Hi Christy,
Don’t know how long Damien Dempsey and his crew
took to record their latest album – Honywell.
But feck me it’s a joy from start to finish.
Kind of a covers album. But he makes them his own.
Even A Pair Of Brown Eyes. No mean feat.
Always struck me as a kind of lad who wouldn’t drop
a baton or a torch if it was passed onto him.
You helped him on when he was starting out.
And there’s a story of a drink he had with Shane MacGowan.
Enjoy the good weather and the trips to Clare and Limerick.
Tabhair Aire
Bourkey
Hello Christy,
Lifting off the page…
The Tom Munnelly book arrived here yesterday. It’s a beautiful, impressive doorstop of a book. Opened it straight away somewgere near the middle, onto a song collected in Wexford in 1972.
Rosemary Lane.
It’s a beautiful version of Scarborogh Fair. Or Scarborough Fair is a version of this beauty.
Straight on with it. I had thought Scarborough Fair was a local song (local is relative in Yorkshire…)
So it’s a whole new place to explore.
Finger picking Ride On. Of its three chords, the octopus is currently winning on two of them. But give me a couple of months! I can hear it in my head…
Rebecca
Christy's reply
songs cross borders silently…take on new identities, become localised and embedded in fresh culture
If I’m even further away in terms of being % part of a trad continuum,I’m a happy man…
I’m reminded of a fab,chance encounter. I rarely played solo,but with a new ‘stick dulcimer’ to hand I headed to a session c 15 years ago. I’d worked up aversion of ‘Lakes of Pontchartain’ and gave it a go…at verse three,I heard a sound from the back of the room. There was a good,quiet crowd….it was a low whistle harmonising with me…stunningly great.
After the gig,a woman approached me,full of apologies…she was the whistle player and couldn’t resist playing along when she hear the song in D….we had a great chat and I ended up thanking her! It was fun to play solo,even better to get a harmony…
D
Christy's reply
one night in the Tin Pub , Ahakista, Co West Cork,in the midst of a rauceous session, a young woman began to play a recorder…silence fell upon the throng, it was so beautiful that I can clearly recall the emotion 30 years on, no one knew her, had ever met her, she disappeared into the night never to be heard again
The ITMA book about Tom Munnelly must have been a labour of love and a fine tribute to his life and work.
The internet has many faults,but it’s very handy to click a few keys and find out more about Munnelly,Reilly etc…on a recent read about Tom,I saw a great quote by you…crediting Tom for saving c 20,000 songs from going into the ground…
Seamus Ennis/BBC song collecting is another rabbit hole…might head there and see if it’s cooler…
Have a good day
Dave
Christy's reply
its a weighty tome but the weight is worthy..a true treasure trove
Hello Christy
…and I picked Paul Brady’s “The missing Liberty Tapes’ out of my collection today. It’s a 1978 live version of ‘Welcome Here…’ When introducing ‘…Pontchartrain’ to the audience he added “A song I learned from Christy Moore.”
So, all the best Christy Moore
Günter
Christy's reply
That great song came to me from Mike Waterson…..his family band “The Watersons” well worth a lisen….
I first heard them back in 1967 at a Folk Club in Hyde, Chesire…..
Subsequently played their club in Hull Yorkshire..
Mike also shared a version of “Van Diemen’s Land” with me…
and I sing a song he wrote called “A Stitch In Time”
I’ve probably shared this info here before …but what harm is there
Recently there was a great stir when Bob Dylan sang this song in Killarney
sadly, Mike Waterson was never mentioned in dispatches
Similarly, an Irish singer recently sang “The Well below The Valley” on Irish TV and failed to mention John Reilly or Tom Munnelly….
Just played Paul Brady’s classic ‘Welcone here kind stranger’. So many superb songs (shamelessly plundered for Nightshift gigs way back) arrangements and solo/ ensemble playing.
Recorded and released almost 50 years ago,I’ve loved it since the first play…no surprise at the man at the heart of it….Brian Masterson.
