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Sleeve Notes
Ronnie Drew is a national treasure I believe there should be a preservation order slapped on him without delay.
His voice and his face are recognised instantly by all the generations and he is universally liked. The whole country think they know him personally. Everyone calls him "Ronnie". In fact, the last person to address him as "Mt Drew" was probably his school teacher.
But this album shows a different Ronnie — a reflective performer in his autumn years, with an ability to breathe new life into an old lyric, to take a well worn standard and turn it into something achingly sad and poignant.
From the vantage point of someone who has spent more than fifty years in the business, Ronnie draws on all his experience, in music, in theatre and, most importantly, in life itself, to put his own distinctive stamp on this collection of standards and parlour songs.
As a lover of songs, melody and lyric, I've found this project to be immensely rewarding and I have to confess to becoming quite emotional as I sat in a darkened studio hearing Ronnie make completely different sense out of "No more will I play the wild rover, no never, no more"
Prepare to be surprised.
Phil Coulter
