Recommended Book List
[mp3/fieldwork/other_collections/_private/songpage-top.htm]Cantaria's
Recommended List of Song
Books and other References
Here is a list of books that we often use for research
and/or have been suggested to us by other musicians.
We like them so much that you can now
purchase some of these through the Chivalry Music store,
which directly supports Cantaria. (The ones with cover images are found in
the Chivalry Music store .)
Folk Music and Dances of
Ireland
by Brendan BreathnachThis book
is a primer on Irish music and dance. It gives explanations and
historical context for Irish traditional music, the structure of tunes,
types of dancing, the dancing masters of old, and musical instruments
played in traditional music. It also gives some tunes and songs and list
of historical source recordings and where they are archived.
This book does not give a lot of
instruction on traditional singing, but is essential information for
anyone serious about understanding Irish traditional music as a whole.
Folksongs
of Britain and Ireland
edited by Peter KennedyThis book is
one of the first references we reach for when researching song
histories. It includes 360 folksongs transcribed from field recordings
by Peter Kennedy, with lyrics, melody line notation, chord
symbols and extensive background notes about the songs. An invaluable
resource to any traditional singer.
Shanties from
the Seven Seas, collected by Stan Hugill
pub. Mystic Seaport Museum, Inc, 1994
ISBN: 0-913372-70-6
Cover price: $19.95
This book was originally published in 1961 and has become the definitive
source for sea shanty information. The book has extensive notes about types
of sea
shanties and their evolution as well as notes and historical information
about specific
songs.
Highly recommended for anyone who fancies a
sea song!
Soodlums
Irish Ballad Book
pub. 1982 by Soodlums of Dublin.
U.S.: 0-8256-0284-X U.K.:0-7119-0208-9
Cover price: $16.95158 songs with words,
melody line notation and chords. This is a pretty comprehensive
collection of songs popularized in the last thirty years by the Clancy's and
others. Many of the songs have some background notes about them, but they
are not detailed at all.
Songs included: A Bucket
Of Mountain Dew; A Bunch Of Thyme; A Nation Once Again; All For Me Grog; An
Irish Soldier Laddie; Arthur McBride; Avondale; Baidin Fheidhlimi; Bank Of
The Roses, The; Banks Of Claudy, The; Banna Strand; Bard Of Amagh, The; Beir
Me O; Believe Me If All Those Endearing Young Charms; Biddy Mulligan; Big
Strong Man (Sylvest); Black Velvet Band, The; Bold Fenian Men; Bold
O'donoghue; Bold Robert Emmet; Bold Thady Quill; Bonny Boy, The; Boolavoque;
Boston City; Botany Bay; Boys Of Wexford, The; Brennan On The Moor;
Buachaill On Eirne; Bunclody; Butcher Boy, The; Carrickfergus; Carrigdhoun;
Cliffs Of Dohoun; Cliffs Of Doneen; Cockles And Mussels; Come To The Bower;
Connemara Cradle Song; Courtin' In The Kitchen; Croppy Boy, The; Curragh Of
Kildare, The; Danny Boy (Londonderry Air); Dicey Riley; Do You Want Your Old
Lobby Washed Down; Down By The Glenside; Down By The Liffeyside; Dublin Jack
Of All Trades; Dying Rebel, The; Easy And Slow; Enniskillen Dragoon, The;
Fiddlers Green; Finnigan's Wake; Flower Of Sweet Strabane, The; Follow Me Up
To Carlow; Four Green Fields; Galway Races, The; Galway Shawl, The; Gay
Galtee Mountains, The; Golden Jubilee, The; Henry My Son; High Germany;
Hills Of Kerry, The; Holy Ground, The; Home Boys Home; I Know Ehre I'm
Going; I Know My Love; I Never Will Marry; I'll Take You Home Again,
Kathleen; I'll Tell Me Ma; I'm A Rover; James Connolly; Johnny I Hardly Knew
Ye; Jolly Beggarman, The; Jug Of Punch, The; Juice Of The Barley, The; Kelly
Of Killan; Kerry Recruit, The; Kevin Barry; Lanigan's Ball; Lark In The
Clear Air, The; Last Rose Of Summer, The; Leaving Of Liverpool, The; Little
