Hi. Here is an interview with Brian Maguire https://www.rte.ie/radio/radio1/clips/22489209/ This is ahead of the documentary on RTE TV on Thurs which includes an input from Christy, while his exhibition continues in the Hugh Lane Gallery. H
An interesting music news evening…with radio backing,the excellent Certs Matthews and blues music via BBC radio six…
Dylan’s influence is wide,as we know…Steve Knightly (Show of Hands) is acknowledging it and Martin Carthy s powers by featuring their songs on his gigs and a solo CD.
The epic film ‘A Complete Unknown’ used Elijah Wald’s book as a framework….’Dylan Goes Electric!’ is a very informative read….published ten years ago,I overlooked it then and am now making up for lost time! EW’s website is also good,with details of his diverse output.
Last but not least…Oysterband website has info about their farewell gigs in Scandinavia and Germany…if they play a gig near readers here,I hope there’ll be a review or two…such an ace outfit…
We used to circumnavigate Lough Derg to the South Christy! Always a jacks stop in Toomevara at Thisildoyouze! I believe he was a brother of the lad from Shannon!
I’m enjoying a good read of the always interesting Rock n Reel mag….a great interview with Mary Coughlan this month. Sean McGhee plays a blinder from the republic of West Cumbria!
Philip King just played ‘West Coast of Clare’ on his Radio One programme. Esoteric as ever in his music choices, an ‘Astral Weeks’ track played earlier.
Mention of Philip brings me to his TV documentary from the ninetys, ‘Bringing it Back Home’ where he showed the influences of Irish music in America and how in our case, the music returned home.
Christy's reply
No better Man than PK..himself and Ms N O’C dream up the finest of projects and make bring them to fruition…a really brilliant film due out this year..more anon…
Good ‘ol Mother Hubbards, we chatted about it here b4. I too recall the original.
Christy's reply
Barry was the man that made that tea/sambo stop so special….if we last long enough who knows ? maybe we’ll talk about it again….good memories ,good stories, good songs, all have a tendency to resurface time and again….anyone remember Thisildous nr Shannon? I always thought it was a Greek resteraunt until the kids put me wise…there used to be a house between Portumna and Mountshannon that had a sign “Warm Food all day”…run by a German family…I used to take the long road from Dublin To Lisdoonvarna back then….Clane-Prosperous-Edenderry-Birr-Portumna- Mountshannon- Scariff- Bodyke-the Windswept Hill with a stop in John Minogue’s Hotel fro a swift Celebration Cream or two
I can remember vividly Christy your appearance on the Andrew Marr Show. I used to watch it regularly and had no idea you were on it that Sunday morning. Andrew Marr introduced yourself and Declan to sing “Sweet Thames Flow Softly”, I thought lovely! One of me favouites, having crossed that river on different bridges many times over the years. I havent seen it since but i distinctly remember on performing it, although you had the guitar you didn’t play it, and I turned to Mrs Gipp and said, somethings not right there it’s like they haven’t rehearsed it beforehand or something! George Clooney was also on the show!
Always great to hear the original Mother Hubbards being mentioned, stopped there always on the way out west! T’was the best rasher samich and cup of tea this side of the Mississippi even if it was in a white polystyrene cup!
Christy's reply
well remembered Gipp…
we left our guitars on stands after sound check…15 minutes later..we began to play and my guitar was completely out of tune..Declan saved the day…
great that you visited Barry’s wagon too…I used to bring my own cup !
Hey Christy, I’m looking forward to the gig in Mullingar on the 19th. I’ve come from “across the pond” as we say in Newfoundland via Spain. This will be my 3rd gig in 15 months. Sonny’s Dream is a song we all hold dear in our hearts and I would be honoured if you could sing it at the gig. My other favourite is The Voyage. Boy in the Wild is a great song as well. Soooo many good ones to choose from.
Hi Christy, hope you enjoyed the well deserved rest after a busy run.. Looking forward to Mullingar and hearing the songs again.. It was lovely to hear Ray Cuddihy play Johnny Duhan singing The Voyage on the road over the weekend.. that Late Date programme plays some sweet sounds..
christy hi
Amidst all the bob marley,clash, aztec camera, ian dury etc etc i have been listening to recently i just stuck on a song by Mick Blake and the simple peace of his song struck a calming chord.
