As my interest and involvement in traditional Irish [and Celtic] music has progressed, I've found myself not as enamored with the flashy ensemble groups and more interested in the earlier "pure drop" recordings of the Music in its most essential form.
Fiddlers like Patrick Orceau have told me to find recordings of Paddy Canny, Bobby Casey, Tommy Potts, etc. but I'm not sure where to go for these. I am interested in ALL regional styles but have taken a particular liking to the Galway and Clare styles. I have no particular instrument preferences, but I would appreciate focus on the sets, as I have little experience with set composition and history.
Could any interested poster please furnish me with, say, their picks for the "Five Most Essential Early Recordings" and how to go about acquiring them? I have been told much of the best music is to be found on bootleg tapes, etc. from house sessions and concerts, and I am prepared to pursue that route as well.
you've described my own orientatio to repertoire and style in irish music, to a "t." a bunch of us have been on that quest, which always continues as to the mysterious itm samizdat of out-of-print stuff. these titles are not exact, but here are some essentials that should be currently available on cd.
1. "historic recording of music from clare and east galway," aka "meet paddy canny. the motherlode. paddy canny, pj hayes, bridie lafferty, peadar oloughlin. a learn-every-tune-on-it classic.
2. "paddy in the smoke," done live in a london pub in the early 60s or thereabouts, includes clare/galway heavyweights such as bobby casey, lucy farr, martin wynne, etc.
3. "traditional music of ireland,' or some such, by east galway flute god paddy carty. this is the one with banjo player mick o'connor. another great one featuring fiddler conor tully was a cassette that is now out of print. but the available cd is ravishing. full of haunting, modal/minor mystery.
4. recordings by willy clancy. he was a traveling piper so some of his stuff is from everywhere, but he was a clare man and this is clare soul music par excellence.
5. "the branch line," by east galway brothers jack coen on flute and charlie coen on concertina. full of flowing, gorgeous pure drop. a 30-something-year-old green linnet release that is out of print, but relatively recently, and obtainable without too much agony.
6. recent re-release of classic recording by west clare concertina maven elizabeth crotty. also, the two recordings by west clare concertina wonder kitty hayes, solo and with piper peter laban.
7. recent double cd release of old recordings of west clare fiddle and composing giant junior crehan, playing solo and in session with his family and bobby casey. incredible. just incredible.
8. "patrick kelly of cree," couple-years-old release of old recordings of west clare fiddle great and contemporary of junior crehan.
9. recordings of west clare fiddler joe ryan. the now octogenarian has an older solo recording with a title in irish, and a classic called "two gentlemen of west clare music," recorded with recently-departed concertina player and raconteur gerdie commane while both were well into their eighties.
10. the russell brothers of doolin. these gents were senior citizens when this green linnet cd was done decades back. west clare soul music on whistle, concertina, etc.
Seriously, that's one of the best places to buy Irish music as plenty of other here will tell you. Staff is knowledgeable and friendly. They will also be happy to help you with "I liked fiddler X, what else will I like?" type questions.
As for session tapes etc., that really comes from knowing people, going to to sessions, making friends ( a bit like scoring drugs ) or taping sessions yourself. If you do that, be a gentleman/lady and ask first - musos will appreciate the courtesy and rarely refuse the favour.
P.s. I personally like ceemonster's selection, though everyone will have their own angle on what is "essential".
Ah go on then. A Clare Galway early stuff fan would like Mairtin Byrnes and Reg Hall's recording in addition to ceemonster's list.
And yes "An Historic Recording of Music from Clare and East Galway" would seem to be utterly and completely the album that you want from what you are saying.
Doesn't Boston College, where Seamus Connolley teaches, have a big archive of early recordings? Not sure how they would be made available, but worth looking in to.
I second all above. I have most of ceemonster's list, and obtained most of them from Custy's. Phillipe Varlet's www.celticgrooves.com is another good source of the pure drop.
Peter Horan's another good one. There's the recent one, Fortune Favours the Merry, with Gerry Harrington, and an older one, The Music of Sligo, with Fred Finn.
Seamus Ennis, in any incarnation
Tommy Reck, not enough people listen properly to him
Loads of great fiddlers, Bobby Casey, Johnny Doherty, Denis Murphy, his sister and his teacher... too many...
Thank a million DADGADlad for this thread it led me to a site with the facility to transcribe in ABC format the CD of "An Historic Recording of Irish Traditional Music from County Clare and East Galwal" There are great tunes on this CD.
www.juneberry78s.com has some nice recordings of early Irish music to download. Ross's Music Page http://www.cl.cam.ac.uk/~rja14/music/index.html has some of the very earliest recordings, of pipes in this case. There's also four fantastic recordings of Seamus Ennis from 1948, and some great sides of Willie Ross, Highland piper.
