I was just creating a mix CD, taking the Dick Gaughan tracks from Parallel Lines and the Paul Brady tracks from Andy Irvine and Paul Brady (yes, I was editing out the Andy Irvine cuts; I feel awful, but I hate Andy’s falsetto. And his songwriting) when I decided to dig out my copy of the Liam O’Flynn CD on which Paul sings The Rocks of Bawn.
It was on cassette, and there’s a second in which the tape got erased sometime in the mists of time, but it’s STILL spine-tingling.
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And I was struck once again by what a loss it’s been to traditional music that Paul Brady wants to be a singer-songwriter instead.
Yes, I’m enough of an artist myself to understand that you have to go where your art takes you, and you can’t stay in the same rut forever. But…
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Listening this time I decided that the closest relative of the power in Paul Brady singing slow _sean nos_ style (even accompanied, as in this recording) has to be _canto_, the vocal style in Flamenco, when the singer seems to throw back his head and wail out the blues. Or whatever.
Anyway, I'm way off topic. It's a pity that Paul Brady doesn't sing this material any more.
Last year I bought the “The Paul Brady Songbook” DVD that was released by RTÉ, and while it has its moments I was quite disappointed and actually threw it in the trash a few days ago…if anyone wants it send me a PM and I’ll fish it out before today’s garbage pickup
I found it painful to watch, not because I didn’t like the songs – he has actually written some very good pop songs, and he has a strong band on this DVD – but because I felt like he was trying too hard; his performances felt like “performances” and I rarely got a sense of him being in the music. His voice has lost its edge, and he has added gratuitous show-off riffs to his old standards like “Arthur McBride” in a way that I found very off-putting. He does a duet with Mary Black that I just couldn’t watch, mainly because of her saccharine and overly stylized singing.
In “The Humours of Planxty” someone describes him as being “detached” even back when he played with Planxty, so I guess that’s just how he is.
His singing on the purple album with Andy Irvine and on his solo “Welcome Here Kind Stranger” (and the Liberty Tapes) is electrifying and unforgettable. For his own personal reasons he had to leave all that behind him and I can understand that; I don’t think people should pressure him to do material that he doesn’t connect with anymore. The same goes for Maura O’Connell, Mary Black, Bob Dylan, and others – musicians’ tastes can change and it’s hard for them professionally when they abandon one genre for another. But in Brady’s case he just doesn’t feel right as a pop musician, and sometimes I get the feeling that he’s been stuck all these years in a no-man’s-land between two kinds of music, the traditional music that he’s rejected and the pop scene that he doesn’t quite fit into except as a songwriter. It’s sad, really.
If you want to talk about being in a no-man’s land, consider Brian Kennedy. I am quite moved by several of his tunes, but he is an ill fit in almost any recognizable genre. Makes me wonder more about the genres than the musician.
Yeah, I know he summons that emotion in many. Yet, I like a few of his tunes on the Eist collection. But I find that he is most often criticized for his personality and career choices rather than actual musical ability… he has a very interesting voice, if yer not prejudiced against castrati. I brought him up because I was surprised at the animus against Brady. I have certainly liked his singing as well…
Brady was great in his Folky days but his own work never really interested me a lot. He has written a few decent songs and he has made a lot of money from people like Tina Turner and a few other big names covering them.
Fair play to the man, he has to feed his family and all that so more power to him for following his own star.
Brian Kennedy was great when he was doing backing vocals with Van Morrison but his solo work..no thank you. Outside of Vans band I cannot imagine him fitting in anywhere at all.
If he were ever to make a recording with Daniel O’Donnell, and it has always struck me as a good move for the money men, I would unplug all TVs and Radios here for at least a year.
He was with Riverdance for a good while too. He had his own show on the tellie for a while recently and it was dire. I fact I think he did actually sing with the man from Donegal but we unplugged for that. Podge and Rodge had a good go at him recently.
Weeks, if you were getting the same level of exposure to him as we do you’d feel the same.
Saw Irvine and Brady play together during the 70s and thought they were brilliant despite their respective voices.
