The Brian Boru, outside Wigan there was a singer there called Michael Bracken who sung a song ‘ the town of Dundalk’ don’t know who wrote it but it mentioned the Wee House!!
Haven’t been there since about 2009 when we met up with friends to see you in Ardee.
Thanks again for session 8. Pam
8 was great …. oh , to hear them live…. the roar of the greasepaint…. the smell of the crowd !!!
Marty me auld flower
your got e thinking of Donegal gigs
Ballyshannon
Letterkenny
Ballybofey
Glenties
Donegal Town
Fintown
Bundoran
Buncrana
Dunlewey
Carndonagh
Dungloe
Killybegs
Pettigo
……….some great memories Planxty in Bundoran, Moving Hearts in “The Lake of Shadows” Buncrana, anti Uranium Mining gig in Fintown
“as down the Foyle the Waters boil
you’ll know the reason why” …(Johnny Moynihan)
a mad wild Festival in Ballyshannon …
the glories of Golden Grill in L’Kenny
the Mary from Dungloe Marquee ( duetting with Himself)
( who was the balladeer to cover “Mary from Dungloe”?)
a favourite venue of mine was “The White Strand” in Buncrana where Pat Barron ran great gigs in the 70s
used to love staying with his family…where Joan Fonda came to a gig one night
( if Rhonda Fleming married Henry Fonda she might have been called Rhonda Fonda)
I think its time to get up
Guilty songs: as a child I sang myself to sleep with:
Robin Hood, Robin Hood, riding through the Glen….
And
Hark when the night is falling, hear hear the trumpet calling, loudly and proudly….
And my father’s favourite
Swannie, Swannie, how I love ya, how I…
From the Black and White Minstrel show.
God forgive us, we even knew they were painted black, but loved it all the same!
On a more musical note, delighted to get in the post, all the way from Miltown Malbay Luka Bloom’s New CD, Bittersweet Crimson. Glorious. Well done your kid bro Christy.
My Brother Luka is leading the way….
his work practice is inspirational..
he is a positive force in the family
there are six of us,
I’m the eldest and he is the youngest,
thankfully, we are all still here on the Island,
I’ve recorded 4 of his songs over 45 years (anyone ?)
and I produced his first album, The Treaty Stone, along side Brian Masterson
(with whom I am recording at the moment)
Hi Christy. You may, or may not, remember, several months ago, me asking which folk club in Chatham, Kent back in 1969, that you got Don’t Forget Your Shovel from. You tried to find the name of the venue but couldn’t, so I did a bit of research. I’m fairly sure it was the Old Ash Tree which is officially in Chatham as it’s about on inch over the boundary! The towns run into each other and most people would say it’s in Gillingham!
So, mystery solved.
I appreciate your research and post
thon Old Ash Tree doth ring my bell
51 years ago
we were all criss crossing the Islands
knockin it out,
sharing contacts and info,
songs and chords
dossing on floors
curry rice and chapati
light and bitter
new sounds resounding
Sweeney’s Men, Fairport Convention,
Hi Christy,
Thanks for the facebook sessions. Thought you might want to check this out: https://medium.com/@timkirk5/trumpian-america-bedevils-the-irish-soul-age-old-emotions-have-gone-seriously-awry-fd0447934dd4
Thanks for sharing Tim, I have it lined up to read,welcome to The Black Lagoon
Red sky at night
Shepherd’s delight
Blue sky at night
Day
Written by Tom Parry
Hi Christy
When you,Rebecca and fellow music lovers get chance,there are great youtube posts of the Unthanks/brass band combo…inc a wonderful ‘King of Rome’ from the 2012 Folk Awards.I wonder if you were at The Lowry,Salford that night…lovely.mellow sounds D
Mornin’ Christy
Yesterday’s re discovered CD now has added links here…
The Unthanks-diversions Vol.2 with Brighouse and Rastrick Brass Band… ‘Blantyre’ prompted me to mention it (and great call for a lockdown song)as the Unthank/brass band combination works so well.Geordie/mining songs feature throughout,with a punchy version of Rory’s previously referenced,’Blue Bleezing Blind Drunk’.
Back to ‘The King of Rome’ now…not many songs about homing pigeons!
Have a good day
Dave
Valerie and I went to hear The Unthanks in Whelan’s,Wexford St, Dublin a few years back…they were mighty…..also heard Bert Jancsh there a good while back, he was so welcoming and gentle, caught Chris Woods there too, that was a revealation….he enthralled us with his beautiful songs and playing…last time there we heard A Lazarus Soul….great Band, great Night,
all that back in the Old World
Indeed Christy. Soulful, mournful,emotional song. Maybe you could give it a lash at your next sitting?
The clips are magic Christy.And Andy – Taking after the oul fella-sweet sound. Sweet memories. Thanks.
“By Clydes Bonny Banks I slowly did wander
among the pit heaps as the evening grew nigh”
Hi Christy ,, the new clips were a joy, Ordinary man in particular was nice, hope you all are keeping well, hopefully some gigs at some point will be nice, the antisipation, the sound of the audience waiting, seeing the lads setting the hall and paddy minding the merch table, Paddy, watching with a careful eye, Mick coming out to set the stage, polishing the lens and camera just before the lights go down and rushing to click record, let the music keep our spirits high.
still practising The Spainish Lady here
Dogging in the window? That’s brightened my day up 😄
Hello Christy,
It’s a weird day today.
The harp is going like a dream. I’ve worked out how to do wild Jewish rhythms for 16 fishermen on the harp (sorry, there doesn’t seem to be a polite way of saying that). And I have a new tuner that hears the same things as me. So it’s either as accurate or inaccurate as I am.
