songs of a coal miner’s son 11
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A BLOG FOR MUSIC-LOVERS
With Gene Christy & Rod MacDow
episode eleven . . .
HAPPY NEW YEAR! Oh-14! everybody! . . .
WE’RE BACK!
Had a hiatus, or whatever—sounds like something you wear on your head at a racetrack in Florida!
ALL BECAUSE THE DAMN COMPUTER UP’D & DIED! . . .
Thank God for Rod MacDow—sent it out to him by UPS, out to Oregon and it came back to me, by UPS, here in the Berkshires—fixed!
I knew he was good for somethin’!
So—we’ve only been gone for three months or so—but now WE’RE BACK!
So without further furtherin’ around here—let’s get goin’ on a jump-start on the New Year, Oh-14!, and let’s make it a good one—full of song and story, words and pictures, melodies and harmonies, and thrills, chills, spills and trills!
Because it’s gonna be tough to top last year –wrote a ton of new songs, and also –finished my novel!—just before Christmas!
The mention of which brings us to our pictures of The Dossers’ Christmas Party
at The Old Forge in Lanesboro on the 17th when we had a rousing good time with our friends from the Dead Owl Society!
L to R__Rick Marquis, banjo & vocals, Christy-on-the-Box, plus vocals, and Bill Morrison, 6-string & vocals__the DOSSERS!
Now, for Xmas tunes, of which we did plenty, you’ll have to wait till next holly-jolly season—it comes once a year—think you can wait?
But we did do some of our usual rip-it-up Irish material for the good people of the Dead Owl Society, so here goes with
Two reels in G__St Ann’s Reel plus Maire’s Wedding!
That’s us! The Dossers, Bill Morrison on 6-string, Gene Christy on Roland all-digital squeeze-box, and Ricky Marquis, on banjo!
And now for a special treat—Jack Waldheim, live at Portsmitt’s, back in October!
Check it out!
WHEN DOVES CRY performed by Jack Waldheim, on vocal, guitar, drums and looping machine, recorded live at Portsmitt’s, back in October–WORDS & MUSIC by Prince
If you’ve never heard of “looping”—now you’ve heard the real thing, live, from the master of looping himself—the Berkshires’ own Jack Waldheim.
SINGER-SONGWRITER ACE BLUES GUITARIST JACK WALDHEIM
Moving right along, next up we have none other than old friend Cam Collins 
on a night in October at O’Loughlin’s, on the Merrill Road in Pittsfield, capital of the Berkshires, USA! Home of Herman Melville__Birthplace of MOBY DICK!
Old flavor-ite, GHOST RIDERS IN THE SKY___in a haunting, stripped-down rendition by Cam Collins, guitar and vocal
UPCOMING THIS YEAR__2014!
We will have plenty of new, original Gene Christy tunes, recorded here at Christy Studios, some from last year and yet-to-be-recorded, some yet-to-be-written, on the road to 99 good tunes—
as well as featured guests such as Norm Shaffer, Erin and Duffy, Jack Waldheim, Dublin Porter, Deja Vu, Patrick Brady, Bobby Sweet and many others!
So stay tuned, once a week, same time, same station—
Join the blog and become a Follower—
And HAPPY NEW YEAR! to all !!
Let’s make it in 2014!
We’d like to take you out now with a rousing chorus of the best of all New Year’s songs, WORDS & MUSIC by good friend Kevin McKrell, performed by THE DOSSERS! with Good-Lookin’ Ricky Marquis on the lead vocal, and it’s called — what else?–
ALL OF THE HARD DAYS ARE GONE!
HAPPY NEW YEAR, EVERYBODY! 
songs of a coal miner’s son 10
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A BLOG FOR MUSIC-LOVERS
With Gene Christy & Rod MacDow
episode ten . . .
. . . and now for somethin’ just a little bit different—or as the Scotsman said, a wee bit diff-rrrent !!
Last week, we had slow-dancing—cheek-to-cheek—romantic ballad . . .
This week it’s Bonnie Prince Charlie and the Rising of the ’45!
Have a listen!
btw – – gonna lead off the lineup with the “Live” version first-up, this week
(so glad Bobby V’s not making out the Bosox lineup anymore!—talk about what a difference a “Manager” can make!)
Manager John Farrell
Now that I’m finished interrupting myself – –
(last night at Portsmitt’s, while playing our set, had one eye out for the big screen, where the Sox were hanging on for a 2-1 victory over the mighty Detroit Tigers!)
We win!
—oops, there I go—did it again!
Anyway, after we hear the live version, we will, as they say on ESPN, compare and contrast!
__________TEMPEST IN A TEACUP
words and music by Gene Christy
Recorded August 22_2013 Live at the Guthrie Center
Lead vocal and Roland all-digital accordion by Gene Christy
. . . visit the Guthrie Center at http://guthriecenter.org/
It strikes me as profoundly significant—strike that!—as “interesting”—to notice that I probably would not have made the same studio version of this song as I ended up making—had I listened to the live version first—
which I did not—fortunately for me—
It’s next to nigh-impossible to duplicate a song done in front of a live audience when it’s just you and your partner in the studio—the vibe is so totally not there—that you feed off-of when performing for real people—it seems that you play to the audience—you’re trying to reach out and grab them—you want to involve them—to get it across to them—and when you finally get to listen to the playback—amazing, that wee-bit of difference—is like a canyon apart . . .
In the studio, you’re reaching for a sound.
You get second takes and re-do’s and fixes—and you can micro-manage the thing, seeking something akin to—perfection!
Playing live, you get one shot—
For instance–in this case, live on stage, I mis-pronounced the name of the Battle from 1745! I was supposed to say Cull-LAW-den–and instead, I came out with CULL-oh-den!
So I whiffed on that one!
But you’re not out till you get three strikes!
Either way–you get one shot–your turn at the plate–whether you make a mistake–or play something brilliant–you know that you probably couldn’t play that tune exactly the same way—ever again!
In the studio, you hear yourself hit a good lick—it’s preserved—you play it the same way next time. ‘Cause you liked the sound of yourself so much!
