Galway’s Own

One of the most frequently asked questions on this site is, “Can you recomend tunes to learn so I can play in a session?”.

Well you can’t go wrong with these for starters

One of the most frequently asked questions on this site is, “can you recommend tunes to learn so I can play in a session?”

I bought a CD the other day and it’s a cracker. Galway’s own Joe Burke. It may well get the prize for the worst cover ever, but I digress. Looking at it in the shop I recognised only four of the 27 tunes on the slieve notes so I thought it must be worth its knockdown £1.99. But when I got it home I discovered I knew every one, inside out and back to front. It’s not that I have other names for them, it’s just that every one is such a session gem, they are just part of the fabric of this diddley thing.

Anyway, my point is: Next time a beginner asks for a list of tunes, they’d do much better being told to get this CD than being given a list of abstract names and a bunch of abcs and horrid midi nonsense.

(it’s in the rcording section, but does anyone know when it was recorded?)

I agree, Michael, but unfortunately you won’t always be directed to the correct dots in the notation by “clicking ” on the tune name.
“Lambert’s” goes to “The Rambling Pitchfork” in Dm, the 4-part “Knocknagow” jig isn’t in this database yet, it’s a different “Paddy Kelly’s” [again, I don’t think the 4-part reel Joe plays has been posted yet, but I mean to soon ], and “Morrison’s” will take you to the jig. That’s only the 1st 3 tracks - I haven’t time to look at the rest.

Michael, what’s the actual title of the record, Joe Burke’s recorded several

“Galway’s Own” on the “Outlet” label.

Thanks Kenny

Recorded in 1971, Michael. By the way - if the CD has the same cover as the LP, I think the geezer with his back to the camera is Sean Maguire, and his Mrs. is on the left, one Josephine Keegan. Outlet were careful with the bawbees, because they also photographed Joe & Maguire together on the same occasion for a sleeve for a duet LP which must have come out around the same time. They’re all wearing the same clothes!

Kenny, on the cover of the CD I’ve got is the most dreadful coloured pencil drawing of a Paulo Soprani box playing decapitated torso with what looks like broken fingers. I wish I had the record.

As a big fan of Joe Burke’s playing, I’m happy to have this album. A lot of the tunes seemed to be titled incorrectly but that’s not a big deal I suppose. I’ve learned not to take the contents on the back of a CD case too seriously.

Which tunes are titled incorrectly ?

Sorry for the delay in answer to your question Kenny but here are some corrections.

Tk. 1: Lambert’s is actually The Rambling Pitchfork.
Tk. 3: Morrison’s is the common tune Maude Millar (in G).
Tk. 4: The first tune is indeed Jackson’s Jig but it is also followed by The Tar Road to Sligo

Ok, not as many as I had made it out to be. Mostly the tunes were under alternative titles with which I was not familier.

Is this album available anywahere, I have searched high and low?

There’s a copy here on Amazon UK, BB, - http://bit.ly/Gs2LF. It’s £17.99 - not cheap, but it’s hugely unlikely that the album will ever be reissued.

Released by Outlet as ‘Galway’s Own’ it was also released as just plain ‘Joe Burke’ and (when it came out on CD) ‘Pure Irish Traditional Music on the Accordion’.

“Kenny, on the cover of the CD I’ve got is the most dreadful coloured pencil drawing of a Paulo Soprani box playing decapitated torso with what looks like broken fingers. I wish I had the record.”

Michael - I think that’s a different CD called “Traditional music of Ireland”

………mmm, on 2nd thoughts, that description fits both CD covers. My ‘Traditional music of Ireland cover’ is an old boy with same ‘broken’ fingers, and a head which looks like it’s been lopped off then balanced (off centre) back on the torso. Both certainly qualify for a place in the “Worst CD cover” hall of fame!

Is this recording available anywhere?

One track here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FHrcRiFgRjM

play video

Pure Irish Traditional Music on the Accordion

Would anyone happen to know who the accompanist is on this recording? Perhaps Keegan?

Whomever it is, their treatment of Paddy Fahey’s reel no. 20 on track 10 is fantastic. What a marvelous tune.

Josephine Keegan on piano. If you look above at the Youtube link from one year ago you can see the original Outlet LP record sleeve. I’m 99% certain that Josie Keegan has her back to the camera, bottom left, with Sean Maguire, bottom right.
I need to make a correction to a statement I made above 17 years ago, where I inadvertently married Keegan and Maguire. That was not the case, although I am not the only one to have made that mistake. Sorry.

Thanks Kenny, suppose the answer was self-evident from your above comments. I may post their setting of that tune sometime soon.