Rebecca, his voice was majestic; their music great, Liam Clancy with his brothers and Tommy Makem.
I hope your instruments and sheet music were not in that room where water threatens to come through a ceiling? Jayney.
Contact has been made with North California.
Dear Christy,
From the plains of Royal Meath strong men they came hurrying through,
While Britannia’s huns ,with their long range guns. fired hell through the foggy dew.
I was drawn again to your performance at the GPO . What an historic place to sing a couple of songs that meant so much to your fellow Irish men and women, and recalling your grandfather as well as ,no doubt, as brave Tom Clarke, the O’Rahilly and others fell that day and later in and around the city.
That is the great city that all Irish people, and weekend visitors as well as those who migrate to Ireland seeking solace and welcome and shelter, benefit from.
As nations around the world suffer from oppression of invaders, colonials, racists and they ,and we, look to elect those who think they know better (but are often merely the former in disguise), we need songs like that to instil in us the strength to carry on.
While others can dream of retirement i hope that you never retire.
80+ is some stage to still be performing at your peak full time but frankly that is what you have done for us for decade upon decade. It looks beyond Joe Biden, but not beyond yourself, you fairly stamped yourself on the GPO in the most memorable of ways amid the bullet holes and the ghosts of the past.
Another friend of mine, of yours, was told that because of his deeds he had been there during the ’16, and i feel that with your words and actions since that you were too.
I hope that does not come across as offhand or casual from someone who only has 2% irish blood in his dna, but it seems to me that those who speak out, stand out, work away to keep those flames alive have the spirit in them as though they had stood among the flying shrapnel and bullets .
My friend Steven (tea with pinochet on the ‘fans’ video tribute to you) does so much to remember our Scottish heroes in the Bannockburn and Stirling Bridge battles. And so it was that when i stood with him on the battle site at Bannockburn 700 years to the hour of that the battle commenced ,i felt he (through his words and acts) was there standing beside Wallace as two nations fought for the freedom of one from the invading tyranny of another.
The idea of retiring fills me with dread, it will be great for some, my younger brother retires next month, but as long as there is a fight to be won, and ear to be turned or a cause to be pursued i hope to continue, though doing so in my 80s would be a miracle .
Thanks for the GPO songs.
Thanks for keeping on Christy.
Rory
Hello Christy,
Thanks to all for the pointers towards Liam Clancey. I’d never have hear any of this stuff if I hadn’t been here. I love this journey.
Here’s a live version https://youtu.be/jlJ2lgHV8Q0?si=uJT52Uk51jZaDVja
I don’t want to be tempting fate but
I think the leak in our roof might have gone!!!
We had men up there last week. When they came down they’d done some work and taken pictures of it. It looked really good.
So… I’m trying not to be too previoushere but we have had some rain. The utility room is bone dry! It’s often got a big puddle at one end. So, you never know. We’ve had this leak for years, since someone stole the lead off the roof. it might be fixed.
I’ve bee trying to work out a new practice routine to fit in guitar, harp and voice. Every day. There’s no time to work anymore. I’ve got plans! Retire from Calderdale Council when I hit 55. That gives me 15 months. I’m hoping it works out.
Ed, you (Ireland) are 8 hours ahead of us in Calif., it’s around 11:20pm Sunday night here. See if this works… I can be reached at “am.roving” with the usual gmail syntax. Good night.
Always good to be reminded of Liam Clancy’s magic…
No bigger admirer of his,than Dylan…going back c 60 years to Greenwich Village and The White Horse Tavern.
After Liam died in 2009,a YouTube post appeared…Starting with Dylan by The Boyne,pre his 1984 Slane Castle gig.Eloquently praising Liam and The Clancy’s influence…the film cuts to Liam on a 2005 gig,reminiscing about The White Horse Tavern nights,usually finishing with The Parting Glass…he then sings an ace version of Dylan’s Restless Farewell…describing the White Horse scene…
It’s fantastic mutual admiration,master and apprentice. Even more astounding that Dylan’s song was written in his early 20s…in a different way to yours,my life would have also been very different without such times…
Good man bourkey.
Christy
Today must belong to Derby Day, …..
Dry old men in cloth and silk watched the sport of kings.
Poor old Mary ( i think her name) who lived with the husband back down the town mind you.
Not many brave daisies out today in chilly Hawick to be plucked over here.
Fair old song, lots and lots going on in it despite its slow mood and gentle melody for the Kildare happenings of probably every derby day.
All good.
Rory
Christy
After yesterday’s magnificent victory over the city slickers this is a must play of a song https://youtu.be/eZ2__xGKaEo?si=heQXGRjtjNsJpI-Y
Go on the Saw Doctors with you know who on the drums.
Rory
It’s strange that some of the songs we love, we can’t get our heads around to sing. For me it’s The Patriots Game – Liam Clancy’s version is,to me, one of the greatest examples of ballad singing – pure mastery. I could never master the timing of it but man I never tire of listening to it.
