IRISH SONGS COUNTRY STYLE
(RCA Victor LSP-2801)
January/1964
Produced by Chet Atkins
Grady Martin, Jerry Kennedy, Ray Edenton - guitar
Bob Moore - bass
Buddy Harman - drums
Floyd Cramer - piano
Strings:
Booker Rowe, George Binkley, Brenton Banks, Cecil Brower, Lillian Hunts
Vocals:
The Jordanaires (Winifred Breast, Hoyt Hawkins, Neal Matthews, Gordon Stoker, Raymond Walker)
Recorded:
Oct/1963, RCA Victor Studio, Nashville
1.
OLD BOG ROAD
(Madeleine O'Farelly - Teresa Brayton)
« © '63 WB Music, ASCAP »
My feet are here on Broadway this blessed harvest morn
But oh the ache that's in them for the spot where I was born
My weary hands are blistered from work in cold and heat
But oh to swing a scythe once more through a field of Irish wheat
Had I the chance to wander back or own a king's abode
I'd sooner see the hawthorn tree by the Old Bog Road
My mother died last springtime when Erin's fields were green
The neighbours said her waking was the finest ever seen
There were snowdrops and primroses I layed beside her bed
And Ferns Church was crowded when her funeral mass was said
But here was I on Broadway just building bricks per load
When they carried out her coffin down the old Bog Road
Now life's a weary puzzle past finding out by man
I'll take the day for what it's worth and do the best I can
Since no one cares a rush for me why need is there to moan
I'll go my way and draw my pay and smoke my pipe alone
Each weary heart must bear its grief though bitter be the load
So God be with ol' Ireland and the Old Bog Road
**********
2.
TOO-RA-LOO-RA-LOO-RAL (THAT'S AN IRISH LULLABY)
(James R. Shannon)
« © '63 WB Music, ASCAP »
Over in Kelarny many years ago
My mother sang a song to me in tone so sweet and low
Just a simple little bitty in her good old Irish way
And I'd give the world if she could sing that song to me this day
Too ra loo ra loo ral too ra loo ra loi too ra loo ra loo ral hush now don't you cry
Too ra loo ra loo ral too ra loo ra loo loi too ra loo ra loo ral that's an Irish lullaby
Often in dreams I wonder to that cut again
I feel her arms a huggin' me as when she held me then
And I hear her voice a hummin' to me as in days of yore
When she used to rock me fast asleep outside the cabin door
Too ra loo ra...
**********
3.
DANNY DEAR
(Frederick O'Donovan)
« © '63 Surrey Music, ASCAP »
Daddy was a handsome lad close on seventeen
And every girl he met was mad to be Danny's queen
Danny dear oh Danny dear Danny don't be cold
Now's the time for loving dear not when we grow old
First came Kate and then came Sue and after her came Jane
And each girl in her turn would sing to Danny this refrain
Danny dear oh Danny dear...
[ piano ]
But Danny was the roving kind and he would not stay
In the arms of any girl even when she'd say
Danny dear oh Danny dear...
Then one day he met a girl as fair as any rose
And Danny's roving days were done for she made him propose
Aileen dear oh Aileen dear Aileen don't be cold
Now's the time for loving dear not when we grow old
**********
4.
IF WE ONLY HAD OLD IRELAND OVER HERE
(Fallon)
« © '63 Writer Share, PD »
I was dreaming of old Ireland and Killarneys lakes and dells
I was dreaming of the shamrock and the dear old Shandon Bells
When my memories suggested in a vision bright and clear
All the strange things that would happen if we had old Ireland here
If the Blarney stone stood out on Sidney Harbor
And Dublin Town to Melbourne came to stay
If the Shannon River joined the Brisbane Waters
And Killarneys lakes flowed into Botany Bay
If the Shandon Bells rang out in old Fremantle
And County Cork in Adelaide did appear
Erin's sons would never roam all the boys would stay at home
If we only had old Ireland over here
[ piano ]
There were lots of lovely fairies dancin' on the village green
There are lots of lovely coleens the finest ever seen
Where the boys were all called Paddy and the girls called Molly Dear
Sure we'd wrap the green flag round them if we had old Ireland here
If the Shandon Bells rang out in old Fremantle...
If we only had old Ireland over here
**********
5.
I'LL TAKE YOU HOME AGAIN KATHLEEN
(Thomas P. Westendorf)
« © '55 Songs Of Universal, BMI »
I'll take you home again Kathleen across the ocean wild and wide
To where your heart has ever been since first you were my bunny bride
The roses all have left your cheek I watch them fade away and die
Your voice is sad whatever you speak and tears bedim your loving eyes
Oh I will take you back Kathleen to where your heart will feel no pain
And when the fields are fresh and green I'll take you to your home Kathleen
**********
6.
