Terry Teahan's Barrel Organ Slide

[Steve Bliven]

Greetings -

I asked this over on the whistle forum but thought I'd check here also....

Anyone have a source for dots for this tune on the recording "Old Time Irish Music in America"?

Staff notation, abc, anything? Couldn't find a version in any of the usual locations. Maybe under another name?

Thanks and best wishes.

Steve

[Cathy Wilde]

I could only hear a snippet on Amazon but I think that's the slide we call Johnny O'Leary's (one of the many slides we call Johnny O'Leary's ). It's a three-parter, yes? Looks like it goes by a few other names, too ... one of the alternative names listed for it on Alan Ng's site is indeed the Barrel Organ.

http://www.irishtune.info/tune/2457/

Anyway, if that's the one you're after, here are some good ABCs ... it's a great tune; one of my favorites!

X: 1
T: Mick Mahony's #1
T: If I Had a Wife
T: Cullen Slide #1
S: "Johnny O'Leary of Sliabh Luachra" (#90)
Z: B.Black
L: 1/8
M: 12/8
Q: 350
R: slide
K: G
D|G2e dBG F2E E2G|FFA DEF G2A D3|
GBd dBG FAA EFG|1 F2A DEF G3 G2 :|2\
F2A DEF G3 G3||
d3 gB d2c A2B|cBA Afe d2B G2B|
d2B g2B d2c A2g|1 fed cBA G3 G3 :|2\
fed cBA G3 g3||
fed c3 e2d B2d|fed cBA G2A B2g|
fed c3 e2d B2d|fed cBA G3 G3 :|

[Steve Bliven]

Thanks Cathy.

Someone played a snippet of the tune at our session the other night as "The Barrel Organ" taken from Terry Teahan's recording. Trying to track down ITM tunes by their titles is a interesting exercise... Do you guys really play it at the tempo in the abc (dotted quarter = 350) ? The only metronome I've ever seen that had a reading that high had melted under use. We'll try to work it out next Monday — at a somewhat more sedate pace.

Best wishes.

Steve

[Cathy Wilde]

Ha! I didn't notice the metronome marking! I can't even begin to figure out the math there. Anyway, I first got it from the recording of "Johnny O'Leary of Sliabh Luachra", and another version is on Jackie Daly and Kevin Burke's album, "The Eavesdropper," which is pretty lively!

There's a recording I have in my ear that's slower but I can't seem to find the actual track to save my life. I'm thinking it *might* be from the Fuchsia Band; that's the instrumentation I have in my head, anyway.

Anyway, the Fuchsias play their slides at a very cheerful-yet-accessible pace; very elegant. This tempo is about where we net out at top speed.

Though I can't find the actual track, here's an example of their take on a different Johnny' Leary's slide (there are a bunch!): http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/fuchsiaband3

And here's another one of their approaches to slides: http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/fuchsiaband2

They're from Cork so I figure it's okay.

I apologize for not having the proper recordings to hand. I have music on three computers and an iPod, and there was a terrible computer crash last year between syncings with my Google Play account. I fear the first Fuchsia CD and Johnny O'Leary have fallen into that void!

Clear as mud?

[MTGuru]

Do you guys really play it at the tempo in the abc (dotted quarter = 350) ?

The L:1/8 means that it's the eighth notes, not dotted quarters (= 3 eighth notes), set to 350 (because ABC MIDI doesn't care). Counting the slide in 4 give you 350/3 = 117 bpm, which is actually a bit slow. 140-160 bpm is more slide-y; Patrick Street recorded it at 160.

[Steve Bliven]

Do you guys really play it at the tempo in the abc (dotted quarter = 350) ?

The L:1/8 means that it's the eighth notes, not dotted quarters (= 3 eighth notes), set to 350 (because ABC MIDI doesn't care). Counting the slide in 4 give you 350/3 = 117 bpm, which is actually a bit slow. 140-160 bpm is more slide-y

I like the slower interpretation. The abc print program picks up and prints the Q: 350 as a dotted quarter = 350 rather than an eighth note = 350. Spiteful things, those print programs....

Best wishes..

Steve

[Cathy Wilde]

Aha! Thanks for the explanations!