Christy's reply
I agree with you on that….Liam was foremost in his prime….without Liam, and his three companeros, no one can imagine how (many of) our lives might have unfolded….so much would never have evolved…I can say with certainty that my own path would have been very different
Christy we coming to the Drogheda gig, as an OLD Wolverhampton lad who might not make many more gigs in Ireland I would love to hear John o Dreams from our Bill Caddick. In addition take me away for a few minutes with Bright Blue Rose. Thanks for all the great times and memories.
Kevin Glaze
Christy's reply
we always do our best when long haul listeners come to roost…safe travels to the Banks of The Boyne…..Bill Caddick fondly remembered
Howya Christy,
I can’t remember enjoying a game on the wireless
since Galway/Meath in 2001.
Mícheál watching from above gan doubt.
Decisions go again you in games – fair enough.
But when decisions that are proper important go wrong
like Natasha O’Brien in recent days. You would be thinking
that the standard we walk past is the standard we accept
will never be good enough.
Tabhair Aire
Bourkey
Christy's reply
You remind me of boyhood (pre TV ) days ….the excitement, the laughter and fun we had when we gathered around the wireless…..Din Joe on Sundays (after the dinner with Joe Lynch,) “lift the latch,open the door and walk right in”…The Foley Family, The Kennedy’s of Castleross, Míchéal O’Hehir from Croker and Aintree, occasionally Boxing at uneartlhy hours from far off places, Ronnie Delaney galloping around Melbourne……the visuals we imagined emanating from those great big wireless sets were far more memorable then the overloads we endure from flat screened, wrap-around sounding, power consuming, addictive, mind-boggling, time wasting monstrosities that nail us to the couches today (I speak as one addicted) ….Míchéal O’Hehir paved the way for the recently departed ,much loved Míchél Ó Muirachartaigh….so many joyful hours watching muted TV with Míchéal’s Radio commentary providing the commentary…
Jasus Bourkey but I’m coming across like a rale moaney auld bollix this Sunday morn and me still in the scratcher….
Meg McGowan once said “the good auld days were the days when we did’nt talk about the good auld days”
God -Be-Good to me auld school pal….he was way ahead of the rest of us…he had me reading Steinbeck, Hemingway and Flann and us barely out of short trousars…..
I was nearly going to reminisce about altar boys but I smell toast
Billy is John B’s son, now running the pub in Listowel. He writes a nice article in the Indo every Saturday. Sure where would he leave it. I think Mickey McConnell is a regular in the pub. I enjoy singing 3 of his songs- only her rivers, Supermarket Wine and the Tinkerman’s daughter. The Tinkermans also has ties to Siegerson Clifford. I’m unsure as to the exact author but it’s a mighty song in any event.
Christy's reply
its 40 years since I was in Billy’s Pub…..met John B briefly just the once…..I love that “Tinker’s Red Haired Daughter Maryanne”….I spent a long time getting into it ..I wanted to sing it but I could not get past that verse which described the Tinker man swapping his daughter for the Horse….but still a great song, just one I could not sing…I picked it up from Mickey McConnell’s beautiful version..I think it was written by Sigerson…..any song that runs through Lyracrompane has a lot going for it…..if you are talkin to Billy tell him I sent him an email but it bounced back “return to sender “!!
Hello Christy,
Lovely today to read about your guitar journey and Kevin’s adventures.
We took Steve’s pipes for their penultimate stay with David Lim, their maker and pipes god. He’s spent the last month making two regulators for them. A tenor and a baritone, beautiful in ebony, pale box wood and brass. They will be installed into the pipes in the next week. It’s great to see this set growing, a journey through the years. Once these regulators are in place the only thing left it the bass regulator. That should appear within the next year, given a kind and prevailing wind.
I hope you are well. Do you ever sing the full lyrics of Johnny Connor??
I was listening to it in the darker hours and wondering. To be fair it’s not the best for insomnia but it’s challenging in a good way which I suppose music should be. Off to do some mindfulness and embrace what John o Donohue calls befriending my inner silence. Can you imagine such a thing!
Best to you and yours
Anuk
Christy's reply
Johnny left many moons ago….I’ve not gigged it long since….but nudges like this sometimes bring on revivals…
great to glimpse you in the Titanic Gardens…when you and Tina met up all inner silence went out the window…..any sign of Taj Mahal ?
Hope all well with you and your Family
The older are allowed to be bolder at a Christy gig. The grey-haired lover gave her a kiss – on the lips
Keane’s Kingdom Billy Keane
BILLY KEANE
Christy Moore sang all the old favourites. And the new favourites too. His voice was as strong as ever, and the tender bits were as soft as a mother’s touch. It was a night to say I was there.
Christy has the ability to sing low and quiet, but every word is heard.
Messers are not allowed. The audience took heed. Or most of them anyway.
He’s still a protest singer. Republican, socialist and very much for the underdog. The young man still rages within.
Palestine is hard-hitting. His Stardust Song is raw and powerful. It places the victims of the St Valentine’s Day disaster in the Dublin club on the day of the terrible fire and in the now. The never-to-be-forgotten were finally vindicated.
