This is one of my absolute favorite ITM recordings. It
contains recordings made in the 1960s at a famous pub in
London, "The Favourite". You can hear the customers
yelling for a pint, etc. which gives a very authentic feel
to the music :^). This is not like the sessions as we
talk about them, with everyone playing together,
instead musicians who came in were invited up to play -
sometimes solo, sometimes groups of people who didn't
ordinarily play together. The liner notes were written by
Reg Hall, the piano player on all the tracks, and are a
fascinating read. The musicians are:
Martin Brynes (fiddle)
Danny Meehan (fiddle)
Bobby Casey (fiddle)
John McLaughlin (spoons)
Tony McMahon (accordeon)
Andy Boyle (fiddle)
Jimmy Power (fiddle)
Jimmy Dunleavy (fiddle)
Sean O'Shea (fiddle)
Con Curtin (fiddle)
Denis McMahon (fiddle)
Julia Clifford (fiddle)
Tommy Maguire (accordeon)
Father O'Keeffe (mandolin)
Lucy Farr (fiddle)
Edmon Murphy (fiddle)
Reg Hall (piano)
The first three tracks on the album are all Martin Byrnes.
He is fabulous, I love his style. His version of Paddy Fahey's
Jig is awe inspiring, and Maudabawn Chapel, well, as far
as I'm concerned it doesn't get any better than that. Bobby
Casey plays on a bunch of the tunes and he is fantastic
as well, as are Lucy Farr and Jimmy Power. John McLaughlin
plays a mean set of spoons, and Tony McMahon is fantastic
on the accordeon, of course. I'm running out of superlatives
here, but really, there isn't a bad track on the whole album.
In this album you get a bunch of legendary musicians,
playing for fun and having a great time. You can tell
they are all relaxed and just playing the music as they
feel it. My only wish is that they would release all of
the recordings made at the pub, and not just this small
subset! Actually, I have another wish, and that would be
to be transported back in time to spend a Sunday
afternoon at the Favorite.
the only thing is: i know i posted this recording a few months ago but there seems to be no trace of it now.
my only other comment concerns reg's piano playing but as i said before,if it were n't for him we would not have this great album!
every home should have one!
yeah, it was surprising this wasn't already posted, being that
lots of people have mentioned it and it is such a great album.
I have no idea where it went, you might ask Jeremy if he
has any thoughts. Hope it isn't real glitch.
Lonefiddler, your description of Paddy in the Smoke brought back so many memories to me!
I went and dug out the album and put it on straight away.
It was around that time that I became seriously interested in ITM. Jimmy Power was MC at the Sunday lunch time sessions and he kept everybody in line and saw to it that all those who wanted to (and some who didn´t) were called up to play.
There was a little stage at the far end of the bar and the place was always packed. I heard most of the people you listed play there at some time or other. I never got to hear Tony MacMahon, but the late Tommy McCarthy used to play there often.
I´m a great fan of the playing of Martin Byrnes and he would be there with his flamboyant pony tail - quite eye catching for those days.
Sean O´Shea would put in an appearance whenever his job as a bobby on the beat allowed it. He was a great friend of Kevin Burke´s father who also upheld the law in the metropolis.
There were few harmonica players in those days but, very occasionally, Noel Pepper would come up from south London and entertain us all.
Tommy Maguire gave much of his time to teaching young musicians and formed a junior ceili band at the north London Comhaltas.
Another musician who has done a tremendous amount of training and encouraging young musicians in London, Brendan Mulkere, made his first contact with the London Irish musical scene at the Favourite.
Julia Clifford would sometimes be joined by son, Billy, and husband, John, who all, of course, went on to become the Star of Munster trio.
Closing time was 2 o´clock in those days, and by about half past, we´d spill out on to the wide pavement outside and the session would go on.
It wasn´t a residential area - just factories and warehouses - so nobody was bothered, except for the usual cruising police patrol car who used to tell us "We want to see you all gone by the time we come back". They came back, and we were still there. This happened a couple of times more until we all got hungry and went off for a very late Sunday dinner.
I believe this album was recorded at different sessions and it would be interesting to hear the cuts that were not included, although I suppose they took the best to make the record. Reg Hall would know. I met him in Ennis last summer and he´s just as active as ever.
Sadly, many of the musicians on this album are no longer with us, but these tracks certainly do justice to their memory.