Live—you listen later, and say to yourself—where did that come from? That’s not how that little linking passage or lead-in or crossover or passing note’s supposed to go—but it worked!
Just for the record — today’s blog is the first time this song, “Tempest in a Teacup,” has been online anywhere, anytime.
So, here’s “Tempest” again – – from Bill and me in the studio:
__________ TEMPEST IN A TEACUP
Recorded at Christy Studios
Lead vocal and Roland all-digital accordion by Gene Christy
Lead guitar by Bill Morrison
Recorded August__2013
Last week I was able to squeeze out some tenor sax lines to swirl around the melody-lead vocal of “Treasure”—by playing tenor sax on my Roland all-digital accordion keyboard!
This week my design was to employ a trumpet fanfare to get the martial rhythm of “Tempest” off to a rousing start—and also repeat the trumpets, or bugles, if you will, through the body of the song to sweep it along, and also provide a commentary on the action.
But for the coda which concludes the piece—I switched over to Highland Pipes—also played on the accordion!
TOP O’ THE LINE ROLAND! ALL-DIGITAL!
What an instrument! And as of yet, having had the thing only six or eight or ten weeks or so—I’ve just barely scratched the surface of its capabilities!
me and my Roland . . . gc!
As far as the arrangement I put on the tune—it’s, like, totally worlds apart from the way I played it live—first of all, I wanted the spoken-word element of the narrative story-line to ride along on the rhythm of the guitar-playing by Bill Morrison. I said to Bill, can you just give me, like, that sort of Johnny Cash driving-ahead feel? And Bill did! Like I say in the song, “Billy plays a mighty good six-string.”
Bill Morrison
And how can you go wrong borrowing from that well-known Scotsman, Johnny Cash! Don’t believe me? Well—go on-line and see for yourself! Check out
“A Croft in Clachan (the Ballad of Rob MacDunn)”
And you’ll hear Johnny Cash on a duet with—Glen Campbell_!!! A pair of Scotsmen if ever there was!
And don’t forget, people, to go visit the websites, while you’re here, of our friends,
Bobby Sweet at
and Mountain Breeze at
http://berkshiremountainbreeze.com/pb/wp_a07f5f3f/wp_a07f5f3f.html
And hopefully, you can hear some of their music, too, in the not-too-distant future, right here on Songs of a Coal Miner’s Son, our blog, which comes out every Thursday, on the dot. Because this Sunday I will be recording Mountain Breeze and their beautiful harmonies live and outdoors at the Sharing Roots Festival down on North Street in downtown Pittsfield, Berkshires, USA—so listen in next week! I will try to get them on, although I don’t want to promise because—I’ll be in Portland, OR, visiting with none other than
Rod MacDow! And his lovely wife Margo, and their kids, Becca and Kevin, and Rod’s kitchen full of beer-making apparati—is that the plural of apparatuses? Think I might try a sip or two from each one of them apparatusesesissi . . . by then, I’ll probably be talking like that, too, slurring my lispses-es, just a wee-bit . . .
You can find Rakish Paddy at
http://www.rakishpaddyband.com/
You can find Eddie Dillon and a world of great music at
http://clancybrothersandtommymakem.com/ed_01.htm
See you guys next week, same time, same station! Portland, or not!
Fair thee well, Titanic!
songs of a coal miner’s son 9
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A BLOG FOR MUSIC-LOVERS
With Gene Christy & Rod MacDow
Have a listen!
__________TREASURE FROM THE BOUNTY OF TIME
words and music by Gene Christy
Recorded at Christy Studios
Lead vocal and Roland all-digital accordion by Gene Christy
Lead guitar by Bill Morrison
Tenor Sax by Gene Christy played on the Roland accordion
Recorded August__2013
episode nine . . .
this week’s blog, folks, has a focus – – for a change!
On just one song – –
Which you heard above . .
And which you can hear again below,
performed live before an appreciative audience
Last Thursday night at the Guthrie Center!
The Guthrie Center
Which is a very special place on the planet . .
So special that we had performers last Thursday night –at an open mike, mind you—from as far away as New Jersey and Ohio!
Evie, from Ohio
And hopefully, you can hear some of their music, too, in the not-too-distant future, right here on Songs of a Coal Miner’s Son, our blog, which comes out every Thursday, on the dot.
We had banjo, guitar, folk songs, top forty covers, classical piano and cello, piano with pop vocals—singer-songwriter originals—quite a range of things, last Thursday night.
Steve, from Pittsfield
Not the kind of atmosphere, the raucous, loud pub-settings I’m used to playing in, where you can pretty much count on the people trying to talk over you no matter how loud the band plays—
Arlo Guthrie
The audiences at the Guthrie Center are quiet and respectful.
Jane Doe
You can hear yourself.
The house sound system is powerful.
It’s like a church, in there—which is what it used to be.
It’s like playing your original music in a holy shrine.
Old Trinity Church, now The Guthrie Center
It can be seen in the 1969 Hollywood movie “Alice’s Restaurant.”
And at the end of the evening all the performers are invited up on the stage together to do a group sing-along on Woody Guthrie’s, “This Land is Your Land”—
Woody Guthrie
What a special place—what great people! If you ever are in the area, or you’re looking for a destination, do yourself a favor and come on by!
You can find out more about the Guthrie Center at
So, here’s “Treasure” again – – live from the Guthrie Center.
__________TREASURE FROM THE BOUNTY OF TIME
words and music by Gene Christy
Recorded August 22_2013 on a TEAC VR-20 digital recorder
Lead vocal and Roland all-digital accordion by Gene Christy
Gene Christy on stage at the Guthrie Center
Just wanted to share this with you, this week. Wrote this thing only a few weeks back—but Rick Marquis, in our band, The Dossers, keeps telling everyone it’s the best song I ever wrote. He liked it the first time he heard it—brand-new—when I wasn’t even sure I could remember the words right—and Rick himself does a lovely harmony vocal on the chorus when we play this every week at Portsmitt’s, on a Tuesday night. Which we will be certain to take pains to capture on digital as soon as possible—most likely, when the kids are back in school after next week!
