Promoting the Next Gig: The Indulgers and Johnny Fean at the Barge Rooms, Lifford, Ennis

TOMORROW NIGHT Colorado's own Celtic Roots-Rock band THE INDULGERS & THE ONE AND ONLY JOHNNY FEAN

Here at the The Barge Rooms

FLASHBACK to ST PATRICK'S DAY 2007:
DOWNTOWN DENVER

Damien McCarron of the Indulgers presents framed photo of Johnny Fean to Fado Irish Pub, where it now hangs on the Irish Rock Wall of Fame. (See full photo here.)

This outstanding portrait of Johnny Fean was provided by Sean Hennessy, whose work spans several decades of music and daily life in Northern Ireland.

And I picked out the frame.

A downtown Novato art shop obliged.

In 2008, I plan to catch an Indulgers gig (when they are home again, back in the USA, as Chuck Berry would say) and hope to see this portrait weathered-in now in its Rocky Mountain High sawdust saloon setting.

But if you are somewhere near Lifford, Ennis, County Clare, then please go to tomorrow night's gig. It will be legendary.

Barry Devlin at "Poor Auld Fellas" launch

From "The Weather" blog of Brian Reynolds

You see Connor, myself and Arthur had been in a band togethr in the 1980's, Adored by Millions. Arthur was the drummer, Connor the lead singer and myself playing guitar.Arthur of coarse went on to fame and fortune in the world of comedy writing, with Fr Ted the big one that really took the world by storm/
I hadn't seen him since around 1988, so it was great to meet up again at the book launch on Tuesday night.

Barry Devlin, he of Horslips fame and later creating U2 videos offically launched the book, with Declan Lynch, the author then reading some excerpts from it.
The books takes a comic and satirical look at the old folk, men living in modern Ireland, especially in regard to their choice, or lack of ,TV viewing on RTE our national broadcaster.

Funny it is, as with anything Lynch or Matthews put their attentions to can only be. Afterwards we chatted with Barry Devlin recounting old tales and yarns form the great days of the Horslips gigs around the country. Nice, down to earth guy he is too.

More at the link.

A Review of Roll Back & Song of the Day

TWO great Horslips blogs in the last few days!

Horslips Roll Back

Horslips were a bunch of seriously talented musicians and that comes out in these recordings. What also becomes evident very quickly is the strength of the songs. Allowed to breathe a little they sound so well crafted and it is most intriguing to see the breadth of their twelve albums given the same template as opposed to the very Celtic sound of early albums and universal commercialism of the later years. It leads the songs into timelessness.

More at the link

October 8 Song of the Day - The Man Who Built America

Sometimes it takes someone we consider an outsider to see us for who we really are. It's definitely true in the case of this song, where five guys from Ireland perfectly sum up the spirit of the United States as a country with this 1979 classic.

More at the link.

Horslips siting: A Review of Roll Back & Song of the Day

(OT: I really should just start a separate Halloween blog and go to town with it. I've been looking forward to the season ever since Halloween and Vine.)

TWO great Horslips blogs in the last few days!

Horslips Roll Back

Horslips were a bunch of seriously talented musicians and that comes out in these recordings. What also becomes evident very quickly is the strength of the songs. Allowed to breathe a little they sound so well crafted and it is most intriguing to see the breadth of their twelve albums given the same template as opposed to the very Celtic sound of early albums and universal commercialism of the later years. It leads the songs into timelessness.

More at the link

October 8 Song of the Day - The Man Who Built America

Sometimes it takes someone we consider an outsider to see us for who we really are. It's definitely true in the case of this song, where five guys from Ireland perfectly sum up the spirit of the United States as a country with this 1979 classic.

More at the link.

Promoting the Next Gig: Strule Arts Centre

Horslypse set to raise the roof at Strule Arts Centre

OMAGH band The Horslypse will pay tribute to 70's Celtic rock super group Horslips, at Strule Arts Centre on Saturday, September 8. This young band are set to raise the roof of the Arts Centre with their extensive repertoire of 40 songs which spans the entire Horslips catalogue.

Back in 2004 organ player Michael Rafferty formed the idea of bringing together a group of musicians for one performance in tribute to the band. As the idea began to gather realistic potential, Ryan O'Sullivan was approached and soon recruited as the group's guitar player. As word spread about the possibility of a tribute band forming, it became apparent that a number of other musicians, who cited Horslips as a main influence, were interested.

