Agreed about the Rick Beato series. Fascinating mix of music genres…with that in mind,I just remembered a gig from c 10 years ago, playing support for a fascinating Finnish/Estonian artist, Tuulikki Bartosik. I hadn’t thought of her in awhile,but online searches show up her website and lots more …On the gig,her approach reminded me of Inge Thomson (always a plus)
So,getting the kettle boiling and planning a Tuulikki online trawl after Mr Jones has guided me through poaching and battle songs…
Have a good day.
Dave
Christy's reply
Rick Beato feedback… I never even heard of Josh Freese before….know very little about drumming..but I just listened to Rick and Josh talking for 90 minutes about Drums and Drumming and was engrossed….same with all three members of The Police..with Kirk from Metallica, George Benson, Michael McDonald….great insights into different Bands, genres, instruments….Rick knows his stuff but never shows off or acts the bollicks…its the real deal….must try and make a list of the drummers I’ve known
How ya Christy hope all is well with you some great reports coming about the gigs mighty stuff..Looking at the comments I play a Furch guitar have for over 2 years now I took a shine to it in Opus music shop in Galway so I ask my friend Fergal if he was passing the shop to check it out for me for the second opinion so a few days later he sent me a video of himself playing the guitar in the shop singing Hard Cases the deal was done I’m very happy with it.
Face the puck out take care
Christy's reply
Good man Iggy….so we have a Furch resounding in Bullaune…that bates all….and then to hear that Fergal was playin Hard Cases in d’Opus shop in Galway….I’d love to see that video if you still have it….its a great song…I sing it here in the workroom frequently…must take a shot at it some night …great lines…”tryin to figure out who’s carryin”…..”the barman looks on warily”….”soon enough the tap runs dry”……”the party crowd is gatherin, the Banjo the Fiddle and the Mandolin”
there is a very specific Galway Film that runs in my head every time I sing it….the same characters always appear as I saunter from The Cellar to The Harbour and always end up in Bridie Hogan’s on Prospect Hill….Mate Lydon, Mickey Finn, Corky, Tony Small, Pete Galligan all feature and the party is forever in Mick Lally’s
I met a young lad in Limerick last week…Harry Greaney aged 12 from Loughrea…he is totally immersed in the ballads and was singing like a lark at the gig….he told me afterwards that Fergal was head teacher in his school and gave him great encouragement…
always good to hear from you Iggy…always reminds me of those heady nights when we used to rattle the rafters out in CJ’s in Salthill….Da Derga always set the tone and paved the way for me to start sweatin….hope the Furch is ringin..just watched you singin “Sheeran Mad” from O’Connor’s in 2018..is that the Furch ?
This may not be the spot and my apologies if so but I am trying everywhere to buy a ticket to the May 2nds show in Belfast if anyone has an extra to sell.
Thanks Brendan
Prompted by Rory’s post,I’ve toured YouTube in the company of Ian Dury,Norman Watt -Roy and Blockheads…jolted to a halt and a fine finish to the day,thanks to Dick Gaghan’ Jamie Foyers and Victor Jara..
Wonderful,expressive,performances by Dury and Gaughan.Diversity is a rich ingredient in music that keeps the spirits high.
G’night all
Dave
Christy's reply
my recent Youtube viewing has revolved around the work of Rick Beato….many brilliant interviews, insights into diverse music,….
Christy i dont know if the urge ever came over you to play the guitar behind your head?
Anyway i saw the wonderful Wilko Johnson do just that playing Johnny B Good at a festival a few years ago alongside the incomparable base player Norman Watt Roy.
A treasured memory .
Rory
Christy's reply
Rory…takes me all my time to play it in front of my chest and belly…fair play to Wilko and Jimi..no better men to manage such feats of dexterity, imagination, fluidity, courage and downright showpersonship…
How are you Christy, I hope you are doing well. I just watch the wonderful poet Paula Meehan on Tommy Tiernan’s show and it was beautiful to watch them converse on the Blackbird. I’ve been invited to perform again for the Doolin Motorcycle Festival August 23rd/24th and 25th ,all proceeds go to the Ovarian Cancer Foundation of Ireland. For me I’m grateful and privileged to be invited to perform.last year was very special in many ways , something about the county, it’s people, the music made for a very welcoming atmosphere to this Lily. The beautiful song Greenland has come into my head and hasn’t left. It’s powerful and beautiful all in one , I’ve started performing Little Musgrave at gigs now, it’s a movie in my head and for years it was a home room song but I decided it needs to be aired to the audience. 27 verses that start on a Friday and end on a Sunday.
