Irish Traditional Music

1983 on OUTLET SOLP 1045

Two artists who need absolutely no introduction!

Anyone know in what key Jim plays this ?: I’ve noticed the pitch throughout this recording is kinda all over the place and I figure this hornpipe is probably in F , but on the recording it’s somewhere around E flat .

On another note , this website automatically links to the first tune on track 7 ( Maeve’s ) , which is a completely different tune that other players call McKillop’s , therefore making reference to McKillop’s other tunes rather confusing .

I’ve just recently discovered Jim McKillop and am wondering where he has been all my life ; he’s awesome !

It’s in F.

infact kenny this hornpipe is in E flat and i have played this tune many times with jim and he plays it in that key you can find a setting of it in josephine keegans book “A Drop In The Ocean” also you can hear jim play this on his CD with Seamus Tansey he calls it “The Fairys Of Tiveragh”.

I have a CD transcription of an LP by Jim McKillop entitled “Mist in the Glen”. His accompanist is Josephine Keegan and it was issued as Outlet SOLP 1045.
However the same number has been attributed to this recording.
The track listing on “Mist in the Glen” is totally different from “Irish Traditional Music” but exactly the same as “The Wind that Shakes the Barley” Emerald Gem - GES 1151 - 1976. The only difference is that Mary Mulholland is listed as the accompanist in the latter.
So:
Did Emerald re-issue “Mist in the Glen” as “The Wind etc” but credit the accompanist incorrectly?
Were there two entirely separate recordings but using exactly the same tunes with a different accompanist?
Why is SOLP 1045 apparently linked to two different recordings?

Can anyone shine a little light into my confusion?

hay there deeor jim did record two LP’s one with MARY MULHOLLAND witch was called the “wind that shakes the barley”.This was his first LP he was made and was around 26 at the time so i would say it has been the mistake of the comp that sent out the other recording witch was outlet.Now this recording was made with josephine and there was a few tunes on this LP that were the same as the first but not many
hope this has helped you

I believe I have a copy of Jim’s first LP and would be happy to supply you with a CD copy. I guess it’s long out of print.
About 25 years ago I brought him over to NW England for a seriers of gigs on which I accompanied him on guitar. He’s certainly an awsome player.

Gordon

i have the LP myself and made a CD copy of it already thanks so much for the offer.
your right he was/is still a great player his style has changed alot over the years
im sure you will agree. no matter what but he has took himself to the top being SELF TAUGHT and all
and making and winning all ireland is a great success in my eyes
good on him

johnny

Thanks Johnnythejig. That’s helpful, although I suspect all of the tracks on “Mist in the Glen” are the same as “Wind that shakes the Barley”. I have a friend who thinks he has all three of the LP’s so if I can see them I’ll be able to get dates, serial numbers and track lists. If I do I will put the information up here.
Jambo123. Thanks for that offer. In fact “The Wind…” and “Irish Traditional Music” can both be heard on Spotify, presumably because they were re-issued on CD whereas “Mist” apparently wasn’t.

Sounds Irish - IML / Irish Licensing Ltd., Dublin, 2006 - SICD5014
http://irishmusiclicensing.com/
Distributed by: AME / All Media Entertainment Ltd.

http://www.onlinemusicschool.com/
http://www.onlinemusicschool.com/jimmckillop/jimmckillop.htm

Thanks to Kenny for letting me know I’d made a duplicate entry which has been reported to Jeremy and should soon be deleted. That might be for the best anyway, as I had nothing positive to say about this recording. I may or may not repeat that here? 😏 However, there are enough folk here commenting favourably on this that my negative shouldn’t make much of a splash, if any.

(Any ‘descriptions’ are about the retitled re-release: “The Donegal Reel”)

I remember some great chuckles when I’d heard of this man tearing it up on a Comhaltas tour of America. This was around the same time the then Comhaltas dons complained about the Seattlites (Seattle, Washington, U.S.A.) not playing 100% Irish tunes at the local sessions, and not liking that they weren’t put up in plush hotels instead, as is the norm with many in the Pacific Northwest, the hospitality of the home. Anyway, as I was told, Jim broke into some bluegrass and got on the wrong side of the ‘law’, and Seattle closed its then CCE branch and decided they’d continue on their own without the pressure of ignorance and petty politics weighing down on them from Dublin.

All this and some fondness for bucking the norms I was hoping to enjoy hearing the bow of this lad. Sadly, no. I had even considered keeping shtrum and not saying anything, possibly just quoting something from the notes ~ BUT ~ there’s nothing but a folded insert, blank inside, a naff illustration on the outside that has little to do with the contents, which are just fiddle and keyboard. The illustration is the usual naff Celtic thang, a fiddle yes, a banjo, a whistle, a cittern, the neck of a mandolin, a bit of bodhran ~ why? And blank, just a list of tunes, not even information about who is chunkin the keys in accompaniment. But, I quelled the doubts the no-notes started to raise in me and went ahead with open ears to see what was going to play out.

Let me say, for myself, there’s more than just notes missing from this. It misses me ~ nothing moved, except wince and frown lines in my face. It sounds, to me, over worked, like he’s trying too hard, and in the process he not only misses me, no appreciation raised in me for this what so ever, but, for me, he misses the music too. He goes through the motions, he plays, but it doesn’t connect, and sometimes that loss of connection is also rhythmic, sometimes an ornament executed clumsily. I sense no ‘heart’ in it, no ‘humour’ either.

I had the pleasure of half a dozen other recordings to cure me of the auditory dyspepsia this caused, including MacDara Ó Raghallaígh’s “Ego Trip”. All of which helped me to get my mojo back.

This recording is more irritating than the tinnitus in my right ear. I get the feeling it was done just to get it out of the way and pull in a few bob. It only cost me a few quid, but it ain’t a ‘deal’ if it isn’t worth more than what you put down for it. It isn’t worth what I paid for it, except for curiosity’s sake, which has some value, if short lived.

I don’t like it when I’ve nothing good to say about something, and I was going to remain hush, but the fact that there wasn’t even enough care and courtesy about it all to add some comment, notes, a little bit about the musicians, the tunes, their inspirations and mentors ~ including crediting the keyboardist, good or not ~ that’s what has pushed me over the edge to add this comment. Maybe someone else will strike a better balance. I can’t…

# Posted with a duplicate entry by ceolachan - January 23rd, 2014