When New York Was Irish Lyrics And Guitar Chords
Written by Terence Winch. The version here is by Blackthorn and the chords by Marc fit the Blackthorn youtube video. Blackthorn also covered Sean South From Garryowen which is one of the most famous rebel songs ever.
Intro: G-G-G-D G-Em-C-D7-G
I will (G)sing you a song of days long a(D)go
When (G)people from (Em)Galway and (C)County Ma(D)yo – D7
From (G)all over Ireland came over to (D)stay
And (G)take up a (Em)new life in (C)Amer(D7)i(G)cay
Chorus
They were (G)ever so happy, they were (C)ever so (D)sad
To grow (G)old in the (Em)new world through (C)good times and (Am)bad(D7)
All the (G)parties and the (Em)weddings, the (C)ceilis and (D)wakes
When (G)New York was (Em)Irish, full of (C)joys and (D7)heart(G)aches
They (G)worked on the subways, they ran the sa(D)loons
They (G)built all the (Em)bridges and they (C)played all the (D)tunes – D7
They (G)put out the fires and controlled City (D)Hall
They (G)started with (Em)nothing and wound (C)up with (D7)it (G)all
Chorus
You could (G)travel from Kingsbridge to Queens or mid (D)town
From (G)Highbridge to (Em)Bay Ridge, from (C)up town to (D)down – D7
From the (G)East Side to the seaside's, the sweet summer (D)scenes
They (G)made New York (Em)City their (C)island (D7)of (G)dreams
Chorus
Now I (G)look at the photos all brittle with (D)time
Of the (G)people I (Em)cherished when that (C)city was (D)mine – D7
(G)O, how I loved all those radiant (D)smiles
How I (G)long for the (Em)days when we (C)danced in (D7)the (G)aisles
Chorus
Outro: G-G-G-D G-Em-C-Am-D7 G-Em-C-D G-Em-C-D7-G-G G-Em-C-D7-G.
There's another well known song about New York on the site
New York Girls Can You Dance The Polka Lyrics which was recorded by Irish folk singer and banjo player Finbar Furey.
I will (G)sing you a song of days long a(D)go
When (G)people from (Em)Galway and (C)County Ma(D)yo – D7
From (G)all over Ireland came over to (D)stay
And (G)take up a (Em)new life in (C)Amer(D7)i(G)cay
Chorus
They were (G)ever so happy, they were (C)ever so (D)sad
To grow (G)old in the (Em)new world through (C)good times and (Am)bad(D7)
All the (G)parties and the (Em)weddings, the (C)ceilis and (D)wakes
When (G)New York was (Em)Irish, full of (C)joys and (D7)heart(G)aches
They (G)worked on the subways, they ran the sa(D)loons
They (G)built all the (Em)bridges and they (C)played all the (D)tunes – D7
They (G)put out the fires and controlled City (D)Hall
They (G)started with (Em)nothing and wound (C)up with (D7)it (G)all
Chorus
You could (G)travel from Kingsbridge to Queens or mid (D)town
From (G)Highbridge to (Em)Bay Ridge, from (C)up town to (D)down – D7
From the (G)East Side to the seaside's, the sweet summer (D)scenes
They (G)made New York (Em)City their (C)island (D7)of (G)dreams
Chorus
Now I (G)look at the photos all brittle with (D)time
Of the (G)people I (Em)cherished when that (C)city was (D)mine – D7
(G)O, how I loved all those radiant (D)smiles
How I (G)long for the (Em)days when we (C)danced in (D7)the (G)aisles
Chorus
Outro: G-G-G-D G-Em-C-Am-D7 G-Em-C-D G-Em-C-D7-G-G G-Em-C-D7-G.
There's another well known song about New York on the site
New York Girls Can You Dance The Polka Lyrics which was recorded by Irish folk singer and banjo player Finbar Furey.
WHAT A TIME IT MUST HAVE BEEN...From The Album ''Farewell To Ireland
When evictions and the famine packed the ships that sailed from Cork, They were bound for Ellis Island in the harbour of New York, This new world, this land of plenty must have seemed so very strange But they had their fiddles, pipes and songs to help them through the change.
There were Germans, Poles, Italians, playin' polkas oompah-style, But the boys who had them reelin', they came from auld Erin's Isle'Touhey, Ennis, Coleman, Morrison, and bands made up by Chief O'Neill, Daddy Rice he softshoe-shuffled while he fiddled jigs 'n' reels.
What a time it must have been when the century had turned And all the music came together in the brave new world. In the Appalachian mountains the tunes took on new names, Likewise in Philadelphia where the Irish Minstrels reigned. Every Friday night the Flanagans played The Tub Of Blood, New York, Singin' Tura Lura Lura and My Irish Molly-O Drinkin' rare auld Irish whiskey from Cavan and Mayo.
On the railroads, down the coalmines, in workcamps and vaudeville halls Irish music met black rhythms with a sound that shook the walls Such a joyful syncopation this odd couple then did make At the time some called it crazy, it's called Rock 'n' Roll of late.