Christy was invited by the Government to sing at last Sunday’s commemoration in the Garden of Remembrance. I think he was kind of proud of that, and why wouldn’t he be? After the years of fighting for what was right, Christy was right.
The INEC in Killarney was sold out. Christy played for about 100 minutes, and every minute was a joy. I didn’t agree with every word, though. There was a dig at Leo Varadkar and his love of the singing of Kylie Minogue. So what if Leo is a Kylie fan?
I’d be a Christy fan myself, though, and so was the man sitting next to me. He was singing every song under his breath, in a voice just above a whisper.
I said to him: “I came here to listen to Christy, not you.”
He is my friend and still is. Everyone there knew every word of every song.
Christy got the audience to lower the volume when they joined in the chorus, incrementally, until he had us at the right pitch, in the palms of his hands. And then he played us. We sang lower and lower into the loudest whisper.
This was why I came to the INEC – to see how it was done.
I had been told of his soft power, and you would never really get it to the same extent on recordings. It must have taken years of experience to hone the skills, though those in the know tell me Christy always had the gift.
Lisdoonvarna was even better than I expected. He was on fire.
Volume up loud and everyone knew the words. The crescendo. “Lisdoon-Lisdoon- Lisdoon-Lisdoonvarna.” An impossible-to- rhyme-with place made to rhyme by the mad rhythm of a type of Celtic freestyle.
The song was played on video before the concert in one of the Gleneagle’s buzzing bars. The young man in his mid-20s, pint in hand, said to his mother: “I’d love to have been around that time, Mam.”
I used to say the same when the footage of Woodstock came on screen.
“Lisdoon-Lisdoon-Lisdoon-Lisdoonvarna” does bring us back. There was little if any drug use and most of us couldn’t afford too much drink. I didn’t tell the young lad, the mad sex was no more than a kiss ‘n’ shift. The music and the fun was all about being young and of your time.
Funny, isn’t it, that the young lad talking to his mam and me, the older man, both wanted to go back in time.
The intergenerational retro was all brought on by the singing of the song.
Christy’s voice is as strong as ever. He looks fit. There was hardly a bead of sweat and there was no let-up for 100 minutes.
The highlight for me was when he sang Mickey MacConnell’s Only Our Rivers Run Free. Christy paid a lovely tribute to Mickey. I had a ticket for Mickey, but ever the pro, he took up his Friday residency in McMunn’s of Ballybunion.
Black is the Colour must be part of a life lived. There was no other way Christy could have made the singing so real and heartfelt. Everyone in the INEC was reminded of a current love and a lost love. Poets and singers only come into their own when they write about lost loves.
Where would they be without the lost loves? Shakespeare wrote about lost loves. Not to be confused with unrequited loves, as in Patrick Kavanagh’s On Raglan Road.
I heard a lady just a row below me sing “Grey is the colour of my true love’s hair”. I was taken by the sweetness of her voice and her loving disposition.
Her partner smiled and she tangled her hands, playfully through his sparse enough grey leftovers. He was, I guessed, the kind of a man who wouldn’t be seen holding hands in public. Not even on a beach out foreign, when no one from home was looking.
The older are allowed to be bolder at a Christy concert. The grey-haired lover gave his beloved a kiss. On the lips.
The sure sign of a good gig is the night flew, but it was not without drama. Christy downed a heckler with ease.
Another man stood up near the stage and blasted a full flash in Christy’s face just as the singer was trying to get a song back on track. But Christy never blinked. The old pro knew what to do, and it was to do nothing. He let his singing and his brilliant guitar playing do the talking.
There were a few encores, and the last song was Sonny, Don’t Go Away.
It brought me back to a time when I said goodbye to the family on a Monday and didn’t get back until the weekend. It may not seem like very long, but it was to me.
Christy stood up to sing near the off-stage exit. Ready for the road. But standing tall.
Oh, Sonny, don’t go away, I am here all alone.
Your daddy’s a sailor who never comes home.
And these nights get so long, and the silence. goes on.
And I’m feeling so tired, I’m not all that strong.
He sang slow and he sang low. We all sang low and we all sang slow.
Christy walked off while we were still in thrall, and did he wave goodbye? I think so. And was it a long goodbye or a short goodbye?
Oh, Christy, don’t go away.
Christy's reply
Thanks for posting Hopper.Great to get such a positive review from the INEC in Killarney….its very seldom that reviewers relate audience whispers….
I’m thinking that Billy might be a member of John B. Keane’s Family in Listowel…I recorded a John B song way back …”Cricklewood” was from one his plays….I heard Tony Grehan from Boyle sing it in Mosside, Manchester in 1966…
“Cricklewood, Cricklewood,you stole my heart away,
I was young and innocent, you were old and gray”
Billy’s description of that couple during “Black is The Colour” shows thathe has a keen eye and ear..
he might be right about Leo & Kylie too…over the last 40 years there have been numerous verses to that song…they come and go like Taoisesachs
Great to hear about your experiences with the guitars over the years. I too started on nylon string, the first song learned was ‘House of the Rising Sun’ and remain limited (thank God for the trusty capo)…Reading about George Lowden’s very first ‘guitar’ making experience, he used fishing line for strings, boat nails for frets, and a square soundbox.. we all start somewhere..