The redundancy is not going like a dream. By the 5th one you’d think I’d have got used to them. I hate money and I wish it had never been invented.
Rebecca
whats the difference between a duck?
one of its legs is both the same…..
Christy,
a quick word of warning to any fellow subscribers who are thinking of Googleing your ‘guilty pleasure’ song list, please ensure that you type in ‘Doggie In The Window’ and not ‘Dogging In The Window’. a totally different thing altogether (as I found out to my cost), but it did remind me of your song ‘The Weekend We Spent In Amsterdam’.
you’re putting me off my dinner…almost
Hi Christy
Amazing what there is to be found…in a rain sodden bunker,looking at a variety of online/arts/lockdown projects.
Struck by one that I missed a few weeks ago.Now,a familiar name having been immersed in his sounds for a few days – on youtube,Gerry Divers adding music mojo to the lockdown words of Br Richard Hendrick +singers in Assisi,Italy…superb visuals too.
When Italy was battered by Covid,nightly images of balcony/roof top singers were powerful…the sound of a human voice is truly special – excellent that ‘sean nos’, Julie Fowlis et al keep traditions alive as well.
Dave
whallup
Christy, I always thought you would do a great version of the song ‘Bosco’ by the band Placebo.
Really enjoyed session 8.
Thanks. Paul.
Thanks Paul,
appreciate hearing this band for the first time
beautiful song, in every way..
gonna check them out a bit more
Thanks for your list of ‘guilty pleasure’ songs Christy, (I hope you fell better for getting them off your chest) an interesting fact (or maybe not) but well before Frankie Vaughan, The Beatles, Gerry & The Pacemakers, Cilla Black & Frankie Goes to Hollywood (etc, etc) the first Liverpool artist (and female solo artist) to have a No1 UK hit was Lita Roza in 1953 with ‘Doggie in the Window’.
P.S. Can I request ‘I’ve got a loverly bunch of cocanuts’ for the next lockdown session (go on, dont be SHY) John.
whats the bettin
That’s a great stream of consciousness gig thoughts ,Christy…nights missed so much – and into ‘City of Chicago’ a wonderful song-and amazing opener…a classic of its kind from Luka’s pen.D
Mornin’ Christy
July ’69 was a busy time,for sure…milestone of 1st LP recording and strange to see ‘Mr Smith’s’nightclub as a venue…folkies must have been allowed in when the ‘trendies’ were away…similarly incongruous that I saw Tim Hart and Maddy Prior play at ‘Rotters’ nightclub in 1971.
Grim weather here,but the bunker will have ;Smoke and strong whisky’…I’d forgotten that Ewan MacColl wrote ‘Green Island’ and always admire Declan’s slide playing on ‘Blackjack…’.I hope he’s well and that all companeros can soon reunite to hit the roads…
Dave
Mr Smith’s ,as I recall, was a sorta contemp,smoothie Folk Club..saw Al Stewart there, I played support to someone, cant remember who. maybe it was Al….I was very fond of my Ale back then
Hi C. Thanks so much for session 8, I cried, tears of happiness, and maybe a small bit of lonesomeness for the gigs, beir bua agus beannacht go deo, H
Beatin up and down the highways & bye ways
tearing around the countries and the counties
opera houses,ballrooms,art centres,dodgy kips,
cities,villages,towns, crossroads
get-ins,sound-checks,gigs, get-outs,
Gay Byrne,Pat Kenny,Ryan Tubridy,
Marian Finucane,Bibi Baskin, Gloria Hunniford
The Point, The Odyssy,The Albert Hall,
Ryston,Washinton,Boston,
Knocknagoshel,Leitrim’s Mayflower,
Cars Buses Vans and Trains
Companeros,Trad Outfits,Solo Skirmishes
Barrowland,East End, Clydeside,
Kentish Town,
its all only the half of it,
very few realise the ins and outs of it
4711ers, Loyal and true,
Johnny-Come-Latelys,
bewildered dates wondering what the fuck am I doin here
after shave,perfume,music from Cal,
Johnny’s Final look around,
Mick positions the prompts,
David clears his throat,
Paddy Dims the Lights,
Jeff fades up the Jells,
Dickon shakes himself into alert position
“Ladies & Gentlemen,
There will be no interval in tonights Performance”
The Glorious Welcoming Cacophony
Decky,Me,Cathal and Jimmy
outa the startin gates,
like four two-year-olds ready for action
buoyed up by the buzz
Ye raise us up……………….
“Hows it goin there everbody
from Cork,New York, Dundalk, Glenamaddy”
PS
a reminder from Suffragette City ..
“In the City of Chicago
as the evenin shadows fall
there are people dreamin
of The Hills Of Donegal”
Forgot to add guilty secrets, have aired most of them on here! This will be worse than anyone’s but I know all the words to Joseph Locke’s songs, my granny loved him and we bought her a tape which she played constantly and I guiltily quite enjoyed it too. Pam
“I’ll join the Legion,that’s what I’ll do,
and in some far distant region…….”
thats my tuppence worth of Joe Locke
Hi Christy, as usual one of the last out of the blocks- but want to add thanks for session 8, Woody Guthrie, Bob Dylan the first kind of music I appreciated. Really grateful you intend to carry on with these sessions, think it’ll be the main memory of lockdown for me.
Talking of Dundalk songs, we used to go to a club, The Brian Boru, outside Wigan there was a singer there called Michael Bracken who sung a song ‘ the town of Dundalk’ don’t know who wrote it but it mentioned the Wee House!!
Haven’t been there since about 2009 when we met up with friends to see you in Ardee.
Thanks again for session 8. Pam