Hopefully all going well, we will meet up on the Bog, The Hanger, Yeats County or the Big Smoke as me grandfather would say.
Love and hugs Christy
Love Fin 🎶
Christy's reply
Morra Fin,
Always good to hear from you….
I thought Paula’s interview with Tommy T was exceptional….what a wonderful woman of words is Paula Meehan…we’ve not met for a few years, hopefully our paths will cross again at some gathering….
I hope you will have the Honda 50 tuned up for the Doolin Motorcycle Festival…I gather some bikers look down their noses at the humble Honda 50…but I’m sure the Doolin crew might be more enlightened…
Very happy to see Paul Doran’s song “Greenland” mentioned here…I obsessed on that song for many months while preparing for the last album…I sang it for a while at gigs but it never really worked…I found it to be a “big” song ..powerful imagery and pathos…but if the audience dont take to it, I dont persist…another song of Paul Doran’s is “The Gardener”…I was confident that song would connect but ,alas, it never got going…I tried sending it to various Gardening Broadcasters but not one of the feckers played it or even responded…I think its a great song…. Paul’s “Natives” did connect back in 1984, I sang it constantly across the 80’s and 90’s…still comes out some nights and always feels good…
Little Musgrave will always be a classic…I’ve only sung it twice these past few years…I find it challenging when playing solo..over the years I’ve been blest to have some great players enhancing the lyric with their music…Liam O’Flynn, Andy Irvine, Donal Lunny, Jimmy Faulker, Kevin Burke, Declan Sinnott all took turns as chaos emerged in the bedroom at Bucklesfordberry…one version from Switzerland had Matt Molloy seguing off into a sad lonesome reel…I think that was on a Planxty album…
Hi Christy.. great to hear Limerick was leppin’… Lovely spell of guitar chatter here of late.. Played a gig recently in Belmullet (next stop JFK) and an Austrian man residing local approached at the break to ask what song was playing over the PA before the gig. It was “Haul Away” by Mark Knopfler. Anyway, talk turned to guitars and he figured that mine was a Lowden build, noting it sounded very similar to his own; a brand I had never heard of called Furch – made in Czech Republic. Wonder if anyone here owns or has played a Furch..?
“It was a windless night
When you left the ship
You never were
A steady bold one”
(Haul Away/Mark Kopfler)
Christy's reply
Belmullet is a fair auld trek but always worth the journey…..
Mark’s music has prepared the way for manys the gig…he has a great connection with the roots…when you mentioned “Haul Away” I presumed it was the Sea Shanty…had a listen to Mark’s “Haul Away”..its beautiful
I’d never heard of the Furch Guitar before..just read their back story…a tale of passion, ingenuity and determination overcoming bland bureacracy….
Instrument makers are a rare and precious breed of skilled raft workers…many of us would be lost without them…
keep comin back Kev
Hey Christy, I was supposed to be with you in Limerick the other night but the logistics got a bit mushed, oh well soon I think ! Anyway I was recently in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico and came across some Cubans selling Che Guevara t-shirts, I bought a couple but it prompted me to seek out a book by Jon Lee Anderson called Che Guevara, a Revolutionary Life. Probably the most comprehensive account of Che’s life and death and the intertwining stories of Fidel Castro and indeed Batista, of course I thought of Companero’s and I was wondering if you recall where you came across the song, see you soon Christy. I think I might try to take a trip to Cuba soon, I’ll keep you posted. Brian.
Christy's reply
Morra Brian…
I heard Ewan MacColl sing this song with Peggy Seeger. The correct title of Ewan”s song is “The Good Ship Granma”.
Along the way I (inadvertantly) began singing an alternative opening line
“Fidel & Che Guevara lay on a ship at anchor in the harbour”….
one night I heard a voice call out for “Companeros” and that gradually became the songs title in my head…
Its one of my favourite songs to sing ….I love the structure, the chord sequence, the imagery, the chorus, its like a powerful and epic movie condensed into 5 verses lasting 4 minutes
There are those who deem it sacreligious to interfere in any way with the orginal version of a song….I take a different view….I’ve “adjusted” songs across the years..sometimes adding a verse, sometimes dropping a verse or altering a sequence, changing a line, altering a melody….always done to enhance my performance of a song…to make it roll out better ….once it raised the ire of the composer, just the once….other times it was well recieved by different writers….in recent years ,where possible. I’ve tried to consult the songwriter and seek their blessing..
