Tommy Peoples'

reel

Key signature: Gmajor

Submitted on November 1st 2002 by slainte.

This tune has been added to 178 tunebooks.

Also known as Green Pease Straw, The Milkmaid, Mooney's, St Johnston's, St Johnstone .

Recordings of a tune by this name:

• 20th Feakle Festival: Reeling Through The Years by Various Artists
• 40th Anniversary Album by Armagh Pipers Club
• A Cheap Present by Birkin Tree
• Across The Waters - Irish Traditional Music From England by Various Artists
• Altan by Altan
• Altan's Finest by Altan
• Between The Sets by Barefield Ceili Band
• Brian Kelly by Brian Kelly
• Broken Hearted I'll Wander by Dolores Keane, John Faulkner And Eamonn Curran
• Ceol Aduaidh by Mairéad Ní Mhaonaigh And Frankie Kennedy
• Claddagh's Choice: An Anthology Of Irish Traditional Music by Various Artists
• Dance Music Of Ireland: Volume 11 by Matt Cunningham
• Donal Lunny by Donal Lunny
• Drivin' Leitrim Timber by Dave Sheridan
• Familiar Footsteps by Dezi Donnelly
• Foinn Seisiun 2 by Ceoltóirí Cultúrlainne
• Foxglove by Moving Cloud
• From West To East - Live Sessions by Various Artists
• Gusty's Frolicks by Sean Keane
• In Full Flight by Gavin Whelan
• In Good Company by Kevin Crawford
• In The Tradition by Boys Of The Lough
• Inspiration by Oige
• Island Angel by Altan
• John McCusker by John McCusker
• Macalla Na H by Hugh Healy And Colm Healy
• Morga by Morga
• Music For The Sets - Volume 6: Face The Hob by Various Artists
• Ocean View by Shanachie
• On Oiche Go Maidin by O'aces
• Once Again (1987-1993) by Altan
• Osna by Osna
• Set On Stone by The Kilfenora Ceili Band
• Seven Evenings, Seven Mornings by Shantalla
• Standing Room Only by Eliot Grasso
• Sweet Rural Shade by Boys Of The Lough
• Take The Bull By The Horns by Tom Doherty
• The Beauties Of Autumn by The Longridge Ceili Band
• The Best Of Altan by Altan
• The First Ten Years: 1986 - 1995 by Altan
• The Frost Is All Over by Paul McGrattan
• The Initiation by Charlene Adzima
• The Irish Low Whistle by Joe McKenna
• The Music Makers: Celebrating 35 Years Of Comhaltas In Leeds by Leeds CCE
• The Open Road by Steph Geremia
• The Piper's Call by Liam O'Flynn
• The Piper's Rest by Jimmy Morrison
• The Plain Of Jars by Brian Kelly
• Think Before You Think by Danu
• Three Shouts From A Hill by Cian
• Traditional Irish Music From Doolin Co. Clare by Terry Bingham
• Traditional Music On Fiddle, Banjo, And Harp by Oisin MacDiarmada, Brian Fitzgerald, And Michael O Ruanaigh
• Tunes For Practice by Seamus Creagh
• Two For Two by Laurence Nugent
• Waiting For A Call by Tommy Peoples
• Wherever You Go by Wild Asparagus

X: 1
T: Tommy Peoples'
M: 4/4
L: 1/8
R: reel
K: Gmaj
|:G2BG cGBG|ADDE FGAF|G2BG cGBG|1 Addc BGGF:|2 Addc BGGf||
|:g2dg egde|g2bg fgaf|g2dg egdB|1 cAdc BGGf:|2 cAdc BGGF||

Tommy Peoples' Reel

This is, I think, one of the most popular and important session tunes in Ireland.
It comes from the repertoir of Tommy Peoples', but not his composition.

To be honest, I don't have enough ability to learn the whole tune by ear yet, so I made up this version referring to several versions available online and some actual recordings.

I've recently learned the tune and been playing for around a couple of weeks, but never been sick of it. What a simple and pleasant tune! It is very nice to start a set with this tune, as many do.

There're several tunes known as Tommy Peoples', but this is the one which appears on "Ceol Aduaidh" (Mairead Ni Mhaonaigh and Frankie Kennedy), "In Good Company" (Kevin Crawford), "Frost is All Over" (Paul McGrattan), and "Three Shouts from a Hill" (Cian), as far as I know. Probably many more.