FAREWELL TO IRELAND
The body of music recorded by Irish emigrants in America during the 1920s and 30s is regarded by many as the lost treasure of the golden age of traditional Irish music. The obvious influence of the playing styles and tune settings of fiddlers James Morrison and Michael Coleman, piper Patsy Touhey, flautist John McKenna, and the accordion, tenor banjo, vocals and innovative accompaniment of the Flanagan Brothers can all be clearly heard in the styles of some of the most famous and highly respected Irish musicians of today such as Frankie Gavin, Paddy Keenan, Matt Molloy, Jackie Daly, Gerry O'Connor etc. It is a very large and varied catalogue of recordings ranging from the pure traditional sound of the fiddle and pipes of Edward Mullaney and Patrick Stack to the ragtime, stride, jazz and even boogie woogie influences heard in Dan Sullivan's piano playing (check out Nano's Favourite - Tr.20, CD1) and including the delightfully whimsical vaudeville/ musichall/Tin Pan Alley `Oirish' songs favoured by the likes of Pat White and Frank Quinn. In those early days of the recording industry, these Irish American records were the biggest selling 'hits' of their time and were a hugely influential part of the fledgling industry. Nowhere was this new influence more widely felt and welcomed than back in Ireland, where, for a variety of reasons, traditional music had almost completely disappeared. Gramophone recordings of traditional Irish music recorded in America rekindled inter- est in the tradition at home and, most importantly, provided a new source from which aspiring musicians could learn both technique and repertoire. To understand how this situation came about we need to take a brief look at its historical context.
The earliest Irish emigrants to make a significant impact in America were mainly from Ulster and became known as Scots Irish. They made their mark as pioneers and frontiersmen in the late 18th century and were described by Theodore Roosevelt as "of all men, the best fit- ted to conquer the wilderness and hold it against all comers". They were the first to declare for independence from Britain and no less than five of the signatories to the
Declaration of Independence were men of Irish stock. In the century that followed, ten of the presidents who occupied the White House were descendants of Irish emigrants. These included Andrew Jackson, James Buchanan and Ulysses Simpson Grant.
Emigration statistics remained at an `acceptable' level until the second half of the 19th century when as many as half of the entire population of Ireland emigrated follow- ing what is commonly described by historians as "one of the worst disasters ever to befall a European nation during peace-time". Between 1845 and 1850 approximately one million people died in
Ireland of starvation and hunger- related diseases
such as scurvy and dysentery. This period is commonly referred to as the `famine'. However, dictionary definitions of the
word 'famine' specify "extreme scarcity of food" (The Concise Oxford Dictionary, 1998) and "severe shortage of food, as through crop failure or over-population" (Collins English Dictionary, Millennium Edition) and, as record amounts of food were exported from Ireland during this same period, the horrific disaster which
occurred during this saddest period of Irish history cannot be accurately or realistically described as a "famine'.
By the 1840s, centuries of callous and disdainful British rule had caused the Irish to become the most impoverished nation in Europe. Since the Elizabethan plantations and mass dispossession by Cromwell and his slaughtering army, owner- ship of almost all the land in
Ireland had been given over to "loyal British citizens' most of whom did not live on the land. These absentee landlords were represented by land agents (or middlemen as they were more commonly known) who then sublet to local Irish tenants, some of whom were directly descended from or related to the original owners! The landlords and their middlemen kept rents artificially high so that their tenants could barely keep up with payments and consequently were under constant threat of eviction. Such misfortunate people were little more than slaves who worked the land in return for a tiny smallholding on which they could grow just about enough potatoes to feed themselves and their families. In his book The Most Distressful Country, the eminent British historian Robert Kee tells us that "some families of this type occupied as little as a quarter of an acre (though not less than two to three acres was regarded as necessary for the proper support of a large family). So far down the economic scale were many of them that they hardly ever handled money at
all".
The majority of the population, which an 1841 census reported as just over eight mil- lion, lived at such a level of subsistence that their continued existence relied almost totally on the potato- the only crop with a high enough yield containing the necessary vita- mins and nutrients for survival. This was a highly precarious situation - a disaster waiting to happen and many outraged and concerned people such as Lord Devon warned Westminster of an impending catastrophe of unprecedented severity. Within months of the damning report of the Devon Commission on the state of Ireland, which blamed the mostly British absentee landlords and called for immediate reforms, a blight infected the potato crop making much of it inedible. Unlike previous crop failures, this blight continued to infect potato crops with increasing severity for several successive years. By the time the blight finally cleared in 1849 at least a million people had died and over a million had fled in panic from the horrors of the so-called "famine'. In an incredibly short period of less than five years the population had been reduced by 25%. Over the decades which followed emigration continued at an unprecedented rate as millions of the people who had survived the great hunger sought to make new lives in lands where they need not fear the dreaded rule of the British Empire. This decimation of the Irish nation caused what Peadar O Riada (son of the great Sean O Riada) describes as the "huge psychic hurt" inflicted on the Irish in this period. In a public address to the people of Ireland in 1963, the most famous Irish American famine' descendent of all, US President John F. Kennedy, said "No country in the world. in the history of the world. has endured the haemorrhage which this country endured over a period of a few years, for so many of its sons and daughters".