I heard Ewan & Peggy on a number of occasions, at their club in London, The Union Tavern ,once at the MSG club in Manchester, once at the St Andrew’s FolkClub in Fife,Scotland, once at the Grimsby FolkClub in England….hearing them was always an inspiration…he has left an enormous legacy….I still listen to him betimes…he shows great respect to the tradition and great sensitivity in his own songwriting,
Ewan was a great singer
Good Evening Christy,
I have the leaving coming up soon so I’m heavy into the books at the moment.
My first gig, if you will, is coming up in a couple months. My grandad will be celebrating 90 years and its been requested a do The Town I Loved So Well, Phil Coulter. I’ve really gotten a passion for the guitar since i picked it up a few months ago. Thanks for all the advice and motivation.
I wish you the best of luck.
Christy's reply
Thats a great song for your first gig…
To sing it for your grandfather will make it very special
Both Paddy Reilly and Luke Kelly performed great versions of Phil Coulter’s song.
Good luck with your Leaving Cert exams
Hi Christy
Lars and I are back in Belgium after an another wonderful weekend in Ireland. We enjoyed very much the gig in that beautiful venue in Limerick. Great setlist ! We had to look up who Chuck Feeney was, but now we know.
We combined the gig with walking in beautiful Ireland, yesterday we were in Kerry. And now back in a wet and windy Belgium.
Thank you on still bringing your music live to your fans. We are so grateful that we can attend regularly your gigs.
Hope to be back soon.
all the best
Lars & Piet
Christy's reply
glad to read about your trip Lars & Piet…thank you for the gift I recieved in Limerick…
yes ,I really appreciate Charlie (Chuck) Feeney’s gift to the City of Limerick…that campus is beautifull designed and thought out…the Concert Hall ,.a perfect venue in every way
C 1971,having bashed out a few chords…sort of…Mameloks shop on Deansgate sold a Western Ranger…I think it was a good choice to invest a chunk of a junior clerks salary on it!
Late 72,a mate,home from Uni,asked if I could play a song for him…the black Planxty LP had been glued to my turntable,so I blagged it through a ponderous version of Sweet Thames….I passed the test and pints followed!
About ten years ago,a 40 yo Edpiphone reeled me in to a charity shop for a purchase…. That’s the current weapon of choice….probably a similar vintage to your Taks….there any similarities end!
All the best
Dave
Christy's reply
back then I had progressed to a Yamaha FG 180 from Ivor Mairants in London..I used Augustine strings at 7/6 a set….boiled them too, once at the same time as the morning egg….
(ps on mature reflection,that may be a figment)
Hello Christy,
Like Pat, my Dad bought me my guitar too. Buying musical instruments is such an investment. I hope he’d be pleased that this is what I’m spending his money on. He paid for my lessons when I was a kid and genuinely seemed to enjoy listening to me right up to the week before he died.
One day when he turned up for lunch, I was selling a little 22 string harp. He was surprised at how much such a small thing was worth. He knew about cameras, not musical instruments.
God bless my poor departed father. When money was just not there apart from absolute essentials….he had a household of nine to feed, clothe, educate, all on his shoe factory labourers wage, he not only ‘got’ me a guitar, he paid the princely sum of half a crown ( two shillings and six pence) for a weekly hour of guitar lessons! For that he sacrificed a 10 packet of Sweet Afton…..but he was really proud when I did a Hank Marvin on Apache…..
Christy's reply
Bless the good man, Thank You for sharing his memory,
I got my first guitar in the early 60s from Ned Bulfin at a Fleadh Ceol in Portarlington, if memory serves for £3, a deposit of £1 with the remainder to follow…I had binder twine for a strap and two chords…a few bottles of Stout or Macardles,Phoenix, Time or Smithwicks, felt I was in The Clancy Brothers,
We’d Rozzin the Bow with Mary From Dungloe,Tell me Ma with the Bard of Armagh,Repare to Kildare with The Rambler from Clare….we flew from Scariff to Boyle, Bunclody to Killorglin like there was no tomorrow, not two pennies to rub together,never mind the weather, freight cars and hay barns, theres Ciarán Bourke, is that Mairtín Byrnes,Felix Doran back from Salford,the Red Messer, a Garda Sergeant playing the fiddle, and him on duty
Hi Christy,
Guitars abounding today, i owned one 45 years ago.