More at link

Albums Fritz Fryer produced

Scanning my own discography, I see that the albums are:

Dancehall Sweethearts
Unfortunate Cup of Tea

Dancehall was one of my early favorites and Unfortunate Cup of Tea has its merits.

"There was a love, I knew before..."

Four Pennies guitarist Fritz dies

A KEY member of Blackburn's chart-topping 60s band The Four Pennies has died of pancreatic cancer aged 63.

Fritz Fryer, born David Roderick Carney Fryer on December 6 1944 in Revidge, died suddenly in hospital after an operation near his home in Lisbon, Portugal.

...

They toured the Lancashire area in the early 1960s before signing for Phillips records and playing with the Beatles in The Cavern Club.

The group's name came after a meeting above the Blackburn music shop owned by Mary Reidy, the shop being situated on Penny Street where it is still located today as "Reidy's Home of Music".

The name was chosen as a more commercial alternative to the "Lionel Morten Four".

They found their greatest success with ballads like "Juliet," which Fritz co-wrote with Mike Wilsh, and knocked the Searchers from the top of the charts in the spring of 1964.

The group fell apart in the autumn of 1966 after achieving another five top 20 hits and working with producer John Franz, who also worked with Dusty Springfield and the Walker Brothers.

After The Four Pennies, Fritz established the group Fritz, Mike & Mo, with Maureen Edwards and Mike Deigham before becoming a record producer for the groups Clannad, Horslips, Motörhead, and Stackridge.

Complete article at link.

Albums Fritz Fryer produced for Horslips

Scanning my own discography, I see that the albums are:

Dancehall Sweethearts
Unfortunate Cup of Tea

Fritz Fryer "There was Love I Knew Before."

Four Pennies guitarist Fritz dies

A KEY member of Blackburn's chart-topping 60s band The Four Pennies has died of pancreatic cancer aged 63.

Fritz Fryer, born David Roderick Carney Fryer on December 6 1944 in Revidge, died suddenly in hospital after an operation near his home in Lisbon, Portugal.

...

They toured the Lancashire area in the early 1960s before signing for Phillips records and playing with the Beatles in The Cavern Club.

The group's name came after a meeting above the Blackburn music shop owned by Mary Reidy, the shop being situated on Penny Street where it is still located today as "Reidy's Home of Music".

The name was chosen as a more commercial alternative to the "Lionel Morten Four".

They found their greatest success with ballads like "Juliet," which Fritz co-wrote with Mike Wilsh, and knocked the Searchers from the top of the charts in the spring of 1964.

The group fell apart in the autumn of 1966 after achieving another five top 20 hits and working with producer John Franz, who also worked with Dusty Springfield and the Walker Brothers.

After The Four Pennies, Fritz established the group Fritz, Mike & Mo, with Maureen Edwards and Mike Deigham before becoming a record producer for the groups Clannad, Horslips, Motörhead, and Stackridge.

Complete article at link.

"Now aw've smoked mi backy"

Search-terms people are using to find what turns out to be the most popular page on my site:

who wrote song when the boat comes in 43.19%
lyrics when the boat comes in 42.01%
dance ti thy daddy 9.92%
when the boat comes in words 4.06%
lyrics dance to your daddy my bonnie laddie 0.81%
lyrics for thou shall have a fishy 0.01%
song dance for your daddy my bonny laddie 0.01%
t 0.00%
cucanandy-nandy lyrics 0.00%
you shall have a fishy on a little dishy when the boat comes in 0.00%

"Cucanandy-nandy lyrics?" Du-u-ude. What exactly is IN that pipe?

Things Go Better With Cork (5) - And yet...

Doors Close on the Lobby Bar

...The Conway family have always had their hand in the performing arts. Pat’s brother Denis is a well-regarded actor, while his mother is the staple of many a community choir in Cork. Pat himself is that rare species - someone who doesn’t have a note in his head – and fully accepts it!

The enthusiasm has always been there though. “I was always interested in different or original music growing up, but there wasn’t that much choice in Ireland in the 60’s. I would go to see The Horslips or Rory Gallagher or The Bothy Band, whereas other people would go to see show bands.

