Tag: The Pogues

Six of the Best: Dervish’s Cathy Jordan Chooses Her Favorite Irish Tunes

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What would the world be without Irish tunes? A lot quieter, that’s for sure. Ireland’s musical tradition has enlightened, infiltrated, and inspired all corners of the planet – and American roots music owes it a huge debt.

Irish folk group Dervish have just released their first studio album in a decade, a loving tribute to the songs from their home country that have travelled the world. The Great Irish Songbook is studded with guest stars – from David Gray to Steve Earle, Kate Rusby to Andrea Corr, not to mention an appearance from Hollywood actor Brendan Gleeson.

But what are the band’s favourite Irish songs? We asked singer Cathy Jordan to choose six of the best.

“Whiskey in the Jar”

“This is an incredible example of a song that has journeyed around the world and been adapted to the particular environment it found itself in. It was originally written about a Co. Kerry-based military official who was betrayed by his wife, but adaptations also turn up in the American South, the Ozarks, and the Appalachians. On our album we did a version with The Steeldrivers, but we’re also big fans of this one by iconic Irish rock band Thin Lizzy.”

“Ye Rambling Boys of Pleasure”

“This is such a beautiful song of unrequited love: a young man regretting love lost because of immaturity. The song forms the basis of a poem written by the famous W.B. Yeats (he was trying to recall a ballad he’d once heard a peasant woman sing to herself in Sligo). The poem is commonly known as ‘Down by the Sally Gardens’ and was itself later put to music — I sing a version with Kate Rusby on The Great Irish Songbook.”

“Nothing But The Same Old Story”

“Written by Paul Brady, this song captures what life was like for Irish immigrants heading to England to find work during The Troubles in Northern Ireland. Their lives involved a mixture of exhausting work, discrimination, and distrust, while longing for a normal life and to go home. The song first appears on Paul’s album Hard Station in 1981.”

“The May Morning Dew”

“The heartbreaking story of a woman who recalls her old friends, family and loved ones as she walks by their deserted dwellings in post-famine times. It’s sung here by one of my favourite Irish singers, Dolores Keane.”

“Rainy Night in Soho”

“To me, Shane McGowan of The Pogues wrote one of the most amazing love songs of all time with this one. [It’s a] love that survives through years of friendship as well as hardship. Oh, to have the last line written about you: ‘You’re the measure of my dreams, the measure of my dreams.’ This version is sung by another great Irish singer and songwriter, Damien Dempsey.

“Mná na hÉireann” (Women of Ireland)

It’s fitting that Kate Bush, one of the most poetic of all pop artists, recorded this song. It was written by 18th century Ulster poet Peadar Ó Doirnín; the music was added by composer Seán Ó Riada in the mid-20th century. Ó Riada was really important in the revival of traditional Irish folk and the words to this song are as powerfully Irish as you can get.

Photo credit: Colin Gillen

BGS 5+5: The Delines

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Artist: The Delines
Hometown: Portland, Oregon
Latest album: The Imperial
Band members: Amy Boone, Cory Gray, Sean Oldham, Freddy Trujillo, Willy Vlautin

Answers by Willy Vlautin

Which artist has influenced you the most … and how?

Man oh man that’s a tough question. I go in phases so I can’t name just one. I grew up worshipping Willie Nelson, he’s always been my personal sorta saint, next was X and then The Pogues and Los Lobos then probably Tom Waits and Louis Armstrong and a dozen others as well.

What’s your favorite memory from being on stage?

The Delines were playing a gig in Madrid and in the audience, right in front of the stage, were two couples making out. A man and a woman and then two men, and I went to myself, goddamn maybe what we’re doing is working! With Richmond Fontaine no women ever came to our shows. It was all middle-aged drunk dudes and none of them had probably made out with anyone in years.

What other art forms — literature, film, dance, painting, etc — inform your music?

I always write songs thinking they are part of a movie and I write novels for a living so those two have always been a big part of my life. I love novels more than anything and I could spend my life in a movie theater. Since I started, I’ve written in characters and stories. For a shy kid it was always easier for me to do it that way. I could say what I needed to say without anyone looking at me. I was way too insecure otherwise. Writing in stories gave me complete freedom from everything, including myself.

What’s the toughest time you ever had writing a song?