Ricky Lynch and his golden guitar….is my favourite guitar.
Ger Wolfe would sing like a lark….beautiful imagery.
Fine song.
Ger’s own songs are, like JS’s , fabulous creations .
I must make an effort to see GW, JS and RL, note to self.
Rory
Hello Christy,
Hmm, well… there’s a new guitar in my house since yesterday. https://www.facebook.com/share/p/z5sxPyKfcg9LWbQ5/
And I have a whole new set of callouses growing.
It’s a beauty, I love it. I’ve no idea why I waited so long to do this.
Rebecca
Christy's reply
I can’t/don’t access f/b…any f/b or x links here pass me by…I’ve enough to be doing…happy guitar playing
Hi Christy,
I grew up with the songs of the “Toten Hosen” and “Eintopf” is a very important word, Germans love Eintopf! Especially when you´re friggin hungry and it´s freezing cold :-).
The “Laboratorium” still exists! Yes, this venue fits. So if you´d play there again, we and our friends will be there, for a 100%.
Greetings!
Katja
Christy's reply
it was a cold frosty night last time I played Laborotoreum..It was on a German Tour with (the late) Jimmy Faulkner…Jimmy and I toured Germany, France, Brittany, Luxembourg, Lichtenstein, Austria, England, Scotland, Wales and Ireland back in the mid 1970s…..two guitars, two sleeping bags, a Peugeot 404 Diesel and plenty of Rizla..Jimmy was a great Guitar player and companero on the road
Begob … could it’s origins be so boring as to be ”By God!”?
Surely not …
Dad was a “By Crackey!” utterer – laced with “Begorrah” & “Rose! Control your kids !” & “I’ll just nip down & put a bet on…”
Dad also called his arthritis aches “the screws”
What’s Gaelic for “lumbago”?
-You know I’ll never know if you’re extracting the urine …!☘️😀🎸❤️🥃🏇
Christy's reply
Jack Power was my maternal Grandfather…he came from Hayestown in the County Meath…he worked in Ardmulchan for Sir Alexander Maguire about whom I know little except that he was knighted and sold boxes of matches (Maguire & Patterson)… Jack played a very special part in my young life…when I was 8 years old I overheard him say
” no matter how much I shake it,the last drop always goes down my leg”
Back in 1954 I did not know what he meant ….70 years later I understand exactly what he meant…
His wife was Ellie Sheeran from The Cotton Mills on the Southern Bank of the beautiful River Boyne….Ellie was fond of the bed, in later life she tended towards taking it easy (more power to her)….I remember her fondly and clearly….I stayed with them a lot as a boy….Ellie tried her best to absolutely spoil me..I feckin loved it… she had a soft spot for Lester Piggott and backed him frequently….Ellie would sometimes leave off a right rasper of a fart and would always say ” better out than a foot of snow”
After Ardmulchan Jack worked at Loughlinstown House nr Dunboyne for a Sheffield Industrialist ( and absentee Landlord) called M.J. Gleeson. From there he worked in Backweston for Mr Gleeson who sold Backweston to the Dept of Agriculture for whom Jack work for the final decade of his life.
We always called them Goggie & Gogga…its lovely to remember them this Sunday morning…they both lie at rest in Navan Cemetary with their Son Jimmy Power….their daughter Nancy ( our Mother) lies in Milltown Graveyard in her adopted County Kildare …..a true Royal among the Lilies
PS Lumbago as Gaeilge = lúmbágo…I dont know who had it first..probably the Brits
Well Christy. Haven’t been on for a while! Thanks for a super night in chuck feenys! Sean my son and I thoroughly enjoyed it- we even got a snap with the two lads from The Wallopers!! Jays they ended it too!!
Of course the highlight was you signed my Guitar !!! Thanks for that!! I’m strumming a few chords lately on The Cats Eyes guitar the fam brought me for Christmas!! Anyway keep well and thanks again!! J
Christy's reply
Thats a nice guitar you have there Jim…keep strumming
Ah Christy, I’ll look forward to having that set with you!! The Tulla and The Kilfenora céilí bands play 2 nights each!! We usually have good craic at them!! Have a great gig tonight….I’m sorry to be missing it!!
Slán tamaillín
Tina.