I think The Horslip’s shows stuck with me. You could see them playing in dancehalls where there might have been Big Tom one night and then The Horslips the next, which was a bit weird”.

When it came to acquiring the Lobby premises, Pat applied his individualism and uncompromising attitude to the bar’s music policy, insisting also on treating musicians with respect and equity.

“We set out day one to make it different to walking into a session in a bar. We made it quite clear that it was a listening venue, and so if people were talking during a gig we would have asked them to leave and we stuck to that policy from day one. I think it paid off because at the end of the day people who were coming into the shows were coming in to listen....”

Even I have been to the Lobby. More at the link. And why does this post keep vanishing!

Promoting the Next Gig: Horslypse at the Forum, Waterford

Ireland’s only tribute to Horslips play Forum gig

HORSLYPSE, Ireland’s only tribute band to 70s Celtic-Rock supergroup Horslips play The Forum, Waterford on Saturday, August 25. Now two years together, Horslypse was originally formed by a group of skilled musicians to perform a oneoff show for charity.

But, due to huge interest in their performance, the band subsequently came together again and have performed concerts right across Ireland.

More at the link. Not to be missed!

Horslypse Tribute Band website.

"You shall have a Phishy when the boat gets in..."

Yesterday around noon my time, I 'logged on' to a MySpace account but not via a real MySpace page. About ten minutes later, a friend at Hairless Heart Herald sent me a note alerting me that I'd been 'phished' and that someone was posting Gift Card spam bulletins and comments in my name. John Murphy of Shite'n'Onions was next to call in and then Gerry from Bushplant (a contributing artist to the CBH site.)

A swift change of password and a basic bulletin of apology. There were several friends who wrote in saying 'thanks' for that and adding that they rather guessed it wasn't the real me promising to 'hook them up' or signing off with 'c ya.' Also in my favor is that I only posted on this account when I had Horslips news.

Forty minutes later, the fuss was mainly over. Things move fast on the Internet.

But to make further amends, I decided to send around a little vintage advertising that's available again on You Tube. Horslips promoting Mirinda, circa early seventies or so. Looking very much like the music festival it was, this free event was filmed at the grounds of Ardmore Studios in Bray (just south of Dublin). Also present, but not pitching Mirinda, was a support act by the name of Chris De Burgh.



For more about Phishing, visit the Anti-Phishing Working Group.

Dearg Doom covered by new metal band

News from the delightfully named "Doomed to be Stoned in a Sludge Swamp:"

Slough Feg covers Dearg Doom

Two wonderful covers such as “Dearg Doom” (Horslips) and “Street Jammer” (MANILLAROAD) make this album something that can't be missed. It’s really the time to say it again… BUY OR DIE!

(Yes, their love is cold, like black marble by the sea over at the Official Slough Feg site.)

Colorado Festival focuses on History of Irish Rock

CO Irish Fest starts on 13th

...Canadian band Enter the Haggis, made their Colorado debut at the fest last year. They can deliver a sweet harmony and turn around and blast the leaves off the trees with their dueling guitars drums and bagpipes. Other fan favorites returning to CIF include the irrepressible Beth Paterson and Irish "Jig Punk" band The Prodigals.

New to this years Cultural Village is Milwaukee Irish Festival Ward Archive's exhibit entitled The History of Irish Rock. The exhibit will examine, through displays and artifacts, the history of Irish Rock beginning with the 1950's "Irish ShowBand" phenomena through The Irish "beat bands", Irish progressive rock bands such as Thin Lizzy and Skid Row, and continue with Artists stories including Van Morrison, Rory Gallagher, Barry McGuire, Horslips, The Bachelors, Elvis Costello, Chris de Burgh, The Boomtown Rats, Bob Geldof, U2, Sinead O'Connor, Clannad, The Cranberries, The Corrs, and much more.

More at link.

coloradoirishfestival.com

"Sound + Vision: Celebrating Music in Film" at the Ballina Film Festival

Sound + Vision

From the Mayo Advertiser

The festival kicks off in style on Sunday July 1 with The Tango Lesson, and continues through to Wednesday evening with Topsy-Turvy, Mike Leigh’s comical look at the writing of Gilbert and Sullivan’s The Mikado. Sunday screenings also include Leonard Cohen: I’m Your Man, and Horslips: Return of the Dancehall Sweethearts, Maurice Linnane’s endearing documentary about one of the most important Irish groups in the history of music. The Horslips film will be made all the more special for fans of the band as original bassist Barry Devlin will introduce the screening.