Probably from age 12-26. I wrote obsessively, hundreds of tunes and not one good one. Not a single one. You would have thought I’d have stumbled upon one or two but I didn’t. But I loved writing them even though I knew I was no good at it. And then finally a good song came to me. I was 27 and worked at a trucking company loading trucks and all the drivers were talking about seeing shit on the road late at night, white line fever. I was like hot damn, I’ll write that tune. So I write the tune about a long haul trucker who never calls his wife and all the while his wife is on a bender and ends up in a psych ward. I was so proud of the tune, my first good one after 14 years of writing bad ones. Then I played it in a bar one night and a guy comes up to me and says, “That sure don’t sound like Merle’s ‘White Line Fever’ to me.” That’s when I found out Merle Haggard had already written the tune. Even when I was certain I’d gotten a good one someone had already done it.

What was the first moment that you knew you wanted to be a musician?

It started for me around ten but I never thought I would be much of a musician. I just always wanted to plant my flag with musicians because I grew up believing in records more than anything else. Records were always my favorite friends in life. So after a while, just to get closer to them, I joined up.

Photo credit: Jason Quigley

MIXTAPE: The Dirty River Boys’ VAN JAMZ Part 2

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When Mesa Starlight started coming together, there were two roads to take regarding the sound of the album. One: Change up the current formula we’ve been chasing the past eight years and fall into one genre. Two: Double down, highlight each member’s individuality while still creating something cohesive. Never taking the easy way out, we went with the latter. Here are a few songs that consistently spun on the long drives in the van that inevitably influenced Mesa Starlight, lyrically, sonically, and mentally. –Marco Gutierrez

“If I Should Fall From Grace with God” – The Pogues

,The Pogues take songs that can be tender and mellow, and put dirt on them. The band’s style of taking traditional Irish music into the folk/punk realm is something we be always tried to do with American folk and country. We considered covering this song on the album.

“Niteclub” – Old 97’s

Old 97’s, specifically the song “Niteclub,” got me into alt-country when I was younger. We listened to a lot of their catalogue as the album was coming together, but I always came back to this song

“Funeral” – Phoebe Bridgers

One of the best albums and songs I have heard in a long time. This probably got thousands of spins on long drives as we were touring in between recording.

“Dancing in the Dark” – Faye Webster

As great as the original is, Faye proves less is more when dealing with lyrical masterpieces. Nino’s song “Johnny” definitely needed that treatment.

“Lucinda” – The Lusitania

The Lucy was one of the best bands El Paso had to offer. They’ve been a huge influence on me since before The Dirty River Boys was formed. Their final EP, The Lucy Was Here, has been in heavy rotation since it came out a few years ago. Brilliant songwriting.

“Where Have All the Average People Gone” – Roger Miller

The idea that people don’t need to flock to ideological extremes that’s presented in this song paved the way for our song “Mesa,” which deals with a general unrest felt by all sides of the political spectrum.

“Mid 20’s Skateboarder” – Pkew Pkew Pkew

One of the best summer anthems I’ve heard in a while. Simple, catchy, fun, mean. You can hear how this song influenced “Wild in Our Streets.”

“Stay Lucky” – The Gaslight Anthem

Similar to The Lusitania, The Gaslight Anthem merges ridiculously well-written songs with a delivery that leans in the punk direction.

“The Ocean” – Against Me!

Around the time this album was coming together I was heavily revisiting the punk albums of my youth. Operation Ivy, Minor Threat, Dropkick Murphys, etc. Against Me! was one of the first punk bands I really fell in love with. The first time I heard this song at was at Warped Tour before they released New Wave. They played this song with such electric intensity. That’s what we strive to bring to our live shows.

“Amarillo Highway (for Dave Hickey)” – Terry Allen

The funky country groove on this Terry Allen masterpiece influenced the feel of “Backside of Uppers.”

“DNA.” – Kendrick Lamar

Another song and album that got thousands of spins on the long drives. Best album of 2017 in my humble opinion.

MIXTAPE: The Rails’ Take on UK Roots

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Agreeing on music is difficult in any household. Kami and I get along musically when we’re holding instruments, but our tastes diverge when it comes to what we listen to in our downtime. Elvis vs PJ Harvey, jazz vs metal, my extensive vinyl collection vs Kami’s beaten-up CDs from the 90s etc. But we agree on a few things, and the artists we’ve chosen for this list represent our sliver of common ground.” — The Rails (James Walbourne and Kami Thompson)

FROM JAMES WALBOURNE:

The Pogues – “The Old Main Drag”

Where does one start with The Pogues? They are a band that has influenced me so much over the years it’s hard to know where to begin. Their blend of trad, rock, punk, country and balladry mixed with the singing and lyrics of Shane MacGowan is a force to behold. Sticking two fingers up at the trad/folk establishment (Ewan MacColl was none too impressed with their version of “Dirty Old Town’”) their music spoke to me. I think this song is perfect, hard-hitting and still relevant. I spent some time playing guitar in The Pogues and I feel blessed to have done so.

