The first post after Christmas brought some items from Ireland that had been waiting for including the latest in the “Come West Along The Road” series from the Irish national broadcaster RTE, and like the other two volumes it is a real treat.
For those unfamiliar with these discs they consist of performances taken from the RTE archives of traditional Irish music. recorded during the 60s, 70s and 80s - much of it comes from studio programs with some footage recorded on location in pubs or at concerts. This latest disc is 202 minutes long and has 65 tracks with the majority being instrumental.
Uilleann piping is well represented with solo performances by Gay McKeon, Robbie Hannan and Peter Browne, a pipes and fiddle duet with Willie Clancy and Joe O’Leary and a gem from 1963 with Finbar Furey piping, with father Ted on fiddle and brother Eddie on guitar all looking neat, clean and very young.
Some of the bigger names in Irish music show up with Planxty performing The Good Ship Kangeroo (Liam O’Flynn’s uilleann pipe break from this performance turns up on the Scottish Gas Pipe Band CD “Out of the Blue” under the title “The Kangeroo Interlude”), and a cracking set of tunes from De Danann. But in amongst the stars are small delights with performances by up and coming child musicians or field recordings of true traditional singers…including a recording in the street by an old man named James Colgan of a song / recitation called “The Gallant Irish Soldier”. At the beginning he does not seem keen on having the microphone held up while he sings, but he gets the last laugh as the recitation includes “the soldier” marching up and down and the presenter has to trail behind him with the mike.
The last track on the disc is a complete program recorded in 1963 from the “Fleadh Cheoil” in Bunclody. Before it starts it is explained that this was very early for Irish TV and in many ways it is a radio show with pictures…everyone is sitting rather stiffly and playing, though the step dancer in this film is very good. At the end is another uilleann piper but unfortunately the director decided to use his music as background to showing you the local watermill . This film was missing for some years in the RTE archive and has been slightly degraded which leads to some speed distortions in the music but none the less it is a great wee time capsule.
I suspect that I will use this DVD in the same way I have used its predecessors and play it as music while doing things, but stop occasionally when favorites of mine come on and then sit and delight in being able to watch them perform at close quarters.
Ian
