Old Postcards.

It was July 1^st 2007 when the smoking ban in British pubs began. That brought about big changes in our local pub. The smokers had to sit outside in a little area opposite the skittle alley. This was all very well until it rained, so one skilful customer took it upon himself to build a proper shelter with a Perspex roof which let the sunlight in. He also planted a grapevine which quickly grew all over it. One side had to remain open to keep within the law. Within a couple of years, on a warm summer’s evening, sitting out there was almost like being in the south of France. It got so popular even for non-smokers that some evenings it was hard to find a seat. We had some great times out there over the years. Some people even sent postcards to their friends in the pub when they went on holiday.

This gave me an idea of how to brighten the place up even more, and I asked my Facebook friends to send postcards to the pub from wherever they lived in the world. A steady stream of postcards began arriving from all over the globe. For quite a while most evenings when I arrived at the pub more cards would be waiting to be pinned on the walls. We almost ran out of space to pin them all up. Inevitably though after two years or so the stream became a trickle, and then the cards more or less stopped arriving altogether, apart from one couple who faithfully continued to send cards right up to recently. It was fun while it lasted, and very kind of people to send them. For nearly a decade the cards remained on the walls, slowly fading and gathering dust. Then recently we heard the news that the pub was changing hands, and the brewery that own it wanted our little corner taking down. 

I should have taken one last photo before the work began, but I didn’t think of that. Luckily our friend the pub landlady salvaged the postcards and returned them to me as it seemed a shame to just throw them away. I brought them home in a plastic bag and tipped them out on the floor. Lots of great memories tumbled out of that bag. Sadly, some of the people who sent those cards are no longer with us. Anyway, I counted them all, there were 158 readable cards in total from 27 different countries. The most popular countries were England (as you would expect), USA, Republic of Ireland, Greece, Australia, Canada, France and Spain. There were also cards from Sweden, Malta, Italy, Switzerland, Wales, India, Netherlands, Poland, Czech Republic, Cyprus, Portugal, Northern Ireland, Scotland, Germany, Denmark, New Zealand, Egypt, Croatia, and the most unusual one for me which was a card from Laos in South-East Asia. 

There were also a few other cards which were so faded and decayed they were unreadable. One of my personal favourites was a card my late brother Paul sent from Shakespeare & Company bookshop in Paris showing the poet Lawrence Ferlinghetti and the shop owner George Whitman. In the pub I pinned a card from City Lights Bookstore in San Francisco next to that one as they went well together. I expect I will consign them all to the bin before too long because they don’t have any intrinsic value and are in quite poor condition. However, if you are one of the kind people who sent us the cards, It is impossible to thank everyone personally, but thank you very much indeed.

The Good Old Days.

A Terrible Beauty by Christy Moore.

 

A terrible beauty is born’ are words from a poem Easter, 1916 by W. B. Yeats describing the poet's torn emotions regarding the events of the Easter Rising in Dublin which began on Easter Monday, April 24, 1916. Those prophetic words of Yeats must have inspired artist Martin Gale to produce a painting called A Terrible Beauty. When Christy Moore saw Martin’s painting, he knew that he had found a title for his new album and a design for the sleeve. The painting is very striking, but also ominous and threatening, like the world we live in today, with the wars in Gaza and Ukraine and other problems in society which Christy confronts on this album. However, I’m pleased to see there is still time for joy and humour among these 13 tracks. Reading the sleeve notes I see that the album is dedicated to his friends Tommie Gorman and Vince Power. Because of living in England I don’t know a lot about Tommie, but  had the pleasure of meeting Vince on a couple of occasions at Nell’s Club in London and agree with Christy that he was a great man.

