> Folk Music > Records > Boreen: Enchanted Ways
Boreen: Enchanted Ways
 |
Enchanted Ways LC 4672 (CD, Germany, 1997) |
Produced by Boreen 1997;
Recorded and mixed by Jan Grohmann-Falke Groh PA & Licht, Bendestorf, February 1997;
Mastered by Jochen Hinsch Audio Mastering Hamburg;
Cover & Typo: Heike Prange;
Photography: Jane O’Brien
Musicians
Jane O’Brien: vocals, bodhrán, triangle;
Reinhard ‘Zuchi’ Zuch: vocals, guitar, cittern;
Ulrich Klüber: uilleann pipes, tin whistle, vocals;
Gregor Griegoleit: button accordion, flute, tin whistle, mouth harp, vocals;
Heike Prange: fiddle, viola, bones, vocals
with guest:
Thomas Breckheimer: harp
Tracks
- The Dusty Miller / The Glen Road to Carrick single jig and reel (2.55)
- The Blacksmith (Roud 816) song (5.23)
- Peoples’ Jigs jigs (3.31)
- The Dutchman / The Trip to Cullenstown song and reel (6.40)
- In the Town of Ballabay song (2.21)
- The Nameless Child / An Meantán Gorm slow air and jig (4.05)
- The Spike Island Lasses / Jenny Picking Cockles / The Ivy Leaf reels (4.37)
- My Lagan Love (Roud 1418) song (3.47)
- Cajun Two-Step / The Coast of Austria two-step and reel (3.39)
- Crazy Man Michael song (4.45)
- Padraig O’Keeffe’s / Eileen O’Riordan’s / Going to the Well for Water slides (3.23)
- The Cat She Went A-Hunting song (3.42)
Tracks 1ab, 3, 7abc, 9a, 11abc trad. arr. Boreen;
Tracks 2, 8a trad. arr. Boreen, Thomas Breckheimer;
Track 4a Michael P. Smith;
Track 4b Phil Murphy arr. Boreen;
Track 5 Tommy Makem arr. Boreen;
Track 6a Ulrich Klüber arr. Boreen, Thomas Breckheimer;
Track 6b Gregror Griegoleit arr. Boreen, Thomas Breckheimer;
Track 9b Sean Ryan arr. Boreen;
Track 10 Richard Thompson arr. Boreen;
Track 12 Sonny Condell arr. Boreen, Thomas Breckheimer
Sleeve Notes and Texts
“Boreens” are enchanted ways throughout Ireland. You will find them everywhere off the mainroads. Be it an old green road, be it a lane leading to some fields or a ruined home, a by-way leading up some mountain, or a track along some rugged sea-shore, a lane into a forest or a trail along a river... Whrerever they are, they have some things in common: magic, wilderness and music! Walking down a boreen you will surely meet the Little Folk with their songs and tunes, represented by the chirping of small birds, the sound of little streams nearby or the breaking of the waves on the seashore... Many a tune was composed while walking along a boreen, no wonder; what better inspiration could you get? The group Boreen is committed to haunting old and new songs, slow airs and fast dance tunes...
The Dusty Miller / The Glen Road to Carrick
The single or slip jig starting this set is an unusual version of the Dusty Miller learned from Tommy Keane. The second tune is a great Donegal reel closely related to the Chorus reel, which can be found in O’Neill’s book, and is even closer to the so called Chorus jig in Ryan’s Mammoth Collection.
The Blacksmith
A song from the old tradition. Blacksmiths of this kind are fairly rare nowadays, as far as the profession is concerned, however when talking about men in general there are still plenty of them around.
Peoples’ Jigs
Two jigs associated with the playing of Tommy and Siobhán Peoples. Some parts of the first one are similar to one of the many “King of the Pipers” jigs. The second is sometimes known as Eileen Flannagan, and it probably has other names.
The Dutchman / The Trip to Cullenstown
This song was made popular by Tommy Makem and Liam Clancy. It is followed by a reel composed by the late Phil Murphy, a harmonica player from County Wexford.
In the Town of Ballabay
The story of an early feminist from the town of Ballybay. We have interspersed it with the first part of “Miss McLeods” reel.
