The Boogie reel

This is quite a common tune here in Sydney. It was composed by John Nolan. I e-mailed him to ak his permission to post this and he kindly wrote back, telling me that he would send me a hand-written manuscript so that I’d be posting the correct version, or at least the one that was originally written. There are a few different settings of this reel, one of which was recorded by Terry Bingham under the name “The Durrow Reel”. However, I have transcribed the manuscript directly into ABC as written by John Nolan himself, plus all the box-friendly triplet ornamentation. At the bottom it says “written by: John Nolan copyright 1978”, so take heed any public performers/recorders or whatever. The name “Boogie” was the nickname of the keyboard player in his band, Keith Sammut.

I remember hearing (&learning) this tune from a recording of Billy McComiskey. He called it the Reel of Bogie and then launches into the Contraversial.Was not aware that it was a contemporary effort-but it fits so well into the tradition that you’d hardly know it. Great tune, Dow thanks for the info.Keep it up!

Greenwiggle, the person who taught this reel to me I assume got it from you originally 🙂 I also learnt it as “The Bogie Reel”, but that is the wrong title - there’s a different tune called that by the way.

Does anybody else see the similarities between the Durrow Reel and Fisherman’s Island -- and Love at the Endings -- by Ed Reavy?

Submitted on June 28th 2011 by banjobabe.
~ /tunes/11325

X: 2
T: Boogie, The
C: John Nolan
S: Josephine Marsh
M: 4/4
L: 1/8
R: reel
K: Cmaj
|: GE |\
C2 EG c3 G | A_BAG AG c2 | C2 EG c2 ed | cBAG AD D2 |
C2EG C2 cc | dcde f2 ef | gece fdBd | cedB c2 :|
|: Bc |\
dG G/G/G DG G/G/G | dcde fagf | ec ~c2 ec ~c2 | ecge d2 Bc |
Addc ecdc | Bcde f2 ef | gece fdBd | cedB c2 :|

This tune is transcribed in the key of C, instead of D, from Josephine Marsh’s version.

# Posted on June 28th 2011 by banjobabe

I love Josephine Marsh’s version, I heard her play it live and it immediately caught my attention… Interesting to read that it was composed by Nolan, I first thought it was a version of the Bogie reel, to me the A-part sounds very much like the B-part in the Bogie.

Does Anyone know why it is also known as the durrow reel and if it is durrow in laois that it is refering to?

Here is the version of the Boogie Reel that I learned many years ago. This is a pipes or flute friendly setting:
X: 2
T: The Boogie
R: reel
M: 4/4
L: 1/8
K: Dmaj
D2 FA d3 A | BAFB AFEF| D2 FA dfec | dBAF EGFE|
D2 FA dcde|f ~d3 BAFA |~e3 f gece | dAFA d2 FE:|
cd|e ~A3 E ~A3|edef g2 ag|fdcd Adcd|fgaf d2 cd|
c ~e3 (3Bcd ed |(3Bcd ef g2 fg|a ~f3 gece|dAFA d2:|

I never knew it was originally written in C. One of my favorite memories of this tune was starting it up in a session in the Catskills and finding out that I was sitting knee to knee with John Nolan!

The reel of Bogie is a Scottish tune. It was described at a concert once by Tony Cuffe as referring to, “a form of horizontal dancing”.

“The Boogie Reel” and “The Reel Of Bogie” are 2 entirely separate tunes with nothing more in common than similar titles. Probably around 150 or more years between them.

This is a bit closer to the setting played around DC-Baltimore.

Lovely tune