His songs are not ‘simple’ that would be ridiculous of me to say ,but he produces such depth of message with such straightforward but unassuming method that i must drop him into my music more often.
I would love to have another album of his released ,but good things come to those who wait. His ‘time to time’ releases on Bandcamp are worth the wait. Meantime i am glad you perform some of his catalogue of great songs.
rory
Hello Christy,
Bg recording and little recording. The whole things feels like time travel. A kind of magic carpet. I think of all us musicians determinedky recording recording. The courage it takes. The different kind of listening it gives us. Listening from tgs other side. “Oh! That’s what I sound like.”
Helps us work and get better.
Those tiny birds that open their throats and let the world out. Singing.
The recording process of the Bristol sessions in 1927 – the ‘big bang’ of country music in which the Carters made their first recordings is really remarkable. Ralph Peer used some of the first electric mics, combined with a weight driven mastering lathe to cut the recordings direct to lacquer. There’s some good detail on it here about 15 mins in:
Morra Smál,
Thanks again…another great post….
wonderful to gain such insight into the early recording process…the process interwoven with tasks about the farm…the old Model T parked on the slope to get started before heading off to sing…those early dirt roads demanding solid suspension….
those early recordings remind me of certain slogans…”Keep It Simple”….”First Things First”
I worked in EMI record pressing plant in Hayes Middx in the winter of 1966…..pressed “Good Vibrations” every night for 8 weeks….on a good night 1200 copies might roll off my press…about 30 presses all working on the Beach Boys single….after 750 singles a bonus came into play… a small speck of dust could ruin a nights work (and wages)…. only the top machinists got to press LPs and Classical music…I never made it off the “pop/rock” section….some would sneak a few copies out and bring them to the record stall on Shepherd’s Bush market…never crossed my mind
Hi Christy,
Soo looking forward to the return of the Gigs , and kicking off here in the Midlands 2 weeks in a row. Alas Mother Hubbards is no more, Pat McDonaghs in Kinnegad is where the swarm of Truckers gather these days.Hope you managed to get the Togs washed after Murrayfield …. That dark Blue dye in the middle of the pitch stuck everywhere 😀. We had Mary Coughlan here in Moate tonight, another great storyteller on the road.
The welcome mat will be out in Mullingar.
Ride on.
Patsy.
Christy's reply
Hey Patsy,…final touches here as we prepare for our annual return to the fine City of Mullingar..
when I sing of Mother Hubbards ..Its the original wagon that I recall…
for me ,there was only one Mother Hubbards….always a welcome from Barry…always a bit of banter and fine refreshnment
Yeah, of course, it’s one of the wonders of folk music, that freedom of reinterpretation and repurposing, the breath of airs blowing through the years… and especially so with the Carters, as so much music came from the songs they composed and collected. There’s something about that freewheeling attitude to ownership that seems to engender creativity, it invigorated reggae for decades through the ‘riddim’, instrumental tunes that were reused and reversioned again and again by different artists, sometimes hundreds of times.
Woody is a wonder, perhaps even more influential in his way than the Carters. Im sure you’ve seen ‘Bound for glory’? One of the best music biopics, despite a lacklustre performance from David Carradine in the lead. That said, I don’t think he topped their original cut of ‘aint got no home’. The original is so sublime.
Though, to be fair I don’t think anyone topped it despite the dozens of versions, though there is a 1946 cut by two Pentecostal gospel singers that comes pretty close.
Christy's reply
Beautiful Beautiful…Thank You Smál
its amazing to think of the way this music was recorded
it feels so close by….sounds of the highest fidelity
Its no slight on Woodie of course, but Ive only recently become aware of how indebted he (like many others) was to the Carter family. Their original recordings of ‘Cant feel at home’ and ‘World on fire’ stand out in particular, the latter being a rare example of AP Carter taking lead vocal.
no doubt…..The Carter Family are spellbinding…. beautiful, flawless, funky, engaging and loveable
Woody caught us up in a different way..no better no worse..just different…
I heard and loved The Carter Family way back, albeit at a great distance… heard Doc and Merle Watson too..listened in wonder and awe and tried to strum along….