Today’s blog is the first time this song’s been online anywhere, anytime.
As I said at the end of the song, at the Guthrie Center—hope you liked it!
btw__here’s the lyrics_______
Treasure from the bounty of time
by gene christy Sat 8 jun 013
Dedicated to Mary Lee Salisbury
Golden souvenirs of the mind
Treasure from the bounty of time
My memories are all that remain
We may be far apart
But I hold her in my heart
And often to myself I say her name
Oh, Mary, I will never understand
What happened on that January day
I only know you let go of my hand
And said you had to send me away . . .
I remember our first dance
I’m glad I took the chance
To hold you close to me that first time
I could tell at the very first glance
We were in for a brilliant romance
I wanted from the start to make you mine
Oh, Mary, I will never understand
What happened on that January day
I only know you let go of my hand
And said you had to send me away . . .
Torn from the pages of the past
The only things that last
I hold these memories close in my mind
I hope they never fade away
I believe they will always stay
Here in my heart . . until the end of time . .
Here in my heart . . until the end of time . .
remember when?
And don’t forget, people, to go visit the websites, while you’re here, of our friends,
Bobby Sweet at
Eddie Dillon at
http://clancybrothersandtommymakem.com/ed_01.htm
You can find Rakish Paddy at
http://www.rakishpaddyband.com/
and Mountain Breeze at
http://berkshiremountainbreeze.com/pb/wp_a07f5f3f/wp_a07f5f3f.html
See you guys next week, same time, same station!
Fair thee well, Titanic!
songs of a coal miner’s son 8
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A BLOG FOR MUSIC-LOVERS
With Gene Christy & Rod MacDow
Have a listen!
______________ FAIR THEE TITANIC
performed by Collins & Christy
at the Olde Heritage Tavern
recorded on Tascam digital recorder!
Thurs evening, Apr 18th__2013
episode eight . . .
sometime in the present – in a galaxy close, close nearby . . .
Wow!—what a week!
Could it have gotten much better?
I asked myself—and do you know?—I knew the answer!
No!
Last Thursday night at the Guthrie Center!
The stage in the Guthrie Center
Saturday, a 2-hour songwriter’s workshop with Sara Lee Guthrie and Johnny Irion at Wood Bros. Music in Pittsfield!
Sara Lee Guthrie
Johnny Irion
Singer-songwriter & ace blues guitarist Jack Waldheim
Immediately after that, drove straight to a 5 pm gig at the Donny Brook Country Club in Lanesboro!
Donny Brook CC
And look at all the people who came to see my band, Bill Morrison and Rick Marquis and me, The Dossers, play the party on the patio!
Party People!
Then there was our regular Tuesday night at Portsmitt’s! Featuring this week good friend Bob Mozgala on his Roland all-digital polka-party accordion!
And today we wrapped it up with a 3-hour recording session here at Christy Studios with Bill Morrison on 6-string
Bill Morrison
and myself, getting tracks of my original tunes, words and music by Gene Christy, ready to get blog-i-fied! Boy, do I have my work cut out for me now! We recorded guide tracks and guitar tracks for no less than five numbers!—
1 Girl from the County Mayo
2 Tempest in a Teacup
3 Treasure from the Bounty of Time
4 Right, Lads, We’re the Dossers!
5 Tuesday Night
Look for all of these, and more, soon, on this blog, “Songs of a Coal Miner’s Son.”
Have another listen! While we’re waiting for me to finish that list!
______________ MAGGIE’S LAMENT
Words and music by Perry Daniels and Eileen Markland
Performed by Rakish Paddy
Perry Daniels on guitar and lead vocals, Eileen Markland on fiddle and back-up, and Gene Christy on Roland all-digital accordion
recorded on a TEAC VR-20 digital recorder!
So, as you see, I’m not the only one around here who can write a song! And if you didn’t listen all the way to the end—you missed a treat!—Eileen’s fiddle extravaganza on the theme of the Mason’s Apron!
Perry and Eileen
You can find Rakish Paddy at
http://www.rakishpaddyband.com/
And now for a special treat! Remember all those bands we listed last week? One of the features of our blog is to play you good listeners out there—2 versions –of the same song! Played years apart by widely-divergent bands in varied and contrasting settings!
Crazy, huh?
So, today we have the Black Velvet Band!
That’s the name of the tune, and also the name of the band! The backstory here is – – with Irish bands, the custom is to pick a well-known, famous, popular Irish melody—and name your band after it—so in the case of The Black Velvet Band, we picked one of the all-time most popular Irish sing-alongs, the story of that famous girl whose eyes shone like the diamonds—you’d think she was queen of the land!
By the way, Rakish Paddy is named after a fiddle-reel—–and the Ramblin’ Rovers were named after a humorous acapella tune by the Scots singer-songwriter Andy Stewart, of Silly Wizard fame!
So, here’s “The Black Velvet Band” done by The Black Velvet Band!
Listen to them now!
______________ THE BLACK VELVET BAND
by The Black Velvet Band
recorded at New England Sound, Milford, MA, 1989
Joyce McCartney, lead vocals-harmony vocals-tambourine,
Skip Hughes, baritone lead vocals and bass,
Bart Lee, lead guitar and harmony vocals,
Paul MacDonald, drums, lead vocals, harmony vocals,
and Gene Christy on the box
And here’s the very same tune, done not in a studio this time, but before a rollicking summer vacation crowd at Tom McGann’s Irish Enbassy pub’n’grub, Rte 28, Falmouth, MA—down on old Cape Cod—summer of 1988!
“Playing our hearts out and singing our asses off!” quote-unquote . . . who said that?–oh!–I did_!!
______________ THE BLACK VELVET BAND
Irish traditional
Lead Vocal by Bill McElaney of County Donegal on 6-string rhythm guitar, with Tom Neville on electric lead guitar and back-up vocals and Gene Christy on the box
performed here by The Ramblin’ Rovers
recorded live on analog tape 1988 on Cape Cod
transferred to digital by Mike Regan in 2005
enhanced into stereo by myself using Audacity 24 jul 2013
AND__lastly, but certainly not leastly—for this week—
We have none other than Eddie Dillon himself!