Another great old piper was Leo Rowsome. Paddy Carty was a great Galway fluter, you can get his CD on Amazon. Most of the Green Linnet and Shanachie stuff is on Amazon.
The Russells were in their fifties when the Topic lp was recorded in 1974, not quite senior citizens although at the time I did think of them as old ones. I made it into the list above so maybe I am ageing too.
Joe Ryan's solo album was An Buchalin Dreoite and he is in much better form than on the one with Gerdy Commane. Maybe an even bigger classic is his lp with harmonica player Eddie Clarke.
Micho Russell's Topic lp is nicer than his Ambassador one and some of his four CDs on GTD heritage (www.thelivingtradition.com has them) have nice stuff as well, especially 'The Man from Clare'.
Casey's Taking Flight and Casey in the Cowhouse are essential. Canny's solo one. The list is endless.
i agree as to the "essential" status of casey's "taking flight" and "casey in the cowhouse." but for those, you must rely on the itm samizdat....unless you can bag one of the rare "taking flight" lps that appear once in a blue moon on ebay.
and speaking of the samizdat, my itm satellite transmitters are putting radio signals into the far reaches of the galaxy 24 hours a day for a copy of lucy farr's "heart and home" cassette on the veteran label.
the same transmitter is also pleading for tape of east clare concertina master john naughton, and east clare fiddler martin rochford.
i try to tell myself that having something to long for builds character.
Master concertina player. I get a bit tired of this whole 'master' thing, it's so tired and inflated.
John Naughton was just another old concertinaplayer a nice one. Just a man playing tunes.
I knew Martin Rochford well enough and went to see him every now and again. There's a few recordings on one of the East Clare sites that you can look up.
Speaking of East Clare websites, does anybody know what happened to http://www.marymacnamara.com ? For at least the last couple of weeks, I get a "server not found" message from my browser. Her site used to have some handwritten tunes (yes, some of the old players wrote out dots!) given to her by Naughton and/or Rochford.
um........obviously, i have heard many times the very short clips on the east clare musician website. others, perhaps even others in a much better position to judge than yourself, might differ with you as to who is just another senior citizen playing tunes on the concertina. but thank you for sharing how tiring it is for you to hear the term "master" applied to a person who forgot more than yourself or the rest of us will ever know about the east clare style and its swing. .
Essential Early Albums And Where To Get Them
Essential Early Albums And Where To Get Them
As my interest and involvement in traditional Irish [and Celtic] music has progressed, I've found myself not as enamored with the flashy ensemble groups and more interested in the earlier "pure drop" recordings of the Music in its most essential form.
Fiddlers like Patrick Orceau have told me to find recordings of Paddy Canny, Bobby Casey, Tommy Potts, etc. but I'm not sure where to go for these. I am interested in ALL regional styles but have taken a particular liking to the Galway and Clare styles. I have no particular instrument preferences, but I would appreciate focus on the sets, as I have little experience with set composition and history.
Could any interested poster please furnish me with, say, their picks for the "Five Most Essential Early Recordings" and how to go about acquiring them? I have been told much of the best music is to be found on bootleg tapes, etc. from house sessions and concerts, and I am prepared to pursue that route as well.
Thanks very much!
# Posted on September 15th 2006 by DADGADLad
Re: Essential Early Albums And Where To Get Them
Try http://www.ossianusa.com for the commercially available stuff.
They were recommended to me by a guy who ought to know. ;>}
# Posted on September 15th 2006 by mickray
Re: Essential Early Albums And Where To Get Them
you've described my own orientatio to repertoire and style in irish music, to a "t." a bunch of us have been on that quest, which always continues as to the mysterious itm samizdat of out-of-print stuff. these titles are not exact, but here are some essentials that should be currently available on cd.
1. "historic recording of music from clare and east galway," aka "meet paddy canny. the motherlode. paddy canny, pj hayes, bridie lafferty, peadar oloughlin. a learn-every-tune-on-it classic.
2. "paddy in the smoke," done live in a london pub in the early 60s or thereabouts, includes clare/galway heavyweights such as bobby casey, lucy farr, martin wynne, etc.
3. "traditional music of ireland,' or some such, by east galway flute god paddy carty. this is the one with banjo player mick o'connor. another great one featuring fiddler conor tully was a cassette that is now out of print. but the available cd is ravishing. full of haunting, modal/minor mystery.
4. recordings by willy clancy. he was a traveling piper so some of his stuff is from everywhere, but he was a clare man and this is clare soul music par excellence.
