Hi all… Some context for the post from The Bay !! RTE 1 TV tonight at 6.30 pm hope this works..3rd time lucky https://videopress.com/v/r5ipNlRR
Beir bua agus beannacht.. H
Christy's reply
that was a grand documentary….some memories rekindled…
Hello Christy,
Rhythm. Sometimes it’s been so loud in my head that I couldn’t sleep.
The speech project blew my mind.
I love the soft earth of a guitar or harp that the words can lie with or on, or dance around.
The security of a player whose rhythm you can bask in and swim through the trust of it.
—
Thinking about the songs surrounding December 1942. Quinta brigada and the voyage are perfect. They are both strong enough to deal with it.
Singing along to quinta brigada in vicar street is something I’ll never forget. The way a room full of people turns into one voice.
And the voyage creates such a strong feeling of time and joy and safety and endurance in people. Yes, they’re perfect.
Before you said the voyage I was wondering about Ride on or Bright Blue Rose.
This has all got very waffly.
Rebecca
Christy's reply
Gerry Divers “Speech Project” is a beautiful album….I loved being part of it…he beautifully illustrates something that lies within many of us…. He found a way to extract it, enhance it, present it back to us…..Margaret Barry & Joe Cooley spring to mind..two voices beautifully preserved with care and love within Gerry’s Masterpiece
Hi All…Tommy Tiernan is back with his unique show.. three fascinating guests tonight.. starting with John Spillane , you got an honourable mention in dispatches Christy..here is the link..with many adverts… https://www.rte.ie/player/series/the-tommy-tiernan-show-s6-e1/SI0000001918?epguid=IP000067665. It also features Bernadette Mc Aliskey and another guest whose name I missed..interesting conversations..all highly relevant…Beir bua agus beannacht. H
Christy's reply
Was’nt John & Tommy only brilliant like…great to see such a wonderful interview….the Glasgow lad in the middle was great too…then came Bernadette…Pride of The County Tyrone, Bernadette McAliskey (nee Devlin) always spells it out for us….
no one but Tommy T could have chaired such three diverse (& anonomous) interviews….he gets better with every episode …as he lets go of his (contd P94)
Hello Christy in your song if I get an encore you mention the rising sun pub in Brownstown yesterday evening out of nowhere I got this thought was that pub mentioned in a song I learned 2 years ago so I checked it out and it is the line goes “ them boys down at the rising love their tayto Monday through to Sunday “ there is a photo of the pub in the video when I was learning the song which is called the tayto song I had no idea what the line was about so I cut it out and put in my own line but I know now after learning your song so that’s a pub mentioned in 2 songs written 34 years apart by 2 songwriters from the same town isn’t that unusual Andy Conway from Dara park is the other writer do you know him and are you familiar with any of his songs if not they are all on you tube
Christy's reply
My first time to hear the name Andy Conway….
I know Dara Park…a suburb of Páirc Mhuire it was built after I decamped out of Droichead Nua…
I still like to walk that trail when I hit the home Town…Up the Back Street into Pairc Mhuire, thru Dara Park to the Morristown Biller road then left and left again down by Artillery Place past Floods and Dr Rowantrees (& St Pats) up the Moorefield Rd as far as the Cutlery Rd , a quick right at the ESB office and up to the Athgarvan Rd, past Lunnys and then in thru The Barracks comin out opposite Bren & Joan O’Rourkes back up to Limerick Lane and a quick right back down the Back Street and back into Rowan Tce from where I started…
I got a gig in The Rising Sun in Brownstown in 1976 but was held up in Brennans of Old Kilcullen
Hello Christy. Sorry to say Rick and I are not going to make it to Ireland this January for your concerts (9th & 11th) as planned. We decided to play it safe due to COVID. Perhaps we will be able to catch one somewhere when we are in IE (mostly in Dunquin) at end of May/June. Stay safe from this d#$% virus! Kathleen
Christy's reply
A wise decision Kathleen..better to be safe then sorry….Dunquin sounds a much better option..
I spent happy times there both as a boy in the 50s and as a member of Planxty in the early 70s…we went there to rehearse in Dún an Óir…but cavortions took over
Had a fascinating afternoon, reading lyrics and notes about the new songs. Many thanks for the insights.