Hattie Caroll was indeed the perfect song. Injustice breeds anger. I thought of Sacco and Vanzetti as we drove home from the gig too. Cntd from earlier post..A fascinating visit to the Lowden workshop today.. from seeing where the timber is stored at perfect temperature to the cutting,bending,binding and precision that goes into each piece – it gave a whole new appreciation for the luthiers craft.. played various models and got a chance to note how the timbers and build types respond so differently.. then to hear how they respond when plugged in.. like a kid in a sweet shop..
Christy's reply
you have me thinking of old guitars this June morning….my mind meanders back to the late 1950s…to the best of my knowledge there was not a single guitar in my home town of Newbridge….then early Rock & Roll entered the picture via Radio Luxembourg…then came The Clancy’s and Liam flakin away on (I think) a nylon strung model…Austin O’Donnell in The Curragh Camp had a guitar as did Kevin Prendergast in Miltown….next came Donal Lunny ….I got my first guitar from Ned Bulfin at a Fleadh Ceol in Portarlington..it cost me £3 and Ned allowed me pay in instalments….the strap was made from binder twine….Donal showed me how to play C and G7….that got me started…Jug of Punch, Rosin the Bow and The Bard of Armagh…next came a £10 guitar from McCullough Piggots purchased on the HP at 10 shillings a week…neither of these guitars had makers names that I recall….cant recall what guitar came next but it was a nylon strung model that carried me across to England in 1966 to try my hand at full time singing….I met Ralph McTell in Manchester 1967…his playing mesmerised me..he suggested I go steel..I arranged to meet him in London where he accompanied me to Ivor Mairants Guitar shop ….I decided on a Yamaha FG 180…my first real guitar cost £40…..over the years there have been numerous makes and models, a few different Martins, many Yamaha FG180s, a few Gibsons, 2 Loudens, 2 Atkins, for the past 40 years my working guitars have been 40 years old Takamines… ( I dont like the later Taks ) …they live with Johnny Meade who keeps them in perfect running order…at home I play a vintage Gibson, an Atkin and a beautiful 40 year old battered Tak sent me by Ger Fennelly from Brisbane….it is currently being renovated by Derek Nelson who has no equal ( i.m.h.o.).Soon to retire,Derek has expertly tended the instruments of many Irish musicians….in recent years I’ve come across some lovely instruments in Some Neck Guitar Shop in Dublin….
Up until 3 years ago I always had hang-ups about my guitar playing…I have a flawed tuning , I’m extremely limited in chords ( maybe 7 or 8)….in recent years I’ve shaken off the hang ups and I just “go-for-it” and do the best I can…I’ve been privilged to play with some of the very best, Donal Lunny, Declan Sinnott, Arty McGlynn, Steve Cooney,Denis Cahill, Seamie Dowd, Sean Óg Graham ( recently and remotely),The Edge and Jimmy Faulkner, to name but a few..what pleasure I’ve gained from playing alongside those wonderful guitar players..
thats me guitarred out for this morning Kevin…time to get up and make the “stir-about”….
Well C that was one fast paced gig last night, you certainly broke a sweat !! As Kevin M already mentioned the Cavan Choir was in great form, of course you encouraged them from the very start which is great. Your gigs are now a very strong combination of calling out injustice on so many levels to tender love songs to rousing ballads, what a wonderful mix, only you could carry that off all in 90 minutes. Thank you so much for recognising the misogyny of both Judge O Donnell and that soldier, despite, or maybe because , of their actions Ms. O Brien is now a beacon of hope, fair play to her such a strong, articulate and courageous woman, maybe this time there will be change ? Hattie Carroll was the perfect song. GRMMA, beir bua agus beannacht. H
Christy's reply
Judge Tom O’Donnell
Private Cathal Crotty
Aaron Holland
between the three of them they make for stark examples of the mindless violence and thuggery that exists in Ireland today..and to the tolerance of same by certain members of the Judiciary
Holland viciously kicked,punched and robbed a homeless man ..he walked free because he pleaded guilty…thats some message to send out to the country
Crotty almost beat Natasha O’Brien to death after she asked him to stop shouting homophobic slurs at passers by on the street .. he tried to blame her and posted “two to put her down, two to finish her off”…he walked free lest a custodial sentence detract from his Army career..(an Army Officer spoke on his behalf)
O’Donnell released these violent thugs back out onto the streets….
about to retire, might O’Donnell walk the streets and encounter Crotty and Holland late in the lonely dark of night
Natasha O’Brien is a courageous citizen who deserves any support we can offer
Rebecca, his voice was majestic; their music great, Liam Clancy with his brothers and Tommy Makem.
I hope your instruments and sheet music were not in that room where water threatens to come through a ceiling? Jayney.
Contact has been made with North California.
