Carr's Cocktail Shack: Recommended Web Link

Today will find Carr's Cocktail Shack paying tribute to the Fab Four. That will air online and on your dial at 6:00 p.m. Clery's Clock Time.

While you wait for the Happy Hour, take time to visit a truly great website that explores the Beatles' histories as seen through an Irish perspective:

Beatles Ireland

Lots to explore and read, including this bittersweet story of John Lennon and Dorinish Island:

The former Beatle was investigating how to renew planning permission to build a house for himself and Yoko Ono on Dorinish island in Clew Bay, Co Mayo, (Please see map below) just before his death, his Irish solicitor revealed.

He bought the island in 1967 and soon afterwards was granted planning permission by Mayo county council to build a house. After the collapse of his first marriage to Cynthia, he postponed the plans and permission lapsed in 1972.

"It was a place where we thought we could escape the pressures and spend some undisturbed time together. But because of what happened our hopes never came to be," Ono has said. "We often discussed the idea of building a cottage there. It was so beautiful, so tranquil, yet so isolated, it seemed a perfect place to get away from it all".

John bought the island for £1,700 after a newspaper advertisement for ‘an island off Ireland’ caught his eye.

Carr's Cocktail Shack: "From Me to You"

JOHN, PAUL, GEORGE, RINGO AND....

From a noisey celler on cobble-stoned Matthew Street on Merseyside to glittering gala nights at the Hollywood Bowl, The Beatles ushered in an era of optimism and a bright musical revolution.

Their unorthodox songwriting provided a repertoire of wondrous songs capable of myriad interpretations.

On Sunday, Carr's Cocktail Shack on ChoiceFM Dublin will celebrate the songwriting invention of four young lads who changed the world.

It's fab. It's gear. And it's not to be missed.

(One of many images to view at Mitch McGeary's Beatles Website.)


I have a feeling that this will not be your usual Beatles radio show. I believe the key to its character is nestled in that second paragraph with the intriguing hint of "wondrous songs capable of myriad interpretations."

Definitely not to be missed!

RETURN OF THE DANCEHALL SWEETHEARTS DVD RELEASE

This is it. Here it comes. The long-awaited release of the Return of the Dancehall Sweethearts CD is imminent.

Available at the following High Street Retailers

HMV
Tower
Golden Discs
Xtra Vision
Tescos
Celtic Note

plus all reputable independent shops
(which lets out my local video store...)

Also, and perhaps quite importantly, available online at Irish Music Shop.

You've heard the samples, seen the footage, and read the gossip. Now go out and get your own copy of this great documentary on Irish rock history and really cool shoes today!

"Hey, Lola. Wanna come over to my place?
We could watch the DVD together..."

(Image lifted without qualm from the Return of the Dancehall Sweethearts page of the Official Site.)

Carr's Cocktail Shack Archives Updated

In record speed! The very excellent October 30th show is now online. This features a fantastic tribute to Australia's Lovely Lady of Burlesque: Lola The Vamp.

"Do you listen to Carr's Cocktail Shack online?
I find that so attractive in a man!"


If you haven't spent time at the Shack Site lately, take a tour of the the extensive Carr's Cocktail Shack Links Page, and scope that swanky line-up of artists behind the velvet rope!

Professor Longhair
Linda Gail Lewis
Esquivel
William Shatner
Chuck E. Weiss
Anita O' Day
Alma Coogan
Machito
Shirley Horn
Perez Prado

And if you've ever doubted the existance of the Celtic Orgasm (my mother told me that it was a pure myth, actually...), then feast your eyes on the proof of such things on the Cocktail Recipe Page.

On the turntable: "Get My Rocks Off" from Sloppy Seconds, Doctor Hook and the Medicine Show...

Dearg Doom - The Original Classic

New Previews of Return of the Dancehall Sweethearts, the Maurice Linnane documentary on Horslips were posted on the Official Horslips Site yesterday.

Topping the list is 60 seconds of footage (including the opening drum/guitar riff) of Dearg Doom from the BBC's Old Grey Whistle Test (1974).

Then there's The Edge and Tom Dunne discussing the significance of Horslips with vintage footage of the band performing King of the Fairies on the roof of the Bank of Ireland HQ.

Finally, posted a bit earlier, Barry, Charles, Jim and Johnny relive the enormity of the moment when Charles lobbed his violin into the crowd at the last gig....

So if you came by the blog for anything but Horslips, here's your chance to go and see what its really all about.

Emm Gryner Interviewed in Hot Press

Covered in Glory

Canadian songwriter Emm Gryner has released a covers album of Irish rock classics. But what inspired her to tackle Horslips, The Undertones and Gilbert O'Sullivan?

Songs Of Love And Death offers her singular take on an eclectic selection of numbers, including Something Happens’ gem ‘Forget Georgia’, the Virgin Prunes’ ‘Bau – Dachong’, Ash’s ‘Shining Light’ and Therapy?’s ‘Nowhere’.

She has also re-interpreted better known songs like Gilbert O’Sullivan’s ‘Nothing Rhymed’, The Corrs' ‘Breathless’ and Horslips' ‘Dearg Doom’.

How did it all come about?

“Well, I’m part Irish, though no-one really knows that,” she laughs. “My mum’s Filipino, which takes care of my appearance, but my grandmother is from here.”

Having visited this country on several occasions, she was eager to show the wider world that Irish music goes further than traditional airs.

“I run my own record label, so I decided to do an album of Irish covers. A lot of people thought it would be traditional songs. It’s kinda cool to be able to say, ‘No that’s not what Irish music is all about.’”

She hasn’t gone for the more obvious choices. There are no U2, Cranberries or Van Morrison songs. Presumably, this was a conscious decision?

“I tend to relate to bands in Canada who are just popular in Canada,” Emm explains. “I wanted to cover some bands who are big in Ireland but not anywhere else.”

To this end, she sought out collections of contemporary Irish music.

“I listened to Tom Dunne’s compilations. They were a great help. And I asked every Irish person I know to enlighten me. Gerry Leonard (ex-Hinterland, now Bowie’s guitarist) turned me onto Thin Lizzy, who I’d known about but not a lot.”

Some of her treatments might raise eyebrows. Her bass-heavy take on ‘Dearg Doom’, for example, is markedly different from the one we’re familiar with.

“There were a few people who thought it should be left off the album because it’s such an anthem here. But I thought it was a fabulous song and I tend to work in a way that I don’t think about the outcome.”

Horslips were generally positive about her reading of the track.

“I thought Eamon Carr wouldn’t approve of the drum machine, but he was cool about it.”

As for Gilbert O'Sullivan, is Gryner a fan?

“The first version of ‘Nothing Rhymed' I heard was actually on a Morrissey bootleg," she smiles. "He’d performed it live and I thought, ‘What a great song’.”

More at the link. Registration required, and I can't remember now if it is free.

Horslips Photo Album

Over the weekend, I spent some time tidying up this section of ComebackHorslips. Six of the long chain of photos herein have now moved on to their own albums, and the remaining set had their links and such cleaned up a bit. Lots of backstage history: then and now.

Some still take longer to load than I take to get ready for work. But the picture above is something of a favorite of mine. Just a great little slice of rock history.