Smiling at memories of the only time I saw The Watersons. The Lesser Free Trade Hall c 1971. It was a small gig venue at the top of the FTH – The Watersons had the walls rocking with wonderful harmonies…the John Harrison era, pre Martin Carthy. RIP Mike and Lal…
Fascinated by ‘Myra’s Caboose’ (and it’s quirky tune) then caught by the song next on the list. Intrigued for years by ‘Mystic Lipstick’. Playing it now, for the first time in ages. Layers of mystery,which I guess was part of its appeal when it reached you?
Dave
Christy's reply
played “The Lesser”once with Planxty
Eden Kane was playing the FTH at the same time
Remembering Desmond Tutu and the Dunnes Stores workers ….
Did he really like the Stout ??
Hope you and the family had a great Christmas..
There’s gonna be good times…. in ’22.
Christy's reply
“Did he like like it” you ask ?
I tell you Marty, it was like throwin water into a barrel of sawdust… we had to carry him out of The Cobblestone and him singin “give the woman in the bed more porter” after that Wally wrote “Biko Drum”
He was staying with the Bishop of Dublin but had to use the trade’s man’s entrance
Hello Christy,
Thinking about songs this morning, not sure why I’m saying that, I do little else.
I love the two bookends of the Bord na Mona man and Myra’s Caboose. They make me feel happy.
I’m going to have a go at learning Myra’s Caboose. Trying to work out what to do with the end. Your lilting is so precise and nimble. Hopefully something will turn up.
Talking of lilting, there’s kind of a half way thing going on in Zozimus in the chorus. Kind of lilting but with words?
Also December 1942. I find the line really horrifying “Everything is ready right on time”. It’s the schedule and organisation of it, the normalising. Ricky Lynch catches it so perfectly. Wondering what you follow it with in gigs. It’s so powerful. Wondering what its right hand bookend is.
Rebecca
Christy's reply
at recent gigs I have placed “December 1942” between “Quinte Brigada” & “The Voyage”
I enjoy lilting…unable to play tunes myself it is the next best thing to pass a few moments
Following The Beatles theme… finally catching Ron Howard’s excellent ‘Eight Days a Week’… grinning like an eejit that the opening clips are from ABC Manchester in late 1963…I was in my final year at Primary School and the whole class was obsessed by ‘Beatlemania’…apart from one girl who (and now, I see her point) wouldn’t be persuaded from her worship of Billy Fury…
It’s great that this era has been documented so well – personal favourite photos – Hamburg era by Astrid Kirchherr RIP
Have a great day
Dave
Christy's reply
Astrid took some beautiful shots and seems to have been a lovely lady
I hope you had a good day and caught more of classic Beatles docs…I’m planning to track them down soon…
Totally agree with you about Rick Rubin. He curated such a phenomenal finale with Johnny Cash. Coming together from poles apart and Cash needing convincing…the fact that Rubin ‘ gets ‘ music and icons such as Clash was the clincher. A great deal of fine music resulted, inc ‘ Hurt’ – such a wonderful epitaph for Johnny Cash.
Finishing the day with some of Louise Mulcahy’s TG4 doc on women pipers. A revelation this year, finding so much quality on TG4 – they really ‘get’ music too.
Hi Christy, interesting to read your comments on the Paul McCartney interview. Have you had a chance to catch any of the Peter Jackson Get Back programmes on Disney Plus yet? Its hard to believe that three 2/3 hour programmes compriseing mostyly of four young men sitting around and just talking can be so fasinating. Even towards the end of their partnership its amazing to see the way Lennon & McCartney ‘spark’ off each other and watch the way songs like ‘Let It Be’ or ‘Get Back’ grow from mere ideas into classic compositions, a great watch.
