CELTIC MUSIC CD-REVIEWS
October 2009
By CATHOLINE BUTLER
MICK MOLONEY If It Was'nt For the Irish and the Jews
This collection of American songs from Vaudeville and early Tin Pan Alley sheds light on the unlikely cross-cultural collaboration between Irish and Jewish composers and lyricists around the turn of the Twentieth Century. They created some of the most popular songs of the pre-Tin Pan Alley era of songwriting and stage craft.
If It Was'nt For The Irish and The Jews features Irish-American Mick Moloney, a multi-talented ethnomusicologist, musician and singer.
He is a recipient of the National Endowment for the Art's National Heritage fellowship among his many credits. But perhaps his greatest gift to the music world has been his work in the area of early Twentieth Century popular song.
In 1912 William Jerome and Jean Schwartz - one of the most famous songwriting duos of early Tin Pan Alley - composed If It Wasn't for the Irish and the Jews.
This catchy melody and topical lyrics celebrated Irish/Jewish collaboration in just about every aspect of American social, political, and cultural life.
The song was recorded by the legendary Billy Murray and became an instant commercial hit.
What wasn't known at the time was that the creation of the song involved an Irish/Jewish collaboration and William Jerome was actually the son of Patrick Flannery - the son of a famine immigrant from County Mayo - who changed his name when he saw the songwriting business switching from Irish to Jewish.
In vaudeville and Tin Pan Alley's heyday between 1880 and 1920, Irish/Jewish collaboration on the stage were commonplace.
The term Tin Pan Alley was actually invented by a Jewish songwriter and journalist named Monroe Rosenfeld, who wrote several Irish songs.
Tin Pan Alley was the name Rosenfeld gave in his 1892 newspaper columns to the area around 28th and Broadway, where scores of music publishing houses were located as New York City became the centre of the national song publishing industry.
At any hour of the day one could hear the incessant tinkling of pianos as publishing houses plugged their wares to recording artists, vaudevillians and agents. Rosenfeld likened the din to the banging of tin pans and the name stuck.
Economics was one of the reasons that the Irish and Jews worked so well together. Even though the Irish were into politics, on the police force, championship boxers, and stars on the screen, it was the Rockerfellers who controlled the finances.
Some of the other songs on the CD are: Mother Malone; Has Anybody Here Seen Kelly; The Old Bog Road; Faugh A Ballagh; Are You The O'Reilly; Along The Rocky Road To Dublin; and When McGuinness Gets A Job.
A lot of these songs have great relevance today given the current strife and economic situation. Gives you pause to reflect that not much has changed since the days of Tin Pan Alley.
One particular song that struck me was I Didn't Raise My Boy To Be A Soldier. The lyrics are: 'I didn't raise my boy to be a soldier, I brought him up to be my pride and joy. Who dares to put a musket on his shoulder to shoot some other mother's darling boy.'
To purchase or for more information on If It Was'nt For The Irish and The Jews by Mick Malone, visit: compassrecords.com.
SOLAS For Love and Laughter
When you look up the definition of superlative, it is defined as 'the utmost degree'. I think Solas fits that catergory nicely. Not only have they assembled some of the finest musicians but also All-Ireland multi-instrumentalists.
Solas (Gaelic: Light) is an Irish-American musical group formed in 1994 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. They play Irish traditional music along with original compositions and have established themselves as one of the top Irish-folk groups on either side of the Atlantic.
The success of Solas lies in the experience of its members.
Seamus Egan was born in the United States but moved with his family to Ireland when he was only three years old.
He became proficient on the tin whistle, guitar, flute and banjo, and by the time he was 16 years old, he had won the All-Ireland Junior Championship on flute, tin whistle, banjo and mandolin and recorded his solo debut, Traditional Music of Ireland for Shanachie Records.
He met Dublin-born guitarist and vocalist John Doyle, who had composed music for a movie and was much in demand as a session player. Fiddler Winifred Horan, a native of New York, had recorded with Cherish The Ladies. In 1996, she and Doyle became intricately involved in Egan's third solo album.
A band began to slowly take shape. John Williams was active in the lively Chicago Celtic music scene. He became the first American to win the All-Ireland senior concertina championship and recorded his self-titled debut on Green Linnet Records in 1995.
His concertina and button accordion skills proved a perfect fit for the other three players. Still no one planned to form a group. The last piece of the Celtic puzzle was Karen Casey, who was asked by Egan and Horan to play a show with the others.
"I don't think we had any particular expectations when we first got together," said Egan. "We just enjoyed playing with one another and we were frankly surprised by the reactions to our first gigs."
Over the years, there has been changes to the band members. Karen Casey, Deirdre Scanlan, John Williams, and John Doyle have all gone to pursue their own careers.
The band members now include Seamus Egan on flute, tenor banjo, mandolin, tin whistle, guitar and bodhran; Winifred Horan plays fiddle; Mick McAuley plays button and piano accordion, concertina, low whistle and backing vocals; Mairead Phelan is lead vocalist; and Eamon McElholm plays guitar, vocals and keyboard.
Much in demand, Solas are on tour well into 2010. Unfortunately, the closest they will come to this neck of the woods will be on February 19 at Port Angeles, Washington, for the Juan de Fuca Festival of the Arts.
Solas record on the Compass label. For more information, visit: compassrecords.com
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