Eddie Dillon
Doing a classic Eddie Dillon number called
______________ I WISH SOMEBODY WOULD COME &
TAKE ME AWAY!
Words and music by Eddie Dillon
Vocal & guitar by Eddie Dillon
Gene Christy on the box
Recorded at Dillon Studios, Fairhaven, MA
__1991
You can find Eddie Dillon and a world of great music at
http://clancybrothersandtommymakem.com/ed_01.htm
And don’t forget, people, to go visit the websites, while you’re here, of our friends,
Bobby Sweet at
and Mountain Breeze at
http://berkshiremountainbreeze.com/pb/wp_a07f5f3f/wp_a07f5f3f.html
See you guys next week, same time, same station!
Fair thee well, Titanic!
songs of a coal miner’s son 7
=======================================
A BLOG FOR MUSIC-LOVERS
With Gene Christy & Rod MacDow
Have a listen!
______________ FOLSOM PRISON
by Johnny Cash
performed by Collins & Christy
at the Olde Heritage Tavern
recorded on Tascam digital recorder!
Thurs evening, Apr 18th__2013
Cam Collins
episode seven . . .
So—how many bands have I been in?
I asked myself—and do you know?—I did not know the answer!
Let me sit down and make a list. I love making a list—-laundry list, shopping list, Library list—-list of all the girls—never mind that one!
How do I play thee? Let me count the bands!
Did Elizabeth Barrett Browning ever say that to Robert Browning?
All I know is that a roving musician is like a roving gypsy. You play in every band you can for a day or a night or a decade or something approximating half a lifetime—if you’re lucky, or unlucky, employed or unemployed, working a day job, or wishing you had one—because when that phone rings –you never know what might happen if they stop calling—because that one time, you said, no, I can’t, I’d love to, but–.
Crazy, huh?
Have another listen! While we’re waiting for me to finish that list!
______________ RAMBLES OF SPRING
by Tommy Makem
Performed by 2/3 of Rakish Paddy
Eileen Markland on fiddle and Gene Christy on Roland all-digital accordion
recorded on a TEAC VR-20 digital recorder!
25th of JUL 2013 at The Shamrock, Rte 9, Dalton, MA
Eileen Markland !
So here’s the list: (alphabetical or chronological it’s not!)
1 The Black Velvet Band 1985 – 95
2 Collins & Christy 2012 – 13
3 Daniels & Christy 2006 – 10
4 Dillon & Christy 1989 -91
5 The Dossers 2005 – 13
6 Gene Christy & the Strangers 2006 – 07
7 The Pat Buckley Band 1989 – 93
8 Rakish Paddy 2013
9 The Ramblin’ Rovers 1985 – 95
10 Revel’s Glen 2007 – 08
11 Seanachie 1985 – 89
12 The United Irishmen 1980-84
13 Waterford Crystal 1980 – 85
14 Ipadras 1972 – 74
15 The Eddie Dillon Band 1989 -91
That many?????
Crazy, huh?
Eddie Dillon !!
(btw–don’t miss Eddie Dillon’s website! Click on the link below!)
http://clancybrothersandtommymakem.com/ed_01.htm
Listen to this!
__________________EDDIE’S REEL
performed by
Eddie Dillon – who composed it – on acoustic six-string playing melody lead & rhythm
and Gene Christy on 1956 Excelsior 120-bass acoustic accordion playing melody lead and back-up
Recorded at Dillon Studios, Fairhaven, MA, 1991
What if I were to list the day jobs I held while I was doing all this? Okay, let’s say, warehouseman, Flying Tiger Lines, Logan Airport, Graduate Teaching Assistant, freshmen comp., URI, South County, Rhode Island, Supervisor, Kayfoam-Woolfson, Dublin, Ireland, Wimpy Bar manager, Soho, London, ESL Teacher, Tripoli, Libya, Radio DJ, Tripoli, Libya, GED Teacher, Lawrence, Ma, Scheduling Director, Merrimack Paper Company, Lawrence, Real Estate Vice-President Commercial Dept, Boston, LPN, Lawrence, Northampton and Great Barrington—-did I mention that I spent time as a Licensed Real Estate salesperson, a Licensed Cinema Projectionist, and – a donut-maker? How about supermarket cashier? Big and small, I did them all.
The BEATLES at Suffolk Downs, 1966
And in the meantime, my two daughters, Aisling and Tara, graduated from UCD, Dublin, and Harvard University, Cambridge.
Aisling in 1969
And I wrote a book of poems entitled This Storied House –one of the poems from that book, entitled “The Formidable Aeneas,” is scheduled to be published in the next issue of Classical Outlook, the journal of the Classics Department of the University of Miami in Ohio—in case you’re wondering, what ever did I do with that Master’s Degree in English that I got, once upon a time?
And now that I’m retired – – I’m keeping busy writing my first novel – 18 chapters in first draft are completed at this point . . .
Wish me luck! Only took me 35 years to finish that book of poems!
Would I trade it for anyone else’s life in music? Not a bit. I was never a star – – never a “success” – – I was a role-player. A back-up guy.
I spent ten years in The Black Velvet Band, and made plenty of money, which I used to send my daughters to expensive schools, and never sang but one tune with them in all those years. They had four other wonderful harmony vocalists in that band, so they didn’t need me to do anything but play the box!
Listen to them now!
______________ COME WITH ME, MOLLY! MEDLEY
by The Black Velvet Band
recorded at New England Sound, Milford, MA 1989
Joyce McCartney, lead vocals-harmony vocals-tambourine,
Skip Hughes, baritone lead vocals and bass,
Bart Lee, lead guitar and harmony vocals,
Paul MacDonald, drums, lead vocals, harmony vocals,
and Gene Christy on the box
One thing this blog is—it’s real. We’re not making stuff up here. We’re not blowing things out of proportion or doing a puff-piece. We’re just a bunch of guys—that’s all – –
A bunch of guys WHO LOVE TO PLAY!