More at link!

Ballina Arts Centre - Official Site

Barry Devlin at the Mid-Ulster Film Festival

Sun sets on 'Sundance' film fest at An Creagán

...A lot of directors and filmmakers at the festival, among whom were Dave Anderson and Heather Brunt, the director and producer of the short film 'Jacks.' They were thrilled their film was screened at the Mid-Ulster and loved the location, especially the 'homely' relaxed atmosphere and the on-site cottages. So much so that they say, "we've been inspired at this year's festival to make another movie. We hope to have it ready in time for next year."

The organisers hope that for next year they will have a budget to invite all the production teams who have submitted a film to their festival. They feel that this is not only important to the international development of the festival, but also is a wonderful way to promote the Omagh area as a tourist destination.

Other highlights included the world premiere of the digitally remastered Transformers - The Movie, Boletos Por Favor, Missing Jib, The Undertaker, Ahaarrr! and Victor and the machine. All in all the whole weekend was such a vibrant and brilliant event – here's looking forward to the fifth Mid-Ulster Film Festival.

Leaving the last word to Barry Devlin: "One more time... the Mid Ulster Film festival lived up to its billing as 'The Sundance of West Tyrone' bringing a fine roster of films (including a European premier of 'Proud') to a unique setting and a uniquely friendly and characterful festival. Proactive, educational, informative, entertaining, community based... The World's Most Dangerous Acronym ticks all the boxes.

"One more time, I was able to gain more from the people in my film-writing class than they got from me. One more time... Neil Jordan swears he's coming next year."

More at link. Festival website is here: www.midulsterfilmfestival.

Heavenly Worldliness: spotlite on Horslips

Once again, the great library of Horslips videos on You Tube spark another Blogger to a posting or two. Here at Recent Horslips, Gary Brady of Childs Hill London has a chance to watch the opening number from the phenomenal set in Dingle, December 2005, that was Horslips on RTE's Other Voices.

Gary also revisits The Book of Invasions with his impressions of then and now and a link to Amazon.

Here's hoping that naming calls, btw, because my own CD cover of Book of Invasions has no CD in it, which means that the CD has been 'spending the night' over at a friend's house (i.e. its doubled-up in another cover) and I don't want to tell you how many CDs I'm going to have to check!

Podunkian Music Club spotlite on Horslips!

The Horslips - King of the Fairies

Perhaps they were just a decade or so ahead of their time, since the Horslips first blazed the trail in North America in the mid seventies, the likes of the Boomtown Rats, Pogues, Hothouse Flowers,The Cranberries and of course the all dominating U2 caught the fancy of the world, let alone North America.

I won't quote the whole blog because the idea is that you'll go over there for a visit! And that's an AllGoodeThings video there as the lead to the article.

The Rock Doctor: Horslips - play 'Dearg Doom" Live.

Reeling from the news that Marvel Comix has axed Captain America, I am very happy to discover this:

The Rock Doctor: Horslips - play 'Dearg Doom" Live.

That's me in the audience for all of three or four seconds. Yeah, it's a year on now, and I'm finally pretty stoked about it.

Eamon Carr and Richie Buckley on YouTube

Remembering the STARDUST - "Molly Malone"

Johnny Fean & Steve Travers Headline Ballyshannon Folk Festival

From the Fean and Travers Newsletter

Great news just is is that Johnny & Steve have been asked to Headline this years Ballyshannon Folk Festival, more news on that as the year progresses. They have also been rehearsing with ACE Drummer & Percussionist "Blendi Krasniqi" who is going to perform with them on all of their gigs this year, including the Galway and Ennis gigs above. Full bio on Blendi to follow.

Also: Fean and Travers at Mall Theatre in Tuam, Co Galway - March 2nd

Johnny Fean and Steve Travers in Tuam

Irish rock legends to play The Mall Theatre
From the Galway Independent

Johnny Fean and Steven Travers, legendary players on the Irish rock scene, will play The Mall Theatre in Tuam on Friday 2 March.