The Irish who emigrated to America following the tragic years of the late 1840s met with much resentment and bigotry from the White Anglo Saxon Protestant (WASP) majority which included the descendants of the earlier Irish settlers. Victims of oppressive British rule, the new wave of emigrants were mostly illiterate and unskilled. Most arrived in America penni- less and found only lowpaid work and so were forced to live in crowded and unhealthy slums. They tended to settle close to one another for mutual
protection from racist attacks. Although largely from a rural background they had little knowledge of farming and any love of the land they may have cherished had been wiped out by the horrors of the 'famine'. Initially their numbers were concentrated in the industrial centres of New York, Boston, Chicago and Philadelphia. The majority of Irish men worked as lowpaid labourers in construction, in factories and on the docks while Irish women soon came to dominate the domestic service sector. Wherever they settled in large numbers Catholic churches and Irish saloons inevitably followed. The saloons and churches were a refuge from the slums, a place to meet neighbours and receive news from the old country, to make contacts for work etc. As most of these new arrivals had no previous experience of handling money, even the lowest wages afforded new opportunities of freedom, both social and financial. They were people from every corner of Ireland who, prior to emigration, had rarely travelled or experienced life beyond their immediate locality. United by their common' rural speech, manners and cultural baggage, they soon realised that traditional Irish dance music was an easily organised method of coming together in the New Land and Irish dancehalls soon followed the churches and saloons as emigrant gather- ing places.
Donovan Ballroom (59th St. & Columbus Ave. - nicknamed "The Tub Of Blood") and The Galway Hall (125th St. on the West Side) were commonplace, catering for as many as four thousand dancers at a time!
However, the decades immediately following the great hunger were the hardest of hard times for the new Irish Americans. Pay was poor and whatever little could be saved was often sent back to Ireland so that impoverished loved ones left behind could follow on to America. Essentially this post 'famine' flood of Irish emigrants survived simply because they were prolific breeders and provided much of the manpower needed for American expansion -the building of roads, canals and, of course, the great railway system which was the final unifying factor of the United States. To defend their workers' rights against continued WASP bigotry, they became founders and leaders of the new labour unions. By the end of the 19th century they had begun to climb the social ladder, to acquire qualifications and move into the higher income brackets. By sheer force of numbers they quickly became a powerful political force. By the beginning of the 20th century they controlled municipal politics not only in the old Irish strongholds of the North Eastern seaboard but in cities as far flung as St. Louis and San Francisco, and, by that time, the machinery of the Democratic Party was pre- dominantly Irish run.
most reactionary and puritanical stages. Singing and dancing were declared sinful, supposedly leading to promiscuity, drunkenness and debauchery. A national campaign was mounted to suppress Irish dance music. Once again the church played right into the hands of the British: while the spirit of the nation was still at an extremely low ebb from the effects of the so-called "famine', the clergy hit out at the very core of one of Ireland's few remaining sources of strength - its culture. Bishops and priests all over the country outlawed cross- roads and house dancing. There were wide- spread documented accounts of clergymen breaking into private houses, smashing musical instruments and even physically attacking musicians in the Lord's name'. Such was the power of the Irish Catholic Church at that time, that by the dawn of the 20th century traditional music had almost completely ceased to exist in most areas of Ireland.
By the beginning of the 20th century, i.e. in just fifty years, the population of Ireland had been reduced by 50%. The majority of the emigrants made their new homes in America where today, according to the findings of the 1990 US Census, 44.3 million - a fig- ure, by previous growth rate, now closer to 50,000,000 - U.S. citizens claim Irish descent. It is
hardly surprising to find that many of the millions who fled to America during this period were musicians. In the New Land they found that their dance music was more than welcome at all social gatherings, public or private, in large cities or rural workcamps, at weddings, wakes, housewarmings, clambakes, elections, sports meetings, barmitzvahs or whatever. Many musicians including the legendary Patsy Touhey, The Flanagan Brothers, Michael Coleman and Tom Ennis, found that they could turn professional and play the vaudeville circuit or concerts arranged by organisations promoting Irish culture such as the Gaelic League and the famous Chicago Irish Music Club. In some of the biggest cities such as New York and Chicago, Irish emigrants accounted for as much as 20-25% of the total population and the new found popularity, not to mention the very core of one of Ireland's few remaining sources of strength - its culture. Bishops and priests all over the country outlawed cross- roads and house dancing. There were wide- spread documented accounts of clergymen breaking into private houses, smashing musical instruments and even physically attacking musicians "in the Lord's name'. Such was the power of the Irish Catholic Church at that time, that by the dawn of the 20th century traditional music had almost completely ceased to exist in most areas of Ireland.
By the beginning of the 20th century, i.e. in just fifty years, the population of Ireland had been reduced by 50%. The majority of the emigrants made their new homes in America where today, according to the findings of the financial rewards that went with it, must have seemed to the traditional musicians like the answer to all their prayers.
With the development of recording techniques in the late 19th century, it was only a matter of time before someone realised the potential of recording Irish music. The earliest known authentic recording of Irish music in America was a wax cylinder made by the uilleann piper James McAuliffe in New York in 1899. However, most of the recordings of Irish music made in the early years of the 20th century were by non-Irish professional musicians such as the German-born John Kimmel and the Scots Peter and Dan Wyper. This situation suddenly changed in 1916 when a Cork-born music seller and travel agent Ellen O'Byrne, who managed the O'Byrne De Witt Grafonola And Victor shop (also known as "The Sinn Fein Music House") in New York, convinced the Columbia recording company to make a record of authentic traditional Irish music by guaranteeing to sell the first five hundred copies from her 3rd Avenue store.
