If it hadn't been for this discussion I wouldn't have gone searching through old cassettes and found the recording I wanted - Joe playing Sliabh na m'bhan at Rock Nab (Ron Purvis's house) at a house session in the early 1980s. Andy learned to play it and is pretty close to the way Joe played it then.
I have another cassette tape of 18 tunes which Joe made for me in 1981 to go alongside my 3rd year dissertation at York. I asked him to record something that showed the range of his repertoire. It contains a smattering of Scottish tunes and one or two hornpipes of distinctly Irish origin. There are some unusual offerings including The Queen's Welcome to Invercauld, and My Home (played in A rather than G) - I suspect to prove that nsp can be played in keys other than G and D major. I shall do some serious listening tonight! Margaret -----Original Message----- From: lute-...@cs.dartmouth.edu [mailto:lute-...@cs.dartmouth.edu] On Behalf Of Anthony Robb Sent: 09 February 2010 11:20 To: nsp; julia....@nspipes.co.uk Subject: [NSP] Re: Sliabh na m'bhan (was Gaelic Pronunciation) On 6th Feb Julia Say wrote: That's interesting, Margaret. I remember Joe's views on both Irish music in Northumberland, and on Billy Pigg and his playing, from conversations with him in the early 90s, at the Rothbury course, at Alnwick, and from playing bass with him and Will & Will in sessions. As a result I am mildly surprised that he played it. Hello Julia & Margaret, Sorry to be so tardy replying to this. I hope people aren't given the wrong impression about Joe by this posting. I think the distinction has to be made between style and music. People who knew Joe well would be amused by the suggestion that he had something against Irish music per se. True the Irish style was not attractive to him (and others) as it was too fast and flowing and lacking the bounce needed to satisfy a Ranting community. Jigs had similar problems. Having said that, many tunes of Irish origin were very successfully adapted to become well used favourites. Saddle the Pony & Blackthorn Stick to name but two. Hornpipes were the common ground here and Joe played some great Irish ones, Stack of Wheat, Greencastle etc. To be fair the same problems existed with some of the well known Scottish bands. Their reels tended to be "unRantable" and their waltzes and polkas tended to drag as far as Northumbrian dancers were concerned. If Scottish bands couldn't adapt their style to suit they didn't get a return gig! As Jimmy Little said recently, "to really know about our music you have to live amongst it"! As aye Anthony -- To get on or off this list see list information at http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html