Christy's reply
I’ll have to sit this one out…the auld lumbago is at me..going to Knock next week for a rub of the relic…nearly show time here..I hear the crowd gettin restless adout in the hall…gotta get into the corset now and spray the comb-over
Mornin’ Christy
Agreed about the Rick Beato series. Fascinating mix of music genres…with that in mind,I just remembered a gig from c 10 years ago, playing support for a fascinating Finnish/Estonian artist, Tuulikki Bartosik. I hadn’t thought of her in awhile,but online searches show up her website and lots more …On the gig,her approach reminded me of Inge Thomson (always a plus)
So,getting the kettle boiling and planning a Tuulikki online trawl after Mr Jones has guided me through poaching and battle songs…
Have a good day.
Dave
Rick Beato feedback… I never even heard of Josh Freese before….know very little about drumming..but I just listened to Rick and Josh talking for 90 minutes about Drums and Drumming and was engrossed….same with all three members of The Police..with Kirk from Metallica, George Benson, Michael McDonald….great insights into different Bands, genres, instruments….Rick knows his stuff but never shows off or acts the bollicks…its the real deal….must try and make a list of the drummers I’ve known
How ya Christy hope all is well with you some great reports coming about the gigs mighty stuff..Looking at the comments I play a Furch guitar have for over 2 years now I took a shine to it in Opus music shop in Galway so I ask my friend Fergal if he was passing the shop to check it out for me for the second opinion so a few days later he sent me a video of himself playing the guitar in the shop singing Hard Cases the deal was done I’m very happy with it.
Face the puck out take care
Good man Iggy….so we have a Furch resounding in Bullaune…that bates all….and then to hear that Fergal was playin Hard Cases in d’Opus shop in Galway….I’d love to see that video if you still have it….its a great song…I sing it here in the workroom frequently…must take a shot at it some night …great lines…”tryin to figure out who’s carryin”…..”the barman looks on warily”….”soon enough the tap runs dry”……”the party crowd is gatherin, the Banjo the Fiddle and the Mandolin”
there is a very specific Galway Film that runs in my head every time I sing it….the same characters always appear as I saunter from The Cellar to The Harbour and always end up in Bridie Hogan’s on Prospect Hill….Mate Lydon, Mickey Finn, Corky, Tony Small, Pete Galligan all feature and the party is forever in Mick Lally’s
I met a young lad in Limerick last week…Harry Greaney aged 12 from Loughrea…he is totally immersed in the ballads and was singing like a lark at the gig….he told me afterwards that Fergal was head teacher in his school and gave him great encouragement…
always good to hear from you Iggy…always reminds me of those heady nights when we used to rattle the rafters out in CJ’s in Salthill….Da Derga always set the tone and paved the way for me to start sweatin….hope the Furch is ringin..just watched you singin “Sheeran Mad” from O’Connor’s in 2018..is that the Furch ?
This may not be the spot and my apologies if so but I am trying everywhere to buy a ticket to the May 2nds show in Belfast if anyone has an extra to sell.
Thanks Brendan
Morra Brendan….that gig is on June 2nd…..
Hi Christy
Prompted by Rory’s post,I’ve toured YouTube in the company of Ian Dury,Norman Watt -Roy and Blockheads…jolted to a halt and a fine finish to the day,thanks to Dick Gaghan’ Jamie Foyers and Victor Jara..
Wonderful,expressive,performances by Dury and Gaughan.Diversity is a rich ingredient in music that keeps the spirits high.
G’night all
Dave
my recent Youtube viewing has revolved around the work of Rick Beato….many brilliant interviews, insights into diverse music,….
Christy i dont know if the urge ever came over you to play the guitar behind your head?
Anyway i saw the wonderful Wilko Johnson do just that playing Johnny B Good at a festival a few years ago alongside the incomparable base player Norman Watt Roy.
A treasured memory .
Rory
Rory…takes me all my time to play it in front of my chest and belly…fair play to Wilko and Jimi..no better men to manage such feats of dexterity, imagination, fluidity, courage and downright showpersonship…
How are you Christy, I hope you are doing well. I just watch the wonderful poet Paula Meehan on Tommy Tiernan’s show and it was beautiful to watch them converse on the Blackbird. I’ve been invited to perform again for the Doolin Motorcycle Festival August 23rd/24th and 25th ,all proceeds go to the Ovarian Cancer Foundation of Ireland. For me I’m grateful and privileged to be invited to perform.last year was very special in many ways , something about the county, it’s people, the music made for a very welcoming atmosphere to this Lily. The beautiful song Greenland has come into my head and hasn’t left. It’s powerful and beautiful all in one , I’ve started performing Little Musgrave at gigs now, it’s a movie in my head and for years it was a home room song but I decided it needs to be aired to the audience. 27 verses that start on a Friday and end on a Sunday.