She sent her sixteen year old son Justus to New York's Celtic Park to find and bring back the Irish banjo and accordion duo James Wheeler and Eddie Herborn to make the historic recording. Wheeler and Herborn's record sold out overnight and the Irish American recording business was up and running. For a brief peri- od of eight or nine years the Irish market was catered for mainly by independent labels such as Emerald, Celtic, New Republic, Gennett, Gaelic and Shannon. (The latter is a good example of how such small labels worked - Shannon was owned and marketed by the uil- leann piper Tom Ennis operating out of a music store at 15 Columbus Avenue, near 55 Street, New York). By the early 20s, when th invention of flat disc recording replaced the wax cylinder system, the music industry was gathering momentum and the larger companies were taking over from the small independents. These companies developed separate 'race' catalogues for the various ethnic com- munities. The richest of these communities
both in terms of musicians and the number of people who could afford to buy their records were by now the Irish. The most successful of these early Irish American catalogues were Okeh (the 21000 series), Columbia (the 33000-F series) and Victor (the V-29000 series). By the mid-20s, Irish music had become so popular that in New York alone an incredible 26 radio stations catered for the Irish community. The magnitude of such radio coverage is best realised by looking at London today: regarded as Ireland's second city', yet without a single Irish radio station to cater for its largest ethnic minority community.
At first, records like wax cylinders before them, credited only the song or tune titles while the musicians/singers remained anonymous, e.g. "Duet - Violin and Piano". A wax cylinder in my possession entitled "Boiled Beef and Carrots" bears only one other piece of information the word "song" - there are no details of singer, musicians, instrumentation or style. However, a selection of jigs titled Black Rogue and Saddle The Pony recorded for the Shannon label in 1924 was to end this lack
of detail forever more. Originally released with the typically anonymous credit of "Trio: Bagpipes, Violin and Piano", on being released in Ireland and Britain it proved so popular that the public demanded to know the identity of the musicians. So for the first time it was decided to reverse normal policy and reissue the record giving the titles of the jigs and crediting the musicians - Tom Ennis (Uilleann Pipes) and James Morrison (Fiddle) with piano accompaniment by John Muller (Tr. 13, CD3). The credits printed on this historic recording set a precedent for all future records.
Exposure to the new arrangements and instrumentation of the early jazz era and the pot pourri of multi ethnic influences combined with the urgency of inner city life to give a new and unique urban lift to many traditional Irish musicians' styles. This, in turn, appealed not only to Irish audiences but also to large numbers of European and African American lovers of exciting dance music.
Irish recordings made in the USA continued to sell in large quantities throughout the 20s and most of the 30s. Although production ground to a virtual standstill during the Depression years of the early 30s, by 1934 business was picking up again and Decca made a late entry in the race for the Irish market with its 12000 series. However, by the late 30s the major labels were gradually moving away from the notion of 'race' records. These labels were beginning to attain through nationwide marketing, press manipulation, payola etc. - the power which would give them the strangle- hold on the music scene which they retain to this day.
The golden age of Irish American music was over but not forgotten. Back in Ireland the dance music which British rule, the `famine' and the clergy had almost killed off, now had a new lease of life. Sixty years later as the 21st century dawns, a year hardly goes by with- out representation in the Grammies by traditional artists such as The Chieftains. Ireland's biggest rock stars, including U2 and Van Morrison, increasingly acknowledge their traditional roots as an influence and source of inspiration, and in the post-Riverdance era, Irish radio is transmitted world- wide by satelite while multimedia companies such as Disney, the BBC and Sky compete in bid- ding for films and TV pro- grammes on Irish music. Through its evolution via Appalachian and Old Timey, through
Bluegrass via early popular that the public the identity of the music time it was decided to r and reissue the record g jigs and crediting the m (Uilleann Pipes) and Jam with piano accompanim 13, CD3). The credits p recording set a preceded records.
Exposure to the new instrumentation of the e pot pourri of multiethnic with the urgency of inne new and unique urban I Irish musicians' styles. T not only to Irish audianc numbers of European arw lovers of exciting dance Irish recordings made in sell in large quantities the most of the 30s. Althou to a virtual standstill dur years of the early 30s, t picking up again and De in the race for the Irish r series. However, by the labels were gradually m notion of race' records. These labels were beginning to attain through nationwide marketing, press manipulation, payola etc. - the power which would give them the strangle- hold on the music scene which they retain to this day.
The golden age of Irish American music was over but not forgotten. Back in Ireland the dance music which British rule, the `famine' and the clergy had almost killed off, now had a new lease of life. Sixty years later as the 21st century dawns, a year hardly goes by with- out representation in the Grammies by traditional artists such as The Chieftains. Ireland's biggest rock stars, including U2 and Van Morrison, increasingly acknowledge their traditional roots as an influence and source of inspiration, and in the post-Riverdance era, Irish radio is transmitted world- wide by satellite while multimedia companies such as Disney, the BBC and Sky compete in bid- ding for films and TV pro- grammes on Irish music. Through its evolution via Appalachian and Old Timey, through
Bluegrass via early Rock'n'Roll, to being one of the obvious foundation blocks of modern music, in the course of the 20th century traditional Irish music has gradually become the most popular and wid ly played form of ethnic music in the world. This box set of Irish American recordings from the 20s and 30s represents its renaissance, its golden age, and is the most extensive and definitive package of its kind ever put together. We hope that it will be a source of great enjoyment, influence and inspiration now and for generations to come.