Woody caught us up in a different way…..showed us how songs could have contemporary relevance…he sang of injustice and faced it ..he sang of fascim and fought it… he sang of corruption and exposed it…sang of Donald Trumps Father all those years ago
Pete Seeger advised up and coming folk singers to plagiarise….I love John Spillane’s line
“all the best musicians are singers
all the best singers are birds”
Enjoy the Awards… You mention not having the chops for tunes…maybe,but I saw enough Planxty gigs to appreciate your rock
solid rhythm guitar. There might be a fine building that’s much admired. But,it won’t last long if the foundations aren’t sound …fair play to you
Starting the day with Woody and ‘dustbowl ballads’…awesome that such brilliant songs were recorded on one day in April 1940…documenting such a tough episode of US history. I’m also indebted to musicians who raised my awareness of Mr Guthrie…it’s an illustrious list of big names…and it started over 50 years ago with my first spin of ‘Prosperous’!
All the best
Dave
Christy's reply
we’ll have a great night of it….
I still recall that great night in The Lowry Theatre in Salford at the BBC Folk Awards..Bill Leader, Barney McKenna, Ian Cambell among the recipients…Declan and Sinnott and I played ” Morecambe Bay” by Kevin Littlewood…Must get it out and play it again…a great song…it was Mike Harding that sent it to me….
Out beyond the street lamps where the calliopes roar
Past the rack and samphire, beyond the shore
I’ve seen them walking through the tide as rain cuts through the spray
Chinese cockle-pickers on the sands of Morecambe Bay
I stood behind them in the corner shop and in the market too
I should have spoken to them, told them everything I knew
Like our mothers told us as we went out to play
Never try and race the tide on the sands of Morecambe Bay
For the tide is The Devil, it will run you out of breath
Race you to the seashore, chase you to your death
The tide is the very Devil and the Devil has its day
On the lonely cockle banks of Morecambe Bay
Saw them sending money orders home, all their hard earned pay
Tales of crossing borders on the road to Morecambe Bay
Sleeping in crowded rooms on cold hard floors
Such dreamless life is not worth dying for
I see them in the distance, laid out in the morning light
23 migrant workers were drowned last night
Their final phonecalls halfway round the world crossed
As between the river estuaries they raced the tide and lost
For the tide is The Devil, it will run you our of breath
Race you to the seashore, chase you to your death
The tides is the very Devil and The Devil has its day
On the lonely cockle banks of Morecambe Bay
In Fujian and Zeeland they mourn their next of kin
Gang masters with snake tattoos call money loans back in
Broked hearted parents watch their children stow away
To the lonely cockle banks of Morecambe Bay
The tide is the very Devil and The Devil has its day
On the lonely cockle banks of Morecambe Bay
an interesting aside…Declan Sinnott and I were invited to guest on the Andrew Marr Sunday Morning show on BBC TV…..I sang Kevin Littlewood’s song in rehearsal….the producer came to our dressing and told us that “On Morecambe Bay” was not suitable….
I should have walked but ,I’m sorry to say, I did not….afterwards Andrew Marr came to our dressing room and apologised…
Fantastic news for the Planxty Páiste Christy! And about time too, with yourself, and Andy I! Liam Og with the Gradam Ceoil it’s now official! Nevermind Donovans “Planxty are the Beatles of Folk music” the beatles were the Planxty of Pop music”!
Christy's reply
its all the same in the long run…everyone followin their own buzz..tryin to track down the sweet spot…fate brings all sorts together in every walk of life….
No band can ever compare to the 4 Liverpool lads….Planxty Music still aging beautifully…some songs are good, some of the Music is out of this world…( I played very little on the tunes, did’nt have the chops )..
the Folk awards are a great showcase for revival Folk Music..its a great night out for practitioners of the genre..I look forward to meeting up with many of the players ,singers and listeners….
Just heard that my good buddy Donal Lunny is to be honoured….thats great news….
Hi. Here is an interview with Brian Maguire https://www.rte.ie/radio/radio1/clips/22489209/ This is ahead of the documentary on RTE TV on Thurs which includes an input from Christy, while his exhibition continues in the Hugh Lane Gallery. H
http://www.prestonlauterbach.info
The author/historian was the guest on Cerys’ show…blues influences on Elvis…absorbing stuff….
