FTX-371 - THE BEE'S WING

Jimmy HOGAN & Jimmy DORRIAN

Previously a member of the Ballinakill Ceildhe Band in East Galway, but from Tipperary, this recording made by Peter Kennedy in Kentish Town in London in 1956, features Jimmy Hogan on chromatic diatonic accordion, a Paolo Soprani Italian instrument, keyed in C#/ D, with a danceable selection of hornpipes, reels and jigs featuring some classic hornpipes such as THE HIGH LEVEL, GOLDEN EAGLE, TRUMPET, LOCOMOTIVE and THE PASSING CLOUD. In contrast to the solo accordion and accordion band, Jimmy Dorrian, a fiddler from Killybegs in Co Donegal plays a Highland & 3 Slow Airs.

Jimmy Hogan of Tipperary (chromatic accordion)

1. PADDY O BRIEN'S HORNPIPES - 2'05"

2. LOUIS QUINN'S CLOG HORNPIPE - 1'33"

3. THE INDEPENDENT HORNPIPE - 1'33"

4. HOGAN'S OWN JIG (talk before) - 1'51"

5. Talk about the chromatic accordion - 6'21"

6. How he started, his father, the harmonica - 2'40"

The Jimmy Hogan Band

7. THE TRUMPETER & LOCOMOTIVE HORNPIPES - 3'09"

8. O'MALLEY'S FROLIC & THE LUCKY PENNY (Jigs) - 2'45"

9. SALLY GARDENS & THE MASON'S APRON (Reels) - 3'25"

10. THE PASSING CLOUD & RYAN'S HORNPIPE - 3'12"

11. THE COPPERPLATE & THE BOYS OF THE SPUDS (Reels) - 2'18"

12. THE BEE'S WING & THE HIGH LEVEL HORNPIPES - 3'22"

13. O'BRIEN'S FANCY & THE TRIP TO ATHLONE (Jigs) - 2'17"

14. BUNKER HILL & TOMMY WHELAN'S (Reels) - 2'55"

15. JOHNSON'S HORNPIPE & THE GOLDEN EAGLE - 4'00"

16. THE BOYS OF THE LOUGH & THE LARK (Reels) - 3'15"

Jimmy Dorrian of Donegal (fiddle)

17. HIGHLAND (talk before & after) 1'41"

18. THE RED LARK (Slow Air) - 2'01"

19. THE BRIGHT SILVERY LIGHT OF THE MOON (Slow Air) - 1'50"

20. THE DEAR IRISH BOY (Slow Air) - 1'07"

Jimmy Hogan & Jimmy Dorrian rec by Peter Kennedy 1956 and the Jimmy Hogan Band rec by Peter Kennedy London 1958. Edited by Peter Kennedy and first published on Folktrax cassettes 1978.

JIMMY HOGAN was born at Borrisokane in Co. Tipperary and learned many of his tunes from his friend, and fellow accordion-player, Paddy O'Brien. A friend of Jimmy's, from Limerick, was flute-player, Paddy Taylor, who occasionally played with them in the band. A Slow Air, THE BATTLE OF BALLINGEARY, learned from Jimmy, is played on the flute by Paddy Taylor on FTX-171.

THE JIMMY HOGAN BAND, when they were recorded, were playing regularly at "The Buffalo Club", an Irish venue in Kentish Town in North London. Previously Jimmy had been a member of the famous Ballinakill Ceilidhe Band in East Galway, not far from the Tipperary border. Jimmy is joined here by Bobby Hall on piano and Brian Green on drums.

THE CHROMATIC ACCORDION is a two-row MELODEON with two diatonic rows of keys a semitone apart. In this case Jimmy plays a Paolo Soprani instrument, originally in C and C#, which Jimmy had re-tuned to the keys C# and D, an arrangement which is currently favoured by diatonic accordion players in Ireland, enabling them to play more easily in the sharp keys used by fiddlers.

JIMMY DORRIAN, the fiddler from Donegal, was recorded by Peter Kennedy at the same session as that of Irish piper, Willie Clancy (see FTX-173) and his three slow airs provide a good contrast with the dance-tunes played by Jimmy Hogan and his band.