Johnny Fean is best known for being one of the world's top guitarists when he played with Horslips, who at the height of their fame inspired such luminaries as Rory Gallagher to take up the guitar.

Along with Steven Travers, a former member of the Miami Showband and one of Ireland's best bass players, the pair have come together to create a musical experience that mixes furious paced rock, grass roots blues and some Celtic rock classics.

More at the link.

Amazon Review of The Book of Invasions

Horslips: Their Best Album

Unlike the other Horslips albums I have reviewed on Amazon, this album gains force from its accrued impact, rather than its individual tracks. Like "Táin," "Book" is meant to work as a unified single piece of music, as the subtitle defines it. Songs are chapters in a book, verses of a poem.

Instrumental and sung passages alternate in the three movements of the album from Geantrai--cheerier songs-- to Goltrai-- laments--to Suantrai-- songs of sleep or dreams. These unify as in storytelling various "branches" of the tale and classify them in ancient Irish categories of narrative craft and intent. It's a "Celtic symphony," therefore, in the ebbs and crests of the musical representation and the lyrical explanation of the energetic clashes and couplings the Book of Invasions (Leabhar Gabhala) relates-- the tribes who landed in pre-Christian Ireland successively to fight over its land and its wealth.

More at the link.

Horslips Sighting on MySpace Blog

i really should be asleep

and shortly i am going to go and put the light out and dream odd dreams. listening to horslips and their "short stories and tall tales" cd - fantastic stuff.
my head is buzzing with thoughts and schemes, plans and ideas. none of them worth the energy involved in the firing synapses.

Just an ordinary guy with a random mentioning of an obscure album. What's weird is that I've been listening to this 'step-child' album too for the last few days or so and I'm enjoying it for its own sake immensely. Another comment under Horslips over at Irishrockers.com goes a little like this:

Luca Banche niclot-Nurin-ITALY wrote on 9/26/2006:
HORSLIPS' Late 70ies stuff was, for me, absolutely brilliant: anticipating in some way, the Irish Hard-Punk Rock Feeling of SLF, UNDERTONES etc.

It's not the usual way of looking at their music, but listening to SSTT demonstrates that there might be something to the argument. The album would also fit well in the current/retro spins of my local modern rock radio station.

"Horslips Live" in new book

The Show I'll Never Forget

Sean Manning edited The Show, which Da Capo will publish as a paperback original on January 15. The book's full list of musical subjects-- in order of appearance in the book (which is in chronological order by date of occurrence)-- is long enough that it might convince you to give up reading as well, but it is printed below:

R.E.M., Miles Davis, Jimmy Reed, Steve Abbot, the Rolling Stones, the Beatles, Titans of the Tenor!, the late James Brown, Jimmy Hendrix and Buddy Guy, Woodstock, Nina Simone, Bill Evans, Led Zeppelin, Three Dog Night, Television, the Sunshine Festival, Queen, Mink DeVille, Patti Smith, Bruce Springsteen, Billy Joel, X/Levi & the Rockats, the Funk Festival, Black Flag, the Horslips, Public Image Ltd., the Kinks, Rush, the Pogues, the Beastie Boys, Redd Kross, Bon Jovi, Van Morrison (written about twice by married couple Robert Burke Warren and Holly George-Warren), Clarence Carter, Nirvana, the Lounge Lizards, Katell Keineg, Einstürzende Neubauten, Beck, Joe Maneri, the Mekons, Prince, Glen Branca/Rudolph Grey/Wharton Tiers, Antony and the Johnsons featuring Lou Reed, David Bowie, Kevin Spacey, the White Stripes, and Metric (written as a team piece by Daniel Handler and Andrew Sean Greer).

The Show I'll Never Forget, publisher's site

The Way We Were - Come Back Horslips in 2005

Yesterday was the two-year anniversary of my unofficial fansite as a live site. I had forgotten it myself until scrolling down to the bottom of my homepage the other day to check visitor stats. But yes: New Years Day 2007 marks two years of Comebackhorslips.com. (Or geocities.com/comebackhorslips as it was then) And sure enough, the original version of my nighttime and weekend obsession is still up and running.

Submitted for your scornful amusement and derision:

geocities.com/comebackhorslips/home

(Links now direct to the owned domain, so we don't exceed our bandwidth within ten minutes as used to happen back in those days!)