Dear Christy,
From the plains of Royal Meath strong men they came hurrying through,
While Britannia’s huns ,with their long range guns. fired hell through the foggy dew.
I was drawn again to your performance at the GPO . What an historic place to sing a couple of songs that meant so much to your fellow Irish men and women, and recalling your grandfather as well as ,no doubt, as brave Tom Clarke, the O’Rahilly and others fell that day and later in and around the city.
That is the great city that all Irish people, and weekend visitors as well as those who migrate to Ireland seeking solace and welcome and shelter, benefit from.
As nations around the world suffer from oppression of invaders, colonials, racists and they ,and we, look to elect those who think they know better (but are often merely the former in disguise), we need songs like that to instil in us the strength to carry on.
While others can dream of retirement i hope that you never retire.
80+ is some stage to still be performing at your peak full time but frankly that is what you have done for us for decade upon decade. It looks beyond Joe Biden, but not beyond yourself, you fairly stamped yourself on the GPO in the most memorable of ways amid the bullet holes and the ghosts of the past.
Another friend of mine, of yours, was told that because of his deeds he had been there during the ’16, and i feel that with your words and actions since that you were too.
I hope that does not come across as offhand or casual from someone who only has 2% irish blood in his dna, but it seems to me that those who speak out, stand out, work away to keep those flames alive have the spirit in them as though they had stood among the flying shrapnel and bullets .
My friend Steven (tea with pinochet on the ‘fans’ video tribute to you) does so much to remember our Scottish heroes in the Bannockburn and Stirling Bridge battles. And so it was that when i stood with him on the battle site at Bannockburn 700 years to the hour of that the battle commenced ,i felt he (through his words and acts) was there standing beside Wallace as two nations fought for the freedom of one from the invading tyranny of another.
The idea of retiring fills me with dread, it will be great for some, my younger brother retires next month, but as long as there is a fight to be won, and ear to be turned or a cause to be pursued i hope to continue, though doing so in my 80s would be a miracle .
Thanks for the GPO songs.
Thanks for keeping on Christy.
Rory
Hi Rebeccah
Liam Clancy reciting Mary Hynes is a treat.
Retiring from work at 55 as Van The Man used to say
Fair play to you.
Enjoy the day
Bourkey
Hello Christy,
Thanks to all for the pointers towards Liam Clancey. I’d never have hear any of this stuff if I hadn’t been here. I love this journey.
Here’s a live version
https://youtu.be/jlJ2lgHV8Q0?si=uJT52Uk51jZaDVja
I don’t want to be tempting fate but
I think the leak in our roof might have gone!!!
We had men up there last week. When they came down they’d done some work and taken pictures of it. It looked really good.
So… I’m trying not to be too previoushere but we have had some rain. The utility room is bone dry! It’s often got a big puddle at one end. So, you never know. We’ve had this leak for years, since someone stole the lead off the roof. it might be fixed.
I’ve bee trying to work out a new practice routine to fit in guitar, harp and voice. Every day. There’s no time to work anymore. I’ve got plans! Retire from Calderdale Council when I hit 55. That gives me 15 months. I’m hoping it works out.
Rebecca
Ed, you (Ireland) are 8 hours ahead of us in Calif., it’s around 11:20pm Sunday night here. See if this works… I can be reached at “am.roving” with the usual gmail syntax. Good night.
Petel (N California), will you look in here later on today, Monday, I will be in touch.
Dagrab: there was nothing to beat Liam C’s voice, just lovely.
Hi Christy
Always good to be reminded of Liam Clancy’s magic…
No bigger admirer of his,than Dylan…going back c 60 years to Greenwich Village and The White Horse Tavern.
After Liam died in 2009,a YouTube post appeared…Starting with Dylan by The Boyne,pre his 1984 Slane Castle gig.Eloquently praising Liam and The Clancy’s influence…the film cuts to Liam on a 2005 gig,reminiscing about The White Horse Tavern nights,usually finishing with The Parting Glass…he then sings an ace version of Dylan’s Restless Farewell…describing the White Horse scene…
It’s fantastic mutual admiration,master and apprentice. Even more astounding that Dylan’s song was written in his early 20s…in a different way to yours,my life would have also been very different without such times…
All the best
Dave
Good man bourkey.
Christy
Today must belong to Derby Day, …..
Dry old men in cloth and silk watched the sport of kings.
Poor old Mary ( i think her name) who lived with the husband back down the town mind you.
Not many brave daisies out today in chilly Hawick to be plucked over here.
Fair old song, lots and lots going on in it despite its slow mood and gentle melody for the Kildare happenings of probably every derby day.
All good.
Rory
Good man Rory
Perfect start to the day
Maroon and White forever …
The Docs live – you can’t bate it
Christy
After yesterday’s magnificent victory over the city slickers this is a must play of a song
https://youtu.be/eZ2__xGKaEo?si=heQXGRjtjNsJpI-Y
Go on the Saw Doctors with you know who on the drums.