Dave
Christy's reply
ours is a living tradition…we listen , we learn, we transform,we breathe in and lift from off the page, we become a small part of the continuum,
Reading the guest book has become part of the daily ritual. Its a beautiful place to keep up to date with all that is happening. Long may it continue. All roads lead West this weekend. Just noticed you are in the Banner a week after their wonderful performance in Croker ( just came up short)….and you are in the Treaty town the night before the All-Ireland. The vibes will be interesting !!!.
Ride on.
Best Regards,
Patsy
Christy's reply
Morra Patsy…
In my case it, sure beats nights of endless rawmaishing on far flung
high stools…I enjoy the peaceful chats freely shared on our busy platform…
first we’ll take The Banner, then we’ll take UCL…Le Chónamh Dé
Hi Christy,
sorry for misinterpreting your comments. Re-reading them, I see you didn’t say anything about new songs, just recording songs. Probably wishful thinking on our part 😉 . But recording known songs in different/new versions sounds good too! And if it turns into a new album in the end, the better! If so: Please keep publishing CDs etc. I much more prefer having a cd over streaming and/or downloading music.
Hope you like your recordings so that we might get to listen to them later on 😊.
Birgit
Great news Christy, would this be the album for the Womens Aid Project by any chance ? Whatever it is it will be most welcome, new or old songs all good. I wonder is your colleague a Producer or Engineer rather than a musician ?? It all sounds so productive and exciting and in this warm weather !! You asked about people reading the guestbook, I would be too embarrassed to say how many times a day I check it. Bring on The Banner and the Dubs !!! Beir bua agus beannacht. H
Christy's reply
that project became the Women’s Aid gig in Vicar on April 19th
well spotted !!….yes…I was recording with a sound engineer…when I produced my brothers first album “Treaty Stone” in 1976.. it was engineered by Brian Masterson who went on to become Ireland’s most prolific and lauded sound engineer…his catalogue would read off the scale should he ever seek to recall his achievements
its very hot here in the East as we prepare for Glór and UCL….
we have two great finals to anticipate..Kerry v Dublin…. Limerick v Galway……..
the Trump/Infantino debacle pales into insignificance when compared to our GAA, Hurling and Rugby games…
I had the pleasure of watching soccer in England and Scotland in the 60s& 70s..almost every Sat I visited numerous grounds across the old Four Divisions…
todays game bears little resemblance….I watched 10 mins of Switzerland v Columbia, a few days back heard the England fans booing their own team…
Or, its at least 45 years since im aware you first recorded with Declan Sinnott maybe?
Christy's reply
in response to
Gipp
Birgit
Rebecca
Ed
Dave
Bourkey……I may have dropped a confusing note yesterday…apologies..
yes… I got 18 songs down very quickly…
all familiar songs that I have been gigging for years, some for decades..I just wanted to get them down as they are today…with an 81 year old voice and for no specific purpose….It was all solo….
I sat with Johnny Meade in the small private studio of a man with whom I first recorded about 50 years ago…not as a singer but as a producer….yes, I once produced an album….way way back in the long since forgotten Harcourt Street
Studio…..
I’ve no idea yet how they sounded….did not listen once, just ploughed on…if the take felt flawed I went at it again…..of the 18 only 4/5 merited a second take… in due course I’ll get rough mixes and will then decide whether or not to take them further….worse case scenario …another Box Set ?!!!….forget I said that
Hi Christy,
reading about a possible new album in the pipeline, that’s great news to start to the day.
Just two days ago I bought a ticket for the recently announced gig in Trim in October which I’m already looking forward to. The prospect of hearing a new song or two makes it even better.
I enjoyed a great stadium gig by the Toten Hosen last weekend in Dusseldorf. I loved it so much that I successfully tried to get a ticket for another of their shows in Cologne in two weeks. They played for more than two hours, a brilliant mix of old and new songs, powerful songs, political songs, party songs and deeply emotional songs. It was an absolute treat!
