whiskey in the jar - 1st ever recording

[gkk]

i m looking for any information about the performer who first ever has
recorded WITJ.
i know that the dubliners did it in 1967.
also i need info about the song/lyrics. i know that this is 18th
century song.

TIA

g.reg

[Kilmoulis]

I believe that Peter, Paul and Mary would actually predate the Dubliners by a
few years, though I don't know, or rather doubt, that this would have been the
absolute first recording. My memory is a bit hazy, but I believe it was on the
PP&M album "See What Tomorrow Brings" and their version was entitled "Gilgarra
Mountain".

According to Mel Bay's book of the "Songs of Ireland" you will not find a
Gilgarra or Kilgary Mountain on a modern map of Ireland, but various versions
seem to place it in the southwest - Cork, Killarney, Kerry - while the version
we sing mentions "that gaol in Sligo Town".

In any case, the descriptions of a highwayman's life, and terms like "rapier,
pistols, charges" probably would date it to the 18th or even the 17th century.
Kilmoulis Celtic Band

[Nigel & Nancy Sellars]

Kilmoulis wrote:
>
> I believe that Peter, Paul and Mary would actually predate the Dubliners by a

> few years....

I believe you'll find the Clancy Bros. and Tommy Makem's recording is
even earlier and probably the source of PP&M's version. I seem to
recall there was a discussion thread on this song at DigTrad and some
evidence, IIRC, suggests "Whiskey in the Jar" may be a stage or musical
version of an earlier song.

There is also a song called "Lovell" (or "As Lovell Was a-Riding")
collected in Vermont and possibly either English or Scots-Irish in
origin with an older sounding tune. This is the "Whiskey" plot-line and
possibly is the original version. English singer Roy Harris has
recorded it on one of his albums, and I've also heard Martin Carthy do
it on a broadcast from the Philly folk festival in the mid 1970s.

As for the first recording, possibly it's mouldering away on an old
shellac 78 in some collector's closet. My guess is the earliest
recordings probably date from the 1910s or 1920s, but I have no evidence
for either date, just a hunch.

Nigel Sellars

[H Gilmer]

Tom McCuin (McC...@PineAds.com) wrote:

: Rounder Records (http://www.rounder.com) has released The Alan Lomax Collection,
:the World Library of Folk and Primitive Music. On January 13, 1951, he arrived in
: Ireland to begin recording ordinary people singing the songs they knew. He met
: Seamus Ennis (1919-1982), a piper, who assisted him in his travels. Ennis sings
: "Whiskey in the Jar" on Rounder's "Volume II: Ireland" of the Alan Lomax
: Collection.

: Does this win?

Dunno if it wins, but it's a fantastic collection.

Hg

[Nigel & Nancy Sellars]

Tom McCuin wrote:
>
> Rounder Records (http://www.rounder.com) has released The Alan Lomax
> Collection, the World Library of Folk and Primitive Music.  On January
> 13, 1951, he arrived in Ireland to begin recording ordinary people
> singing the songs they knew.  He met Seamus Ennis (1919-1982), a
> piper, who assisted him in his travels.  Ennis sings "Whiskey in the
> Jar" on Rounder's "Volume II: Ireland" of the Alan Lomax Collection.
>
> Does this win?
>  

As good a guess as any, until someone turns up a wax cylinder or
somethings. I have the old LP versions, but can't recall if Ennis gives
his source for the tune.

Nigel Sellars

[Kevin Sheils]

Although recorded in 1951 when was the album released? There is a
version on a 78rpm single released 1954 on Topic Records (TRC83) by
Patrick Galvin.

--
Kevin Sheils
http://www.mrscasey.co.uk/ For Sidmouth/Towersey Festivals etc
Http://www.efdss.org/ For EFDSS, Cecil Sharp House etc
http://www.btinternet.com/~haleend For Waltham Forest Folk Events

[Timothy Jaques]

I would be curious to know how these early recordings are performed. Is
there a banjo?

________________
Timothy Jaques tja...@netcom.ca
Windsor, Ontario, Canada
"I stand by all the misstatements that I've made." (J. Danforth Quayle)

Kevin Sheils wrote in message <375D181D...@btinternet.com>...