There’s a place for American Idol, there’s a place for Top Forty, there’s a place for Brian Mathews’ Top o’ the Pops. There’s room for all! Which of us would trade the hours of listening that enriched our lives, provided by the soundtrack of our lives, performed live and in studio, by Dylan, Chuck Berry, Buddy Holly, the Beatles, the Stones, Elvis Presley, Smoky Robinson, Van Morrison, Marvin Gaye, Pete Seeger, Michael Jackson, Peter, Paul and Mary, on and on . . . ? Ray Charles???? Woody Guthrie!!! None of us! We love them! We do their tunes! They were and are truly stars in our firmament.
But guys like us were down at the grass roots.
Playing our hearts out and singing our asses off.
______________ DUBLIN IN THE RARE OULD TIMES
Words and music by Pete St John
Vocal by Gene Christy
Eileen Markland on fiddle
Christy on the box
at The Shamrock, Rte 9, Dalton, MA
recorded on a TEAC VR-20 digital recorder!
Thurs evening, July 25th__2013
Gene Christy
songs of a coal miner’s son 6
=======================================
A BLOG FOR MUSIC-LOVERS
With Gene Christy & Rod MacDow
Have a listen!
UNCHAINED MELODY
Déjà vu
at the Berkshire Mall, Lanesboro, MA
recorded on a TEAC VR-20 digital recorder!
Friday evening, Aug 2nd__2013
episode six . . .
Had the marvelous opportunity last week of making the acquaintance of one of the Berkshires’ favorite rock bands, Déjà vu.
Puggy Demary
Déjà vu is a trio comprised of Puggy Demary on bass and lead vocals, David Grover on lead guitar and vocals, and Mike Sacco on drums and vocals—and they are nothing less than outstanding. The night I saw them John Zarvis was sitting in for David Grover. These guys have a well-deserved following in Berkshire County.
Mike Sacco
Coming here eight years ago, from Boston—I’m still a newcomer. But I hope to have Mike Sacco on a recorded interview one day soon on this blog to fill us in on the last 30 or 40 years of pop music, clubs, shows and dances. From what I’ve heard, there was a lot going on that I have missed! Isn’t that always the way, gang? Seems like life is what happens while we’re making other plans!
John Zarvis
Last Friday night, the boys were doing a benefit for a deserving non-profit outfit called The Berkshire Carousel—and I was amazed to be there, taking pictures, because those hand-carved, hand-painted carousel horses, produced by the volunteer members, as a contribution to the children, and the cultural life, of the Berkshires, are something to behold! Take a look at these pictures__
And visit their website, by clicking on the link below:
http://www.berkshirecarousel.com/BerkshireCarousel/Berkshire_Carousel.html
Maria, the Director
It’s truly awe-inspiring what the American people can do when they put their mind to it! I hope to have Maria Caccaviello, the Director of the Berkshire Carousel organization, also interviewed on this website soon, to tell us more about the valuable work they are doing, and how we can all help, so stay tuned. In the meantime, cruise on over to their website, and watch their amazing video, “Impossible!”
Meanwhile, here’s Déjà vu again!
HELPLESSLY HOPING
Déjà vu
at the Berkshire Mall, Lanesboro, MA
recorded on a TEAC VR-20 digital recorder!
Friday evening, Aug 2nd__2013
To continue with the overall theme of history-in-the-making of this blog, Songs of a Coal Miner’s Son, where we swing back and forth from now to then and sashay round to full circle in the end . . .
Perry and Eileen
Let’s take a step back to just a couple of weeks ago, with Rakish Paddy playing The Shamrock in Dalton__Perry Daniels on lead vocal, with Eileen Markland on fiddle, and myself, Gene Christy, on the big red Roland all-digital accordion backing them up, on a tune called “The Ferryman”__with a couple of additional reels on fiddle tagged onto the end by Eileen! Listen up!
THE FERRYMAN
at The Shamrock, Rte 9, Dalton, MA
recorded on a TEAC VR-20 digital recorder!
Eileen!
. . . and now let’s skip back a few years, to 1988, down on Cape Cod – – and this time you’re listening to a band called The Ramblin’ Rovers, with Billy Mac on lead vocals and 6-string, myself, aka as “Christy on the Box,” and Tom Neville, on vocals and electric guitar, doing a well-known Irish tune called “The Wild Rover”__aka “No, Nay, Never!”
Have a listen!
NO, NAY, NEVER! (THE WILD ROVER)
Irish Traditional performed here by The Ramblin’ Rovers
recorded live on analog tape 1988 on Cape Cod
transferred to digital by Mike Regan in 2005
enhanced into stereo by myself using Audacity 24 jul 2013
and the rest, as Billy Mac says, is history!
Now let’s take the same ingredients, scramble ‘em up, put ‘em back together, two weeks ago, in 2013! in Dalton, at The Shamrock – – and this time you’re listening to
THE VERY SAME SONG!
with myself, Gene Christy, on lead vocal and Roland digital accordion, backed up by the magnificent Eileen Markland, on fiddle,
Have a listen!
NO, NAY, NEVER! (THE WILD ROVER)
Irish Traditional
That’s me, Gene Christy!
And don’t forget, people, to go visit the websites, while you’re here, of our friends,
Bobby Sweet at
Bobby Sweet
Once there, you can learn more about this amazing artist, and I recommend his 2013 album,
Cowboys and Poets
And, of course, Rakish Paddy, at
http://www.rakishpaddyband.com/
Tune in next week! Same time, same station!
songs of a coal miner’s son 5
=======================================
A BLOG FOR MUSIC-LOVERS
EPISODE 5 With Gene Christy & Rod MacDow
Have a listen! JUST CLICK ON THE ARROW!
LEAVIN’ OF LIVERPOOL
Irish Traditional
episode five . . .
Just got a phone call on my cell. It’s Eileen Markland, beautiful blonde fiddler of the Berkshires’ best-known Irish pub-band, Rakish Paddy, where Eileen shares the stage with lead singer Perry Daniels—it seems Perry has to be late for the gig at The Shamrock in Dalton, tomorrow night. So, Eileen called me! Could I fill in for a set? I sure could!
