from the NPU site:
recordings re-released
Re-mastered recordings now on CD
The Piping of Patsy Touhey, released on cassette by NPU in the 1980s, has now been re-released with an additional 14 tracks. It will be launched at the Breandán Breathnach night on December 10, and will be available for purchase as from Monday 12th December.
Cool. 
I knew this was coming but didn’t have the dates. Thanks for keeping us on top of things, Carel.
djm
I wonder if NPU has any plans to make Pat Mitchell’s Book (I think) on Touhey avaliable again in the future? It seemed to me one of the particularly important ones.
I wasn’t aware it had fallen out of print. Fastest way to find out is to write them: info@pipers.ie. I would think that if they were re-issuing the music on CD they would have the book available for a new generation of pipers, too.
djm
Ah, sparkling digital audio.
You should hear Touhey play “Tell Her I Am” - the recording was so distorted I described it once as sounding like an “enraged robotic chicken.”
I wonder if NPU have considered simply making Touhey’s music available online, instead of issuing one CD - or two? or three? Even more of his recordings are becoming available as we type - a large batch showed up some time ago. The best compliment to the book would be to have all the corresponding recordings available, and NPU own (or are custodians of?) most of this stuff I believe, except for a dozen or so, unlike Clancy’s recordings, which are in the hands of dozens of people, any of whom could be put out by their unauthorized release.
I think (going from memory) there are about 100 different tunes of Touhey’s out there now - at this rate you could cover it in three CDs. Why didn’t they issue a three CD set, how much would that bump up the overhead? Actually come to think of it that’s over the mark, too - I’ve put almost everything I have of Touhey on one CD before.
Anyhoo… 
Hi Kevin:
Hmm, my guess (and this is purely my speculation) is that the Touhey book reissue might be on hold with the idea that some of the new recordings would be transcribed in the “second edition”. That could take awhile, as Pat M is still slogging away on the Ennis project at the moment.
Bill
The Piping Of Patsy Touhey by Pat Mitchell & Jackie Small is still available for 7.95 sterling + postage at:
http://www.mally.com/results.asp?CategoryID=27
NPU also have the book for 7 euros + postage
http://www.iol.ie/~npupipes/Catalogue.htm#BOOKS%20OF%20PIPING%20INTEREST
can also be had for 34 australian dollars at:
http://www.celt.com.au/irishtune.html
or for 1,738 yen at:
http://www.amazon.co.jp/exec/obidos/ASIN/0950974323/503-8141193-5645549
Twenty more Touheys to be released with the O’Neill Cylinders next year, too.
Hey! Do you know what the titles will be for this stuff? O’Neill’s Music of Ireland has a good few tunes accredited to Touhey, it would be really interesting to hear his versions of them. A few have shown up in the meantime of course.
What’s that going to cost at $1000 a cylinder or whatever it was?
This is going to be a commercial release, or available for download?
I’m amazed at how much great music you can have on the Net for free.
Could you be a bit more specific about which free music you are referring to? Anything others here might like to learn about?
Thx,
djm
I could…but will I?
There’s a mountain of Old Time, Blues, Gospel, French Canadian schtuff. Not much in the way of Irish 'cept Ted McGraw, Juneberry 78s, Ross’s Music Pages. Look 'em up! These are 78 RPM recordings by and large. For more mo-dern schtuff you got Pat D’Arcy and his Compulsive Obsession pages.
Which reminds me. On the Ceol an Domhnaigh radio show there’s a really beautiful rendition of The Frieze Britches by Mr. Clancy. The pipes are in tune and everything. But I can’t find any album this recording is on. Any ideas where it came from? (or is this another hidden gem from RTÉ’s archives?)
djm
I remember getting the RCA 78 rpm. sides of “The Only Patsy” from Tom Quilter, President of the San Francisco Gaelic League. Tom lived near a really big Salvation Army store that had a hugh collection of donated 78s and Tom would just go down the hill from his house and browse this collection, on a weekly basis. Thus he had a fantastic collection of Irish 78s with multiple copies of all 3 of the common Touhey medleys: the 2 sides of Reels,and 1 side of Jigs, and I bought these extra 78s, one each, and taped them to play on a small casstette recorder, that I kept in my car. Then the “Wheels of the World"LP by Rich Nevins came out, I bought it and taped that too. Fast forward>>> to New York City, 1976, and Bill Ochs. Bill had alot of tapes of the cyclinders from the “A.C.S.” collection (the N.Y. Irish Art Center), some of which came, ultimately, from Tom Busby, via Brendan Breathnach. So Bill had 2 small cassette tape recorders with no cable, just one recorder on “Play” and the other on “Record” and he kept pretty quiet through most of it…you could really hear the warps in the oridginal Edison cyclinders going Whack…Whack…Whack…and the music of the chanter was just a whisper… with the honk of the regulators…, and the intro of Patsy’s voice, saying stuff like " The Drink of Water…by…PATSY TOUHEY! coming through loud and clear! It just kinda… GREW on you!
I bought the NPU cassette and that was a major improvment, so I think that it will just GET BETTER FROM NOW ON. I’m gotta buy the CD!
Now, a small bit of history, I met an old man in Bellingham, Washington (state), 1974, who had grown up in the Bronx, next door down from Patsy, and when I mentioned him, this man said " All us kids called Touhey “OH BEJAYSUS!” as that expletitive was what Patsy himself, used all the time!” Charmed, by Edison 4 minute cyclinders, I am >>>>>
Sean Folsom
Oh Bejaysus is right!
My favorite intro from Touhey was “FASTEN THE LEG IN HER! PLAYED BY PATSY TOUHEY!” I noticed on Pat Sky’s Skylark label of the Touhey records (which I damn near wore out over the years!) there was a little gap between the two sentences there. Well, turns out Tom Busby had edited two tunes in a medley down - most of these Touhey cylinders are dubs Busby did for people like Pat and Bill - turns out the full medley was “FASTEN THE LEG IN HER, AND JENNIE DANG THE WEAVER! PLAYED BY PASTY TOUHEY!”
Now Touhey and Co. liked to call that last tune JENNIE BANG THE WEAVER, according to Busby himself! Even ruder!
I was lucky to buy a Tom Morrison 78 - I should frame it - Tom was a fluter/piper who was pals with Carney and taught Busby more of Carney’s music after Carney died.
Hey DJM that must be on the Dec. 11 Ceol Don right? Ah, I’ll dub the bugger right now. I have a recording of Willie from late 50s playing the Britches, on a B set. Great stuff as per usual.
Oh Bejaysus!
Oops forgot to post this and am listening to Willie now, sounds like the Bb Moloney pipes he made his Gael-Linn 78s on. Feb. 1960. Never heard this before my own self!
Ah Willie! Brilliant!
Oh Bejaysus!
Its an excellent track. I would have thought it would be included on the Seoltaí Séidte collection if it was on Gael-Linn. $hit! How much more of the good stuff are they hiding away like this?
djm
PS Just got a note from Peter B. He says it was from a recording made at RTÉ in 1960. Grad it while you can. It may not stay on the web much longer.