Rory
It’s strange that some of the songs we love, we can’t get our heads around to sing. For me it’s The Patriots Game – Liam Clancy’s version is,to me, one of the greatest examples of ballad singing – pure mastery. I could never master the timing of it but man I never tire of listening to it.
I agree with you on that….Liam was foremost in his prime….without Liam, and his three companeros, no one can imagine how (many of) our lives might have unfolded….so much would never have evolved…I can say with certainty that my own path would have been very different
Christy we coming to the Drogheda gig, as an OLD Wolverhampton lad who might not make many more gigs in Ireland I would love to hear John o Dreams from our Bill Caddick. In addition take me away for a few minutes with Bright Blue Rose. Thanks for all the great times and memories.
Kevin Glaze
we always do our best when long haul listeners come to roost…safe travels to the Banks of The Boyne…..Bill Caddick fondly remembered
Howya Christy,
I can’t remember enjoying a game on the wireless
since Galway/Meath in 2001.
Mícheál watching from above gan doubt.
Decisions go again you in games – fair enough.
But when decisions that are proper important go wrong
like Natasha O’Brien in recent days. You would be thinking
that the standard we walk past is the standard we accept
will never be good enough.
Tabhair Aire
Bourkey
You remind me of boyhood (pre TV ) days ….the excitement, the laughter and fun we had when we gathered around the wireless…..Din Joe on Sundays (after the dinner with Joe Lynch,) “lift the latch,open the door and walk right in”…The Foley Family, The Kennedy’s of Castleross, Míchéal O’Hehir from Croker and Aintree, occasionally Boxing at uneartlhy hours from far off places, Ronnie Delaney galloping around Melbourne……the visuals we imagined emanating from those great big wireless sets were far more memorable then the overloads we endure from flat screened, wrap-around sounding, power consuming, addictive, mind-boggling, time wasting monstrosities that nail us to the couches today (I speak as one addicted) ….Míchéal O’Hehir paved the way for the recently departed ,much loved Míchél Ó Muirachartaigh….so many joyful hours watching muted TV with Míchéal’s Radio commentary providing the commentary…
Jasus Bourkey but I’m coming across like a rale moaney auld bollix this Sunday morn and me still in the scratcher….
Meg McGowan once said “the good auld days were the days when we did’nt talk about the good auld days”
God -Be-Good to me auld school pal….he was way ahead of the rest of us…he had me reading Steinbeck, Hemingway and Flann and us barely out of short trousars…..
I was nearly going to reminisce about altar boys but I smell toast
Billy is John B’s son, now running the pub in Listowel. He writes a nice article in the Indo every Saturday. Sure where would he leave it. I think Mickey McConnell is a regular in the pub. I enjoy singing 3 of his songs- only her rivers, Supermarket Wine and the Tinkerman’s daughter. The Tinkermans also has ties to Siegerson Clifford. I’m unsure as to the exact author but it’s a mighty song in any event.
its 40 years since I was in Billy’s Pub…..met John B briefly just the once…..I love that “Tinker’s Red Haired Daughter Maryanne”….I spent a long time getting into it ..I wanted to sing it but I could not get past that verse which described the Tinker man swapping his daughter for the Horse….but still a great song, just one I could not sing…I picked it up from Mickey McConnell’s beautiful version..I think it was written by Sigerson…..any song that runs through Lyracrompane has a lot going for it…..if you are talkin to Billy tell him I sent him an email but it bounced back “return to sender “!!
Hello Christy,
Lovely today to read about your guitar journey and Kevin’s adventures.
We took Steve’s pipes for their penultimate stay with David Lim, their maker and pipes god. He’s spent the last month making two regulators for them. A tenor and a baritone, beautiful in ebony, pale box wood and brass. They will be installed into the pipes in the next week. It’s great to see this set growing, a journey through the years. Once these regulators are in place the only thing left it the bass regulator. That should appear within the next year, given a kind and prevailing wind.
Rebecca
full set on the way
Dear Christy
I hope you are well. Do you ever sing the full lyrics of Johnny Connor??
I was listening to it in the darker hours and wondering. To be fair it’s not the best for insomnia but it’s challenging in a good way which I suppose music should be. Off to do some mindfulness and embrace what John o Donohue calls befriending my inner silence. Can you imagine such a thing!
Best to you and yours
Anuk
Johnny left many moons ago….I’ve not gigged it long since….but nudges like this sometimes bring on revivals…
great to glimpse you in the Titanic Gardens…when you and Tina met up all inner silence went out the window…..any sign of Taj Mahal ?
Hope all well with you and your Family
Nice article from Billy Keane in today’s Indo
The older are allowed to be bolder at a Christy gig. The grey-haired lover gave her a kiss – on the lips
Keane’s Kingdom Billy Keane
BILLY KEANE
Christy Moore sang all the old favourites. And the new favourites too. His voice was as strong as ever, and the tender bits were as soft as a mother’s touch. It was a night to say I was there.
Christy has the ability to sing low and quiet, but every word is heard.
Messers are not allowed. The audience took heed. Or most of them anyway.
