…more Irish Folk: Anne Byrne
I Choose the Green
1967 - Waverley SZLP 2097 LP
with Paddy Roche & Mick Crotty
Side One
The Croppy Boy
Kiandra
The Foggy Dew
Lowlands Of Holland
Mary Hamilton
Captain Farrell
Side Two
Fiona And Shane
Pal O'mine
Come By The Hills (Smith)
Hold On To Me, Babe (Paxton)
Plaisir D'amour
I'm Bound For The Mountains And The Sea (Paxton)
Alternate release
I Choose The Green: 1968 - Capitol SP 10543 LP
Below credits and sleeve notes are from the 1968 Capitol re-release …
Credits
Produced by W. Gordon Smith
Capitol International Series Producer: George Sponhaltz
Sleeve Notes
I chose the Black, I chose the Blue,
I forsook the Red and Orange too,
I did forsake them and them deny,
I chose the Green, and for it I'll die…
That refrain, from "The Croppy Boy," tells of the pride of the Irish over centuries of resistance against "perfidious Albion," of the tragedy of people divided by politics, and of the power folk songs have to move the spirit. Pretty Anne Byrne of Dublin knows that power, and in her cool, sweet voice she sings in this album of Ireland's pride, along with some songs of other lands too.
'The Croppy Boy" dates back to the 1798 Rebellion, while "The Foggy Dew" (known also in a different erotic version) is only as old as the Easter Uprising of 1916. But most of Anne's Irish songs are about more peaceful subjects. Paddy Roche takes his turns with "Kiandra," about an abandoned husband (!) and "Captain Farrell," one of the most famous of Irish outlaw ballads. Anne sings the venerable Scots ballad of "Mary Hamilton" (Burns had a version of his own), supposedly about one of the "four Maries" attendant on Mary Queen of Scots. And just to round things out there are new ballads by Tom Paxton and the haunting "Plaisir d'amour."
Like a lark in the clear air, Anne Byrne's voice floats over the skilled guitar playing of Paddy Roche and Mick Crotty. Sometimes they sing along, or add a harmonica line, as in the haunting "Fiona and Shane."
This is an intimate kind of album, like friendly music making at a real Irish singing-pub, or at home, by three young Irish who really love what they're doing.
…other recordings featuring:
Anne Byrne, Paddy Roche & Mick Crotty
The Rafters Ring at the Abbey Tavern: 1965 - Pye NPL-18127 LP
featuring Paddy Roche (the Ludlow Trio) and Jesse and Anne (Byrne)
Notes
In addition, Mick Crotty was an original member of The Dublin City Ramblers and can be heard on several of their early recordings.