Just wondering… has there ever been a documentary video made about Seamus Ennis or are there any that he made himself him floating around out there?
Miles and Miles of Music by Eamonn de Butleair tells the story of Ennis’ early an music collecting days. EdeB suppsressed it for a long time but in recent years it has been broadcast as part of RTE’s Come West along the Road series.
RTE did a series of shows as a biography of Seamus - Seamus at Lisdoonvarna, at his homestead in Naul, Catherine Ennis playing the organ, Ennis visiting Liam OFlynn’s class at Willie Week, Seamus on fiddle, etc.
Extremely well done.
RTE has bunch of videos of great names playing ITM, but they are all in PAL format. One video, a compilation of bits from Come West Along the Road, is available in NTSC, and there is some great music here, including Ennis, Willie Clancy, and a very young Finbar Furey. Just enough to make you wish the rest of the videos were available in NTSC.
The more I hear of people sitting on, or suppressing access to, great music the more it makes me want to kick someone. 
djm
I wonder if the people at RTE realize how much demand there would be for a DVD of some of this stuff. I have the Come West Along the Road video (in North American format) and it just whets the appetite for more.
I wrote them and asked them that exact question. They have chosen not to respond. 
djm
Well, when Peter Browne comes to Toronto in January, we can discuss directly with him! I guess he works mainly on the radio side of things, but he would probably at least be aware of the possibilities/impossibilities of releasing more video (and on DVD rather than video).
I sure would like to buy one/some if they came out with it. Good luck with Peter, Brad! Keep us posted.
There’s also the Seamus Ennis Story, 2 cassettes from RTE. Audio cassettes. Lovely stuff.
The IRTRAD people were discussing a remark Peter Browne made on a new RTE show, the Raw Bar, which apparently has nothing to do with oysters and beer…Peter was quoted as saying you have to start learning before the age of 17 to ever play with conviction and command. So all you 18 year olds, give it up!
Kevin, I don’t see this Ennis set on RTE’s web site. Do you have a serial number that I can search further on?
Thx,
djm
The cassettes and the video are identical. Needless to say, the video wins.
Great! Where is the video available from?
Thx,
djm
RE: Peter Browne’s comments on RTE. He overstated the truth, which is that young teenagers have natural advantages when learning ITM. Starting young allows them to develop their full potential.
You can develop a high degree of proficiency on the UP if you start later in life, but you have to be willing to make sacrifices, mostly time and some of the things you might otherwise do with that time.
The key is DISCIPLINE. Daily practice is a must. Listen twice as much as you practice, preferably solo piping but other trad instruments are good to throw into the mix. It will take a while. It’s a personal journey and you have to struggle very hard at times. No one will make you good at it but yourself.
Playing with musicians who are more experienced is invaluable, especially for developing steadiness and lift.
BTW piping does not exist in a vacuum. There is a social aspect to trad music culture you have to learn. You can not ignore it and expect much in the way of support from other musicians.
The video was an RTE broadcast and never made available commercially.
Too bad (*insert some of Kevin’s emoticons here)
RTE Schweinhunden. You’d hope for all this stuff to find its way out into the wild, but it’s a very long shot. Look how long it took for them to put out the Return From Fingal. They’ve known about those records all along, but just weren’t ready to do a CD until now. Breadan Breathnach used to pass around dubs of it - I received a very muddy copy years ago, before the CD came out - I also have a tape of piper Brian Gallagher duplicating the slip jig medley which was recorded in 1973! So you’ll just have to cool your heels and get what you want, or become a tape collector.
I’ve cassettes with Peter Browne on the radio, he’s quite amiable sounding. I’m sure whatever he meant wasn’t so abusive as to warrant calling him a nazi (which one guy on IRTRAD did).
One of the Ennis pieces on Come West has a hilarious opening, Tony MacMahon asks him to play the Bucks; “are you ready, Seamus?” “Blowing up, now…”