He’s still a protest singer. Republican, socialist and very much for the underdog. The young man still rages within.
Palestine is hard-hitting. His Stardust Song is raw and powerful. It places the victims of the St Valentine’s Day disaster in the Dublin club on the day of the terrible fire and in the now. The never-to-be-forgotten were finally vindicated.
Christy was invited by the Government to sing at last Sunday’s commemoration in the Garden of Remembrance. I think he was kind of proud of that, and why wouldn’t he be? After the years of fighting for what was right, Christy was right.
The INEC in Killarney was sold out. Christy played for about 100 minutes, and every minute was a joy. I didn’t agree with every word, though. There was a dig at Leo Varadkar and his love of the singing of Kylie Minogue. So what if Leo is a Kylie fan?
I’d be a Christy fan myself, though, and so was the man sitting next to me. He was singing every song under his breath, in a voice just above a whisper.
I said to him: “I came here to listen to Christy, not you.”
He is my friend and still is. Everyone there knew every word of every song.
Christy got the audience to lower the volume when they joined in the chorus, incrementally, until he had us at the right pitch, in the palms of his hands. And then he played us. We sang lower and lower into the loudest whisper.
This was why I came to the INEC – to see how it was done.
I had been told of his soft power, and you would never really get it to the same extent on recordings. It must have taken years of experience to hone the skills, though those in the know tell me Christy always had the gift.
Lisdoonvarna was even better than I expected. He was on fire.
Volume up loud and everyone knew the words. The crescendo. “Lisdoon-Lisdoon- Lisdoon-Lisdoonvarna.” An impossible-to- rhyme-with place made to rhyme by the mad rhythm of a type of Celtic freestyle.
The song was played on video before the concert in one of the Gleneagle’s buzzing bars. The young man in his mid-20s, pint in hand, said to his mother: “I’d love to have been around that time, Mam.”
I used to say the same when the footage of Woodstock came on screen.
“Lisdoon-Lisdoon-Lisdoon-Lisdoonvarna” does bring us back. There was little if any drug use and most of us couldn’t afford too much drink. I didn’t tell the young lad, the mad sex was no more than a kiss ‘n’ shift. The music and the fun was all about being young and of your time.
Funny, isn’t it, that the young lad talking to his mam and me, the older man, both wanted to go back in time.
The intergenerational retro was all brought on by the singing of the song.
Christy’s voice is as strong as ever. He looks fit. There was hardly a bead of sweat and there was no let-up for 100 minutes.
The highlight for me was when he sang Mickey MacConnell’s Only Our Rivers Run Free. Christy paid a lovely tribute to Mickey. I had a ticket for Mickey, but ever the pro, he took up his Friday residency in McMunn’s of Ballybunion.
Black is the Colour must be part of a life lived. There was no other way Christy could have made the singing so real and heartfelt. Everyone in the INEC was reminded of a current love and a lost love. Poets and singers only come into their own when they write about lost loves.
Where would they be without the lost loves? Shakespeare wrote about lost loves. Not to be confused with unrequited loves, as in Patrick Kavanagh’s On Raglan Road.
I heard a lady just a row below me sing “Grey is the colour of my true love’s hair”. I was taken by the sweetness of her voice and her loving disposition.
Her partner smiled and she tangled her hands, playfully through his sparse enough grey leftovers. He was, I guessed, the kind of a man who wouldn’t be seen holding hands in public. Not even on a beach out foreign, when no one from home was looking.
The older are allowed to be bolder at a Christy concert. The grey-haired lover gave his beloved a kiss. On the lips.
The sure sign of a good gig is the night flew, but it was not without drama. Christy downed a heckler with ease.
Another man stood up near the stage and blasted a full flash in Christy’s face just as the singer was trying to get a song back on track. But Christy never blinked. The old pro knew what to do, and it was to do nothing. He let his singing and his brilliant guitar playing do the talking.
There were a few encores, and the last song was Sonny, Don’t Go Away.
It brought me back to a time when I said goodbye to the family on a Monday and didn’t get back until the weekend. It may not seem like very long, but it was to me.
Christy stood up to sing near the off-stage exit. Ready for the road. But standing tall.
Oh, Sonny, don’t go away, I am here all alone.
Your daddy’s a sailor who never comes home.
And these nights get so long, and the silence. goes on.
And I’m feeling so tired, I’m not all that strong.
He sang slow and he sang low. We all sang low and we all sang slow.
Christy walked off while we were still in thrall, and did he wave goodbye? I think so. And was it a long goodbye or a short goodbye?
Oh, Christy, don’t go away.
Thanks for posting Hopper.Great to get such a positive review from the INEC in Killarney….its very seldom that reviewers relate audience whispers….