Hopefully all going well, we will meet up on the Bog, The Hanger, Yeats County or the Big Smoke as me grandfather would say.
Love and hugs Christy
Love Fin 🎶
Morra Fin,
Always good to hear from you….
I thought Paula’s interview with Tommy T was exceptional….what a wonderful woman of words is Paula Meehan…we’ve not met for a few years, hopefully our paths will cross again at some gathering….
I hope you will have the Honda 50 tuned up for the Doolin Motorcycle Festival…I gather some bikers look down their noses at the humble Honda 50…but I’m sure the Doolin crew might be more enlightened…
Very happy to see Paul Doran’s song “Greenland” mentioned here…I obsessed on that song for many months while preparing for the last album…I sang it for a while at gigs but it never really worked…I found it to be a “big” song ..powerful imagery and pathos…but if the audience dont take to it, I dont persist…another song of Paul Doran’s is “The Gardener”…I was confident that song would connect but ,alas, it never got going…I tried sending it to various Gardening Broadcasters but not one of the feckers played it or even responded…I think its a great song…. Paul’s “Natives” did connect back in 1984, I sang it constantly across the 80’s and 90’s…still comes out some nights and always feels good…
Little Musgrave will always be a classic…I’ve only sung it twice these past few years…I find it challenging when playing solo..over the years I’ve been blest to have some great players enhancing the lyric with their music…Liam O’Flynn, Andy Irvine, Donal Lunny, Jimmy Faulker, Kevin Burke, Declan Sinnott all took turns as chaos emerged in the bedroom at Bucklesfordberry…one version from Switzerland had Matt Molloy seguing off into a sad lonesome reel…I think that was on a Planxty album…
Hi Christy.. great to hear Limerick was leppin’… Lovely spell of guitar chatter here of late.. Played a gig recently in Belmullet (next stop JFK) and an Austrian man residing local approached at the break to ask what song was playing over the PA before the gig. It was “Haul Away” by Mark Knopfler. Anyway, talk turned to guitars and he figured that mine was a Lowden build, noting it sounded very similar to his own; a brand I had never heard of called Furch – made in Czech Republic. Wonder if anyone here owns or has played a Furch..?
“It was a windless night
When you left the ship
You never were
A steady bold one”
(Haul Away/Mark Kopfler)
Belmullet is a fair auld trek but always worth the journey…..
Mark’s music has prepared the way for manys the gig…he has a great connection with the roots…when you mentioned “Haul Away” I presumed it was the Sea Shanty…had a listen to Mark’s “Haul Away”..its beautiful
I’d never heard of the Furch Guitar before..just read their back story…a tale of passion, ingenuity and determination overcoming bland bureacracy….
Instrument makers are a rare and precious breed of skilled raft workers…many of us would be lost without them…
keep comin back Kev
Hey Christy, I was supposed to be with you in Limerick the other night but the logistics got a bit mushed, oh well soon I think ! Anyway I was recently in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico and came across some Cubans selling Che Guevara t-shirts, I bought a couple but it prompted me to seek out a book by Jon Lee Anderson called Che Guevara, a Revolutionary Life. Probably the most comprehensive account of Che’s life and death and the intertwining stories of Fidel Castro and indeed Batista, of course I thought of Companero’s and I was wondering if you recall where you came across the song, see you soon Christy. I think I might try to take a trip to Cuba soon, I’ll keep you posted. Brian.
Morra Brian…
I heard Ewan MacColl sing this song with Peggy Seeger. The correct title of Ewan”s song is “The Good Ship Granma”.
Along the way I (inadvertantly) began singing an alternative opening line
“Fidel & Che Guevara lay on a ship at anchor in the harbour”….
one night I heard a voice call out for “Companeros” and that gradually became the songs title in my head…
Its one of my favourite songs to sing ….I love the structure, the chord sequence, the imagery, the chorus, its like a powerful and epic movie condensed into 5 verses lasting 4 minutes
There are those who deem it sacreligious to interfere in any way with the orginal version of a song….I take a different view….I’ve “adjusted” songs across the years..sometimes adding a verse, sometimes dropping a verse or altering a sequence, changing a line, altering a melody….always done to enhance my performance of a song…to make it roll out better ….once it raised the ire of the composer, just the once….other times it was well recieved by different writers….in recent years ,where possible. I’ve tried to consult the songwriter and seek their blessing..