ABOUT THESE RECORDINGS...
The choice of tracks and their running order on these four CDs have been so selected to provide a balanced and entertaining programme for the listener which is an accurate representation of a cross section of the recordings of this genre and period. Many of these tracks are extremely rare with sometimes only one remaining copy clean enough to dub from. In fact in some cases, such as Wheeler and Herborn's historic 1916 recording, it is a sad loss to the collection that no copy of the original recording could be found.
Many of these tracks have been reissued on other compilations and, where we have used their source tracks, thanks and acknowledge- ment have been given below for the excellent work carried out by all concerned. Wherever there is noticeable surface noise it is because there was no other choice of source available and the process of cleaning up the sound would have been so concentrated that the tone of the recording would have been altered to an unacceptable degree. However, we hope that you will agree with our belief that the overall sound quality is in fact quite superb considering the age and rarity of the original recordings. The question of choice of selections from particular artist's releases was deter- mined both by attempts to balance the overall programme and to present a fair cross section of the artist's work. Thus, for example, while it would have been very easy to choose half a dozen sets of superbly performed reels by Michael Coleman, it seemed more interesting to vary his selections to include a set dance,
hornpipes, barndances and duets also. By the same token it may seem peculiar to have included selections where either the featured instrumentalist or backing musician are not quite in tune, but once again, this is a fair representation of the genre... many of these recordings were made in far from ideal conditions with only one chance at getting it right and when such tracks have been selected it is generally because there is some other point of interest on the particular recording which out- weighs the matter of fine tuning. This also accounts for tracks where particular instruments may seem louder/quieter than the listener's ideal. We must bear in mind that these recordings were not made on sophisticated multitrack systems with the benefit of mixing at a later date. They were live recordings where the mix was determined by the some- times experimental, often haphazard arrangement of the musicians' positions in a room in relation to the recording device. Hopefully, if you are won over by the charm and vitality of the genre as I am, you will grow to appreciate the occasional shortcomings of these recordings as much as their qualities. Slip one of these four CDs on to your deck and let the magic of this unique music transport you to another time and place the golden age of Irish music in America in the 1920s and 30s.
When evictions and the famine packed the ships that sailed from Cork, They were bound for Ellis Island in the harbour of New York, This new world, this land of plenty must have seemed so very strange But they had their fiddles, pipes and songs to help them through the change.
There were Germans, Poles, Italians, playin' polkas oompah-style, But the boys who had them reelin', they came from auld Erin's Isle'Touhey, Ennis, Coleman, Morrison, and bands made up by Chief O'Neill, Daddy Rice he softshoe-shuffled while he fiddled jigs 'n' reels.
What a time it must have been when the century had turned And all the music came together in the brave new world. In the Appalachian mountains the tunes took on new names, Likewise in Philadelphia where the Irish Minstrels reigned. Every Friday night the Flanagans played The Tub Of Blood, New York, Singin' Tura Lura Lura and My Irish Molly-O Drinkin' rare auld Irish whiskey from Cavan and Mayo.
On the railroads, down the coalmines, in workcamps and vaudeville halls Irish music met black rhythms with a sound that shook the walls Such a joyful syncopation this odd couple then did make At the time some called it crazy, it's called Rock 'n' Roll of late.
FAREWELL TO IRELAND
The body of music recorded by Irish emigrants in America during the 1920s and 30s is regarded by many as the lost treasure of the golden age of traditional Irish music. The obvious influence of the playing styles and tune settings of fiddlers James Morrison and Michael Coleman, piper Patsy Touhey, flautist John McKenna, and the accordion, tenor banjo, vocals and innovative accompaniment of the Flanagan Brothers can all be clearly heard in the styles of some of the most famous and highly respected Irish musicians of today such as Frankie Gavin, Paddy Keenan, Matt Molloy, Jackie Daly, Gerry O'Connor etc. It is a very large and varied catalogue of recordings ranging from the pure traditional sound of the fiddle and pipes of Edward Mullaney and Patrick Stack to the ragtime, stride, jazz and even boogie woogie influences heard in Dan Sullivan's piano playing (check out Nano's Favourite - Tr.20, CD1) and including the delightfully whimsical vaudeville/ musichall/Tin Pan Alley `Oirish' songs favoured by the likes of Pat White and Frank Quinn. In those early days of the recording industry, these Irish American records were the biggest selling 'hits' of their time and were a hugely influential part of the fledgling industry. Nowhere was this new influence more widely felt and welcomed than back in Ireland, where, for a variety of reasons, traditional music had almost completely disappeared. Gramophone recordings of traditional Irish music recorded in America rekindled inter- est in the tradition at home and, most importantly, provided a new source from which aspiring musicians could learn both technique and repertoire. To understand how this situation came about we need to take a brief look at its historical context.
The earliest Irish emigrants to make a significant impact in America were mainly from Ulster and became known as Scots Irish. They made their mark as pioneers and frontiersmen in the late 18th century and were described by Theodore Roosevelt as "of all men, the best fit- ted to conquer the wilderness and hold it against all comers". They were the first to declare for independence from Britain and no less than five of the signatories to the
Declaration of Independence were men of Irish stock. In the century that followed, ten of the presidents who occupied the White House were descendants of Irish emigrants. These included Andrew Jackson, James Buchanan and Ulysses Simpson Grant.