Well, gang, that was last Wednesday night . . and then came the Thursday following. And here’s Eileen herself, with her reaction: (and I quote)–
I love love love loved this past weekend! Highlights:
1. Bob’s amazing wings at The Shamrock Restaurant & Pub and breaking it down with Gene Christy!
Don’t believe it? Well, just listen to this:
DENIS MURPHY’S / JOHN RYAN’S
a pair of traditional Irish reels
performed here by Eileen Markland of Rakish Paddy on fiddle
plus The Dossers’ own Gene Christy on Roland all-digital piano-accordion
at The Shamrock, 645 Main Street, Rte 9, Dalton, MA
recorded on a TEAC VR-20 digital recorder!
fiddlers: you can find the sheet music in O’Neill’s big yellow book called “Music of Ireland” . . .
FOR MORE ON EILEEN, PERRY AND THEIR BAND, RAKISH PADDY, Click on the link below:
http://www.rakishpaddyband.com/
to continue our theme of history-in-the-making, where we swing back and forth from now to then and sashay round to full circle in the end . . .
. . . here’s what we sounded like back a few years ago doing a show at the ski resort in Killington, Vermont, on stage with Billy Mac and Geoff Roman and their band, Revel’s Glen, in 2008 (Billy Mac = lead singer, Bill McElaney, from Donegal) . . .
ON THE VERY SAME SONG AS THE ONE AT THE TOP OF TODAY’S BLOG!
Have a listen! AND COMPARE!
LEAVIN’ OF LIVERPOOL
Irish Traditional
performed here by Revel’s Glen plus The Dossers
on stage in Killington, Vermont, 2008
recorded on Sony SX-25 digital recorder
and the rest, as Billy Mac says, is history!
Now let’s take the same ingredients, scramble ‘em up, put ‘em back in 1988, down on Cape Cod – – and this time you’re listening to a band called The Ramblin’ Rovers, with Billy Mac on lead vocals and 6-string, myself, aka as “Christy on the Box,” and the incredible, tall, young, good-lookin’ girl-magnet, Tom Neville himself, on vocals and electric guitar!
And out of the audience steps the “UNKNOWN STRANGER”
who asks Bill Mac, can he borrow his guitar—as Bill had said he was stepping down from the stage for a moment to visit the loo or smoke a cigarette or something,
and the “UNKNOWN STRANGER”
proceeds to sing this – – – !!!!
Have a listen!
BLACK WATER
The Doobies . . .
performed here by The Ramblin’ Rovers
recorded live on analog tape 1988 on Cape Cod
transferred to digital by Mike Regan in 2005
enhanced into stereo by myself using Audacity 24 jul 2013
All this was nothing in comparison to the highlight of the weekend, by far, which was none other than
Old friend
Bobby Sweet
Friday night . . . at the Dreamaway Lodge, in Becket, MA, in the beauty of a Berkshires summer evening, with Abe Guthrie, Arlo’s boy, on keyboards, playing a wicked left-hand bass-line on a Yamaha, and Andy Crawford on drums . . .
Abe Guthrie
I have pictures! But I did not record anything of the evening—
Andy Crawford
Much preferable to me recording Bobby live on a TEAC VR-20 is for you to go yourself to Bobby Sweet’s own website! Click on the link below:
Once there, you can learn more about this amazing artist, and I recommend his latest album, from earlier in 2013,
COWBOYS AND POETS
Or my personal favorite album of Bobby’s DAYS ROLL BY
Just listen to “Valley Road,” or “Conquest,” or “Sailors,” all from the latter album – – and you, too, will become a Bobby Sweet fan . .
Tune in next week! Same time, same station!
PEACE . . LOVE . . OUT! gene christy!
songs of a coal miner’s son 4
episode 4=================
A BLOG FOR MUSIC-LOVERS
With Gene Christy & Rod MacDow
Have a listen! remember–just click on the ARROW!
LIGHTS OF DUBLIN
Words & music by Gene Christy
recorded at Christy Studios, Pittsfield, MA
May 7th to the 14th, 2013
the lineup: gene christy on lead vocals and acoustic accordion–bill morrison on rhythm guitar–cam collins on lead guitar–and my sister Janet on backup vocals
episode four . . .
. . . So – – how do ya like our blog so far!
Hard to believe this is our 4th posting already! How the time goes when you’re having a blast!
Now a blogger I am not, and never have been. But when good-buddy Rod MacDow came up with this latest of his grand notions, I jumped right on it because right now I seem to be peaking out on the music curve. You know how life has several strands, all intertwined? Right now, the music feels good, the song-writing is flowing, I’ve hit the straightaway on Highway 8.
And the nice thing is, we can bop back and forth between now and then! Because I’ve got music dating back 40 years at fingertip control, thanks to the magic of the modern laptop, and I like nothing better than kicking back and comparing, say, what the Black Velvet Band used to be able to do with a five-piece Irish showband on a Boston stage—compared to the Pat Buckley Band playing the Beachcomber at Salisbury Beach.
So, to introduce all you listeners out there in blogger-land to The Concept, here’s what we sounded like this past week–.
Have a listen!
TUESDAY NIGHT Words & music by Gene Christy
recorded live at Portsmitt’s Lakeway Restaurant, Tuesday night, 16 July, 2013 on a TEAC VR-20 digital recorder
the lineup: gene christy on lead vocal and Roland all-digital accordion, bill morrison on 6-string and backup vocals, good-lookin’ ricky marquis on banjo . . .
The Dossers are, L to R, Rick Marquis on vocals, banjo, and mandolin, Gene Christy on vocals and Roland all-digital accordion, and Bill Morrison, on vocals and rhythm guitar
. . . and here’s what we sounded like back a few years ago doing a show at the ski resort in Killington, Vermont, on stage with Billy Mac and Geoff Roman and their band, Revel’s Glen, in 2007 (Billy Mac is just a nickname I used to employ for lead singer, Bill McElaney, from Donegal, and it fit his personality!) . . .
Have a listen!
