Ireland
Happy St. Patrick’s Day 2014
Music of The Band, The Chieftains, Govinda, Mary & Mars, John McLaughlin & The Mahavishnu Orchestra, Van Morrison and The Rolling Stones are featured below.
For St. Patrick’s Day, I have compiled six (6) musical works I own that are in a very direct or indirect way pertinent to Ireland, Irish music or St. Patrick’s Day. I am of Irish descent – lots of it – and take pride in this day when millions wear green and pretend to be irish, or at least use March 17 as an excuse to ingest green colored drinks and foods.
Very oddly I’ve only used one Chieftains recording in this post. If I do another March 17 St. Patrick’s Day post in 2015, I’ll have to atone for that sin.
I wanted to incude Louis Armststrong’s great Irish Black Bottom with his free and swinging interpolation of “When Irish Eyes Are Smiling,” but couldn’t find a high enough audio quality recording on YouTube. My recording is from Satchmo’s excellent The Complete Hot Five And Hot Seven Recordings [Disc 1]
The best known of the following recordings (recordings, not songs) is probably John Lennon’s Luck Of The Irish an unabashedly pro-Irish/anti-English political diatribe. (I’ll resist the temptation to be political here – John Lennon did it for me!)
______________________________________________________________________
Govinda – Celtica
Composed by Shane O’Madden – from the Govinda album, “O Earthly Gods.”
The Rolling Stones & The Chieftains – The Rocky Road To Dublin
If you only had one means to learn about the music of Jamaica, I’d recommend Bob Marley. If you had only one means to learn about the music of Ireland, I’d recommend The Chieftains.
I especially like The Rolling Stones’ agitated and fun insertion/interpolation of “Satisfaction” at 1.07 – 1.22.
The Band & Van Morrison – Tura Lura Lura (That’s An Irish Lullaby)
This unique version, sung by The Band’s Richard Manuel along with guest Van Morrison, is from The Band’s fantastic farewell concert/film, The Last Waltz. One can watch the performance here.
John McLaughlin & The Mahavishnu Orchestra – A Lotus On Irish Streams
The Inner Mounting Flame was an album of genius and astounding virtuosity that inspired and guided me ever since it was released. The album is not very “Irish” except for the title of this one musical work, A Lotus On Irish Streams. To me, this is a just a great excuse to highlight John McLaughlin, Jerry Goodman, Billy Cobham, Jan Hammer and Rick Laird (who is from Ireland!).
John Lennon – Luck Of The Irish
This is a brilliant, cutting and direct account of Ireland’s fate at the hands of the English.
If you had the luck of the Irish
You’d be sorry and wish you were dead
You should have the luck of the Irish
And you’d wish you was English instead
A thousand years of torture and hunger
Drove the people away from their land
A land full of beauty and wonder
Was raped by the British brigands! God damn, God damn!
Mary & Mars – Ireland’s Green Shores
Songwriter, composer, mandolinist, vocalist Sharon Gilchrist of Mary & Mars is a friend, great musician and former student of mine. That would be reason enough to include her here, except that Mary & Mars’ Ireland’s Green Shores is a very nice work!
______________________________________________________________________
Alphabetically by artist – isn’t alphabetically by artist usually a great way of experiencing a collection of songs?
The Band & Van Morrison – Tura Lura Lura (That’s An Irish Lullaby)
Govinda – Celtica
John Lennon – Luck Of The Irish
Mary & Mars – Ireland’s Green Shores
John McLaughlin & The Mahavishnu Orchestra – A Lotus On Irish Streams
The Rolling Stones & The Chieftains – The Rocky Road To Dublin
______________________________________________________________________