Christy's reply
We watched the “Get Back” films with interest..but found the Rick Rubin fascinating…it was all about the work, it was beautiful to catch close sight of Paul’s ongoing passion for music created over 50 years ago….to hear first hand how all those classic tracks were composed and recorded …to get glimpses of their creative process…gonna watch two more episodes this evening…..Paul seemed to relax when he realised that Rick Rubin understood the Art of The Beatles
Image in cyberspace bound for Rebecca’s facebook use…
Great Spike story – always welcome… another favourite is when his father was trying to get the British army to use his inventions in WW2. After many attempts, Milligan snr met with officials at the Ministry of Defence. His plans were rejected and he was kicked out…or, as Spike described it – ‘with head held high and feet held higher, my father left the building’…
Have a good St Stephen’s/ Boxing Day, all
Dave
Christy's reply
my favourite “Spike” is his cure for seasickness……stand under a tree
An old tradition of Spike Milligan’s – on Christmas Day – was to phone Jesus College in Cambridge. The on-duty caretaker would answer the phone “Jesus” and, on hearing those magic words, Spike would sing him Happy Birthday.
Hope everyone had a good day yesterday. We went to see my brother and his family. Matthew has been collecting cats. He told me that they mow have seven but not to say anything because Helen, my sister in law, doesn’t know they’ve got so many. Half of them are usually hiding so she’s never seen them all together.
Protagonosis. I’ve got some magic cream for that.
Dave, if you send me a pic of your print I’ll put it on Facebook so we can all have a look.
Rebecca
Christy's reply
Happy to hear that David Rooney’s Art is gaining traction in our 4711 community..
I hope you and fellow Guestbookers had a relaxed and fun day… I’m now the very proud and fortunate owner of a framed David Rooney print – from the Easter 1916 series.
‘Flying into Mystery’ is sounding sweet now, with a mug of tea in hand and the wind howling outside…
Keep well
Dave
Christy's reply
Watched ” Black Woodstock ” and 2 episodes of “McCartney 3,2,1 “….. where Paul talks to Rick Rubin about recording Beatles music ….brilliant insights into their process…in later episodes he covers his subsequent output….his enthusiasm and love of music still burns as bright as ever
Dear Christy,
I trust that you and the family are having a peaceful time.
For starters little David Keenan during a bracing walk in the park, then a few mugs of tea .
For main course some Prefab Sprout picture disc ‘Steve McQueen’ on the turntable and some brussel sprouts on the plate.
For afters we have moved on to some Glen Hansard in memory of Danny Sheehy and a mince pie.
Will polish off with a few gins and a fab album entitled ‘fire draws near’ an anthology of irish traditional song and music….worth adding to your list for Santa next year.
A good day.
I hope all 4711ers, around the world, have been safe today.
Love
Rory
Christy's reply
Thanks Rory….may you back a few winners, uncover hidden gems and play for Scotland…..
Nollaig agus athbhliain faoi mhaise dhaoibh uilig…..fan slán ón Omicron seo. (or amadán as my Daideó has baptised it)
Don’t fight over the Pope’s nose…..or under the Pope’s nose for that!
The animals do be takling on Oíche Nollag , if you listen to them talking tonight , it wont end well. They don’t like their secret being divulged…! (as evidenced by how one Christmas Eve a farmer heard his cow telling his donkey that they had to sleep early because they had to carry the masters coffin ar maidin). Sounds more like a horror Haloween story than a merry Christmas one..!!
CS (17)
P.S.
Did you ever eat ballachaí buí? Tradition here for Oíche Nollag to eat them.
Lán go béal with them as of now courtesy of a cousin on Oileán Árainn
Christy's reply
(17) is it CS ?…..you’re catchin up on me !
Hope the three of ye hang tight together this Christmas
its gonna be a lonely old time
but a healing time too as you reflect upon himself
I’m so happy that I had a few phone chats with him
I always came away feeling better
we hardly met at all but we got to know a bit about each other
I’m working hard at the songs these days CS…..some of the album tracks need a lot of readjusting to find their way into the gig set..its a different ball game altogether..also revisiting some old numbers and finding new colours for them…
I’ll have no opposition here for the Pope’s nose…not only will no one ate it, but some could faint at the sight and sound of it being crunched with a few sprouts and a shot of gravy…
We’ll have to try and meet up before too long or you’ll be an auld fellow like myself…
Hi all… Some context for the post from The Bay !! RTE 1 TV tonight at 6.30 pm hope this works..3rd time lucky https://videopress.com/v/r5ipNlRR
Beir bua agus beannacht.. H
that was a grand documentary….some memories rekindled…
I love “Bonhomie”, it’s french for “good man yourself”, kindda 🙂
Happy festivities from this side of the world !!!
its a long way from the heartland..always good to hear a whisper..wishing you well over there…may your books fly off the shelves in 2022
Hello Christy,
Rhythm. Sometimes it’s been so loud in my head that I couldn’t sleep.