On a much smaller scale I go to a tiny, intimate folk gig by a local duo called The Tipsy Fleas next weekend, who are a very good alternative to the dreadful Trump World Cup – although being a soccer fan that tournament just isn’t my cup of tea…
All the best to you, safe travels to Ennis and have another great gig there
Birgit
Hello Christy,
Ah folk singers! 18 songs in two sessions. Straight through and we’re done. I read that it took the Beatles 18 takes to get Love Me Do down.
As Shane said,
“Got on a lucky one
Came in eighteen-to-one”
Between you and Liam, I’m listening to John Doyle.
Are you recording with Dónal Lunny?
As Bourkey said, could be Kevin Burke as I heard, he said in an interview recently he bought a place near Westport although he hasn’t moved there permanently.
Also could be Gay McKeon? Weren’t you doing some work with his son Sean recently?
Fifty years ago, 1976. When did a group of yez live in ‘Castlecomer’ and you recorded ‘Iron Behind the Velvet’? It’s still one of your best recordings.
Or it might be before that recording. Now you’ve made some daily communicants curious(!)
Hi Christy,
Eighteen songs, where ya been hiding them ?
As to the friend you first recorded with 50 years ago.
I’m bleeding, bitched, bolloxed and bewildered.
Donal and Andy go back a bit further …
Sadly Nick Ryan, Barney McKenna, Jimmy Faulkner,
Declan McNelis and Micheàl O Domhnall have passed on.
Kevin Burke last seen in Portland. Of Maine or of Oregon ?
No plectrum for me this time.
Anyways í gceann coicíse it will be all roads to Croke Park.
H’on Galway. the West’s awake and all that.
Tabhair Aire
Bourkey
Hi Christy,
Don’t know how long Damien Dempsey and his crew
took to record their latest album – Honywell.
But feck me it’s a joy from start to finish.
Kind of a covers album. But he makes them his own.
Even A Pair Of Brown Eyes. No mean feat.
Always struck me as a kind of lad who wouldn’t drop
a baton or a torch if it was passed onto him.
You helped him on when he was starting out.
And there’s a story of a drink he had with Shane MacGowan.
Enjoy the good weather and the trips to Clare and Limerick.
Tabhair Aire
Bourkey
Hello Christy,
Lifting off the page…
The Tom Munnelly book arrived here yesterday. It’s a beautiful, impressive doorstop of a book. Opened it straight away somewgere near the middle, onto a song collected in Wexford in 1972.
Rosemary Lane.
It’s a beautiful version of Scarborogh Fair. Or Scarborough Fair is a version of this beauty.
Straight on with it. I had thought Scarborough Fair was a local song (local is relative in Yorkshire…)
So it’s a whole new place to explore.
Finger picking Ride On. Of its three chords, the octopus is currently winning on two of them. But give me a couple of months! I can hear it in my head…
Rebecca
songs cross borders silently…take on new identities, become localised and embedded in fresh culture
If I’m even further away in terms of being % part of a trad continuum,I’m a happy man…
I’m reminded of a fab,chance encounter. I rarely played solo,but with a new ‘stick dulcimer’ to hand I headed to a session c 15 years ago. I’d worked up aversion of ‘Lakes of Pontchartain’ and gave it a go…at verse three,I heard a sound from the back of the room. There was a good,quiet crowd….it was a low whistle harmonising with me…stunningly great.
After the gig,a woman approached me,full of apologies…she was the whistle player and couldn’t resist playing along when she hear the song in D….we had a great chat and I ended up thanking her! It was fun to play solo,even better to get a harmony…
D
one night in the Tin Pub , Ahakista, Co West Cork,in the midst of a rauceous session, a young woman began to play a recorder…silence fell upon the throng, it was so beautiful that I can clearly recall the emotion 30 years on, no one knew her, had ever met her, she disappeared into the night never to be heard again
Hi Christy
The ITMA book about Tom Munnelly must have been a labour of love and a fine tribute to his life and work.