Beggarman, The; Look At The Coffin; Love Is Teasin'; Love Thee Dearest; Maid
Of The Sweet Brown Knowe, The; Man From Mullingar, The; Mary From Dungloe;
Mary Of The Curling Hair, My; Master Mcgrath; Matt Hyland; Mcalpine's
Fusiliers; Meeting Of The Waters, The; Merry Ploughboy, The; Mountains Of
Mourne, The; Mrs. Mcgrath; Muirsheen Durkin; Never Wed An Old Man;
Nightingale, The; Nora; Oft In The Stilly Night; Old Maid In A Garrett; Only
Our Rivers; Ore Se Do Bheatha 'Bhaile; Ould Orange Flute, The; Ould
Triangle, The; Paddy Works On The Railway; Paddy's Green Shamrock Shore;
Patriot Game, The; Peggy Gordon; Quare Bungle Rye; Raggle Taggle Gypsy, The;
Red Is The Rose; Reilley's Daughter; Rising Of The Moon, The; Rocks Of Bawn,
The; Rocky Road To Dublin, The; Roddy Mccorley; Rose Of Mooncoin, The; Rose
Of Moray, The; Rosin The Bow; Sally Gardens, The; Sam Hall; Shores Of
Amerikay, The; Siabh Gallion Brae; Silvernamon; Skibbereen; Snowy Breasted
Pearl; Spancil Hill; Spanish Lady, The; Spinning Wheel, The; Star Of The
County Down; Sweet Carnlough Bay; Take Me Up To Monto; The Foggy Dew; The
German Clockwinder; The Harp That Once Through Tara's Halls; The Hills Of
Connemara; The Mermaid; The Minstrel Boy; The Old Woman From Wexford; The
Rose Of Tralee; The Sash Me Father Wore; The Wild Colonial Boy; Three
Flowers, The; Three Lovely Kisses From Kimmage; Three Score And Ten; Town I
Loved So Well, The; Twang Man, The; Twenty One Years; Valley Of Knockanure,
The; Waxies Dargle, The; Wearing Of The Green, The; Weila Waile; West's
Awake, The; When I Was Single; Whiskey In The Jar; Wild Rover, The;
Zoological Gardens, The
130 0Great Irish Ballads
(Book and CD)
by Robert Gogan,
2004
Includes a CD with the first verse and chorus of
each song, melody notation and guitar chords (and lyrics, of course).
The book has three indexes at the front -- titles, CD tracks, and first
lines. These are very helpful in quickly locating specific songs.
Excellent background notes on each song plus LOTS of wonderful color photos
throughout the book from all around Ireland. It's functional, educational
and This book is a great buy!
Here is a PARTIAL table of contents:
A Bunch Of Thyme; All For Me Grog; Arthur McBride; As I Roved Out; Avondale;
Banks Of Claudy, The; Banna Strand; Bard Of Armagh, The; Believe Me, If All
Those Endearing Young Charms; Black Velvet Band, The; Bold O'donoghue; Bold
Thady Quill; Bonny Boy, The; Botany Bay; Boulavogue; Boys of Fairhill, The;
Boys of the County Armagh, The; Brennan On The Moor; Bunclody; Butcher Boy,
The; Carrickfergus; Cliffs Of Doneen; Cockles And Mussels; Come To The
Bower; Courtin' In The Kitchen; Croppy Boy, The; Danny Boy; Dicey Riley;
Easy And Slow; Enniskillen Dragoon, The; Fiddlers Green; Finnegan's Wake;
Follow Me Up To Carlow; Galway Races, The; Galway Shawl, The; Golden
Jubilee, The; The Banks Of My Own Lovely Lee; The Banks Of The Roses; The
Boston Burglar; The Curragh Of Kildare; The Foggy Dew ; The German
Clockwinder; The Glendalough Saint.... and LOTS more
The
Bonnie Bunch of Roses by Dan Milner
Songs of England, Ireland and Scotland
pub. 1983, Oak Publications
0-8256-0256-4 Cover price $21.95
site
150 songs with words, music and chords
This book is also a very good resource for song-seekers. The book is
organized into
topical sections, which makes it a little difficult to find a particular
song, in my
opinion, but that's a minor nit. The background notes on individual songs
are quite
good.
4 books by John Loesberg:
Traditional Folksongs & Ballads
of Scotland, Vol. 1,
Traditional Folksongs & Ballads of Scotland, Vol. 2
Traditional Folksongs & Ballads of Scotland, Vol. 3
The Scottish Songs of Robert Burns
Each book contains 40 songs with melody notation and chords, plus narrative
background notes about each song. Very good resources!
