I don't know how many of you are able to watch this, but it seems to me to be quite an important series of programmes.
I've been watching the one on Artie McGlynn. Alec Finn is coming up this Sunday.
https://www.tg4.ie/en/programmes/se-mo-laoch/
I don't know how many of you are able to watch this, but it seems to me to be quite an important series of programmes.
I've been watching the one on Artie McGlynn. Alec Finn is coming up this Sunday.
https://www.tg4.ie/en/programmes/se-mo-laoch/
David A. Gordon
Great programme, David. Got it straight from your link. Roll on Sunday!
I'm playing all the right notes, but not necessarily in the right order. - Eric Morecambe
http://www.youtube.com/user/TheOldBores
That's a great series. I watched the one on Matt Molloy recently, and looking forward to the one on Alec Finn. Aside from showcasing the history and talents of these players, it's encouraging to see some of them still going strong into their 70's!
Great programme altogether - I think one of the things that makes it so great is that actual musicians are involved in the making of it - fiddle player Ciarán Ó Maonaigh is the director of the series.
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Thank you SO MUCH for providing the link for this marvelous program. A wonderful tribute to a stellar musician, but a lot of humor as well. It made my day.
Yes, the great thing about this kind of documentary is that the players are involved in telling the story. I sat 'transfixed' for the whole film about Arty McGlynn. All of my heros were there, talking as if they are in the room. For me, it was as if distant relatives came and spoke about their lives in our years apart. Thanks so much for this link.
It's the visible age that strikes me - I have seen most of those musicians on stage a long time ago and seen them in older videos ever since, they seemed so iconic, eternal, forever frozen in time. And here they are, aged just like myself, becoming more human that way. Most of them could turn up in one of our sessions and fit right in.
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No doubt about it I'm afraid.
I occasionally get played on BBC Alba which is a Scottish Gaelic language TV channel, which often repeats some pretty old footage. It's usually a session I did about 18 years ago ( !!!!!) with popular Scottish accordion player Fergie MacDonald. People sometimes come up to me and and say "I saw you on telly the other night. You look older in real life." Ha!
David A. Gordon
Ah, the progress of the years, Bertram and Dagger! What we feel in our heads and what we see in the mirror are so different (in my case anyway).
I recently met a former pupil of mine from my early years (I have been retired from teaching since 2003 and still live in the area where I spent all my teaching years) and we were chatting about age, etc. He is early 60s himself now and I was asking him if he was thinking of retiring and when he asked me how old I was and I told him, he came out with the amazing insight "God, you are even older than me!" I mentioned that this was always the case as he had been pupil while I was teacher, but he'd never really made the connection before.
I'm playing all the right notes, but not necessarily in the right order. - Eric Morecambe
http://www.youtube.com/user/TheOldBores
There is a video of David Crosby who talks about his Martin Guitar. Towards the end of the talk he is asked about his age, (he does look quite frail,) and he get's annoyed and says that he is 198 years old.
What fascinated me most about Arty McGlynn was learning that he 'flat picked' Irish trad tunes on guitar. There may be some of that stuff on his albums, but I did not have all of them. And I had quit doing melody on guitar in favor of playing the fiddle. If I had seen him doing that in the 1970's I may never have played violin and stayed with guitar!
[QUOTE=DougC; What fascinated me most about Arty McGlynn was learning that he 'flat picked' Irish trad tunes on guitar. [/QUOTE]
I can remember very clearly when I first heard him do that.
I turned on Radio Highland (as it was known at the time) when I came in one evening and it was almost the end of a Gaelic music programme.
I wasn't listening all that closely so I missed the introduction, but then heard these amazing Irish tunes being played on guitar. That turned out to be the end of the show, with no more indication as to who was playing it, so I phoned the BBC radio station in Inverness and asked if anyone could tell me who it was. After a moment someone told me it was Arty McGlynn (I vaguely recognised the name) and I tracked down his LP McGlynn's Fancy as soon as I could.
I especially loved the Lead The Knave album, which we used to have on cassette (pre CD) and it became a favourite in the car.
David A. Gordon
On the subject of TG4, it has some great programming on Traditional Irish music, if you have access try looking up Geantraí.
The Alec Finn programme is very good.
https://www.tg4.ie/en/programmes/se-mo-laoch/
David A. Gordon
Phil Coulter should be included also from Northern Ireland !
Another very nice documentary. Wonderful people and top musicians all. It is still a very odd thing that the Greek Bouzouki has become a common Irish instrument. But the guitar was added as well.
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