I am Wiz’s partner and I would like to let you all know that he passed suddenly last Saturday 3rd March at home in peaceful surroundings. If you like, play a tune for him.
While on here, I have a request. Could anyone please let me know where I could find a decent version of King of the Fairies to play at his Celebration of his Life. (Not calling it a funeral - I could dance on his grave I guess ) Couldn’t find anything on Clips and Snips, but that could just be me. He liked it played with feeling and good technique. Just a hint: He liked Joanie Madden’s playing, so not necessarily traditional, but tuneful. Hmmm…couldn’t find anything by Mary Bergin. And he thought that the King might be just that little bit wicked Any help?
For The King of The Fairies how about this version - not on a whistle, but you did not exactly specify that! (I had a quick look on YouTube but found nothing on whistle that I liked).
Sad news indeed. I hope the celebration of Wiz’s life goes well, as I’m sure it will.
As for versions of King of the Fairies online, it does indeed seem to be surprisingly hard to find a decent one. I couldn’t find anything on the Comhaltas site, and I’ve just waded through loads of versions on YouTube - 6 pages worth, in fact, out of which there’s just this version (sorry about the ad) which is any good, as far as I can see. Mind, this is some beautiful piping.
If you’d like to sample or purchase the late Tom McHale’s (spelling corrected by his daughter according to thesession.org) recording, the MP3 is at Amazon (free sample, $0.99 for the full track).
Likely that if the Wiz was on this board, then he was a whistle enthusiast. This is a great recording on whistle, by an All-Ireland winner (brother of flute player Mike McHale).
If you want to consider other renditions of the tune, possibly with other instrumentation, then here is a list of recordings it seems to appear on (courtesy thesession.org Tune database). View the DETAILS tab:
Thank you all for your condolences. He was a special man. I am very sad. And if I did dance on his grave, it would be in happiness for him. He led a full life and achieved a lot. I don’t think he realised just how much.
And yes, it was for the whistle. Ooops! Thanks for all your help. I will go look now.
Unfortunately I do not have a credit card, or I would have bought that song! Or is that ‘tune’? I’m not very politically correct, I’m afraid. I do intened to correct the lack of credit card very soon, and then I will buy it from Amazon.
Once again, thanks for all your help. And, yes, I do hope the celebration goes well. We may have a wake later on with a real band. But they will be playing swing, another earlier love of his.
Here’s a list of recordings of King of the Fairies, courtesy of the folks at The Session
Recordings of a tune by this name:
À L’Olympia by Alan Stivell
Cathal McConnell Teaches Irish Pennywhistle by Cathal McConnell
Ceilidh by Bun’ Ber E
Champions Of Ireland: Flute by Grainne Kelly And Ciaran Madsen
Champions Of Ireland: Harp by Various Artists
Craic’d! by Atlantic Wave
Dancehall Sweethearts by Horslips
Dancing Through Ireland by Various Artists Déanta by Déanta
Flute For The Feis by John Doonan
Ireland’s Finest by The Dubliners
Irish Pennywhistle Taught By Cathal McConnell by Cathal McConnell
Irish Showtime by The Irish Showtime Band
Leahy by Leahy
Learn To Play Irish Fiddle: Polkas, Jigs And Slides ~ DVD 1 by Kevin Burke
Less Travelled by Woad
Milestone At The Garden by Irish Fiddle Masters From The 78 RPM Era
One More… by Caa A Dram
Rakish Paddies by Rapalje
Riding Towards Life by Evergreen
Rince: Complete Irish Dancing Set - First Steps And Beyond by Various Artists
Rud Eile by Rud Eile
Sligo Fiddle (Disk 1) by John Vesey
Step Into The Beat: Modern Irish Dance Music by Ellery Klein And Ryan Lacey
Swarbrick 2 by Dave Swarbrick
Sweeney’s Dream by Kevin Burke
The Ancient Music Of Ireland by Various Artists
The Best Ever Traditional Irish Pub Session Volume Two by Various Artists
The Best Of Irish Ceílí by Shannon Side, Gallowglass, Ardellis, Michael Moran Ceílí Bands
The Donegal Fiddler by Danny O’Donnell
The Dubliners In Concert by The Dubliners
The Final Round CD 1 by Kevin Joyce
The Green Mountain by Pay The Reckoning
The Hurricane by Donagh Hennessy And Mark Crickard
The Irish Fiddler by Sean Maguire
The Lark In The Clear Air by Geraldine O’Grady
The Luck Penny by Seamus Bugler
The Meeting by Sharon Carroll And Cherith Boyle
The Princess Royal: Dance Music From South Armagh by The Nine McCusker Brothers And Hugh Savage
The Sligo Champion (CD 2) by Michael Gorman Tom McHale: All Ireland Whistling Champion At Boyle by Tom McHale
Traditional Irish Dance Music by Various Artists
Traditional Irish Dance Rhythms by Various Artists
Traditional Music Of Ireland by Various Artists
Hello everyone. Thanks for your help so far. JTC111 (Jim) gifted me an Amazon download of Tom McHale’s recording, but sadly I can’t download it because I’m not in the US (am in Australia). I do hope to get a good version in time for the funeral. (I’m sure that they would pay royalties).
I was wondering also, Wiz liked The South Wind and The Immigrant. I listened to both of them and thought they would both be very good for his Life Celebration. But then it struck me that these two are very similar. Can anybody help me? Are they the same or different?
Let’s hope that I find a good version of King of te Fairies in time for the funeral (possibly this Friday). I’m sure that the Funeral Directors would pay royalties, btw.
I tried too - but it is only available to people in the US. I was going to buy one and email it to you.
The Immigrant and the South Wind are different tunes (whatever a non-whistler might think ). But if you cannot hear the difference, then maybe others will not either. Pick what you like the sound of - I am sure that whatever tune or tunes you pick will please Wiz, wherever he is. One last go at making non-whistlers listen to fine whistle music would please any of us here, I reckon.
Fairy Queen, my heart goes out to you, and a celebration of life is always the best way to go.
JTC111 you are a gentleman and a scholar. Downloading it and then sending it to her should work, being in Australia as well I’ve had this issue.
) Couldn’t find anything on Clips and Snips, but that could just be me. He liked it played with feeling and good technique. Just a hint: He liked Joanie Madden’s playing, so not necessarily traditional, but tuneful. Hmmm…couldn’t find anything by Mary Bergin. And he thought that the King might be just that little bit wicked 
Any help?