Irish Traditional Music Tune Index
Tune ID#164 (Blackbird)
| Rhythm ? | Bars | Mode ? |
|---|---|---|
| Set dance | 46 | G Major |
about these two bars
These two bars are the start of my transcription of how this tune was played – the first time through – on the recording LR 1 (details in the Discography below).
Titles given to this tune in the sources listed below (plus notes of mine about this tune):
Blackbird, The / An Lon Dubh / An Londubh (3rd in set The Blackbird on JnKlly) (compare as hornpipe #2274, as air #165, song, and reel #162) (composed by Kiely aka Keily (set dance version only))
Discography
Here are all recordings of this tune considering only the indexed recordings. I have discovered by careful listening that these sources are in fact musically the same tune, regardless of the tune titles they use, key changes, retuning, etc. They are listed in order of when they were recorded.
| Year Recorded |
Track #Tune? |
[Album code] Artist. Title. Primary musicians (instruments). |
|---|---|---|
| 1937 | 3#1 | [LR 1] Leo Rowsome. Classics of Irish Piping. Leo Rowsome (pipes). |
| ~1947 | B.4#1 | [JDrn] Johnny Doran. The Bunch of Keys. Johnny Doran (pipes). |
| 1951 | 2.3#1 | [MGm] Michael Gorman. The Sligo Champion. The Fiddle Music of County Sligo. Michael Gorman (fiddle, vocals). |
| ~1953 | 16#1 | [JDJO] Joe Derrane and Jerry O'Brien. Irish Accordion Masters. Joe Derrane (accordion), Jerry O'Brien (accordion). |
| ~1966 | 4#2 | [TMC] Joe Burke, Andy McGann, and Felix Dolan. A Tribute to Michael Coleman. Joe Burke (accordion), Andy McGann (fiddle), Felix Dolan (piano). |
| ~1967 | 13#1 | [PKlly] Patrick Kelly. Patrick Kelly From Cree. Fiddle Music. Patrick Kelly (fiddle). |
| ~1974 | 8#2 | [SE 3] Séamus Ennis. The Wandering Minstrel. Seamus Ennis (pipes). |
| ~1974 | 14#2 | [GP] various. The Gentlemen Pipers. Classic Recordings of Irish Traditional Piping. |
| 1975 | 19#3 | [JnKlly] John Kelly. Irish Traditional Concertina and Fiddle Music. John Kelly (concertina, fiddle). |
| ~1975 | 10#2 | [PK 1] Paddy Keenan. Paddy Keenan. Paddy Keenan (pipes, whistle, low whistle). |
| 1977 | 7#2 | [BB 3] The Bothy Band. Out of the Wind into the Sun. Paddy Keenan (pipes, whistle), Matt Molloy (flute, whistle), Kevin Burke (fiddle), Tríona Ní Dhomhnaill (vocals, keyboards), Dónal Lunny (bouzouki, guitar, bodhrán, synthesizer), Mícheál Ó Domhnaill (guitar). |
| 1978 | 22#1 | [KKgn] Kevin Keegan. The Music of Kevin Keegan. Kevin Keegan (accordion). |
| ~1978 | B.6#1 | [NF] Joe Shannon, Johnny McGreevy. The Noonday Feast. Joe Shannon (pipes), Johnny McGreevy (fiddle). |
| ~1978 | 27#2 | [ItS] various. In the Smoke. |
| ~1980 | 18#1 | [ICTM] various. Ireland. Irlande. |
| 1992 | 6#1 | [Ch CH] The Chieftains. The Celtic Harp. A Tribute to Edward Bunting with the Belfast Harp Orchestra. Martin Fay (fiddle), Seán Keane (fiddle), Kevin Conneff (bodhrán, vocals), Matt Molloy (flute), Paddy Moloney (pipes, whistle), Derek Bell (harp, tiompán, harpsichord). |
| ~1996 | 13#1 | [PCln] Pat Cloonan. Pat Cloonan's Thanksgiving. Patrick Cloonan (accordion). |
| ~1996 | 14#2 | [JB 3] Joe Burke, Charlie Lennon. The Bucks of Oranmore. Joe Burke (accordion), Charlie Lennon (piano). |
| 1998 | 11#2 | [KB IC] Kevin Burke. In Concert. Kevin Burke (fiddle). |
| ~1998 | 11#1 | [BG 5] Bobby Gardiner. The Clare Shout. Bobby Gardiner (accordion, lilting). |
| ~1999 | 2.14#1 | [WFO 2] various. Wooden Flute Obsession 2. |
| ~2000 | 8#1 | [COC] Connie O'Connell. Ceol Cill na Martra (Music from Cill Na Martra). Connie O'Connell (fiddle). |
| ~2001 | 8#1 | [JCt 3] John Carty. Yeh, That's All It Is. John Carty (fiddle, guitar). |
| ~2006 | 14(3:13)#3 | [JOSe] Jimmí Ó Sé. Malairt Poirt ó Fionntrá. Jimmí Ó Sé (accordion, vocals). |
| ~2006 | 15#1 | [JOSe] Jimmí Ó Sé. Malairt Poirt ó Fionntrá. Jimmí Ó Sé (accordion, vocals). |
| ~2007 | 1.12#1 | [CLnn 2] Charlie Lennon. Turning the Tune. Charlie Lennon (fiddle, viola, piano, harpsichord, bass, keyboards). |
Bibliography
Here are all transcriptions of this tune under any title whatsoever – considering only the indexed books – listed in chronological order. I have discovered by careful comparison that these are very similar to this tune as played on the recordings listed above.
| As tune #1793 in [1850] Francis O'Neill and James O'Neill. O'Neill's Music of Ireland. |
| As tune #985 in [1001] Francis O'Neill and James O'Neill. The Dance Music of Ireland. 1001 Gems. |
| As tune #270 in volume 2 of [R] Francis Roche. The Roche Collection of Traditional Irish Music. 3 vols. |
| As tune #111 in [A] Hugh McDermott. Allan's "Irish Fiddler." |
| As tune #30 in volume 1 of [LPTW] Eithne Vallely. Learn to Play the Tin Whistle. |
| On page 17 of [LPUP] Eithne and Brian Vallely. Learn to Play the Uilleann Pipes. |
| On page 222 of [Krsn] Miles Krassen. O'Neill's Music of Ireland. New and Revised. |
| As tune #230 in [JOL] Terry Moylan. Johnny O'Leary of Sliabh Luachra. Dance Music from the Cork-Kerry Border. |
| As setd #2 in [MM] Martin Mulvihill. First Collection of Traditional Irish Music. |
| As tune #94 in [Cr] Matt Cranitch. The Irish Fiddle Book. |
| As tune #100 in [DM 2] Dave Mallinson. 100 Enduring Irish Session Tunes. |
| In [FMH] Tom Hastings. The Feis Musicians Handbook [sic]. |
| As setd #2 in [Cobb] Dan Cobb. Cobb's Music of Ireland. |
| As tune #296 in [Raff] Lesl Harker. 300 Tunes from Mike Rafferty. |
If you are considering using the above transcriptions to help you learn this tune, I invite you to check these practical Tips for Learning Irish Traditional Music. See also: So why do you bother indexing books and abc?
Year of the oldest source for this tune, considering the recordings and transcriptions listed above (note that I concentrate on sources after 1900): 1903