D
Cerys Matthews
Hi Christy
An interesting music news evening…with radio backing,the excellent Certs Matthews and blues music via BBC radio six…
Dylan’s influence is wide,as we know…Steve Knightly (Show of Hands) is acknowledging it and Martin Carthy s powers by featuring their songs on his gigs and a solo CD.
The epic film ‘A Complete Unknown’ used Elijah Wald’s book as a framework….’Dylan Goes Electric!’ is a very informative read….published ten years ago,I overlooked it then and am now making up for lost time! EW’s website is also good,with details of his diverse output.
Last but not least…Oysterband website has info about their farewell gigs in Scandinavia and Germany…if they play a gig near readers here,I hope there’ll be a review or two…such an ace outfit…
time to ‘Put out the lights’…
Dave
We used to circumnavigate Lough Derg to the South Christy! Always a jacks stop in Toomevara at Thisildoyouze! I believe he was a brother of the lad from Shannon!
Hi Christy
After Smal’s excellent posts and your replies,here’s a link to a wonderful resource…rabbit holes a plenty…
http://www.folklife.si.edu
I’m enjoying a good read of the always interesting Rock n Reel mag….a great interview with Mary Coughlan this month. Sean McGhee plays a blinder from the republic of West Cumbria!
Keep warm in the workroom…
Dave
Philip King just played ‘West Coast of Clare’ on his Radio One programme. Esoteric as ever in his music choices, an ‘Astral Weeks’ track played earlier.
Mention of Philip brings me to his TV documentary from the ninetys, ‘Bringing it Back Home’ where he showed the influences of Irish music in America and how in our case, the music returned home.
No better Man than PK..himself and Ms N O’C dream up the finest of projects and make bring them to fruition…a really brilliant film due out this year..more anon…
Good ‘ol Mother Hubbards, we chatted about it here b4. I too recall the original.
Barry was the man that made that tea/sambo stop so special….if we last long enough who knows ? maybe we’ll talk about it again….good memories ,good stories, good songs, all have a tendency to resurface time and again….anyone remember Thisildous nr Shannon? I always thought it was a Greek resteraunt until the kids put me wise…there used to be a house between Portumna and Mountshannon that had a sign “Warm Food all day”…run by a German family…I used to take the long road from Dublin To Lisdoonvarna back then….Clane-Prosperous-Edenderry-Birr-Portumna- Mountshannon- Scariff- Bodyke-the Windswept Hill with a stop in John Minogue’s Hotel fro a swift Celebration Cream or two
I can remember vividly Christy your appearance on the Andrew Marr Show. I used to watch it regularly and had no idea you were on it that Sunday morning. Andrew Marr introduced yourself and Declan to sing “Sweet Thames Flow Softly”, I thought lovely! One of me favouites, having crossed that river on different bridges many times over the years. I havent seen it since but i distinctly remember on performing it, although you had the guitar you didn’t play it, and I turned to Mrs Gipp and said, somethings not right there it’s like they haven’t rehearsed it beforehand or something! George Clooney was also on the show!
Always great to hear the original Mother Hubbards being mentioned, stopped there always on the way out west! T’was the best rasher samich and cup of tea this side of the Mississippi even if it was in a white polystyrene cup!
well remembered Gipp…
we left our guitars on stands after sound check…15 minutes later..we began to play and my guitar was completely out of tune..Declan saved the day…
great that you visited Barry’s wagon too…I used to bring my own cup !
Hey Christy, I’m looking forward to the gig in Mullingar on the 19th. I’ve come from “across the pond” as we say in Newfoundland via Spain. This will be my 3rd gig in 15 months. Sonny’s Dream is a song we all hold dear in our hearts and I would be honoured if you could sing it at the gig. My other favourite is The Voyage. Boy in the Wild is a great song as well. Soooo many good ones to choose from.
Hi Christy, hope you enjoyed the well deserved rest after a busy run.. Looking forward to Mullingar and hearing the songs again.. It was lovely to hear Ray Cuddihy play Johnny Duhan singing The Voyage on the road over the weekend.. that Late Date programme plays some sweet sounds..
christy hi
Amidst all the bob marley,clash, aztec camera, ian dury etc etc i have been listening to recently i just stuck on a song by Mick Blake and the simple peace of his song struck a calming chord.
