The Vinyl Graveyard
Compiling the discography reinforced my feeling that there are many classic LPs of traditional Irish music which ought to be re-issued in CD format. Keen enthusiasts can always try and hunt down such vinyl at collectors’ fairs or on auction sites such as eBay, but certain labels (Topic springs to mind) have become very collectible and prices have rocketed over the last few years. Additionally, many music lovers do not possess a turntable and, as far as I am aware, there is no website dedicated to supplying rare traditional music albums in MP3 format legally (though there’s at least a couple which do so without any consideration of copyright).
An alternative might be to place pressure on labels to release more of their “lost” back catalogue, but these will only respond favourably if it can be demonstrated that such action would be profitable. However, many labels have disappeared and others have been absorbed by multinationals which have lost track of the whereabouts of original masters – the recordings of EMI (Ireland) and Philips spring to mind and many Polydor mastertapes disappeared in a fire at the label’s pressing plant in 1982. Another possibility might be for interested individuals to license the release of particular albums from a record company, but this is time-consuming, can be costly and, in some cases, seems to involve an endless series of blind alleys.
Any thoughts on this matter would be welcome – ‘vg @ irishmusicreview.com’ – remove the spaces either side of the ‘@’ symbol. In the interim, here’s a personal wish list of missing albums. I appreciate that some of these were also issued on cassette, but if any actually have been re-released as CDs, please do let me know. The list is also getting notably shorter thanks to some very welcome reissues over the last couple of years.
·
Aengus (Tara)
·
Aileach (EMI)
· Aileach – Ard Rí (EMI)
·
John Bowe and
Mary Conroy (Inchecronin)
·
Eddie Butcher
– Shamrock, Rose and Thistle (Leader)
·
Bobby Casey –
Taking Flight (Mulligan)
·
Bobby Casey,
Junior Crehan, John Kelly, Patrick Kelly and Joe Ryan – Ceol an Chlár (CCÉ)
·
Robert
Cinnamond – You Rambling Boys of Pleasure (Topic)
· Seán Corcoran, Maighread Ní Dhomhnaill, Maeve Donnelly and Eddie Clarke – Sailing into Walpole’s Marsh (Green Linnet)
· Paddy Cronin – Kerry’s Own (Outlet)
· De Dannan – Banks of the Nile (Decca)
· Johnny Doherty (CCÉ)
· John Doherty – Pedlar’s Pack (English Folk Dance and Song Society)
· Geordie Hanna Sings (Eagran)
· Peter Horan, Fred Finn – Music of Sligo (CCÉ)
· Seán Keane – Fiddle and Viola (Ogham)
· Le Cheile – Aris (Inchecronin)
· Le Cheile – Lord Mayo (Standfast and Inchecronin)
·
Brendan
McGlinchey – Music of a Champion (Silver Hill)
·
Dinny
McLaughlin – A Rake o’ Reels and a Clatter o’ Jigs (Robin)
·
Kevin
Mitchell – Free and Easy (Topic)
· Muintir Catháin (Gael Linn)
· Máire Áine Ní Dhonnchadha – Deora Aille (Claddagh)
· Aodh Ó Duibhennaigh (Gael Linn)
· Liam O’Flynn (WEA)
· Seosamh Ó hÉanaí (Gael Linn)
· Tommy Peoples – An Exciting Session with ... (CCÉ)
· Jimmy Power with Josephine Keegan – Fifty-Odd Years (Tompo)
· Jimmy Power, Tony Ledwith, Tom Power, Paul Gross and Reg Hall – Irish Music from The Favourite (Leader)
· Joe Ryan and Eddie Clarke – Crossroads (Green Linnet)
· Roger Sherlock – Memories of Sligo (Inchecronin)
· Séamus Tansey – Traditional Music of County Sligo (Outlet)
· Séamus Tansey with Eddie Corcoran, Reg Hall and Paul Gross (Leader)
· Paddy Taylor – The Boy in the Gap (Claddagh)
· Mick Woods – A Tribute to McKenna (Inchecronin)
· Various – An Fhidil 1 & 2 (Gael Linn)
· Various – Irish Music in London Pubs (Smithsonian Folkways)
· Various – Singing Men of Ulster (Green Linnet)