- 1. Clan Coco [Mike Katz]
- The Road to Benderloch [Angus MacColl]
- Fifteen Stubbies to Warragul [Mike Katz]
- Three pipe reels here. The first and last were composed by our own Mike Katz. Mike feels that the great Russian clown deserves to have a tune and clan named after him. Thus, 'Clan Coco'.
The name of the last tune comes from an interesting measure of distance offered to us on a recent trip to Australia. You have seen the Indian scout in the movies explain that 'the fort is three moons' journey from here'. Well when we asked a Castlemaine man how far it was to Warragul, his response was 'Warragul? - that's about fifteen stubbies from here'. A 'stubbie' by the way, is Australian for a can of beer. For those geographers among you he was just about right.
'The Road to Benderloch' is a swinging reel from the pen of Angus MacColl of Oban. Angus comes from a long line of pipers and is one of today's most lauded players. Donald Hay joins us on percussion on this track.
- 2. The Last Trip Home [Words Davy Steele, music John McCusker]
- The Luckenbooth [John McCusker]
- John had this great tune going through his head for a while, and always thought it would make a good song. Davy had an idea for a song, which lacked a tune, the rest, as they say, is obvious. We would like to thank Gary West of the School of Scottish Studies for giving access to his interview notes with his Uncle Bill.
- Davy's neighbour used to have a couple of Clydesdale horses in the field next to his house, and apart from leaning over the fence and eating the rowan tree, they were the loveliest, and most gentle of animals.
- The tune played in the middle is another from John. The Luckenbooths were locked trading stalls that surrounded the walls of the old Scottish Parliament building and the Tolbooth on the High Street in Edinburgh. They disappeared with the parliament about 300 years ago. Perhaps the tradition can be revived now that we have got a new parliament in Scotland, but the planners will probably say no!
- 3. It's Nice to be Nice [John McCusker]
- The Auld Toon Band [John McCusker]
- McCabe's Reel [John McCusker]
- Three more of John's tunes here.
- 'It's Nice to be Nice' takes its title from a catch phrase John shares with his friend Martin Marnell originally from Kilkenny, now of Sydney, Australia. Martin is a great singer and guitarist and plays in a band called 'Molly Rasher'. This tune is for him.
- When John was 12 years old he played fiddle and whistle in the 'Auld Toon Band', which had been formed by two of his teachers - Graeme Liveston and Michael Toner. They played all sorts of folk music including Battlefield Band covers. So we have them to thank for meeting the 'boy'.
- 'McCabes Reel' is named for his mother's family who come from Co. Monaghan in Ireland.
- 4. The Straw Man [Trad. Arr. Alan Reid]
- This 'bothy ballad' dates from the late 19th Century. It was reputedly written by a man named Shaw, and was almost certainly based on fact. Here's the story.
- Mistress Greig obviously was driven to protect the virtue of the servant girls on her farm, against the attentions of the lads. Each night, with the help of her husband, she searched their quarters. The lassies were not happy with this busybody and laid a trap. They hid a 'straw man' under a bed for the Mistress and her husband. When they did find him, they laid about him with so much passion that they thought they had killed him. The young folk hoped that the shock would make the virtuous couple think carefully before interfering in their social life again.
- The song was written down by Gavin Greig, the great collector from the N.E., at the turn of the century. He felt it advisable to 'suppress' the name of the main character. Maybe it was a relation.
- 5. Leaving Friday Harbor [John McCusker]
- This tune, written by John, takes its name from the small port on San Juan Island which lies in the straits between the State of Washington coast and Vancouver Island. We have had some great concerts there and it is a lovely place, with a lovely name and it deserves this lovely tune. Again Donald Hay Joins us on percussion.
- 6. The 24th Guards Brigade at Anzio [KG Roe]
- The Melbourne Sleeper [Mike Katz]
- MacRae's of Linnie [Mike Katz]
- This set opens with a fine 2/4 march from piping's martial past - when the Army was the largest, if not the sole, patron of piping. Consequently, there is a large corpus of 'Army' music amongst which are many beautiful and often neglected tunes. K.G. Roe was a prolific composer and was Pipe Sergeant and eventually Pipe Major of the 1st Battalion The Scots Guards.
- Architecture stands as a mark of civilisation and should be recognised as such: Melbourne Airport boasts one of the world's most comfortable floors - tried and tested as we waited for a delayed flight.
- This is a tune for my wife's family from the Black Isle, just north of Inverness, the capital of the Highlands.
- 7. One More Chorus [Davy Steele]
- The Masons Apron [Trad. Arr. Battlefield Band]
- The Mountain Road [Michael Gorman]
- The song is an amalgam of hundreds of nights spent between 'Sandy Bell's' and the 'Tron' two highly respected music drinking holes in Edinburgh. The moral, if there is one, is probably directed at anyone thinking of going to work selling ale in any capacity, at a bar where sessions take place.
- Rule one - Before laying down the law about drinking times, and attempting to throw out the resellers, make sure that your employer isn't amongst the crowd. 'Folkies' tend to enjoy the crack so much, they usually buy the pub!
- We play a couple of good session tunes in this song - 'The Mason's Apron', the downfall of many an unwary fiddler and 'The Mountain Road' composed by the late Michael Gorman, fiddler from Co. Sligo.
- 8. The Pleasure will be Mine [Alan Reid]
- Alan seems to have written a lot of songs about emigration - people moving on to other places in search of a new and better life. This song is also about 'leaving' but this time the young lovers are going back home, where hopefully love will carry them through.
- A modern parable or simply a song of love. Take your pick! There are three Fintrys in Scotland - One in Grampian, one in Tayside and one north of Glasgow, near where Alan lives.
- 9. Something for Jamie [Alan Reid/John McCusker]
- This slow air was composed by Alan and then John came up with a second part. When it came to the naming of it, it seemed only natural to dedicate it to the recent addition to the Steele family, a boy child called Jamie. May he have a good life.
- 10. The Sisters Reel [Trad. Arr. Battlefield Band]
- Marion & Donald [Trad. Arr. Battlefield Band]
- The Lassie with the Yellow Petticoat [Trad. Arr. Battlefield Band]
- Jesse "The Body" Ventura's Reel [Mike Katz]
- 'The Sisters Reel' comes to us from Liz Carroll via Dr Aonghas MacDonald, who has introduced it to the piping fraternity. Aonghas's brother Allan gave both 'Marion and Donald' and 'The Lassie with the Yellow Petticoat' - great old traditional tunes which have curiously left the standard repertoire of Scottish musicians.
- 'Jesse 'The Body' Ventura' is a really flamboyant professional wrestler turned politician. He has recently been elected as Governor of Minnesota much to the amazement/anger/amusement (delete as appropriate) of the public. The jury is out as to whether this is an affirmation or an indictment of American democracy. In the light of this we all wait with expectation to see what sort of surprises the new Scottish Parliament throws up!
- 11. Logie O' Buchan [Trad. Arr. Davy Steele]
- Logie's Waltz [John McCusker]
- You will hear this song sung by lots of women singers, and it is a great song. Of course its from a woman's point of view, but we don't think singers can concern themselves with that if you like the song sing it. The fact that its about a handsome chap called Jamie is absolutely coincidental to the birth of the new Steele family member of that name, while we were making this album.
- We also changed the chorus slightly, well quite a bit really, but that's the tradition for you. John wrote the waltz that we play in the middle, so it became 'Logie's Waltz'. A nice tune and we are sure it will get a fuller treatment in due course.
|
