GUMBO #213 Sunday, March 12, 1995 / Midnight - 3:00am St. Patrick's Day Special, Part One! KCRW Santa Monica, 89.9 FM KCRY Indio - Palm Springs, 89.3 FM KCRU Oxnard - Ventura County, 89.1 FM ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Opening Theme (special for my St. Patrick's Day shows): RON KAVANA with LONDON IRISH LIVE TRUST - Tralee Trembles [FOR THE CHILDREN/Alias Records] My usual theme is a rollicking Afro-Irish fusion by Alias Ron Kavana; this is an all-acoustic, pure Irish session arrangement! RON KAVANA - Home Fire/Beyond the Pale [HOME FIRE/Special Delivery] Fiery, all-acoustic Kavana album, and brilliant -- all-acoustic does NOT mean it's quiet. Features former Pogue Terry Woods, and was probably a precursor to the Bucks. Powerful stuff ... "Will we never get justice in their courts?" Now available domestically on Green Linnet THE SOUL BROTHERS - Mkhwenyana (Fiance) [JUMP AND JIVE/Earthworks] Wonderful township jive from South Africa, from one of my favorite S. African bands. Love that Hammond B-3 organ! These guys should jam with the Meters! CHRIS SMITHER - Link of Chain [UP ON THE LOWDOWN/Hightone] Brand-new from my New Orleans homeboy, out this week. Sounds great! WILCO - Pick Up the Change [A.M./Sire-Reprise] I love this song. Due for release March 28. CHRISTY MOORE - Patrick's Arrival [THE IRON BEHIND THE VELVET/Tara] FINALLY released on CD, after being unavailable for years. DONAL LUNNY - Across the Hill/An Fainne Oir [DONAL LUNNY/Gael-Linn] An absolutely stunning album, and intensely frustrating in that it's only 25 minutes long; we can only imagine what they've left off! Donal put together a mind-boggling band for the Sean O Riada retrospective concerts in 1988, and this is part of the performance. ALTAN - Donal agus Morag [HARVEST STORM/Green Linnet] Beautiful singing in Irish from Mairead Ni Mhaonaigh ANDY WHITE - (Looking for) James Joyce's Grave [OUT THERE/WEA Ireland] I always get calls about this song, even when I play it in the middle of the bloody night ... BOYS OF THE LOUGH - An Spailpin Fanach/The One-Horned Buck [FAREWELL AND REMEMBER ME/Shanachie] A song in Irish and a tune, with Christy O'Leary on vocals. I learned this song, and I'll sing it for you if you get me drunk enough ... SLOBO HORO - Iri Tu Ce Nino [ESMA/Rockadillo] Wild stuff; latest from this loud, hard-edged Finnish (folk)rock band that plays mostly Balkan and Turkish traditional songs and tunes. LES NEGRESSES VERTES - Fanfaron [ZIG ZAGUE/Delabel] The band seems to have recovered from the death of Helno, their lead singer. They don't have quite the same edge, but this track sounded pretty good. Still haven't heard the rest of it ... JETER LE PONT - Marc Perrault [L'ESCAPADE/Minuit] Songs and tunes from Quebec, with some female vocalists for a change! EL ULTIMO DE LA FILA - Sara [COMO LA CABEZA AL SOMBRERO/EMI Spain] By request. The 1:00am feature, all the way from Tuam, Co. Galway ... The Saw Doctors! This folky rock group is extremely popular in Ireland, from five-year-olds to grannies, and while they're not brilliant musicians, they write simple and catchy pop songs that can't help but make you smile, dance and jump around. By this writing, I've already seen them perform on Wednesday 3/15, in their first southern California performance at the Mean Fiddler in Santa Monica ... wonderful! I've been waiting four years to see this band!) THE SAW DOCTORS - I Useta Lover [IF THIS IS ROCK AND ROLL, I WANT MY OLD JOB BACK/Solid Records] The #1 selling single in Irish history. THE SAW DOCTORS - Hay Wrap [ALL THE WAY FROM TUAM/Solid Records] THE SAW DOCTORS - Sing a Powerful Song [ROCK AND ROLL] THE SAW DOCTORS - Pied Piper [TUAM] THE SAW DOCTORS - The Green and Red of Mayo [TUAM] THE SAW DOCTORS - N17 [ROCK AND ROLL] TISH HINOJOSA - Con Su Pluma En Su Mano [FRONTEJAS/Rounder] An all-Spanish album, featuring Mingo Saldivar on this track. THE SILOS - Porque No? [THE SILOS/RCA] Walter Salas-Humara's rootsy rock band from Miami (wondering if they've relocated to Austin now ...) LOS LOBOS - Lonely Avenue [TILL THE NIGHT IS GONE: A TRIBUTE TO DOC POMUS/ Rhino] UNCLE TUPELO - Criminals [MARCH 16-20, 1992/Rockville] KIERAN KANE - This Dirty Little Town [DEAD RECKONING/Dead Reckoning] I have no idea who this guy is or where he came from, but this little record is a gem (at least the first 3 tracks I had time to listen to). With Emmylou Harris and Lucinda Williams guesting. A caller rang up and asked for "lots of bagpipes"; ask and ye shall receive ... DAVY SPILLANE - The Pigeon on the Gate [ATLANTIC BRIDGE/Tara] SEAMUS ENNIS - The Fox Chase [FORTY YEARS OF IRISH PIPING/Green Linnet] An amazing, 8-minute long interpretive piece on the uilleann pipes; we hear the gathering of the hunters, the gallop of the horses, the chase, the yelping of the fox, the closing in, the kill, and the hunters' triumphant return. THE POGUES - The Sickbed of Cuchulainn [RUM, SODOMY AND THE LASH/Rough Trade] The first Pogues song I ever heard, and it knocked me on me arse. "They took you off to midnight Mass/and left you in the lurch/so you dropped a button in the plate/and spewed up in the church ..." SUNDAY'S WELL - Black and Tans [WE DON'T CARE WHERE YOUR GRANDPARENTS ARE FROM/East Side Digital] Another great tip from Steve Gardner; this band plays mostly Irish trad material, with some bluegrass and even Balkan stuff. I like! MARY BLACK - My Youngest Son Came Home Today [COLLECTED/Dara] MICHEAL O DOMHNAILL & KEVIN BURKE - Coinleach Ghlas ah Fhomhair [PROMENADE/ Green Linnet] Quiet, beautiful Irish vocals and some really pretty guitar playing to boot. BILLY BRAGG - Greetings to the New Brunette [THE PEEL SESSIONS] THE LEVELLERS - 100 Years of Solitude [LEVELLERS/Elektra-China] By request. JOHN PRINE - The Great Compromise [GREAT DAYS/Rhino] By request. PAUL BRADY - Arthur McBride [ANDY IRVINE AND PAUL BRADY/Mulligan] Classic Brady performance of traditional song, just him and a guitar. MICHAEL DOUCET - Acadian Two-Step [MASTERS OF THE FOLK VIOLIN/Arhoolie] This tour was just in town last weekend. MICK HANLY & RUSTY OLD HALO - Back Again [STILL NOT SURED/WEA Ireland] Great neo-country from one of Ireland's best songwriters. THE JAYHAWKS - Blue [TOMORROW THE GREEN GRASS/American] By request.