Welcome
Dedicated to Irish and Scottish, etc. Balladeers
… from the Folk Revival of the late 1950's to the present!
April 5, 2012
Barney McKenna (1939-2012)
I am very sad to report that Barney McKenna has passed away at the age of 72. Barney was last surviving founding member of the Dubliners, and to many the heart and soul of the group. Although he had experienced health problems in the last few years, his death was quite sudden. The group is currently celebrating its 50th Anniversary, and Barney's rendition of "Fiddler's Green", from their latest DVD, brought the crowd to its feet, clearly the favorite of the entire night. Rest in peace, Barney.
February 20, 2011
Ryan's Fancy retrospective released
Fergus O'Byrne and Denis Ryan, surviving members of the influential Canadian based Irish band — Ryan's Fancy, have released a 42 song double CD — What A Time! - A Forty Year Celebration.
"Over the years, we've had a lot of requests for old Ryan's Fancy material," says O'Byrne. "Denis and I compiled this list of 42 songs out of all the stuff we recorded during the time we played together."
Ryan is quick to point out that the material has all been re-mastered and digitized to contemporary audio standards. "We're thrilled that it all sounds as fresh as if it was recorded yesterday," he says. "I'm really looking forward to coming over to St. John's for the launch."
The retrospective is dedicated to the memory of the late Dermot O'Reilly, a great band mate and friend, who passed away in 2007, and will be officially launched in St. John's on 21 February
Ryan's Fancy at theBalladeers
Ryan's Fancy — Official site
What a Time available in March, 2011 at SingSong
January 30, 2011
P.V O'Donnell passes away …
Patrick Vincent O'Donnell passed away on January 28, 2011, after a two-year battle with brain cancer.
I was very sad to hear of the death of "The Donegal Fiddler," P.V. O'Donnell. I met P.V. a few times when the Barley Bree played in Denver — a very nice guy.
P.V. also contributed information to this site about Barley Bree.
Ian McCalman retires …
By now, many people probably know that the McCalmans have officially disbanded with the retirement of Ian McCalman in December 2010. The McCalmans were one of the longest running and best folk groups of the Scottish revival.
Nick Keir and Stephen Quigg will continue to perform solo, and as a duo. Ian now concentrates on his running studio, and will the keep the McCalmans website active. A DVD of their final concert is also planned.
On a side note, I received a message from Stephen Quigg, who said that he is a visitor to this site — which was nice to hear.
The picture (right) is the cover of the McCalmans, souvenir brochure, which is available (along will most, if not all, of their albums) through the Macs website.
Added and update pages:
The Ewan MacColl Discography (new)
The Dominic Behan Discography (reorganized & added information)
The Eric Bogle Discography (reorganized & added information)
The Festival & Anthology Discography (reorganized & added information)
There are probably a few other additions/updates, I just can't remember what …
November 20, 2010
Added and update pages:
Dominic Behan: Cosmopolitan Man: 1962 - F-LEUT/4 LP
Jimmy Crowley: Jimmy mo Mhíle Stór: 1985 - Gael Linn CEF 113 LP
The Hennessys: John Paul (Croeso): 1982 - SAIN 98S
November 11, 2010
Added and update pages:
The Dublin City Ramblers (below) plus general additions …
Ireland my Ireland: 2003 - Lynnwood LYNN CD019 CD
The Flight of Earls - The Dublin City Ramblers' Greatest Hits: 2009 - CD
Danny Danny: I Remember Dublin City: 1982 - Evergreen EVE 5004 LP
The Hennessys: Homecoming: 2000 - HFG Records HFG 02 CD
Anthologies: Irish Football Songs: 1994 - Solid/Dolphin/RTÉ SORTE CD 181 CD
October, 2010
Updated pages: The Ryan's Fancy discography [1] [2] …
Added pages: Ryan's Fancy …
Laugh and Cry: 1969 - Birchmount BM 543 LP (Bonnie Scots)
The Leprechaun: 1969 - Hi-Lite 2011 LP (Sullivan's Gypsies)
An Irish Night at the Black Knight Lounge: 1971 - Marathon MS 2105 LP
September, 2010
Added & updated pages …
The Irish Rovers: Gracehill Fair & Still Rovin' After All These Years
This Is Alex Campbell — Volume One: 1971 - AD-Rhythm/Tepee ARPS-1 LP
The North Sea Gas discography …
The Corrib Folk discography …
Festival & Anthology recordings
Sea Songs and Shanties - Topic Sampler 7: 1971 - Topic TPS 205 LP
The World of Folk: 1971 - Argo SPA-A 132 LP
Hamish Imlach
Cod Liver Oil and the Orange Juice
1992 - Autobiography
Keep Taking the Medicine: 1993 - Cameron CW005 VHS
My thanks to Erich Nestler for providing all of the above information.