I’m thinking that Billy might be a member of John B. Keane’s Family in Listowel…I recorded a John B song way back …”Cricklewood” was from one his plays….I heard Tony Grehan from Boyle sing it in Mosside, Manchester in 1966…
“Cricklewood, Cricklewood,you stole my heart away,
I was young and innocent, you were old and gray”
Billy’s description of that couple during “Black is The Colour” shows thathe has a keen eye and ear..
he might be right about Leo & Kylie too…over the last 40 years there have been numerous verses to that song…they come and go like Taoisesachs
Great to hear about your experiences with the guitars over the years. I too started on nylon string, the first song learned was ‘House of the Rising Sun’ and remain limited (thank God for the trusty capo)…Reading about George Lowden’s very first ‘guitar’ making experience, he used fishing line for strings, boat nails for frets, and a square soundbox.. we all start somewhere..
Hattie Caroll was indeed the perfect song. Injustice breeds anger. I thought of Sacco and Vanzetti as we drove home from the gig too. Cntd from earlier post..A fascinating visit to the Lowden workshop today.. from seeing where the timber is stored at perfect temperature to the cutting,bending,binding and precision that goes into each piece – it gave a whole new appreciation for the luthiers craft.. played various models and got a chance to note how the timbers and build types respond so differently.. then to hear how they respond when plugged in.. like a kid in a sweet shop..
you have me thinking of old guitars this June morning….my mind meanders back to the late 1950s…to the best of my knowledge there was not a single guitar in my home town of Newbridge….then early Rock & Roll entered the picture via Radio Luxembourg…then came The Clancy’s and Liam flakin away on (I think) a nylon strung model…Austin O’Donnell in The Curragh Camp had a guitar as did Kevin Prendergast in Miltown….next came Donal Lunny ….I got my first guitar from Ned Bulfin at a Fleadh Ceol in Portarlington..it cost me £3 and Ned allowed me pay in instalments….the strap was made from binder twine….Donal showed me how to play C and G7….that got me started…Jug of Punch, Rosin the Bow and The Bard of Armagh…next came a £10 guitar from McCullough Piggots purchased on the HP at 10 shillings a week…neither of these guitars had makers names that I recall….cant recall what guitar came next but it was a nylon strung model that carried me across to England in 1966 to try my hand at full time singing….I met Ralph McTell in Manchester 1967…his playing mesmerised me..he suggested I go steel..I arranged to meet him in London where he accompanied me to Ivor Mairants Guitar shop ….I decided on a Yamaha FG 180…my first real guitar cost £40…..over the years there have been numerous makes and models, a few different Martins, many Yamaha FG180s, a few Gibsons, 2 Loudens, 2 Atkins, for the past 40 years my working guitars have been 40 years old Takamines… ( I dont like the later Taks ) …they live with Johnny Meade who keeps them in perfect running order…at home I play a vintage Gibson, an Atkin and a beautiful 40 year old battered Tak sent me by Ger Fennelly from Brisbane….it is currently being renovated by Derek Nelson who has no equal ( i.m.h.o.).Soon to retire,Derek has expertly tended the instruments of many Irish musicians….in recent years I’ve come across some lovely instruments in Some Neck Guitar Shop in Dublin….
Up until 3 years ago I always had hang-ups about my guitar playing…I have a flawed tuning , I’m extremely limited in chords ( maybe 7 or 8)….in recent years I’ve shaken off the hang ups and I just “go-for-it” and do the best I can…I’ve been privilged to play with some of the very best, Donal Lunny, Declan Sinnott, Arty McGlynn, Steve Cooney,Denis Cahill, Seamie Dowd, Sean Óg Graham ( recently and remotely),The Edge and Jimmy Faulkner, to name but a few..what pleasure I’ve gained from playing alongside those wonderful guitar players..
thats me guitarred out for this morning Kevin…time to get up and make the “stir-about”….
Well C that was one fast paced gig last night, you certainly broke a sweat !! As Kevin M already mentioned the Cavan Choir was in great form, of course you encouraged them from the very start which is great. Your gigs are now a very strong combination of calling out injustice on so many levels to tender love songs to rousing ballads, what a wonderful mix, only you could carry that off all in 90 minutes. Thank you so much for recognising the misogyny of both Judge O Donnell and that soldier, despite, or maybe because , of their actions Ms. O Brien is now a beacon of hope, fair play to her such a strong, articulate and courageous woman, maybe this time there will be change ? Hattie Carroll was the perfect song. GRMMA, beir bua agus beannacht. H
Judge Tom O’Donnell
Private Cathal Crotty
Aaron Holland
between the three of them they make for stark examples of the mindless violence and thuggery that exists in Ireland today..and to the tolerance of same by certain members of the Judiciary
Holland viciously kicked,punched and robbed a homeless man ..he walked free because he pleaded guilty…thats some message to send out to the country
Crotty almost beat Natasha O’Brien to death after she asked him to stop shouting homophobic slurs at passers by on the street .. he tried to blame her and posted “two to put her down, two to finish her off”…he walked free lest a custodial sentence detract from his Army career..(an Army Officer spoke on his behalf)
O’Donnell released these violent thugs back out onto the streets….
about to retire, might O’Donnell walk the streets and encounter Crotty and Holland late in the lonely dark of night
Natasha O’Brien is a courageous citizen who deserves any support we can offer