LONG BLACK VEIL
the Johnny Cash number . . .
performed here by Revel’s Glen plus The Dossers
on stage in Killington, Vermont, 2008
recorded on Sony SX-25 digital recorder
L to R Bill Morrison, Gene Christy, and Billy Mac at the Inn at the Long Trail in Killington in 2008
and the rest, as Billy Mac says, is history!
Now let’s take the same ingredients, scramble ‘em up, put ‘em back in 1988, down on Cape Cod – – and this time you’re listening to a band called The Ramblin’ Rovers, with Billy Mac on lead vocals and 6-string, myself, aka as “Christy on the Box,” and the incredible, tall, young, good-lookin’ girl-magnet, Tom Neville himself, on vocals and electric guitar!
Have a listen!
WILD ROVER
Irish Traditional . . .
performed here by The Ramblin’ Rovers
recorded live on analog tape 1988 on Cape Cod
transferred to digital by Mike Regan in 2005
enhanced into stereo by myself using Audacity on 24 jul 2013
Hope you have enjoyed this week’s installment. The ongoing saga continues! Just got a phone call on my cell. It’s Eileen Markland, beautiful blonde fiddler of the Berkshires’ best-known Irish pub-band, Rakish Paddy, where Eileen shares the stage with lead singer Perry Daniels—it seems Perry has to be late for the gig at The Shamrock in Dalton, tomorrow night. So, Eileen called me! Could I fill in for a set? I sure could! See what happens when you’re sliding in a slipstream?—or did Van Morrison already say that? Looks like I’m gigging tomorrow night! I’ll be sure to bring along the camera and the recorder!–which has recently been provided by good-buddy blog-partner Rod MacDow–a TEAC VR-20 digital unit that records beautiful mp3s, in stereo!–and is only as big as a thumb-drive on your laptop! Tune in next week for the results!
“But when Tuesday night rolls around, And you’re the only show in town . . . !
songs of a coal miner’s son 3
=======================================
A BLOG FOR MUSIC-LOVERS
With Gene Christy & Rod MacDow
Have a listen!
to listen to HIGHWAY 8
Just click on the Blue Song Title!
Words & music by Gene Christy
episode three . .
So! Where to begin?
It would be nice to begin at the beginning . .
So, when was that?strong>
gene christy at nine months in 1947
Was it back at the old Tripoli Fairgrounds, in the North African city, capital of Libya, in 1973, when I first heard the strange sounds of the opening power chords of Deep Purple’s “Smoke on the Water,” emanating from an empty pavilion on the deserted fairgrounds with the locked gates?
Believe it or not, those electric guitar chords, played with such fervent intensity by a teenager who had to be no more than high school age, in the last place on earth where you would expect to hear them, right under Colonel Ghaddafi’s nose—-lead directly to me forming the first band I could honestly call my own—“Ipadras” . . .
. . . a little older here . . .!!
my daughter Tara Roisin, born in Tripoli in 1974!
Or was it that night in Dublin, Ireland, in 1972, when I went to a well-known sing-a-long pub in Clanbrassil Street with friends, and the Irish lads on stage heard there was a Yank in the audience—and myself, having had a few by that time, climbed up on stage, thinking I’d stump them with a song from my home town of Boston, Massachusetts, first made famous long before that by the Kingston Trio—called “Charlie on the MTA?” Need I say that I failed to stump the Dublin men with “Charlie?” So, thinking, for certain, they wouldn’t have heard the old-time American labor-struggle ballad, “Joe Hill,” I tried that one. They knew both of them cold!
As for myself, I would have to say that was the very first time I sang in public—and if it hadn’t been for the Guinness, that wouldn’t have happened, either.
How did I ever get to Ireland?–ask Cathy!
I had been in bands before. I would have to go back to about the time when I had just turned 15, and I snuck out of the house one night, telling my mother the guys in the pick-up truck, who had hooted the horn outside our back door, were going to take me to a practice session, at their house, up on Forest Street, outside of town. Actually, we went to play a gig at the Stardust Lounge on Rte 28, in Reading, Massachusetts. That was oh, 1961 or maybe ‘62, and I was a sophomore in high school, at Tenney High, in Methuen. I had got the gig because my accordion teacher, at Metro Music, down on Common Street, in Lawrence, who was Jerry Bellanti, and who was just seventeen himself, had recently enlisted in the service, and departed for boot camp just the week before—and I was the next accordion player coming up. And so, at 15, I find myself sitting at the bar in the Stardust Lounge, drinking a ginger ale when we took a break, staring at the bar mirror, where a red electric guitar, on the tiny one-step stage behind me was resting, between sets, on a guitar stand—and I grabbed a bar-napkin and wrote down the first words that came into my head—because it occurred to me that the red guitar was shaped just like a beautiful girl, with long hair cascading down over her shoulder, and a slim waist, and full hips . . .
Guess I was one of those kids in high school!
Click that song title, baby!
Well, I would have to say that – the correct answer is – none of the above.
I would have to go all the way back to 1953.
One day the front door bell rang at No. 45 Payson Street, in Revere, just outside of Boston—we were living at that time just about a mile or mile and a half from the Revere Beach that you’ve heard of—the one immortalized in song and story by newspapers and magazine writers and novelists, too, as the Coney Island of Boston. And in those days, it certainly was. They had just extended the subway line from Boston, that very year, all the way out to Wonderland Park, the dog track in Revere. Every weekend all summer long crowds of up to 100,000 people used to flock to Revere Beach, to try to beat the heat, and the subway line being extended was a boon to the Beach, and the visitors—car traffic on the Revere Beach Parkway would be bumper-to-bumper, coming and going.
Those were the days when the only air-conditioning in town was at the show, where they would dangle a longish sign from the bottom of the marquee, with the words “Air-Conditioned” dripping with frost and snow-flakes.
Not everybody had a car in those days My father used to walk to work at Page’s Carpentry shop, off Broadway in Revere.
They used to sell music lessons door-to-door in those days.