Commode 2000 Live: 1974 -
Wolfsburg CLP 2001 LP
Since I updated this site (a couple of weeks ago) I have been happy to receive quite a bit of information, help and additions. And I will continue add this information as time allows.
Erich Nestler has sent along some great additions on Hamish Imlach, which I have already posted (see below). Erich was also a great help with the Sands Family discography.
My "old friend" Michael Mettcher has also sent some new stuff — to be added shortly. In the meantime, please visit his website: www.mi-me.de.
Dave Gilfillan, founding member of North Sea Gas, has sent me a few missing cover scans. And asked me to mention that many of the early recordings are now available digitally at Amazon, iTunes & Rhapsody. Visit the North Sea Gas website for current info on the band.
I am currently updating my Dubliners site, and have been given quite a bit of information by Dubliners' archivist, Per Jappée, and hope to have that update finished shortly. I also did a minor update on Tradition Records discography at the Clancy Brothers & Tommy Makem site, but still have more work to do there …
I may have mentioned (on other pages) that Reinhard Zierke has compiled a very impressive Topic Discography at his Mainly Norfolk site. GREAT website! Much of the information on Topic releases, on this website, comes from Reinhard.
Lastly, I forgot to mention that I have heard from Alex Campbell's son, Alistair, and we may some exclusive info on Alex shortly. Speaking of Alex Campbell, his discography was also updated, but I didn't note it earlier.
I don't write many of these, but really just wanted to thank everyone for supporting this site.
August, 2010
New Design — Updated and added pages…
Additions:
The Cherish the Ladies discography
The Johnstons : history & discography
Will Millar: history & discography
The The Sands Family discography
Anne, Ben, Colum & Tommy Sands discographies
North Sea Gas: history & discography
The Alistair Hulett & Roaring Jack discography
The Watt Nicoll discography
Updates include:
The Anne Byrne discography
The Christy Moore discography
The Planxty discography
The Irish Rovers history, videos and song books …
The Fureys and Davey Arthur history
…more Irish Folk
Irish Republican Music
…more Scottish Folk
Eskimo Republic
Festival & Anthologies
In addition, other pages have been updated and re-arranged, but I can't remember all of them …
Extra information and Special Thanks
Photo Galleries with "lytebox"!
Menu with "List Expander"!
The Clancy Brothers and Tommy Makem and all Clancy and Makem related information at www.ClancyBrothersandTommyMakem.com
All information related to the Dubliners can be found at www.ItsTheDubliners.com
Added information and special thanks to: John Lynch, John Flynn, Alistair Banfield, Erich Nestler, Bill Smith (Corrie Folk Trio), Michael Mettcher, Robert Murray (former Corries Appreciation site), Sean McGuinness, Sean Cogan, Ryan Jones, Bill Jantz, Oisin Clancy, P.V. O'Donnell, Gordon Menzies, Jim McLean, Denis Murray, Nigel Denver, Charlene Emerson, Danny Burns, Ray McAreavey, Kieran Manning, Gogie McCullough, Christine Cuyler, Shonagh McGinn, Davey Arthur, Reinhard Zierke and Nigel Gatherer.