This was Tony Cuffe’s 1st solo recording, made just before he left Scotland to live near Boston. As well as being a great player of several instruments, no-one in Scottish traditional music has ever had such a talent for unearthing old songs from books such as “Ford’s Vagabond Songs”, or “Ord’s Bothy Songs and Ballads”, giving them a new tune, and breathing new life into them. Tony saved many a good song from extinction, in his 2 solo recordings, and also the LPs he made with “Jock Tamson’s Bairns” and “Ossian”. His selection of tunes was always to my taste, too. I learned many great pipe-tunes from Tony before I ever heard any piper play them. This is my favourite recording of Scottish traditional music - very few have even come close.
Track 4 - "Caledonia" - is a traditional song, not Dougie McLean's "homesick" song.
"When First I Went To Caledonia"
This was Tony Cuffe’s 1st solo recording, made just before he left Scotland to live near Boston. As well as being a great player of several instruments, no-one in Scottish traditional music has ever had such a talent for unearthing old songs from books such as “Ford’s Vagabond Songs”, or “Ord’s Bothy Songs and Ballads”, giving them a new tune, and breathing new life into them. Tony saved many a good song from extinction, in his 2 solo recordings, and also the LPs he made with “Jock Tamson’s Bairns” and “Ossian”. His selection of tunes was always to my taste, too. I learned many great pipe-tunes from Tony before I ever heard any piper play them. This is my favourite recording of Scottish traditional music - very few have even come close.
Track 4 - "Caledonia" - is a traditional song, not Dougie McLean's "homesick" song.
# Posted on December 19th 2006 by Kenny