The outstanding opening song is Boy In The Wild which is a collaboration between Christy and the late Wally Page who Christy worked with for 45 years. Christy made only the second ever video of his career to accompany this song. You can find it below if you scroll down. It is a brilliant little film which explores the sometimes-distant relationship between fathers and sons, but at the end of the day the son can rely on his dad because he had similar experiences himself in his youth. Incidentally, Christy's own son Andy Moore sings very effective backing harmonies on this song and some other tracks. When I opened the package from Claddagh I was pleased to find a lyric sheet print of this song signed by Christy himself. Mike Harding has introduced me to some wonderful music over the years on his late lamented show on Radio 2. I especially remember the time he played a request for me by Vinnie Kilduff from Kiltimagh, and Mike waxing lyrical about his Mayo friends. 

Christy here reads a lyric of Mike’s called Sunflowers inspired by the war in Ukraine. It is from Mike’s book The Lonely Zoroastrian. I have mentioned in previous reviews of Christy’s work what a great spoken word voice he has. It is 40 years now since I bought my first Christy album Ride On and his voice is as good as ever. One of the best things about being a follower of Christy Moore is that he leads you to discover new music. I had never heard of a band called A Lazarus Soul before this album, but Christy has included two songs written by their singer Briany Brannigan called Black & Amber and Lemon Sevens. I think the Black & Amber must refer to a pub because the song is about the dangers of alcohol dependence which Christy knows all about. Christy stopped drinking decades ago thankfully and his career has blossomed ever since. The song is acapella apart from Andy's harmonies. I had never heard of  Lemon Sevens before. Apparently they are little pills that are crushed up and smoked. The song is a harrowing tale of drug addiction, homelessness and the people we often see wandering lost in the centre of big cities. 

These two songs made me curious about A Lazarus Soul which led me to ordering their latest album No Flowers Grow In Cement Gardens. I’ll tell you all about that when it arrives. Broomielaw is the name of a major street in Glasgow. It is also the name of a wonderful traditional song that Christy learned in 1964 from Mick Moloney later of The Johnstons who I have written about previously on this page. Mick Blake is another singer-songwriter who I discovered thanks to Christy. Cumann Na Mna is a song of Mick’s that Christy added to. It is a hilarious catchy retort to Rob Wotton of B Sky B who suggested to Irish footballer Chloe Mustaki that the team needed educating. 

Chloe Mustaki

The Rock is a short and sweet banjo instrumental played by Cathal Hayden assisted by Jimmy Higgins bodhran and Sean Og Graham on guitar. The Life And Soul is a moving mainly spoken piece by Christy using the words of an anonymous person who actually knew Ann Lovett. If you don’t know about Ann Lovett, she was a 15-year-old schoolgirl from County Longford, Ireland, who died giving birth beside a grotto on 31 January 1984. Her baby son died at the same time. Lyra McKee is a song written by James Cramer about another young woman who also met a tragic death. 

Ann Lovett

Lyra was a journalist who on 18 April 2019 was fatally shot during rioting in the Creggan area of Derry. Darkness Before Dawn was written by Pete Kavanagh and tells the story of an event in 1921 in Christy’s hometown of Newbridge where a military operation went badly wrong with tragic consequences for an innocent family. The mood is lightened then by The Big Marquee written by Christy himself which is a lively humorous affectionate tribute to the city of Cork. One of those funny name-dropping songs like Lisdoonvarna which Christy does so well. I think that song was meant to end the album on a high note, but Christy felt compelled to add two more songs Palestine and Snowflakes. The first is by Jim Page about the ongoing horrific events in Gaza. The final song by Martin Leahy is about the anonymous trolls who attacked him on social media while hiding behind pseudonyms, afraid to use their names.

This album is a fine addition to Christy’s great body of recordings. The voice is still in top condition, and he continues to find meaningful thought-provoking songs for us to listen to, so long may he continue. Also, don’t forget his companeros Gavin Murphy, Jimmy Higgins, Cathal Hayden, Seamie O’Dowd, Sean Og Graham, Andy Moore, Martin Leahy, James Blennerhassett, Oisin Murray and everybody else who contributed to producing this wonderful work.