His songs are not ‘simple’ that would be ridiculous of me to say ,but he produces such depth of message with such straightforward but unassuming method that i must drop him into my music more often.
I would love to have another album of his released ,but good things come to those who wait. His ‘time to time’ releases on Bandcamp are worth the wait. Meantime i am glad you perform some of his catalogue of great songs.
rory
Hello Christy,
Bg recording and little recording. The whole things feels like time travel. A kind of magic carpet. I think of all us musicians determinedky recording recording. The courage it takes. The different kind of listening it gives us. Listening from tgs other side. “Oh! That’s what I sound like.”
Helps us work and get better.
Those tiny birds that open their throats and let the world out. Singing.
Rebecca
The recording process of the Bristol sessions in 1927 – the ‘big bang’ of country music in which the Carters made their first recordings is really remarkable. Ralph Peer used some of the first electric mics, combined with a weight driven mastering lathe to cut the recordings direct to lacquer. There’s some good detail on it here about 15 mins in:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wbx7Pn87uGQ
Morra Smál,
Thanks again…another great post….
wonderful to gain such insight into the early recording process…the process interwoven with tasks about the farm…the old Model T parked on the slope to get started before heading off to sing…those early dirt roads demanding solid suspension….
those early recordings remind me of certain slogans…”Keep It Simple”….”First Things First”
I worked in EMI record pressing plant in Hayes Middx in the winter of 1966…..pressed “Good Vibrations” every night for 8 weeks….on a good night 1200 copies might roll off my press…about 30 presses all working on the Beach Boys single….after 750 singles a bonus came into play… a small speck of dust could ruin a nights work (and wages)…. only the top machinists got to press LPs and Classical music…I never made it off the “pop/rock” section….some would sneak a few copies out and bring them to the record stall on Shepherd’s Bush market…never crossed my mind
Hi Christy,
Soo looking forward to the return of the Gigs , and kicking off here in the Midlands 2 weeks in a row. Alas Mother Hubbards is no more, Pat McDonaghs in Kinnegad is where the swarm of Truckers gather these days.Hope you managed to get the Togs washed after Murrayfield …. That dark Blue dye in the middle of the pitch stuck everywhere 😀. We had Mary Coughlan here in Moate tonight, another great storyteller on the road.
The welcome mat will be out in Mullingar.
Ride on.
Patsy.
Hey Patsy,…final touches here as we prepare for our annual return to the fine City of Mullingar..
when I sing of Mother Hubbards ..Its the original wagon that I recall…
for me ,there was only one Mother Hubbards….always a welcome from Barry…always a bit of banter and fine refreshnment
Thats the Mother Hubbard’s I remember….
“in came a 40 foot lorry
leakin lines of slurry”
Yeah, of course, it’s one of the wonders of folk music, that freedom of reinterpretation and repurposing, the breath of airs blowing through the years… and especially so with the Carters, as so much music came from the songs they composed and collected. There’s something about that freewheeling attitude to ownership that seems to engender creativity, it invigorated reggae for decades through the ‘riddim’, instrumental tunes that were reused and reversioned again and again by different artists, sometimes hundreds of times.
Woody is a wonder, perhaps even more influential in his way than the Carters. Im sure you’ve seen ‘Bound for glory’? One of the best music biopics, despite a lacklustre performance from David Carradine in the lead. That said, I don’t think he topped their original cut of ‘aint got no home’. The original is so sublime.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yE3kW9-tjO8
Though, to be fair I don’t think anyone topped it despite the dozens of versions, though there is a 1946 cut by two Pentecostal gospel singers that comes pretty close.
Beautiful Beautiful…Thank You Smál
its amazing to think of the way this music was recorded
it feels so close by….sounds of the highest fidelity
Its no slight on Woodie of course, but Ive only recently become aware of how indebted he (like many others) was to the Carter family. Their original recordings of ‘Cant feel at home’ and ‘World on fire’ stand out in particular, the latter being a rare example of AP Carter taking lead vocal.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qxo-zayI6tE
no doubt…..The Carter Family are spellbinding…. beautiful, flawless, funky, engaging and loveable
Woody caught us up in a different way..no better no worse..just different…
I heard and loved The Carter Family way back, albeit at a great distance… heard Doc and Merle Watson too..listened in wonder and awe and tried to strum along….