MY WILD IRISH ROSE
(Chauncey Olcott)
« © '58 WB Music, ASCAP »
My wild Irish Rose the sweetest flower that grows
You may search everywhere but none can compare with my wild Irish Rose
My wild Irish Rose the dearest flower that grows
And someday for my sake she may let me take the bloom from my wild Irish Rose
(My wild Irish Rose the sweetest flower that grows)
[ strings ]
My wild Irish Rose...
**********
7.
DANNY BOY
(Fred Weatherly)
« © '53 Boosey & Hawkes Music, ASCAP »
Oh Danny Boy the pipes the pipes are calling
From glen to glen and down the mountain side
The summer's gone and all the roses falling
It's you it's you must go and I must bide
But come ye back when summer's in the meadow
Or when the valleys hushed and white with snow
Yes I'll be here in sunshine or in shadows
Oh Danny boy oh Danny Boy I love you so
(But come ye back...
**********
8.
WHEN IRISH EYES ARE SMILING
(Chauncey Olcott - Ernest R. Ball - George Graff)
« © '64 Anne Rachel Music, ASCAP / Quartet Music, ASCAP /
Range Road Music, ASCAP / WB Music, ASCAP »
When Irish eyes are smiling sure it's like a morning spring
In the lilt of Irish laughter you can hear the angels sing
When Irish hearts are happy all the world seems bright and gay
And when Irish eyes are smiling sure they steal your heart away
(When Irish eyes are smiling sure it's like a morning spring)
Honey you know the springtime of life is the sweetest of all
There is never a real care or regret
And while springtime is ours throughout all youth hours
Let us smile each chance we get
When Irish hearts are happy...
**********
9.
LITTLE BIT OF HEAVEN
(Keirn J. Brennan - Ernest R. Ball)
« © '64 Anne Rachel Music, ASCAP / WB Music, ASCAP »
Sure a little bit of heaven fell from out of the sky one day
And nestled on the ocean in a spot so far away
And when the angels found it sure it looked so sweet and fair
They said suppose we leave it for it looks so peaceful there
So they sprinkled it with stardust just to make the shamrocks grow
It's the only place you'll find them no matter where you go
Then they dotted it with silver to make its lakes so grand
And when they had it finished sure they called it Ireland
**********
10.
GALWAY BAY
(Arthur Colaham)
« © '61 Box And Cox Inc, ASCAP / Universal Music, ASCAP »
If you ever go across the sea to Ireland then maybe at the closing of your day
You will sit and watch the moon rise over forrest
And see the sun go down on Galway Bay
Just to hear again the ripplin' of the trout stream
The women in the meadows making hay
And to sit beside a turn fire in the cabin
And watch the barefoot cousins at their play
[ ac.guitar ]
For the strangers came and tried to teach us fairway
They scorn us just for being what we are
But they might as well go chasing after moonbeans or lie a penny candle from a star
And if there's is goin' to be a life hereafter
And somehow I am sure there's goin' to be
I will ask my God to let me make my heaven in that here land across the Iry sea
**********
11.
KEVIN BARRY
(Patrick J. Ryan)
« © '63 Box And Cox Inc, ASCAP »
It was on one Monday morning high upon the gallows seen
Kevin Barry gave his young life in the cause of liberty
Just a lad of eighteen summers yet no one can deny
As he walked to death that morning proud he held his head up high
(Proud he held his head up high)
Just before he faced the hangman in his dreary prison cell
For the soldiers tortured Barry just because he would not tell
The names of his brave comrades and things they wished to know
Turn informer or we'll kill you Kevin Barry answered no
(Kevin Barry answered no)
Calmly standing to attention while he bade his last farewell
To his broken hearted mother who's sad grief no one can tell
For the cause he proudly cherished this sad parting had to be
Then to his death he walked smiling that old Ireland might be free
(Then to his death he walked smiling that old Ireland might be free)
**********
12.
FORTY SHADES OF GREEN
(Johnny Cash)
« © '61 Anne Rachel Music, ASCAP / Song Of Cash Music, ASCAP »
I close my eyes and picture the emerald of the sea
From the fishing boats at Dingle to the shores of Dunardee
I miss the river Shannon and the folks at Skibbereen
The midlands and the moorlands with their forty shades of green
But most of all I miss the girl in Tipperary town
And most of all I miss her arms and hair so long and brown
Again I wanna see and do the things we've done and seen
Where the breeze is sweet as Shalimar and there's forty shades of green
[ piano ]
I wish that I could spend an hour at Dublin's churching surf
I'd love to watch the farmers drain the bogs and spade the turf
To see again the thatching of the straw the women glean
I'd walk from Cork to Larne to see the forty shades of green
But most of all I miss the girl in Tipperary town
And most of all I miss her lips as soft as eiderdown
Again I want to see and do the things we've done and seen
Where the breeze is sweet as Shalimar and there's forty shades of green
**********