Tim O’Brien with Paul Brady – “Mick Ryan’s Lament”

I used to go and watch Tim O’Brien play at The Weavers Arms in London and have always loved the way he would mix Irish and bluegrass music. His singing with Paul Brady on this track is stunning.

The Kinks – “Village Green”

Maybe not the most obvious choice for a roots music playlist but I think it valid. I come from a place called Muswell Hill in North London and it just so happens The Kinks come from there too. On the same road the Davies brothers grew up on, a few doors down, is a house called ‘Fairport’ where Fairport Convention started. It was also an old doctor’s surgery where I used to go as a kid. Just behind that is my old school. I like to think there might be something in the water up there. This song is from the classic Kinks record The Village Green Preservation Society and tells of someone longing for the little country village they came from. An English folk song if ever I heard one.

Derek Bell – “Carolan’s Farewell to Music”

Traditional music played on the harp by Derek Bell of The Chieftans. It’s beautiful.

Nic Jones – “The Humpback Whale”

This record blew my mind when I first heard it on the radio a number of years ago. Just when you thought you’d heard your last great guitar player something like this comes along. Every guitar player should hear it. Tragically, Nic was involved in an automobile accident some years ago which left him unable to play anymore.

The Everly Brothers – “Cathy’s Clown”

We’re both huge fans of harmony singing in general (all the bluegrass brothers, Stanley, Louvin, Delmore, etc) but perhaps our favourites will always be The Everlys. Perfect mix of pop and country.

Son Volt – “Tear Stained Eye”

One of my favourite songs from the Jay Farrar canon. Another musician who can blend folk, rock, country and blues into something unique. This particular track is classic country-sounding but there is something other worldly about it that makes it timeless and haunting. This lineup of the band was a huge influence on me and we even had the great Jim Boquist playing bass on our most recent record, Other People.

Nick Drake – “Time Has Told Me”

I think we both had a go at playing Nick Drake songs long before we met. I for one could never work out the tunings but Kami had them all figured out, which left me begrudgingly impressed. This track is the opening song from Five Leaves Left. It’s a great antidote for homesickness as I find you’re immediately transported back to an English garden the moment you put it on.

FROM KAMI THOMPSON:

Lal and Mike Waterson – “The Scarecrow”

This album is a masterpiece of oddball Britishness. The songs are exceptional and the singing is sublime – Mike is one of my Favourite Ever Singers. I’m lucky enough to know and sometimes sing a tune with Lal’s daughter, Marry, who is also a gifted songwriter.

Martin Carthy – “The Trees They Do Grow High”

Martin and my mum, Linda, used to share a flat off the Archway Road in the ‘60s or ‘70s. So Mum says, anyway. The Waterson/Carthys are the undisputed First Family of Folk. James picked up an old Martin Carthy vinyl at a record store near our old flat, a short walk from the Archway Road, and this song was on it. It’s mesmerising. We learnt it from Martin’s album and put our version on the Australia EP we put out a couple of years back.

Richard and Linda Thompson – “Did She Jump or Was She Pushed”

My mum and dad. I love mum’s vocal on this and it’s one of Richard’s poppiest, ear-worm choruses. Love it. Maybe they’ll put it all behind them and get back together!

Alasdair Roberts – “The Cruel Mother”

Alasdair is a Scottish folk musician of enormous critical acclaim who, he probably won’t mind me saying, hasn’t exactly bothered the charts. He’s far too clever to be popular. His songs are intricate, academic, beautiful. I often make notes at his shows – reminders to self, scratched on bar mats, to read more books.

Max Jury – “Christian Eyes”

I don’t know anything about him, and haven’t heard of any releases since this came out, but this song is pretty much perfect. Whenever it pops up on shuffle I listen to it two or three times.

Kate & Anna McGarrigle – “Tell My Sister”

Kate and Anna were always on the stereo when I was a kid, both of my parents would play their records. Maybe the records they both played was one of the few strands of continuity I felt moving between their respective homes as a child. I love the McGarrigles’ music still and now I get to listen to (and love) Rufus and Martha’s music through a prism of assumed familiarity.

Cathal McConnel – “Scotland-Ireland / The Hangover / Fermanagh Curves”

This song is so evocative, it hurts. I feel the Celtic blood surge in my veins as the tune soars and soothes. It brings my heart almost to bursting every time I hear it. Also, Cathal seems to almost never stop for breath, which is a marvel in itself.

Photo credit: Jill Furmanovsky