Woody caught us up in a different way…..showed us how songs could have contemporary relevance…he sang of injustice and faced it ..he sang of fascim and fought it… he sang of corruption and exposed it…sang of Donald Trumps Father all those years ago
Pete Seeger advised up and coming folk singers to plagiarise….I love John Spillane’s line
“all the best musicians are singers
all the best singers are birds”
Hi Christy
Enjoy the Awards… You mention not having the chops for tunes…maybe,but I saw enough Planxty gigs to appreciate your rock
solid rhythm guitar. There might be a fine building that’s much admired. But,it won’t last long if the foundations aren’t sound …fair play to you
Starting the day with Woody and ‘dustbowl ballads’…awesome that such brilliant songs were recorded on one day in April 1940…documenting such a tough episode of US history. I’m also indebted to musicians who raised my awareness of Mr Guthrie…it’s an illustrious list of big names…and it started over 50 years ago with my first spin of ‘Prosperous’!
All the best
Dave
we’ll have a great night of it….
I still recall that great night in The Lowry Theatre in Salford at the BBC Folk Awards..Bill Leader, Barney McKenna, Ian Cambell among the recipients…Declan and Sinnott and I played ” Morecambe Bay” by Kevin Littlewood…Must get it out and play it again…a great song…it was Mike Harding that sent it to me….
Out beyond the street lamps where the calliopes roar
Past the rack and samphire, beyond the shore
I’ve seen them walking through the tide as rain cuts through the spray
Chinese cockle-pickers on the sands of Morecambe Bay
I stood behind them in the corner shop and in the market too
I should have spoken to them, told them everything I knew
Like our mothers told us as we went out to play
Never try and race the tide on the sands of Morecambe Bay
For the tide is The Devil, it will run you out of breath
Race you to the seashore, chase you to your death
The tide is the very Devil and the Devil has its day
On the lonely cockle banks of Morecambe Bay
Saw them sending money orders home, all their hard earned pay
Tales of crossing borders on the road to Morecambe Bay
Sleeping in crowded rooms on cold hard floors
Such dreamless life is not worth dying for
I see them in the distance, laid out in the morning light
23 migrant workers were drowned last night
Their final phonecalls halfway round the world crossed
As between the river estuaries they raced the tide and lost
For the tide is The Devil, it will run you our of breath
Race you to the seashore, chase you to your death
The tides is the very Devil and The Devil has its day
On the lonely cockle banks of Morecambe Bay
In Fujian and Zeeland they mourn their next of kin
Gang masters with snake tattoos call money loans back in
Broked hearted parents watch their children stow away
To the lonely cockle banks of Morecambe Bay
The tide is the very Devil and The Devil has its day
On the lonely cockle banks of Morecambe Bay
an interesting aside…Declan Sinnott and I were invited to guest on the Andrew Marr Sunday Morning show on BBC TV…..I sang Kevin Littlewood’s song in rehearsal….the producer came to our dressing and told us that “On Morecambe Bay” was not suitable….
I should have walked but ,I’m sorry to say, I did not….afterwards Andrew Marr came to our dressing room and apologised…
Fantastic news for the Planxty Páiste Christy! And about time too, with yourself, and Andy I! Liam Og with the Gradam Ceoil it’s now official! Nevermind Donovans “Planxty are the Beatles of Folk music” the beatles were the Planxty of Pop music”!
its all the same in the long run…everyone followin their own buzz..tryin to track down the sweet spot…fate brings all sorts together in every walk of life….
No band can ever compare to the 4 Liverpool lads….Planxty Music still aging beautifully…some songs are good, some of the Music is out of this world…( I played very little on the tunes, did’nt have the chops )..
the Folk awards are a great showcase for revival Folk Music..its a great night out for practitioners of the genre..I look forward to meeting up with many of the players ,singers and listeners….
Just heard that my good buddy Donal Lunny is to be honoured….thats great news….
CORRECTION : that should read nominations, in 2 categories Best Folk Album & Best Folk Singer, and of course it’s only 5 sleeps to Weds ! H
time to give it the lash again