More (Mostly) Folk Music

Davey Arthur   •   Cut To The Chase

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  • Cut To The Chase
    • 1997 - Blue Bowl Blue 31 CD (DEU)
  • Tracklist
    1. The Blue Stack Set (Trad. Arr. Davey Arthur) — featuring Werner Lämmerhirt
      1. The Star of Munster
      2. Lads Of Laoise
      3. The Blue Stack
    2. When Another Domino Falls (Davey Arthur)
    3. A New York Miracle — featuring Brian McNeill
      1. Waterford Waltz (Trad.)
      2. The White Wizard (Trad.)
      3. The New York Miracle (Davey Arthur)
    4. A Small Drop on The Side (Davey Arthur, B. McNeill) — featuring Terry Woods
      • Tune between verses: The Galway Rambler (Trad. Arr. Davey Arthur)
    5. Cut To the Chase (Davey Arthur) — featuring Máire Brennan
    6. A Song for Yesterday (Ian Drever)
    7. Na Cailini/The Girls (Davey Arthur)
    8. The Singing Tap Set
      1. The Singing Tap (Trad. Arr. Davey Arthur)
      2. Slip Me One (Davey Arthur)
      3. The Turnpike (Trad. Arr. Davey Arthur)
    9. A Noblemans Wedding (Trad. Arr. Davey Arthur)
    10. Seamus Alfonsus Set (Trad. Arr. Davey Arthur)
      1. O'Hagens
      2. The Thorny Bush
      3. Push And Draw
      4. Last Night's Fun
    11. She Loves To Dance (Davey Arthur) — featuring Hannes Wader
    12. Na Cailini/The Girls (Davey Arthur)

  • Musicians
    • Davey Arthur: All Vocals, Acoustic Guitars, Tenor Banjo, Mandola, Mandolin
    • Anton McAuley: Fiddle
    • Max Van Gelder: Button Accordion, Whistles
    • Tommy Lannigan: Bodhrán
    • Brian McNeill: Fiddle, Bouzouki, Concertina
    • Terry Woods: Mandolin, Bouzouki
    • Máire Brennan: Irish Harp
    • Hannes Wader: Guitar, Backing Vocals
    • Leonard Barry: Uillean Pipes
    • Bruno Staehelin: Percussions
    • Oliver Siegel: Keyboards
    • Werner Lämmerhirt: Guitar
  • Credits
    • A High Hold Production for Blue Bowl Mixed & Produced by Brian McNeill
    • Recorded At:
      • Zoo Studio, Herne — Engineer: Oliver Siegel
      • Ring Studios, Ring Co. Waterford, Ireland — Engineer: Bruno Staehelin
      • Temple Lane Music Centre Dublin, Ireland — Engineer: Lorcan Cousins
      • Redhouse Studios, Gelsenkirchen — Engineer: Helmut Phillips
      • Rash Studio, Gelsenkirchen — Engineer: Uli Pósselt
      • Blue Noise Studio, Hamburg — Engineer: Ben Arenz
    • Mastered at Pier House Studios, Edinburgh
    • Thanks to: Brian "Bags o Trax" McNeill, Bruno "Bouncemeister" Staehelin, Máire Brennan, Terry Woods, Hannes Wader, Werner Lämmerhirt, Anton McAuley, Max van Gelder, Tommy Lannigan, Leonard Barry, Ralf and Evi Weihrauch, John Dagnell, Michael McDonagh, Michael Collins, Liam Clancy, Seán Redmond, Charlotte Moseley, Joann and all at 93, McCarthy's Taxi, Celtic-Works, Esmeralda, The BallincolIig Senior Society "for all their looks", the RAC, Ivan Drever, Oliver Siegel, all my agents worldwide, Paul and Kath Furey, George Best, all the people who came to the shows world-wide, BMG Ireland, Nelson Mandola, Robert Webb

The Blue Stack Set — Three lovely Irish reels, named after a mountain in Co. Donegal.

When Another Domino Falls — Whether it is a madman with a gun, a parent's denial of their son's death caused by aids, or women and children abused world-wide: everyday life to me these days seems to be like a "Runaway-train", but what is really frightening is that our peers and elected representatives fail to do their part to stop it.

A New York Miracle — As they say "New York, it's a wonderful town". Well, resident New Yorkers never fail to amaze me! One afternoon in 1995, I found myself in Manhattan having a cup of coffee outside, when I was approached by a man in a wheelchair who said that he was a Vietnam Vet who had sustained his injuries during that war, and would I please give him a few dollars for a hot meal, as he was down on his luck that day.

I did so, and, as I watched him wheel himself away, I felt sick that in this day and age a man could be reduced to such a way of life!

As he left the sidewalk to cross the street, two youths ran at him from behind and stole the bag that held all his money. As they ran away he rose from the wheelchair and like a hare took off after them to retrieve his money.

New York is a wonderful town, so I wrote and named this set of tunes after seeing my first New York miracle.

A Small Drop on The Side — I asked Brian McNeill if he thought that it was possible for us to write a song together for the CD in less than four hours?

Brian looked as if he had just been asked to pay for the next round of drinks and said that we could, but it would have to be fast, as he had a plane to catch later that day in Cork!

So this is what we came up with. Terry Woods guests on this light-hearted track, which looks at what some lads got up to when they went on a drinking spree!!

Cut To the Chase — This is an Irish expression that means, when two or more people are in conversation they agree to get to the point" early.

The English expression would be "Don't beat about the bush", in other words, not to waffle on, so I suppose I should "Cut to the chase" and let you listen to the track that guests my dear friend from Co. Donegal, Máire Brennan (Clannad).

A Song for Yesterday — This lovely song is about looking back on your life, and remembering some of the good things that happened in that life.

I think that we should all cherish those thoughts and hope for more to come in the future.

Na Cailini/The Girls — I wrote this short piece of music for my five daughters; it will always remind me of them as small girls playing their games.

The Singing Tap Set — I got the idea for the title of this set of reels from a Dublin barman, who was convinced that if the tap did not sing or whistle whilst a pint of stout was being poured, then it was NOT a good pint

A Noblemans Wedding — A young woman is forced to marry a nobleman against her will, as she is in love with another young man. On her wedding day, her true love, who is present at the wedding, is asked to sing a song. When the young bride hears the words of the song it brings back too many fond memories, and later the very same night, she takes her own life. The nobleman finds her dead and feels the weight of shame as he realises the terrible crime that he has committed.

Seamus Alfonsus Set — It even surprises me, but one of my favourite pastimes is Gardening, and always has been, even from an early age.

As a rule I usually try to stay out of gardening conversations, as I have no interest or ambition to learn the name of every plant I have, especially when their names are in Latin.

So this set of tunes is named after a four year old cactus, called Seamus Alfonsus.

She Loves to Dance — As long as man can remember, a good percentage of women, not all, love to dance from an early age. Ballet, Ballroom, Disco, Ceilidh or whatever, they like the idea of dressing up for the evening, then either be taken by boyfriend, or be accompanied by a few girls to a dance that night.

This song is about one such female who has always loved to dance, and who now has young daughters of her own, who not surprisingly, look as though they too want to dance as their mother did.