The Songs
4. The naming of places- from towns and counties to lakes and even large rocks, has been a constant feature in Irish literature and song from the ancient tome The Tain to the more modern Take me Home to Mayo. Does a place called Vertigo follow in this tradition??? Here Jon sings a well known homage to the Star of the County Down. The instruments are: Jon, 6&12 string guitar, Jim, mandolin, Pete, fiddle and bodhran, Chetz bass.
5. During the early 1980's Jim lived and played music in New York city with an Irish showband called the Paddy Noonan Band. Paddy's drummer, Johnny Hanley, was a wonderful guy and a great drummer. He was once the drummer for the Ringling Brother's Circus. Band. During a late night ride home from a gig in the Catskills, Johnny suggested that someone should write a song called, "Come Back to Me Darling, and I'll Wear Our Ring." He said it would be a bit hit in Ireland. Jim took him up on the challenge and the result is I'll Wear Your Ring. Jim, lead and background vocals, guitar, bouzouki, Jon, 6 & 12 string guitars, background vocals, Chetz, bass, accordian,
7. A few years back, the band had a few oportunities to open shows for the Clancy Brothers and Robbie O'Connell. Watching them work an audience was like going to school. Here is one of their signiture tunes from the traditional rebel song catalog, Foggy Dew. Jon opens the tune with some traditional unaccompanied singing. Instruments are Jon, vocals, 6 string guitar, Jim, mandolin and tenor banjo, Pete and Robbie, fiddles, Chetz, bass, Dale, bodhran and snare drum. (.mp3 file below)
8. Back When the Craic was Grand is another tune from Jim's days in New York. During the 80's there was a bar on Lexington Avenue, across from the Armory, a corner briefly made famous when a prominent former Yankees player was arrested following an altercation with a lady of the evening. And he said he was just there for the Irish music! According to Jim, "I was a member of the house band at O'Rielly's, which although I didn't know it at the time consisted of some very renouned traditional players, including Andy McGann and Johnny Cronin on fiddles, Joe Burke on accordian, (another) Joe Burke on tenor banjo and a man whose name I don't remember playing bodhran. I played guitar and sang the occasional ballad. I remember there was a march to commemorate the death of Bobby Sands (from a hunger strike in prison) down Lexington Ave. and it ended in a session at O'Rielly's. This song is a tribute to those players, (Andy and Johnny have passed on) and to my wife Judi who attended many sessions there with me."
