FTX-155 - THE RISING SUN

MICHO RUSSELL Irish penny-whistle

Micho (1915-1994) of Doolin, Co Clare, was one of the best-loved Irish musicians of all time, to quote Bill Ochs. He was also, to borrow a line from the old song, "a man you don't meet every day". These recordings feature his tin-whistle playing, his talk and his singing recorded at concerts, in homes and in the studio between 1990 and 1993.

1. THE RISING SUN reel - 2'05"

2. THE MASON'S APRON; UNTITLED reels - 2'59"

3. WINNIE HAYES' JIG - 1'48"

4. GALWAY RACES - 3'00"

5. THE RETREAT set dance - 1'55"

6. THE FOUR POSTS OF THE BED - 1'43"

7. THE FLIP-FLOP SONG - 3.16"

8. JOHNNY SALLY'S REEL - 1'40

9. STEAMROLLER McTEIGE'S POLKA - 1'38"

10. THE MILLINER'S DAUGHTER reel - 2'13"

11. SINCE MURSHEEN WENT TO BUNNAN song - 2'24"

12. COME INTO THE TOWN, MY FAIR LADY jig - 1'41"

13. THE ROAD TO GALWAY; UNTITLED polkas - 2'45"

14. NAPOLEON CROSSING THE RHINE song air - 2'16"

15. CLOICHINI BEAGA NA FARRAIGE reel - 1'03"

16. THE BOYS OF BLUEHILL hornpipe - 1'22"

17. BOIL THE BREAKFAST, EARLY reel - 2'25"

18. I SAW A HAWK IN DUNDALK jig - 1'50"

19. SEAN SA CHEO, THE BOY IN THE GAP reels - 2'15"

20. TA DHA GHABHAIRIN BHUI AGAM song - 2'39"

21. CHRISTMAS DAY IN THE MORNING jig - 2'11"

22. AMAZING GRACE; St ANNE'S; SPORTING NELLY reels - 3'56"

1 & 22 rec at Ulster Community College, Stone Ridge, NY 19/11/93; 2 & 17 at The Eagle Tavern, NYC 11/9/90; 3, 6, 12, 14, 20 & 21 rec at Betrayal Studios, NYC 10/11/93; 4, 5, 7, 11, 13 & 22 at Washington Square Church NYC 23/6/92, 8, 9, 10, 15 & 16 at the home of Dennis Winter, Cottekill, NY 17/11/93, 18 & 19 at The Eagle Tavern NYC 12/11/93. 1, 8, 9, 10, 15, 16, 18, 19 & 22 rec by Bill Ochs, the rest by Edward Haber. Copyright 1995 by The Pennywhistle Press. Folktrax 2001.

Michael Joseph RUSSELL was born March 25th 1915 on the townland of Doonagore, Doolin, looking across the South Sound to Inisheer, the most easterly of the Aran Islands. A German concertina, which cost two shillings and sixpence, was always kept in the house and, while he was growing up, it was played by Micho's mother, Annie (Moloney), but it was another instrument played at a local dance for a set of quadrilles and reels that caught his fancy. When he was 11 years old, his father went to the fair at Ennistymon and bought him a Clarke's and a neighbour, Patrick Flanagan showed him how to play a scale. Then when he left school at 14, his uncle brought him a wooden flute from America and his two brothers, Pakie and Gussie, also started on concertina and flute for local gatherings. In the mid 1960s he was invited to Dublin and before long Brendan Breathnach transcribed hundreds of his tunes publishing some of them in the 3 volumes of "Ceol Rince na h-Eireann". Micho died in a road accident on Saturday February 19th 1994.