I heard Ewan & Peggy on a number of occasions, at their club in London, The Union Tavern ,once at the MSG club in Manchester, once at the St Andrew’s FolkClub in Fife,Scotland, once at the Grimsby FolkClub in England….hearing them was always an inspiration…he has left an enormous legacy….I still listen to him betimes…he shows great respect to the tradition and great sensitivity in his own songwriting,
Ewan was a great singer
Good Evening Christy,
I have the leaving coming up soon so I’m heavy into the books at the moment.
My first gig, if you will, is coming up in a couple months. My grandad will be celebrating 90 years and its been requested a do The Town I Loved So Well, Phil Coulter. I’ve really gotten a passion for the guitar since i picked it up a few months ago. Thanks for all the advice and motivation.
I wish you the best of luck.
Thats a great song for your first gig…
To sing it for your grandfather will make it very special
Both Paddy Reilly and Luke Kelly performed great versions of Phil Coulter’s song.
Good luck with your Leaving Cert exams
Hi Christy
Lars and I are back in Belgium after an another wonderful weekend in Ireland. We enjoyed very much the gig in that beautiful venue in Limerick. Great setlist ! We had to look up who Chuck Feeney was, but now we know.
We combined the gig with walking in beautiful Ireland, yesterday we were in Kerry. And now back in a wet and windy Belgium.
Thank you on still bringing your music live to your fans. We are so grateful that we can attend regularly your gigs.
Hope to be back soon.
all the best
Lars & Piet
glad to read about your trip Lars & Piet…thank you for the gift I recieved in Limerick…
yes ,I really appreciate Charlie (Chuck) Feeney’s gift to the City of Limerick…that campus is beautifull designed and thought out…the Concert Hall ,.a perfect venue in every way
So far I have a slightly mangled C chord and very strangled F chord. Once they’re working and I’ve added a G I’ll be into Rosalita and Jack Campbell…
one of Sean Mone’s very best
Hi Christy
Always good to have guitar nostalgia….
C 1971,having bashed out a few chords…sort of…Mameloks shop on Deansgate sold a Western Ranger…I think it was a good choice to invest a chunk of a junior clerks salary on it!
Late 72,a mate,home from Uni,asked if I could play a song for him…the black Planxty LP had been glued to my turntable,so I blagged it through a ponderous version of Sweet Thames….I passed the test and pints followed!
About ten years ago,a 40 yo Edpiphone reeled me in to a charity shop for a purchase…. That’s the current weapon of choice….probably a similar vintage to your Taks….there any similarities end!
All the best
Dave
back then I had progressed to a Yamaha FG 180 from Ivor Mairants in London..I used Augustine strings at 7/6 a set….boiled them too, once at the same time as the morning egg….
(ps on mature reflection,that may be a figment)
Hello Christy,
Like Pat, my Dad bought me my guitar too. Buying musical instruments is such an investment. I hope he’d be pleased that this is what I’m spending his money on. He paid for my lessons when I was a kid and genuinely seemed to enjoy listening to me right up to the week before he died.
One day when he turned up for lunch, I was selling a little 22 string harp. He was surprised at how much such a small thing was worth. He knew about cameras, not musical instruments.
Rebecca
a priceless memory of your Dad
God bless my poor departed father. When money was just not there apart from absolute essentials….he had a household of nine to feed, clothe, educate, all on his shoe factory labourers wage, he not only ‘got’ me a guitar, he paid the princely sum of half a crown ( two shillings and six pence) for a weekly hour of guitar lessons! For that he sacrificed a 10 packet of Sweet Afton…..but he was really proud when I did a Hank Marvin on Apache…..
Bless the good man, Thank You for sharing his memory,
I got my first guitar in the early 60s from Ned Bulfin at a Fleadh Ceol in Portarlington, if memory serves for £3, a deposit of £1 with the remainder to follow…I had binder twine for a strap and two chords…a few bottles of Stout or Macardles,Phoenix, Time or Smithwicks, felt I was in The Clancy Brothers,
We’d Rozzin the Bow with Mary From Dungloe,Tell me Ma with the Bard of Armagh,Repare to Kildare with The Rambler from Clare….we flew from Scariff to Boyle, Bunclody to Killorglin like there was no tomorrow, not two pennies to rub together,never mind the weather, freight cars and hay barns, theres Ciarán Bourke, is that Mairtín Byrnes,Felix Doran back from Salford,the Red Messer, a Garda Sergeant playing the fiddle, and him on duty
Hi Christy,
Guitars abounding today, i owned one 45 years ago.