Emigration statistics remained at an `acceptable' level until the second half of the 19th century when as many as half of the entire population of Ireland emigrated follow- ing what is commonly described by historians as "one of the worst disasters ever to befall a European nation during peace-time". Between 1845 and 1850 approximately one million people died in
Ireland of starvation and hunger- related diseases
such as scurvy and dysentery. This period is commonly referred to as the `famine'. However, dictionary definitions of the
word 'famine' specify "extreme scarcity of food" (The Concise Oxford Dictionary, 1998) and "severe shortage of food, as through crop failure or over-population" (Collins English Dictionary, Millennium Edition) and, as record amounts of food were exported from Ireland during this same period, the horrific disaster which
occurred during this saddest period of Irish history cannot be accurately or realistically described as a "famine'.
By the 1840s, centuries of callous and disdainful British rule had caused the Irish to become the most impoverished nation in Europe. Since the Elizabethan plantations and mass dispossession by Cromwell and his slaughtering army, owner- ship of almost all the land in
Ireland had been given over to "loyal British citizens' most of whom did not live on the land. These absentee landlords were represented by land agents (or middlemen as they were more commonly known) who then sublet to local Irish tenants, some of whom were directly descended from or related to the original owners! The landlords and their middlemen kept rents artificially high so that their tenants could barely keep up with payments and consequently were under constant threat of eviction. Such misfortunate people were little more than slaves who worked the land in return for a tiny smallholding on which they could grow just about enough potatoes to feed themselves and their families. In his book The Most Distressful Country, the eminent British historian Robert Kee tells us that "some families of this type occupied as little as a quarter of an acre (though not less than two to three acres was regarded as necessary for the proper support of a large family). So far down the economic scale were many of them that they hardly ever handled money at
all".
The majority of the population, which an 1841 census reported as just over eight mil- lion, lived at such a level of subsistence that their continued existence relied almost totally on the potato- the only crop with a high enough yield containing the necessary vita- mins and nutrients for survival. This was a highly precarious situation - a disaster waiting to happen and many outraged and concerned people such as Lord Devon warned Westminster of an impending catastrophe of unprecedented severity. Within months of the damning report of the Devon Commission on the state of Ireland, which blamed the mostly British absentee landlords and called for immediate reforms, a blight infected the potato crop making much of it inedible. Unlike previous crop failures, this blight continued to infect potato crops with increasing severity for several successive years. By the time the blight finally cleared in 1849 at least a million people had died and over a million had fled in panic from the horrors of the so-called "famine'. In an incredibly short period of less than five years the population had been reduced by 25%. Over the decades which followed emigration continued at an unprecedented rate as millions of the people who had survived the great hunger sought to make new lives in lands where they need not fear the dreaded rule of the British Empire. This decimation of the Irish nation caused what Peadar O Riada (son of the great Sean O Riada) describes as the "huge psychic hurt" inflicted on the Irish in this period. In a public address to the people of Ireland in 1963, the most famous Irish American famine' descendent of all, US President John F. Kennedy, said "No country in the world. in the history of the world. has endured the haemorrhage which this country endured over a period of a few years, for so many of its sons and daughters".
The Irish who emigrated to America following the tragic years of the late 1840s met with much resentment and bigotry from the White Anglo Saxon Protestant (WASP) majority which included the descendants of the earlier Irish settlers. Victims of oppressive British rule, the new wave of emigrants were mostly illiterate and unskilled. Most arrived in America penni- less and found only lowpaid work and so were forced to live in crowded and unhealthy slums. They tended to settle close to one another for mutual
protection from racist attacks. Although largely from a rural background they had little knowledge of farming and any love of the land they may have cherished had been wiped out by the horrors of the 'famine'. Initially their numbers were concentrated in the industrial centres of New York, Boston, Chicago and Philadelphia. The majority of Irish men worked as lowpaid labourers in construction, in factories and on the docks while Irish women soon came to dominate the domestic service sector. Wherever they settled in large numbers Catholic churches and Irish saloons inevitably followed. The saloons and churches were a refuge from the slums, a place to meet neighbours and receive news from the old country, to make contacts for work etc. As most of these new arrivals had no previous experience of handling money, even the lowest wages afforded new opportunities of freedom, both social and financial. They were people from every corner of Ireland who, prior to emigration, had rarely travelled or experienced life beyond their immediate locality. United by their common' rural speech, manners and cultural baggage, they soon realised that traditional Irish dance music was an easily organised method of coming together in the New Land and Irish dancehalls soon followed the churches and saloons as emigrant gather- ing places.
Donovan Ballroom (59th St. & Columbus Ave. - nicknamed "The Tub Of Blood") and The Galway Hall (125th St. on the West Side) were commonplace, catering for as many as four thousand dancers at a time!