The internet has many faults,but it’s very handy to click a few keys and find out more about Munnelly,Reilly etc…on a recent read about Tom,I saw a great quote by you…crediting Tom for saving c 20,000 songs from going into the ground…
Seamus Ennis/BBC song collecting is another rabbit hole…might head there and see if it’s cooler…
Have a good day
Dave
its a weighty tome but the weight is worthy..a true treasure trove
Hello Christy
…and I picked Paul Brady’s “The missing Liberty Tapes’ out of my collection today. It’s a 1978 live version of ‘Welcome Here…’ When introducing ‘…Pontchartrain’ to the audience he added “A song I learned from Christy Moore.”
So, all the best Christy Moore
Günter
That great song came to me from Mike Waterson…..his family band “The Watersons” well worth a lisen….
I first heard them back in 1967 at a Folk Club in Hyde, Chesire…..
Subsequently played their club in Hull Yorkshire..
Mike also shared a version of “Van Diemen’s Land” with me…
and I sing a song he wrote called “A Stitch In Time”
I’ve probably shared this info here before …but what harm is there
Recently there was a great stir when Bob Dylan sang this song in Killarney
sadly, Mike Waterson was never mentioned in dispatches
Similarly, an Irish singer recently sang “The Well below The Valley” on Irish TV and failed to mention John Reilly or Tom Munnelly….
Hi Christy
Just played Paul Brady’s classic ‘Welcone here kind stranger’. So many superb songs (shamelessly plundered for Nightshift gigs way back) arrangements and solo/ ensemble playing.
Recorded and released almost 50 years ago,I’ve loved it since the first play…no surprise at the man at the heart of it….Brian Masterson.
Dave
ours is a living tradition…we listen , we learn, we transform,we breathe in and lift from off the page, we become a small part of the continuum,
Reading the guest book has become part of the daily ritual. Its a beautiful place to keep up to date with all that is happening. Long may it continue. All roads lead West this weekend. Just noticed you are in the Banner a week after their wonderful performance in Croker ( just came up short)….and you are in the Treaty town the night before the All-Ireland. The vibes will be interesting !!!.
Ride on.
Best Regards,
Patsy
Morra Patsy…
In my case it, sure beats nights of endless rawmaishing on far flung
high stools…I enjoy the peaceful chats freely shared on our busy platform…
first we’ll take The Banner, then we’ll take UCL…Le Chónamh Dé
Hi Christy,
sorry for misinterpreting your comments. Re-reading them, I see you didn’t say anything about new songs, just recording songs. Probably wishful thinking on our part 😉 . But recording known songs in different/new versions sounds good too! And if it turns into a new album in the end, the better! If so: Please keep publishing CDs etc. I much more prefer having a cd over streaming and/or downloading music.
Hope you like your recordings so that we might get to listen to them later on 😊.
Birgit
keep coming back
I’m thinking you may be working with your brother?
I love the idea of following songs through a voice as it changes over time.
spot on…Treaty Stone 1976
Great news Christy, would this be the album for the Womens Aid Project by any chance ? Whatever it is it will be most welcome, new or old songs all good. I wonder is your colleague a Producer or Engineer rather than a musician ?? It all sounds so productive and exciting and in this warm weather !! You asked about people reading the guestbook, I would be too embarrassed to say how many times a day I check it. Bring on The Banner and the Dubs !!! Beir bua agus beannacht. H
that project became the Women’s Aid gig in Vicar on April 19th
well spotted !!….yes…I was recording with a sound engineer…when I produced my brothers first album “Treaty Stone” in 1976.. it was engineered by Brian Masterson who went on to become Ireland’s most prolific and lauded sound engineer…his catalogue would read off the scale should he ever seek to recall his achievements
its very hot here in the East as we prepare for Glór and UCL….