5. "the branch line," by east galway brothers jack coen on flute and charlie coen on concertina. full of flowing, gorgeous pure drop. a 30-something-year-old green linnet release that is out of print, but relatively recently, and obtainable without too much agony.
6. recent re-release of classic recording by west clare concertina maven elizabeth crotty. also, the two recordings by west clare concertina wonder kitty hayes, solo and with piper peter laban.
7. recent double cd release of old recordings of west clare fiddle and composing giant junior crehan, playing solo and in session with his family and bobby casey. incredible. just incredible.
8. "patrick kelly of cree," couple-years-old release of old recordings of west clare fiddle great and contemporary of junior crehan.
9. recordings of west clare fiddler joe ryan. the now octogenarian has an older solo recording with a title in irish, and a classic called "two gentlemen of west clare music," recorded with recently-departed concertina player and raconteur gerdie commane while both were well into their eighties.
10. the russell brothers of doolin. these gents were senior citizens when this green linnet cd was done decades back. west clare soul music on whistle, concertina, etc.
11. hope that is a start....have fun.
# Posted on September 15th 2006 by ceemonster
Re: Essential Early Albums And Where To Get Them
Let me be the first to say: buy your stuff at:
http://www.custysmusic.com/
Do I win anything?
Seriously, that's one of the best places to buy Irish music as plenty of other here will tell you. Staff is knowledgeable and friendly. They will also be happy to help you with "I liked fiddler X, what else will I like?" type questions.
As for session tapes etc., that really comes from knowing people, going to to sessions, making friends ( a bit like scoring drugs ) or taping sessions yourself. If you do that, be a gentleman/lady and ask first - musos will appreciate the courtesy and rarely refuse the favour.
P.s. I personally like ceemonster's selection, though everyone will have their own angle on what is "essential".
Good luck.
# Posted on September 15th 2006 by SL*
Re: Essential Early Albums And Where To Get Them
Ah go on then. A Clare Galway early stuff fan would like Mairtin Byrnes and Reg Hall's recording in addition to ceemonster's list.
And yes "An Historic Recording of Music from Clare and East Galway" would seem to be utterly and completely the album that you want from what you are saying.
# Posted on September 15th 2006 by SL*
Re: Essential Early Albums And Where To Get Them
Doesn't Boston College, where Seamus Connolley teaches, have a big archive of early recordings? Not sure how they would be made available, but worth looking in to.
# Posted on September 15th 2006 by AlBrown
Re: Essential Early Albums And Where To Get Them
I second all above. I have most of ceemonster's list, and obtained most of them from Custy's. Phillipe Varlet's www.celticgrooves.com is another good source of the pure drop.
# Posted on September 15th 2006 by Jiml
Re: Essential Early Albums And Where To Get Them
Listen to this: http://www.rte.ie/radio1/ceilihouse/rams/7august.ram
(From Ceili House Archive 2004: http://www.rte.ie/radio1/ceilihouse/1015163.html) It features Canny, Casey, and Crehan.
# Posted on September 15th 2006 by slainte
Re: Essential Early Albums And Where To Get Them
Yes. That Ceili House show has some amazing cuts. The closest I've heard to that sound by younger players is Breda Keville's debut CD, Hop Down.
# Posted on September 15th 2006 by GaryAMartin
Re: Essential Early Albums And Where To Get Them
actually the mairtin byrnes/reg hall disc arrived at my home from across the sea about three weeks ago.....god, it is deliriously wonderful...
# Posted on September 16th 2006 by ceemonster
Re: Essential Early Albums And Where To Get Them
Peter Horan's another good one. There's the recent one, Fortune Favours the Merry, with Gerry Harrington, and an older one, The Music of Sligo, with Fred Finn.
Seamus Ennis, in any incarnation
Tommy Reck, not enough people listen properly to him
Loads of great fiddlers, Bobby Casey, Johnny Doherty, Denis Murphy, his sister and his teacher... too many...
I think the key is to find a benefactor.
# Posted on September 16th 2006 by Nico
Re: Essential Early Albums And Where To Get Them
Thank a million DADGADlad for this thread it led me to a site with the facility to transcribe in ABC format the CD of "An Historic Recording of Irish Traditional Music from County Clare and East Galwal" There are great tunes on this CD.
http://www.cranfordpub.com/recordings/CannyHayes.htm
# Posted on September 16th 2006 by gtag
Re: Essential Early Albums And Where To Get Them
www.juneberry78s.com has some nice recordings of early Irish music to download. Ross's Music Page http://www.cl.cam.ac.uk/~rja14/music/index.html has some of the very earliest recordings, of pipes in this case. There's also four fantastic recordings of Seamus Ennis from 1948, and some great sides of Willie Ross, Highland piper.