The speech project blew my mind.
I love the soft earth of a guitar or harp that the words can lie with or on, or dance around.
The security of a player whose rhythm you can bask in and swim through the trust of it.
—
Thinking about the songs surrounding December 1942. Quinta brigada and the voyage are perfect. They are both strong enough to deal with it.
Singing along to quinta brigada in vicar street is something I’ll never forget. The way a room full of people turns into one voice.
And the voyage creates such a strong feeling of time and joy and safety and endurance in people. Yes, they’re perfect.
Before you said the voyage I was wondering about Ride on or Bright Blue Rose.
This has all got very waffly.
Rebecca
Gerry Divers “Speech Project” is a beautiful album….I loved being part of it…he beautifully illustrates something that lies within many of us…. He found a way to extract it, enhance it, present it back to us…..Margaret Barry & Joe Cooley spring to mind..two voices beautifully preserved with care and love within Gerry’s Masterpiece
Sorry…. this may work directly . H https://www.rte.ie/player/series/the-tommy-tiernan-show-s6-e1/SI0000001918?epguid=IP000067665
Hi All…Tommy Tiernan is back with his unique show.. three fascinating guests tonight.. starting with John Spillane , you got an honourable mention in dispatches Christy..here is the link..with many adverts… https://www.rte.ie/player/series/the-tommy-tiernan-show-s6-e1/SI0000001918?epguid=IP000067665. It also features Bernadette Mc Aliskey and another guest whose name I missed..interesting conversations..all highly relevant…Beir bua agus beannacht. H
Was’nt John & Tommy only brilliant like…great to see such a wonderful interview….the Glasgow lad in the middle was great too…then came Bernadette…Pride of The County Tyrone, Bernadette McAliskey (nee Devlin) always spells it out for us….
no one but Tommy T could have chaired such three diverse (& anonomous) interviews….he gets better with every episode …as he lets go of his (contd P94)
Hello Christy in your song if I get an encore you mention the rising sun pub in Brownstown yesterday evening out of nowhere I got this thought was that pub mentioned in a song I learned 2 years ago so I checked it out and it is the line goes “ them boys down at the rising love their tayto Monday through to Sunday “ there is a photo of the pub in the video when I was learning the song which is called the tayto song I had no idea what the line was about so I cut it out and put in my own line but I know now after learning your song so that’s a pub mentioned in 2 songs written 34 years apart by 2 songwriters from the same town isn’t that unusual Andy Conway from Dara park is the other writer do you know him and are you familiar with any of his songs if not they are all on you tube
My first time to hear the name Andy Conway….
I know Dara Park…a suburb of Páirc Mhuire it was built after I decamped out of Droichead Nua…
I still like to walk that trail when I hit the home Town…Up the Back Street into Pairc Mhuire, thru Dara Park to the Morristown Biller road then left and left again down by Artillery Place past Floods and Dr Rowantrees (& St Pats) up the Moorefield Rd as far as the Cutlery Rd , a quick right at the ESB office and up to the Athgarvan Rd, past Lunnys and then in thru The Barracks comin out opposite Bren & Joan O’Rourkes back up to Limerick Lane and a quick right back down the Back Street and back into Rowan Tce from where I started…
I got a gig in The Rising Sun in Brownstown in 1976 but was held up in Brennans of Old Kilcullen
Hello Christy. Sorry to say Rick and I are not going to make it to Ireland this January for your concerts (9th & 11th) as planned. We decided to play it safe due to COVID. Perhaps we will be able to catch one somewhere when we are in IE (mostly in Dunquin) at end of May/June. Stay safe from this d#$% virus! Kathleen
A wise decision Kathleen..better to be safe then sorry….Dunquin sounds a much better option..
I spent happy times there both as a boy in the 50s and as a member of Planxty in the early 70s…we went there to rehearse in Dún an Óir…but cavortions took over
Hi Christy
Had a fascinating afternoon, reading lyrics and notes about the new songs. Many thanks for the insights.
