VARIOUS: OLDTIME RECORDS VOL. 1 - US RECORDINGS - TRADITIONAL IRISH RECORDINGS FROM THE 1920'S AND 1930'S
An excellent new collection of 22 recordings reissued for the first time from 78rpm records originally released in the US during the 1920s and 1930s. Many of the "big names" are here, James Morrison, Paddy Killoran, the Flanagan Brothers, John McKenna, etc, and there are several tracks by bands like the Philadelphia-based Four Provinces Orchestra or O'Leary's Irish Minstrels from Boston. Three of the recordings, by P.J. Conlon, Tom Ennis, and the Flanagans respectively, were made acoustically, i.e., before the introduction of the microphone (1925), and while the difference in fidelity with the other tracks will be noticed, the instruments used, accordion and uilleann pipes, recorded quite well under those conditions. There are substantial liner notes providing much information on the performers and the history of Irish music on early recordings. The colorful cover art reproduces three of the rarest Irish labels from that period.
Rating: ****
Contents:
1. Louis E. Quinn & His Shamrock Minstrels: Barn Dance Medley
2. Flanagan Brothers: Rakes of Kildare
3. Flanagan Brothers: The Girl I Left Behind Me
4. McKenna & Gaffney: Reels of Mullinvate
5. Flanagan Brothers: Sarsfield Lilt
6. Martin Beirne & Orchestra: The Merry Harriers / Old Maids of Galway
7. P.J. Conlon: The Heather'y Breeze
8. James Darcy & John Mulvihill: The Barmaids / The Milliner's Daughter
9. Mike Flanagan: You Can't Keep a Good Man Down
10. James Morrison: Apples in Winter / Friar's Britches
11. Four Provinces Orchestra: The Drummer Boy
12. Paddy Killoran: Down the Broom / The Gatehouse Maid
13. Louis E. Quinn & His Shamrock Minstrels: Stack of Barley Medley
14. Patrick Killoran & His Pride of Erin Orch.: Cherish The Ladies
15. Hugh Gillespie: ;Pigeon on the Gate
16. Innisfail Irish Orchestra: Innisfail Special
17. William Quinn & His Dublin Orchestra: Sweet Biddy Daily
18. Frank Quinn: Pat O'Hara
19. Flanagan Brothers: Bells of Athernry
20. Tom Ennis: ;Irish Reels
21. K. Scanlon: Medley of Jigs
22. O'Leary's Irish Minstrels with John Riley: My Wild Irish Rose