Burns book contains these favorites: Auld
Lang Syne; My Love is Like a Red, Red Rose; A Man's A Man for A' That; Ae
Fond Kiss; Green Grow the Rashes, O; Hieland Mary.
Ceolta Gael
by Sean Og agus Manus O BaoillA
collection of 92 songs in the Irish language with melody line notation.
Ceolta Gael 2
by Sean Og agus Manus O BaoillA
collection of 73 songs in the Irish language with melody line notation.
Folk Songs
and Ballads of Scotland compiled and edited by Ewan McColl
70 songs with lyrics, music, and chords
0-8256-0057-X
cover price: $11.95
Ewan McColl has been a tremendous asset to the Scottish faction of the
Celtic Revival. Since the fifties McColl has been researching and
re-introducing very old,
nearly lost, Scottish songs back into Celtic folk music. This book includes
many of those
nearly lost songs, as well as Robert Burns and Robert Tannahill songs. The
background
notes he's written for the songs are very informative.
The Andy M. Stewart Collection
Pub. 1998 Strathmore Music
one of the finest singers in traditional music ever, has compiled this book
of
songs he's recorded over the years. Many are original songs that have now
become part of the living folk tradition, such as the Queen of Argyll and
The
Ramblin' Rover, and others are old traditional songs from both Scotland and
Ireland that he learned from his parents and re-introduced
into popular music like Brigid O'Malley and Donald MacGillivray
The
Songs of Elizabeth Cronin, Traditional Irish Singer
Edited by Dáibhí Ó Cróinín
pub. 2000 Four Courts Press
Includes over 200 songs, most with music, and 2 CDs containing 59 complete
songs.
I-85182-259-3
This book, published in 2000, is an invaluable research tool. Bess Cronin
was a remarkable singer, though
not very well known outside of Ireland because she was truly a folk singer
-- singing for
pleasure and the enjoyment of friends. She only made formal recordings a few
times,
and those were mainly for radio broadcasts, but fortunately there are many
field
recordings of her. Her repertoire was very extensive -- her grandson, the
editor, promises
this to be just the first half of the collection. I truly look forward to
the second
half! Some of the songs have very detailed notes, while others only
reference
the
field recordings. There are no guitar chords because Bess was a seán nós
(old style), or
unaccompanied, singer. The recordings on the CDs, while scratchy in some
cases, have a very authentic sound that captures the spirit of Irish
traditional singing.
Having recently spent several months in Ireland and doing a lot of listening
to singers, I
place a high value on this particular sound of an unaccompanied singer whose
songs are
precious gems handed down for generation. Many thanks to Dáibhí Ó Cróinín
for this
delightful compilation.
The
Irish Songbook,
The Clancy Brothers & Tommy Makem
Compiled and Edited by Joy Graeme,
©1979
Pub. Oak Publications U.S. ISBN 0-8256-0237-8 UK ISBN
0.86001.280.8
Cover price: $19.95
If you are any sort of a Makem and/or Clancy's fan, this book is a
requirement. If you aren't, then you will find it interesting to discover
just
how many songs that are so often thought of as "traditional" are
either written by or arranged and adapted by Tommy Makem or one of the
Clancy
Brothers. This collection of songs represents the "new
tradition" of revitalized Irish, Scots-Irish and Irish-American
songs.
One
Hundred English Folksongs edited by Cecil Sharp
pub. 1975 Dover Books (unabridged republication)
c. 1916, 1944 by Oliver Ditson Co.
100 songs scored for piano (no guitar chords)
0-486-23192-5 cover price: $14.95
This book is a useful reference more because
Cecil Sharp was one of the premier collectors of English, Irish and Scottish
folk songs
than for any other reason. The background notes for the songs are excellent,
with
historical and geographical origins as well as discussion of the type of
songs (shanty,
ballad, etc) and sometimes their musical structure.
In Victorian fashion, it's scored carefully
for piano, which makes me wonder if some of the tunes weren't "smoothed out"
to
make them fit proper notation, perhaps sacrificing some of the folky nuances
and rhythm
quirks. I still think it's a great resource.
Rise Up Singing: The Group Singing Book
Pub. Sing Out! Publications, revised 1992
ISBN: 0962670499
Cover price: $17.95
What can I say? Anyone who is familiar with
this book knows it's an awesome resource. Just having it on your
coffee table can lead to many wonderful song sessions. It has hundreds of
songs in it -- American, Irish, Scottish, English even Spanish and
German! Be sure to write your name inside your copy.... then take it
everywhere you go.
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