However, the decades immediately following the great hunger were the hardest of hard times for the new Irish Americans. Pay was poor and whatever little could be saved was often sent back to Ireland so that impoverished loved ones left behind could follow on to America. Essentially this post 'famine' flood of Irish emigrants survived simply because they were prolific breeders and provided much of the manpower needed for American expansion -the building of roads, canals and, of course, the great railway system which was the final unifying factor of the United States. To defend their workers' rights against continued WASP bigotry, they became founders and leaders of the new labour unions. By the end of the 19th century they had begun to climb the social ladder, to acquire qualifications and move into the higher income brackets. By sheer force of numbers they quickly became a powerful political force. By the beginning of the 20th century they controlled municipal politics not only in the old Irish strongholds of the North Eastern seaboard but in cities as far flung as St. Louis and San Francisco, and, by that time, the machinery of the Democratic Party was pre- dominantly Irish run.
most reactionary and puritanical stages. Singing and dancing were declared sinful, supposedly leading to promiscuity, drunkenness and debauchery. A national campaign was mounted to suppress Irish dance music. Once again the church played right into the hands of the British: while the spirit of the nation was still at an extremely low ebb from the effects of the so-called "famine', the clergy hit out at the very core of one of Ireland's few remaining sources of strength - its culture. Bishops and priests all over the country outlawed cross- roads and house dancing. There were wide- spread documented accounts of clergymen breaking into private houses, smashing musical instruments and even physically attacking musicians in the Lord's name'. Such was the power of the Irish Catholic Church at that time, that by the dawn of the 20th century traditional music had almost completely ceased to exist in most areas of Ireland.
By the beginning of the 20th century, i.e. in just fifty years, the population of Ireland had been reduced by 50%. The majority of the emigrants made their new homes in America where today, according to the findings of the 1990 US Census, 44.3 million - a fig- ure, by previous growth rate, now closer to 50,000,000 - U.S. citizens claim Irish descent. It is
hardly surprising to find that many of the millions who fled to America during this period were musicians. In the New Land they found that their dance music was more than welcome at all social gatherings, public or private, in large cities or rural workcamps, at weddings, wakes, housewarmings, clambakes, elections, sports meetings, barmitzvahs or whatever. Many musicians including the legendary Patsy Touhey, The Flanagan Brothers, Michael Coleman and Tom Ennis, found that they could turn professional and play the vaudeville circuit or concerts arranged by organisations promoting Irish culture such as the Gaelic League and the famous Chicago Irish Music Club. In some of the biggest cities such as New York and Chicago, Irish emigrants accounted for as much as 20-25% of the total population and the new found popularity, not to mention the very core of one of Ireland's few remaining sources of strength - its culture. Bishops and priests all over the country outlawed cross- roads and house dancing. There were wide- spread documented accounts of clergymen breaking into private houses, smashing musical instruments and even physically attacking musicians "in the Lord's name'. Such was the power of the Irish Catholic Church at that time, that by the dawn of the 20th century traditional music had almost completely ceased to exist in most areas of Ireland.
By the beginning of the 20th century, i.e. in just fifty years, the population of Ireland had been reduced by 50%. The majority of the emigrants made their new homes in America where today, according to the findings of the financial rewards that went with it, must have seemed to the traditional musicians like the answer to all their prayers.
With the development of recording techniques in the late 19th century, it was only a matter of time before someone realised the potential of recording Irish music. The earliest known authentic recording of Irish music in America was a wax cylinder made by the uilleann piper James McAuliffe in New York in 1899. However, most of the recordings of Irish music made in the early years of the 20th century were by non-Irish professional musicians such as the German-born John Kimmel and the Scots Peter and Dan Wyper. This situation suddenly changed in 1916 when a Cork-born music seller and travel agent Ellen O'Byrne, who managed the O'Byrne De Witt Grafonola And Victor shop (also known as "The Sinn Fein Music House") in New York, convinced the Columbia recording company to make a record of authentic traditional Irish music by guaranteeing to sell the first five hundred copies from her 3rd Avenue store.
She sent her sixteen year old son Justus to New York's Celtic Park to find and bring back the Irish banjo and accordion duo James Wheeler and Eddie Herborn to make the historic recording. Wheeler and Herborn's record sold out overnight and the Irish American recording business was up and running. For a brief peri- od of eight or nine years the Irish market was catered for mainly by independent labels such as Emerald, Celtic, New Republic, Gennett, Gaelic and Shannon. (The latter is a good example of how such small labels worked - Shannon was owned and marketed by the uil- leann piper Tom Ennis operating out of a music store at 15 Columbus Avenue, near 55 Street, New York). By the early 20s, when th invention of flat disc recording replaced the wax cylinder system, the music industry was gathering momentum and the larger companies were taking over from the small independents. These companies developed separate 'race' catalogues for the various ethnic com- munities. The richest of these communities
both in terms of musicians and the number of people who could afford to buy their records were by now the Irish. The most successful of these early Irish American catalogues were Okeh (the 21000 series), Columbia (the 33000-F series) and Victor (the V-29000 series). By the mid-20s, Irish music had become so popular that in New York alone an incredible 26 radio stations catered for the Irish community. The magnitude of such radio coverage is best realised by looking at London today: regarded as Ireland's second city', yet without a single Irish radio station to cater for its largest ethnic minority community.