That’s right. They would send a drummer (and I don’t mean the Gene Krupa kind) door-to-door, peddling lessons, like the Fuller Brush Man—who also used to come to our house, regularly—or the life insurance man, who would sit at our kitchen table and be given a cup of coffee by my mother–or Dr Graham, from Beach Street, down at the end of our street—who would make house-calls, and even come to dinner with us!—supper, I should say—we weren’t the kind who had “dinner.” Supper was good enough for us, and more than likely—it was pastavazoule—again!
I would definitely have to say—that was the first time I ever heard of an accordion.
I was standing behind my mother when she opened the door. I was seven years old, and trying to peek around her to see the man who was saying to her, “Why don’t you start him out on the accordion?—it’s easy—and he can go from there.”
. . on stage at age 9 . . that’s me, 2nd from the right . . . Jerry Bellanti is the tall kid next to me!
More than fifty years later, just recently, at Portsmitt’s, here in Pittsfield, where me and the boys play every Tuesday night—only 150 miles from Revere Beach—but in the intervening time, I guess I’ve changed, just like the Beach has—well, one night, a member of our audience said to me, looking over the 120 bass-buttons on the left hand side of my squeezebox, “That’s looks so hard to play! How do you know which buttons to press?”
I quickly agreed. “Listen,” I said. “it’s wicked hard. Lemme tell you—Beethoven couldn’t play one of these things!”
. . gc . . this week . . at Portsmitt’s in Pittsfield!
. . with my partner, Rick Marquis, aka as “Good-Lookin’ Ricky!”
. . and last but certainly not least, best-buddy Bill Morrison . . he plays a mighty good 6-string!
Gene Christy and his Excelsior
songs of a coal miner’s son 2
=======================================
A BLOG FOR MUSIC-LOVERS
With Gene Christy & Rod MacDow
Have a listen!
BAR-BAND BLUES
BAR-BAND BLUES . . to listen to this track, just click on the
BLUE TITLE above . .
AND DON’T FORGET TO VOTE ON IT!
episode two . .
Promised myself – – and you! – – no revisions! Shoot from the lip!
Not hard to do on the heels of a great night of music at The Olde Heritage Tavern, in Lenox, in the beautiful Berkshires, on a gorgeous evening in June, when Cam Collins and I played for a mob of raffling locals numbering, oh, we tried to estimate, 150?—to 180—maybe as high as 200—emceed by DJ Brian Slater of LIVE 95.9 – FM in Pittsfield, and Sue Merritt of the Lenox Fitness Center, who were raising a lot of money for – cancer research. Wasn’t that a party! They were inside and out—on the outdoor patio–and we played two lo-o-o-ng sets, from 8 pm to well past eleven. All in a good cause. Thanks to our friend and best fan, Bill, who requested and received our rendition of Lowell George’s “Dixie Chicken,” on accordion and guitar! with vocals by me—and it sounded good!—Cam had me turned way up, and I was able to bend that blue note on a high E-flat in the key of F—love that song! First did that way back in 1990-91 or thereabouts, in a foursome with Eddie Dillon, Alfie O’Shea, and Texas Sam Tyler, on electric lead guitar—a Sunday pick-up band, we used to do the 4 – 8 o’clock slot in the L-shaped room upstairs at Tom McGann’s, outside Brockton, before the evening’s featured act came on—more about that line-up, later, or as we say in Boston—latah, man!
(See the tune at the top!—it was inspired by Texas Sam!—something he said . . )
Indeed, as we go along, we’ve got so much to talk about—bands down through the years—places we played, and friends we made—sometimes it’s hard to keep from going on and on, there’s so much to recall and remember and the list keeps getting longer—
RICKY & GENE
So, for today’s episode, I would like to call on none other than Ray Davies himself—I’m a card-carrying member of the Ray Davies cult—who has put it into words so much better than I could . . .
BILL MORRISON
See, I was trying to think of just what this blog is about, and how to explain it to the man from Mars, if the occasion should arise.
And then I found an article in print from a couple of years back, when Ray Davies was running his mind along a parallel track with mine—thinking of the past, and what it all added up to, what—did it really mean?—and he said, and I quote, (from Uncut Magazine, UK, 2012 special edition “Ultimate Guide to the Kinks”)
“So I think it’s time to reappraise. And I’m just rediscovering a lot of that stuff. It’s great to have “Sunny Afternoon” and “You Really Got Me,” but the value of the unheard work is still to be discovered. I’m educating myself on it now. I’m discovering the value of all the stuff I’ve put out so far, and the body of work which defines me, to a degree.
I don’t really have to write another song for the rest of my life. I’ve got a backlog of them to be finished . . . The Kinks’ legacy is like living in an imaginary manor house, with the statues and the pictures on the wall of people in ancient times who you’re descended from . . . but the reality of it is, I treat all my past as mates. I say, ‘If I screw up on the next song, they’ll understand.’ I’m still growing, still emerging. Still a young lad. Not fearing the future, and not ashamed of the past . . . It’s important to keep searching. I’ve done this for 48 years,and every day I get up and say, “I wish I had time to make an album.”
The value of the unheard work is still to be discovered . . . precisely.
And that’s what this is all about.
(Like I always say – – steal from the best!)
Which brings us to good buddy Rick Marquis—
GOOD-LOOKIN’ RICKY!
The banjo player in our band, The Dossers . . .
And what is a dosser, say you?
Well, for those who know, no explanation needed. For those who don’t—it’s a slang term I picked up in Dublin.
But it would be silly to try to define it in words, as we’ve written a whole song about it—and we’ve been playing it, to the amusement of ourselves and others, for the last six years. And one of these days we’ll get around to making a decent recording of it!
Till then, there’s always rock n roll accordion!
That very same good-lookin’ Ricky mentioned above, just today sent me an email reading,
“Hot Rock & Roll on an accordion, Gracie???? Ummm, ahhh, uhhhh, okay!”
Here’s our answer—Cam Collins on vocal and guitar, Gene Christy on the box—recorded in April, this year.
BROKE-DOWN ENGINE to listen to this track, just click
on the BLUE TITLE above . .
See alla youz next time!
gchristy99 