Smiling at memories of the only time I saw The Watersons. The Lesser Free Trade Hall c 1971. It was a small gig venue at the top of the FTH – The Watersons had the walls rocking with wonderful harmonies…the John Harrison era, pre Martin Carthy. RIP Mike and Lal…
Fascinated by ‘Myra’s Caboose’ (and it’s quirky tune) then caught by the song next on the list. Intrigued for years by ‘Mystic Lipstick’. Playing it now, for the first time in ages. Layers of mystery,which I guess was part of its appeal when it reached you?
Dave
played “The Lesser”once with Planxty
Eden Kane was playing the FTH at the same time
Remembering Desmond Tutu and the Dunnes Stores workers ….
Did he really like the Stout ??
Hope you and the family had a great Christmas..
There’s gonna be good times…. in ’22.
“Did he like like it” you ask ?
I tell you Marty, it was like throwin water into a barrel of sawdust… we had to carry him out of The Cobblestone and him singin “give the woman in the bed more porter” after that Wally wrote “Biko Drum”
He was staying with the Bishop of Dublin but had to use the trade’s man’s entrance
Thankyou for putting the songs from the new album in the lyrics section.
our pleasure
Hello Christy,
Thinking about songs this morning, not sure why I’m saying that, I do little else.
I love the two bookends of the Bord na Mona man and Myra’s Caboose. They make me feel happy.
I’m going to have a go at learning Myra’s Caboose. Trying to work out what to do with the end. Your lilting is so precise and nimble. Hopefully something will turn up.
Talking of lilting, there’s kind of a half way thing going on in Zozimus in the chorus. Kind of lilting but with words?
Also December 1942. I find the line really horrifying “Everything is ready right on time”. It’s the schedule and organisation of it, the normalising. Ricky Lynch catches it so perfectly. Wondering what you follow it with in gigs. It’s so powerful. Wondering what its right hand bookend is.
Rebecca
at recent gigs I have placed “December 1942” between “Quinte Brigada” & “The Voyage”
I enjoy lilting…unable to play tunes myself it is the next best thing to pass a few moments
Mornin’ Christy
Following The Beatles theme… finally catching Ron Howard’s excellent ‘Eight Days a Week’… grinning like an eejit that the opening clips are from ABC Manchester in late 1963…I was in my final year at Primary School and the whole class was obsessed by ‘Beatlemania’…apart from one girl who (and now, I see her point) wouldn’t be persuaded from her worship of Billy Fury…
It’s great that this era has been documented so well – personal favourite photos – Hamburg era by Astrid Kirchherr RIP
Have a great day
Dave
Astrid took some beautiful shots and seems to have been a lovely lady
Hi Christy
I hope you had a good day and caught more of classic Beatles docs…I’m planning to track them down soon…
Totally agree with you about Rick Rubin. He curated such a phenomenal finale with Johnny Cash. Coming together from poles apart and Cash needing convincing…the fact that Rubin ‘ gets ‘ music and icons such as Clash was the clincher. A great deal of fine music resulted, inc ‘ Hurt’ – such a wonderful epitaph for Johnny Cash.
Finishing the day with some of Louise Mulcahy’s TG4 doc on women pipers. A revelation this year, finding so much quality on TG4 – they really ‘get’ music too.
G’night
Dave
Hi Christy, interesting to read your comments on the Paul McCartney interview. Have you had a chance to catch any of the Peter Jackson Get Back programmes on Disney Plus yet? Its hard to believe that three 2/3 hour programmes compriseing mostyly of four young men sitting around and just talking can be so fasinating. Even towards the end of their partnership its amazing to see the way Lennon & McCartney ‘spark’ off each other and watch the way songs like ‘Let It Be’ or ‘Get Back’ grow from mere ideas into classic compositions, a great watch.