Ricky Lynch and his golden guitar….is my favourite guitar.
Ger Wolfe would sing like a lark….beautiful imagery.
Fine song.
Ger’s own songs are, like JS’s , fabulous creations .
I must make an effort to see GW, JS and RL, note to self.
Rory
Hello Christy,
Hmm, well… there’s a new guitar in my house since yesterday.
https://www.facebook.com/share/p/z5sxPyKfcg9LWbQ5/
And I have a whole new set of callouses growing.
It’s a beauty, I love it. I’ve no idea why I waited so long to do this.
Rebecca
I can’t/don’t access f/b…any f/b or x links here pass me by…I’ve enough to be doing…happy guitar playing
Hi Christy,
I grew up with the songs of the “Toten Hosen” and “Eintopf” is a very important word, Germans love Eintopf! Especially when you´re friggin hungry and it´s freezing cold :-).
The “Laboratorium” still exists! Yes, this venue fits. So if you´d play there again, we and our friends will be there, for a 100%.
Greetings!
Katja
it was a cold frosty night last time I played Laborotoreum..It was on a German Tour with (the late) Jimmy Faulkner…Jimmy and I toured Germany, France, Brittany, Luxembourg, Lichtenstein, Austria, England, Scotland, Wales and Ireland back in the mid 1970s…..two guitars, two sleeping bags, a Peugeot 404 Diesel and plenty of Rizla..Jimmy was a great Guitar player and companero on the road
Begob … could it’s origins be so boring as to be ”By God!”?
Surely not …
Dad was a “By Crackey!” utterer – laced with “Begorrah” & “Rose! Control your kids !” & “I’ll just nip down & put a bet on…”
Dad also called his arthritis aches “the screws”
What’s Gaelic for “lumbago”?
-You know I’ll never know if you’re extracting the urine …!☘️😀🎸❤️🥃🏇
Jack Power was my maternal Grandfather…he came from Hayestown in the County Meath…he worked in Ardmulchan for Sir Alexander Maguire about whom I know little except that he was knighted and sold boxes of matches (Maguire & Patterson)… Jack played a very special part in my young life…when I was 8 years old I overheard him say
” no matter how much I shake it,the last drop always goes down my leg”
Back in 1954 I did not know what he meant ….70 years later I understand exactly what he meant…
His wife was Ellie Sheeran from The Cotton Mills on the Southern Bank of the beautiful River Boyne….Ellie was fond of the bed, in later life she tended towards taking it easy (more power to her)….I remember her fondly and clearly….I stayed with them a lot as a boy….Ellie tried her best to absolutely spoil me..I feckin loved it… she had a soft spot for Lester Piggott and backed him frequently….Ellie would sometimes leave off a right rasper of a fart and would always say ” better out than a foot of snow”
After Ardmulchan Jack worked at Loughlinstown House nr Dunboyne for a Sheffield Industrialist ( and absentee Landlord) called M.J. Gleeson. From there he worked in Backweston for Mr Gleeson who sold Backweston to the Dept of Agriculture for whom Jack work for the final decade of his life.
We always called them Goggie & Gogga…its lovely to remember them this Sunday morning…they both lie at rest in Navan Cemetary with their Son Jimmy Power….their daughter Nancy ( our Mother) lies in Milltown Graveyard in her adopted County Kildare …..a true Royal among the Lilies
PS Lumbago as Gaeilge = lúmbágo…I dont know who had it first..probably the Brits
Well Christy. Haven’t been on for a while! Thanks for a super night in chuck feenys! Sean my son and I thoroughly enjoyed it- we even got a snap with the two lads from The Wallopers!! Jays they ended it too!!
Of course the highlight was you signed my Guitar !!! Thanks for that!! I’m strumming a few chords lately on The Cats Eyes guitar the fam brought me for Christmas!! Anyway keep well and thanks again!! J
Thats a nice guitar you have there Jim…keep strumming
Ah Christy, I’ll look forward to having that set with you!! The Tulla and The Kilfenora céilí bands play 2 nights each!! We usually have good craic at them!! Have a great gig tonight….I’m sorry to be missing it!!
Slán tamaillín
Tina.
I’ll have to sit this one out…the auld lumbago is at me..going to Knock next week for a rub of the relic…nearly show time here..I hear the crowd gettin restless adout in the hall…gotta get into the corset now and spray the comb-over