At first, records like wax cylinders before them, credited only the song or tune titles while the musicians/singers remained anonymous, e.g. "Duet - Violin and Piano". A wax cylinder in my possession entitled "Boiled Beef and Carrots" bears only one other piece of information the word "song" - there are no details of singer, musicians, instrumentation or style. However, a selection of jigs titled Black Rogue and Saddle The Pony recorded for the Shannon label in 1924 was to end this lack
of detail forever more. Originally released with the typically anonymous credit of "Trio: Bagpipes, Violin and Piano", on being released in Ireland and Britain it proved so popular that the public demanded to know the identity of the musicians. So for the first time it was decided to reverse normal policy and reissue the record giving the titles of the jigs and crediting the musicians - Tom Ennis (Uilleann Pipes) and James Morrison (Fiddle) with piano accompaniment by John Muller (Tr. 13, CD3). The credits printed on this historic recording set a precedent for all future records.
Exposure to the new arrangements and instrumentation of the early jazz era and the pot pourri of multi ethnic influences combined with the urgency of inner city life to give a new and unique urban lift to many traditional Irish musicians' styles. This, in turn, appealed not only to Irish audiences but also to large numbers of European and African American lovers of exciting dance music.
Irish recordings made in the USA continued to sell in large quantities throughout the 20s and most of the 30s. Although production ground to a virtual standstill during the Depression years of the early 30s, by 1934 business was picking up again and Decca made a late entry in the race for the Irish market with its 12000 series. However, by the late 30s the major labels were gradually moving away from the notion of 'race' records. These labels were beginning to attain through nationwide marketing, press manipulation, payola etc. - the power which would give them the strangle- hold on the music scene which they retain to this day.
The golden age of Irish American music was over but not forgotten. Back in Ireland the dance music which British rule, the `famine' and the clergy had almost killed off, now had a new lease of life. Sixty years later as the 21st century dawns, a year hardly goes by with- out representation in the Grammies by traditional artists such as The Chieftains. Ireland's biggest rock stars, including U2 and Van Morrison, increasingly acknowledge their traditional roots as an influence and source of inspiration, and in the post-Riverdance era, Irish radio is transmitted world- wide by satelite while multimedia companies such as Disney, the BBC and Sky compete in bid- ding for films and TV pro- grammes on Irish music. Through its evolution via Appalachian and Old Timey, through
Bluegrass via early popular that the public the identity of the music time it was decided to r and reissue the record g jigs and crediting the m (Uilleann Pipes) and Jam with piano accompanim 13, CD3). The credits p recording set a preceded records.
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The golden age of Irish American music was over but not forgotten. Back in Ireland the dance music which British rule, the `famine' and the clergy had almost killed off, now had a new lease of life. Sixty years later as the 21st century dawns, a year hardly goes by with- out representation in the Grammies by traditional artists such as The Chieftains. Ireland's biggest rock stars, including U2 and Van Morrison, increasingly acknowledge their traditional roots as an influence and source of inspiration, and in the post-Riverdance era, Irish radio is transmitted world- wide by satellite while multimedia companies such as Disney, the BBC and Sky compete in bid- ding for films and TV pro- grammes on Irish music. Through its evolution via Appalachian and Old Timey, through
Bluegrass via early Rock'n'Roll, to being one of the obvious foundation blocks of modern music, in the course of the 20th century traditional Irish music has gradually become the most popular and wid ly played form of ethnic music in the world. This box set of Irish American recordings from the 20s and 30s represents its renaissance, its golden age, and is the most extensive and definitive package of its kind ever put together. We hope that it will be a source of great enjoyment, influence and inspiration now and for generations to come.
ABOUT THESE RECORDINGS...
The choice of tracks and their running order on these four CDs have been so selected to provide a balanced and entertaining programme for the listener which is an accurate representation of a cross section of the recordings of this genre and period. Many of these tracks are extremely rare with sometimes only one remaining copy clean enough to dub from. In fact in some cases, such as Wheeler and Herborn's historic 1916 recording, it is a sad loss to the collection that no copy of the original recording could be found.
Many of these tracks have been reissued on other compilations and, where we have used their source tracks, thanks and acknowledge- ment have been given below for the excellent work carried out by all concerned. Wherever there is noticeable surface noise it is because there was no other choice of source available and the process of cleaning up the sound would have been so concentrated that the tone of the recording would have been altered to an unacceptable degree. However, we hope that you will agree with our belief that the overall sound quality is in fact quite superb considering the age and rarity of the original recordings. The question of choice of selections from particular artist's releases was deter- mined both by attempts to balance the overall programme and to present a fair cross section of the artist's work. Thus, for example, while it would have been very easy to choose half a dozen sets of superbly performed reels by Michael Coleman, it seemed more interesting to vary his selections to include a set dance,
hornpipes, barndances and duets also. By the same token it may seem peculiar to have included selections where either the featured instrumentalist or backing musician are not quite in tune, but once again, this is a fair representation of the genre... many of these recordings were made in far from ideal conditions with only one chance at getting it right and when such tracks have been selected it is generally because there is some other point of interest on the particular recording which out- weighs the matter of fine tuning. This also accounts for tracks where particular instruments may seem louder/quieter than the listener's ideal. We must bear in mind that these recordings were not made on sophisticated multitrack systems with the benefit of mixing at a later date. They were live recordings where the mix was determined by the some- times experimental, often haphazard arrangement of the musicians' positions in a room in relation to the recording device. Hopefully, if you are won over by the charm and vitality of the genre as I am, you will grow to appreciate the occasional shortcomings of these recordings as much as their qualities. Slip one of these four CDs on to your deck and let the magic of this unique music transport you to another time and place the golden age of Irish music in America in the 1920s and 30s.