Another great old piper was Leo Rowsome. Paddy Carty was a great Galway fluter, you can get his CD on Amazon. Most of the Green Linnet and Shanachie stuff is on Amazon.
# Posted on September 16th 2006 by Kevin Rietmann
Re: Essential Early Albums And Where To Get Them
Here are specific correct titles for most of the CDs mentioned above.
1. "An Historic Recording Of Music From Clare And East Galway" - Paddy Canny, P.J. Hayes, Peadar O'Loughlin & Bridie Lafferty
2. "The Branch Line" - Jack & Charlie Coen
3. "The Last House In Ballymakea" - Junior Crehan
4. "Two Gentlemen of Clare Music" - Gerard Commane and Joe Ryan
5. "Patrick Kelly from Cree: Fiddle Music" - Patrick Kelly
6. "Ireland's Whistling Ambassador" - Micho Russell
7. "The Russell Family of Doolin" - The Russell Family
8. "Concertina Music from West Clare" - Elizabeth Crotty
9. "A Touch of Clare: Traditional Irish Concertina Music" - Kitty Hayes
10. "They'll be Good Yet" - Kitty Hayes and Peter Laban
11. "Masters Of Irish Music" - Martin Byrnes
# Posted on September 16th 2006 by Craymcla
Re: Essential Early Albums And Where To Get Them
The Russells were in their fifties when the Topic lp was recorded in 1974, not quite senior citizens although at the time I did think of them as old ones. I made it into the list above so maybe I am ageing too.
Joe Ryan's solo album was An Buchalin Dreoite and he is in much better form than on the one with Gerdy Commane. Maybe an even bigger classic is his lp with harmonica player Eddie Clarke.
Micho Russell's Topic lp is nicer than his Ambassador one and some of his four CDs on GTD heritage (www.thelivingtradition.com has them) have nice stuff as well, especially 'The Man from Clare'.
Casey's Taking Flight and Casey in the Cowhouse are essential. Canny's solo one. The list is endless.
# Posted on September 16th 2006 by kilfarboy
Re: Essential Early Albums And Where To Get Them
http://tedmcgraw.com/recimages/fset2.html has some more great old sides.
# Posted on September 16th 2006 by Kevin Rietmann
Re: Essential Early Albums And Where To Get Them
i agree as to the "essential" status of casey's "taking flight" and "casey in the cowhouse." but for those, you must rely on the itm samizdat....unless you can bag one of the rare "taking flight" lps that appear once in a blue moon on ebay.
and speaking of the samizdat, my itm satellite transmitters are putting radio signals into the far reaches of the galaxy 24 hours a day for a copy of lucy farr's "heart and home" cassette on the veteran label.
the same transmitter is also pleading for tape of east clare concertina master john naughton, and east clare fiddler martin rochford.
i try to tell myself that having something to long for builds character.
# Posted on September 17th 2006 by ceemonster
Re: Essential Early Albums And Where To Get Them
Master concertina player. I get a bit tired of this whole 'master' thing, it's so tired and inflated.
John Naughton was just another old concertinaplayer a nice one. Just a man playing tunes.
I knew Martin Rochford well enough and went to see him every now and again. There's a few recordings on one of the East Clare sites that you can look up.
# Posted on September 17th 2006 by kilfarboy
Re: Essential Early Albums And Where To Get Them
Speaking of East Clare websites, does anybody know what happened to http://www.marymacnamara.com ? For at least the last couple of weeks, I get a "server not found" message from my browser. Her site used to have some handwritten tunes (yes, some of the old players wrote out dots!) given to her by Naughton and/or Rochford.
# Posted on September 17th 2006 by GaryAMartin
Re: Essential Early Albums And Where To Get Them
Hmmm, Ithis isn't really an early recording as it was made in 1985, but I think it's a fine bit of the pure drop:
Noel Hill and Tony McMahon - I gCnoc na Grai (phonetic pronunciation appreciated).
# Posted on September 17th 2006 by Sugarfoot Jack
Re: Essential Early Albums And Where To Get Them
um........obviously, i have heard many times the very short clips on the east clare musician website. others, perhaps even others in a much better position to judge than yourself, might differ with you as to who is just another senior citizen playing tunes on the concertina. but thank you for sharing how tiring it is for you to hear the term "master" applied to a person who forgot more than yourself or the rest of us will ever know about the east clare style and its swing. .
# Posted on September 18th 2006 by ceemonster
Re: Essential Early Albums And Where To Get Them
Another good source (as well as Custy's, that is) is Mulligan's of Galway:
http://www.mulligan.ie/
# Posted on September 18th 2006 by RockyRoader