Unfortunately, I agree with what you’re saying. I really like Andy’s mandola and bouzouki playing, esp the Balkan tunes, (East Winds, etc), but I find myself always advancing the CD to the next selection on the Planxty albums when his own songs come along. I got in trouble with my band once when I asked if we really had to do those meloncholy Andy Irvine type tunes.
Gotcha. I think he’s virtually unknown here, for sure, so he would have novelty status. I never even thought about Van Morrison having backup singers that weren’t chicks.. Nyuk.. It was probably BK. I met one other person who knows who he is, and he was a manager of a record company; his opinion was quite low, based on some pop venue where Kennedy behaved poorly. Some kinda diva meltdown.
As for Andy Irvine, man, what a world of different tastes we live in! I love Andy Irvine’s singing on everything I have heard, though I would consider the material itself separately. I think his singing of “Carrowclare” is one of the finest musical moments I can ever imagine. I finally got to see him live a few months ago. Past his prime for sure, but I was glad to have finally heard 'im live.
I’m sure there are other singers we all would agree that we like, though.
I also like Dan Milner, whose voice is similar to Irvine’s. His Irish Seasongs cd is a great effort.
I like Carrowclare too, and Pride of the Springfield Road, Tom Joad and just about anything with Planxty The First. And Rambling Boys of Pleasure too. Sorry, I’m being disorderly. But sometimes with him the problem is the material he chooses. An awful lot of the Patrick Street songs I can live without. It’s all a matter of taste. Everything he does is so well-executed. Very tasteful.
What I thought about Carrowclare is that he uses his voice like an instrument, very lilting. I don’t know if this is so unique (considering sean nos singing etc), but compared to the other singers I like, it really stands out. Very tender.
It surprises me how outspoken some are here about musicians’ project choices. I feel Brady and Irvine are being a bit (I SAID JUST A BIT, OK?) disrespected because they did a record somebody didn’t like. My take on it, is that once you have played a lot of Trad, toured a lot, etc. some just really want to try something different and distinguish themselves. I used to write songs and its a very good feeling, to write and perform your own thing. I wish I could do it again, but that Muse seemed to fly away.
What I hate about corporate music is that they sign somebody up and expect them to crank out a certain number of records in the proven, same, successful style. I would hope that in the infinitely less financially rewarding field of folk music, the audiences would demur quietly, rather than rippin’ ‘em a new one. I can’t ever forget Dylan being booed for strappin’ on a Strat, which i thought was uncalled for, even though I am not really a Dylan fan, per se.
I understand getting disappointed at the concert because you expected something else, but the cds usually tell you what the artist is up to. I celebrate both Brady and Andy Irvine, I have really enjoyed some of their work and respect their right to diversify. i can vote with my wallet but still respect them mightily. Expecially when a few of their tunes, like Carrowclare and Arthur McBride (for Brady) forever echo in my mind’s ears.
Couldn’t agree with you more Weeks (now there’s something I rarely say). He and Planxty were somewhat before my time and so when Irvine was playing at a festival I was at, I went to see him more out of a sense of duty than desire. He was incredible. I ended up at a few more festivals he played at over the next few months and I never missed a gig. I went to see him 4 times one weekend and enjoyed each gig thoroughly. He fairly blew Moore & Lunny off the stage with the Planxty reunion gigs in Dublin, especially the one in Vicar Street by all accounts.
For me it is more than simply the technical performance. He lives the life of a Troubadour. He is on the road constantly playing gigs big and small and always delivers. He is still writing great songs on contemporary themes and publishing them himself without a record company doing the promoting, distributing and marketing. He is one of the few folk artists who write politically relevant songs, which was a strong feature of the earlier years of the Folk movement. And all this 40 years after being at the hub of the 60’s Folk scene. He is undoubtly one of the most influential musicians of his generation.
From what I can see, there are many people my age who are discovering Irvine for the first time. Anyone who hasn’t seen him and gets a chance to, should do so.
Yet, I like a few of his tunes on the Eist collection. But I find that he is most often criticized for his personality and career choices rather than actual musical ability… he has a very interesting voice, if yer not prejudiced against castrati. I brought him up because I was surprised at the animus against Brady. I have certainly liked his singing as well…