we have two great finals to anticipate..Kerry v Dublin…. Limerick v Galway……..
the Trump/Infantino debacle pales into insignificance when compared to our GAA, Hurling and Rugby games…
I had the pleasure of watching soccer in England and Scotland in the 60s& 70s..almost every Sat I visited numerous grounds across the old Four Divisions…
todays game bears little resemblance….I watched 10 mins of Switzerland v Columbia, a few days back heard the England fans booing their own team…
Or, its at least 45 years since im aware you first recorded with Declan Sinnott maybe?
in response to
Gipp
Birgit
Rebecca
Ed
Dave
Bourkey……I may have dropped a confusing note yesterday…apologies..
yes… I got 18 songs down very quickly…
all familiar songs that I have been gigging for years, some for decades..I just wanted to get them down as they are today…with an 81 year old voice and for no specific purpose….It was all solo….
I sat with Johnny Meade in the small private studio of a man with whom I first recorded about 50 years ago…not as a singer but as a producer….yes, I once produced an album….way way back in the long since forgotten Harcourt Street
Studio…..
I’ve no idea yet how they sounded….did not listen once, just ploughed on…if the take felt flawed I went at it again…..of the 18 only 4/5 merited a second take… in due course I’ll get rough mixes and will then decide whether or not to take them further….worse case scenario …another Box Set ?!!!….forget I said that
Maybe I stretched those 50 years a bit?
Some years take longer than others…
Hi Christy,
reading about a possible new album in the pipeline, that’s great news to start to the day.
Just two days ago I bought a ticket for the recently announced gig in Trim in October which I’m already looking forward to. The prospect of hearing a new song or two makes it even better.
I enjoyed a great stadium gig by the Toten Hosen last weekend in Dusseldorf. I loved it so much that I successfully tried to get a ticket for another of their shows in Cologne in two weeks. They played for more than two hours, a brilliant mix of old and new songs, powerful songs, political songs, party songs and deeply emotional songs. It was an absolute treat!
On a much smaller scale I go to a tiny, intimate folk gig by a local duo called The Tipsy Fleas next weekend, who are a very good alternative to the dreadful Trump World Cup – although being a soccer fan that tournament just isn’t my cup of tea…
All the best to you, safe travels to Ennis and have another great gig there
Birgit
Hello Christy,
Ah folk singers! 18 songs in two sessions. Straight through and we’re done. I read that it took the Beatles 18 takes to get Love Me Do down.
As Shane said,
“Got on a lucky one
Came in eighteen-to-one”
Between you and Liam, I’m listening to John Doyle.
Are you recording with Dónal Lunny?
Rebecca
As Bourkey said, could be Kevin Burke as I heard, he said in an interview recently he bought a place near Westport although he hasn’t moved there permanently.
Also could be Gay McKeon? Weren’t you doing some work with his son Sean recently?
But 18 songs in 2 hour shifts! Thats some shift!
Fifty years ago, 1976. When did a group of yez live in ‘Castlecomer’ and you recorded ‘Iron Behind the Velvet’? It’s still one of your best recordings.
Or it might be before that recording. Now you’ve made some daily communicants curious(!)
Hi Christy
You’re giving Bob a run for his money…gigs a plenty aand songs flying out of the work room..
.
With Jimmy Mac,perhaps?
All the best
Davr
Hi Christy,
Eighteen songs, where ya been hiding them ?
As to the friend you first recorded with 50 years ago.
I’m bleeding, bitched, bolloxed and bewildered.
Donal and Andy go back a bit further …
Sadly Nick Ryan, Barney McKenna, Jimmy Faulkner,
Declan McNelis and Micheàl O Domhnall have passed on.
Kevin Burke last seen in Portland. Of Maine or of Oregon ?
No plectrum for me this time.
Anyways í gceann coicíse it will be all roads to Croke Park.
H’on Galway. the West’s awake and all that.
Tabhair Aire
Bourkey