# Posted on November 1st 2002 by slainte

Tommy Peoples Reel

I found this tune as "The Roving Bachelor" in one of the "Kerr's" Collections of tunes a few years ago, quite by chance.
It's generally been known as "Tommy Peoples' Reel" since Frankie and Mairead recorded it.

# Posted on November 1st 2002 by Kenny

The Roving Bachelor

I've just found "The Roving Bachelor" is the second tune on the first track of "Ceol Aduaidh" by Frankie and Mairead. This "Tommy Peoples'" is the very first tune of the recording and played by Tommy Peoples himself in his "Waiting for a Call."

# Posted on February 25th 2003 by slainte

my mistake

My apologies, slainte - you're quite correct. The second tune of the set is the one I found in Kerr's, called "The Roving Bachelor" . I will post it soon , as you request.

# Posted on April 21st 2003 by Kenny

Don't worry, Kenny. Your mistake is much better than mine, like posting the tunes which were already on this site or misattributing the tunes to someone else.

Altough this is a truly nameless tune, but I think there is no problem if we play it as "Tommy Peoples'," simply because so many musicians including Tommy Peoples himself called that way.

# Posted on April 21st 2003 by slainte

Liam O'flynn

this great reel is the third of the humours of carigaholt set in liam o'flynn's pipers call album. he plays it on a flat set of pipes in b and its just very nice. in the sleeve notes he states he has never seen a name associated to this tune.

# Posted on November 12th 2003 by timo

Tommy Peoples' (Gmaj)

Another interpretation of the tune:

K: Gmaj
~G3B cABG|ADDE FGAF|~G3B cABG|1 Addc BGGF:|2 Addc BGGf||
g2dg egde|g2dg eaaf|g2dg egdB|1 cBAc BGGf:|2 cBAc BGGF||

The first part comes from the version recorded by the band Cian: it works well as a variation. The second part is mostly based on Tommy Peoples' playing but with a different ending, which is actually more common than that of the version I've already submitted.

# Posted on April 3rd 2005 by slainte

The ancestor of this tune is thought to have been a Scottish reel called Clean Pease Strae http://www.thesession.org/tunes/display/6930.

# Posted on March 12th 2007 by Dr. Dow

Tommy Peoples Reel (Clean Pea Strae)

For comparison:

X: 1
T: Clean Pea Strae
S: Memory
N: Transposed from A for comparison
M: 4/4
L: 1/8
K: G
G2 BG cGBG | ADDE =F2 ED | GABG cABG |1 AcBA G2 G2 :| 2 AcBA GABc ||
dBGB dBGB | ADDE =F3 B | dBGB dBGB | AcBA G3 B |
dBGB dBGB | ADDE =F3 B | dBcA BGAF | DcBA G2 G2 ||

# Posted on August 18th 2009 by nigelg

Tommy Peoples'

Here's the group Cian playing this tune, it's the second one....
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jn2IVLFdu1c
This is the first tune http://www.thesession.org/tunes/display/6321
and this is the last http://www.thesession.org/tunes/display/3948

# Posted on November 5th 2010 by bogman

Tommy. People's

and and here it is in a Longford session http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5H2jKI87mdA
First tune is the Duke of Leinster and the second is Bag of Spuds

# Posted on November 14th 2010 by bogman

|:g2dc BG(3BCd|g2dg eaaf|g2dc BG(3BCd|1 cADF AGGf:|2 cADF AGGF||
One of our children got this version for the second part at Willie Week this year, from Maureen McGrattan.

# Posted on July 10th 2011 by the wounded hussar

Variations

I also hear the second part played as:
g2dg egde|g2bg eagf|g2dg egdB|1 cBAc BGGf:|2 cBAc BGGF

and as

g2dg egde|g2bg age2|g2dg egdB|cBAc BGGf|g2dg egde|g2bg agef|gfga gedB|cBAc BGGf|

# Posted on August 11th 2011 by the wounded hussar

That last bar as
g2dg egde|g2bg age2|g2dg egdB|cBAc BGGf|g2dg egde|g2bg agef|gfga gedB|cBAc BGGF|

both above by local session players

# Posted on August 11th 2011 by the wounded hussar

This is a favourite tune of

Ennis box player Johnny McCarthy, so much so that Pat Mullins named it "Johnny McCarthy's".

However, Johnny himself calls it "St. Johnston's Reel" after Tommy Peoples' home place. It appears in CRÉII no. 166 as gan ainm with "Tommy Peoples' " and "Mooney's" in the index.

David

# Posted on January 4th 2012 by DavidT