Mike
Paddy in the smoke
This is one of my absolute favorite ITM recordings. It
contains recordings made in the 1960s at a famous pub in
London, "The Favourite". You can hear the customers
yelling for a pint, etc. which gives a very authentic feel
to the music :^). This is not like the sessions as we
talk about them, with everyone playing together,
instead musicians who came in were invited up to play -
sometimes solo, sometimes groups of people who didn't
ordinarily play together. The liner notes were written by
Reg Hall, the piano player on all the tracks, and are a
fascinating read. The musicians are:
Martin Brynes (fiddle)
Danny Meehan (fiddle)
Bobby Casey (fiddle)
John McLaughlin (spoons)
Tony McMahon (accordeon)
Andy Boyle (fiddle)
Jimmy Power (fiddle)
Jimmy Dunleavy (fiddle)
Sean O'Shea (fiddle)
Con Curtin (fiddle)
Denis McMahon (fiddle)
Julia Clifford (fiddle)
Tommy Maguire (accordeon)
Father O'Keeffe (mandolin)
Lucy Farr (fiddle)
Edmon Murphy (fiddle)
Reg Hall (piano)
The first three tracks on the album are all Martin Byrnes.
He is fabulous, I love his style. His version of Paddy Fahey's
Jig is awe inspiring, and Maudabawn Chapel, well, as far
as I'm concerned it doesn't get any better than that. Bobby
Casey plays on a bunch of the tunes and he is fantastic
as well, as are Lucy Farr and Jimmy Power. John McLaughlin
plays a mean set of spoons, and Tony McMahon is fantastic
on the accordeon, of course. I'm running out of superlatives
here, but really, there isn't a bad track on the whole album.
In this album you get a bunch of legendary musicians,
playing for fun and having a great time. You can tell
they are all relaxed and just playing the music as they
feel it. My only wish is that they would release all of
the recordings made at the pub, and not just this small
subset! Actually, I have another wish, and that would be
to be transported back in time to spend a Sunday
afternoon at the Favorite.
# Posted on August 27th 2002 by chicagofiddler
Am i losing it?
i agree with all of the above.
the only thing is: i know i posted this recording a few months ago but there seems to be no trace of it now.
my only other comment concerns reg's piano playing but as i said before,if it were n't for him we would not have this great album!
every home should have one!
# Posted on August 27th 2002 by biggus dave
Gone up in smoke, perhaps?
yeah, it was surprising this wasn't already posted, being that
lots of people have mentioned it and it is such a great album.
I have no idea where it went, you might ask Jeremy if he
has any thoughts. Hope it isn't real glitch.
# Posted on August 28th 2002 by chicagofiddler
All's well that ends well...
as it's here now,that's ok but if it happens again,i will.
great album,tho......
# Posted on August 28th 2002 by biggus dave
Paddy in the Smoke
Lonefiddler, your description of Paddy in the Smoke brought back so many memories to me!
I went and dug out the album and put it on straight away.
It was around that time that I became seriously interested in ITM. Jimmy Power was MC at the Sunday lunch time sessions and he kept everybody in line and saw to it that all those who wanted to (and some who didn´t) were called up to play.
There was a little stage at the far end of the bar and the place was always packed. I heard most of the people you listed play there at some time or other. I never got to hear Tony MacMahon, but the late Tommy McCarthy used to play there often.
I´m a great fan of the playing of Martin Byrnes and he would be there with his flamboyant pony tail - quite eye catching for those days.
Sean O´Shea would put in an appearance whenever his job as a bobby on the beat allowed it. He was a great friend of Kevin Burke´s father who also upheld the law in the metropolis.
There were few harmonica players in those days but, very occasionally, Noel Pepper would come up from south London and entertain us all.
Tommy Maguire gave much of his time to teaching young musicians and formed a junior ceili band at the north London Comhaltas.
Another musician who has done a tremendous amount of training and encouraging young musicians in London, Brendan Mulkere, made his first contact with the London Irish musical scene at the Favourite.
Julia Clifford would sometimes be joined by son, Billy, and husband, John, who all, of course, went on to become the Star of Munster trio.
Closing time was 2 o´clock in those days, and by about half past, we´d spill out on to the wide pavement outside and the session would go on.
It wasn´t a residential area - just factories and warehouses - so nobody was bothered, except for the usual cruising police patrol car who used to tell us "We want to see you all gone by the time we come back". They came back, and we were still there. This happened a couple of times more until we all got hungry and went off for a very late Sunday dinner.
I believe this album was recorded at different sessions and it would be interesting to hear the cuts that were not included, although I suppose they took the best to make the record. Reg Hall would know. I met him in Ennis last summer and he´s just as active as ever.
Sadly, many of the musicians on this album are no longer with us, but these tracks certainly do justice to their memory.
Mike
# Posted on August 31st 2002 by murfbox
Mystery tracks?
Tracks 15 and 20 listed here aren't on the LP - where did they come from?
# Posted on June 17th 2004 by Kenny
Almost all are notated!
Wow, a recording that has all but one song notated! Now all that's left to notate is "Dan The Cobbler". I'd do it, but I haven't heard it before.
# Posted on June 19th 2004 by MooglePower