In the town of Ballybay there was a lassie dwelling
I knew her very well and her story’s worth a-telling
Her father kept a still and he was a good distiller
But when she took to the drink but the “divil” wouldn’t fill her
Chorus (after each verse):
With me ring a ding a dong
A ring a ding a daddy o
A ring a ding a dong
Whack for the daddy o
Oh she had a wooden leg that was hollow down the middle
She used to tie a string in it and play it like a fiddle
She fiddled in the hall she fiddled in the alley-way
She didn’t give a damn she had to fiddle anyway
Oh she said she couldn’t dance unless she had her wellies on
But when she had them on she could dance as well as anyone
She wouldn’t go to bed unless she had her shimmy on
And when she had it on she could go as quick as anyone
She had lovers by the score, every Tom and Dick and Harry
She was courtin’ night and day But still she wouldn’t marry
And then she fell in love with the fella with the stammer
When he tried to run away she hit him with a hammer
She had children up the stairs, she had children in the byre
And another ten or twelve sitting roaring by the fire
She fed them on potatoes and on soup she made with nettles
And of lumps of hairy bacon that she boiled up in the kettle
Oh she led a sheltered life eating porridge and black pudding
And she terrorised her man until he died right sudden -
And when the husband died she was feeling very sorry
So she rolled him in a bag and she threw him in the quarry
The Nameless Child / An Meantán Gorm
Ulrich did not have a name for his slow air, so it was christened “The Nameless Child”. The song of blue tits visiting Gregor’s balcony gave him the inspiration for his jig.
The Spike Island Lasses / Jenny Picking Cockles / The Ivy Leaf
Spike Island is a small island in the mouth of the Lee. The second reel is a standard, very popular among pipers. The final reel is a northern version of the tune learned from the playing of Tara Diamond and P.J. Crotty. On a German production, Micho Russell’s version was named “I will leave” (!)
My Lagan Love
And old but still moving song, with a lovely melody and a slow chase through the depths of Irish musical moods.
Cajun Two-Step / The Coast of Austria
Gregor got the first tune of this set from a recording by Nathan Abshire and his Pine Grove Boys. The reel following was composed by Sean Ryan the great tin whistle player from Galway. There must be more to Austria than you would think!
Crazy Man Michael
A song about visions interfering with reality, sung by Zuchi
Padraig O’Keeffe’s / Eileen O’Riordan’s / Going to the Well for Water
Some slides, like Polkas, have many names, others have none. The first one has plenty, i.e. Denis Murphy’s, Julia Clifford’s etc. The third one is also known as “The Kaiser”.
The Cat She Went A-Hunting
This song by Sonny Condell and “Scullion” was first recorded in the 70’s and has been a favourite of Jane’s ever since. We’ve combined it with a jig called “The Creel of Turf”.
The cat she went a-hunting and found the barn a-blazing
In fact she’s come a-calling, a-calling, a-calling
Wake up farm boys! The barn is burning down!
Chorus (after each verse):
And the cat she’s got to hide herself behind the rat she’s eating
So as not to show a smirk and maybe get a beating
The farmer slips on his dungarees and he falls down the stairs
The rats came out in their hundreds and the cat she caught a-plenty
She’s got the artful dodger, the dodger, the dodger
She spied him in the burning hay the barn is burning down!
The fire brigade is coming and frying chicken singing
And we’ll be sitting on boiled eggs, on boiled eggs, on boiled eggs
So open the cage and hose us down we may get a dozen a day
The roof is starting to crumble, sparks fly up in the night sky
The dogs are wearing their tails down, their tails down, their tails down
The boys have made a chain in the yard and they’re passing the pails along
The cat she went a-hunting and found the barn a-blazing
In fact she’s come a-calling, a-calling, a-calling
Wake up farm boys! The barn is burning down!
Review
Die lang ersehnte Boreen-CD Enchanted Ways ist endlich fertig geworden. Sehr ansprechend ist schon das Coverbild von Heike Prange, eine wolkenverhangene Landschaft mit einem schmalen Feldweg (gälisch “Boreen”).
Der Titel Enchanted Ways zu deutsch “Bezaubernde Wege”, zeigt die musikalische Stilrichtung an - der Zuhörer soll von den zarten Harfenklängen und Slow Airs auf den uilleann Piles verzaubert werden. Die Lieder, bis auf Crazy Man Michael, (Reinhard Zuch) alle von Jane O’Brien gesungen, sind mal sanfte Balladen wie The Blacksmith, das ich vorher von Planxty kannte (aber die Boreen-Version gefällt mir noch besser), dann aber auch deftige Songs wie The Town of Ballabay, wo die Frau ihren Liebhaber mit dem Hammer schlägt, als er weglaufen will, und auch wilde und komische Lieder wie The Cat She Went A-Hunting, von der Katze, die im brennenden Heuschober Ratten fängt, während der Bauer die Treppe runterfällt.
Resümee: Die schönste CD, die ich in diesem Jahr gehört habe.
Wilhelm Zimmer, Hamburger Folk-Magazin, Mai/Juni 1997