We watched the “Get Back” films with interest..but found the Rick Rubin fascinating…it was all about the work, it was beautiful to catch close sight of Paul’s ongoing passion for music created over 50 years ago….to hear first hand how all those classic tracks were composed and recorded …to get glimpses of their creative process…gonna watch two more episodes this evening…..Paul seemed to relax when he realised that Rick Rubin understood the Art of The Beatles
Here is a link to Dave’s beautiful prints
https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=10165531670445136&id=847680135
Hi Christy/ all
Image in cyberspace bound for Rebecca’s facebook use…
Great Spike story – always welcome… another favourite is when his father was trying to get the British army to use his inventions in WW2. After many attempts, Milligan snr met with officials at the Ministry of Defence. His plans were rejected and he was kicked out…or, as Spike described it – ‘with head held high and feet held higher, my father left the building’…
Have a good St Stephen’s/ Boxing Day, all
Dave
my favourite “Spike” is his cure for seasickness……stand under a tree
Hello Christy and All,
An old tradition of Spike Milligan’s – on Christmas Day – was to phone Jesus College in Cambridge. The on-duty caretaker would answer the phone “Jesus” and, on hearing those magic words, Spike would sing him Happy Birthday.
Hope everyone had a good day yesterday. We went to see my brother and his family. Matthew has been collecting cats. He told me that they mow have seven but not to say anything because Helen, my sister in law, doesn’t know they’ve got so many. Half of them are usually hiding so she’s never seen them all together.
Protagonosis. I’ve got some magic cream for that.
Dave, if you send me a pic of your print I’ll put it on Facebook so we can all have a look.
Rebecca
Happy to hear that David Rooney’s Art is gaining traction in our 4711 community..
Greetings from a wet Suffragette City, Christy
I hope you and fellow Guestbookers had a relaxed and fun day… I’m now the very proud and fortunate owner of a framed David Rooney print – from the Easter 1916 series.
‘Flying into Mystery’ is sounding sweet now, with a mug of tea in hand and the wind howling outside…
Keep well
Dave
Watched ” Black Woodstock ” and 2 episodes of “McCartney 3,2,1 “….. where Paul talks to Rick Rubin about recording Beatles music ….brilliant insights into their process…in later episodes he covers his subsequent output….his enthusiasm and love of music still burns as bright as ever
Dear Christy,
I trust that you and the family are having a peaceful time.
For starters little David Keenan during a bracing walk in the park, then a few mugs of tea .
For main course some Prefab Sprout picture disc ‘Steve McQueen’ on the turntable and some brussel sprouts on the plate.
For afters we have moved on to some Glen Hansard in memory of Danny Sheehy and a mince pie.
Will polish off with a few gins and a fab album entitled ‘fire draws near’ an anthology of irish traditional song and music….worth adding to your list for Santa next year.
A good day.
I hope all 4711ers, around the world, have been safe today.
Love
Rory
Thanks Rory….may you back a few winners, uncover hidden gems and play for Scotland…..
Nollaig agus athbhliain faoi mhaise dhaoibh uilig…..fan slán ón Omicron seo. (or amadán as my Daideó has baptised it)
Don’t fight over the Pope’s nose…..or under the Pope’s nose for that!
The animals do be takling on Oíche Nollag , if you listen to them talking tonight , it wont end well. They don’t like their secret being divulged…! (as evidenced by how one Christmas Eve a farmer heard his cow telling his donkey that they had to sleep early because they had to carry the masters coffin ar maidin). Sounds more like a horror Haloween story than a merry Christmas one..!!
CS (17)
P.S.
Did you ever eat ballachaí buí? Tradition here for Oíche Nollag to eat them.
Lán go béal with them as of now courtesy of a cousin on Oileán Árainn
(17) is it CS ?…..you’re catchin up on me !
Hope the three of ye hang tight together this Christmas
its gonna be a lonely old time
but a healing time too as you reflect upon himself
I’m so happy that I had a few phone chats with him
I always came away feeling better
we hardly met at all but we got to know a bit about each other
I’m working hard at the songs these days CS…..some of the album tracks need a lot of readjusting to find their way into the gig set..its a different ball game altogether..also revisiting some old numbers and finding new colours for them…
I’ll have no opposition here for the Pope’s nose…not only will no one ate it, but some could faint at the sight and sound of it being crunched with a few sprouts and a shot of gravy…
We’ll have to try and meet up before too long or you’ll be an auld fellow like myself…
best to You, Roisin and Mom
(CM 76)