Irish Traditional Music Tune Index
Tune ID# 2457 (If I Had a Wife)

RhythmBars8-bar phrase structureMode
Slide48AABBCCG Major
Transcription of first 2 bars of If I Had a Wife
 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 JOL 1 (details in the Discography below).

Where do you get the tune titles?
Titles given to this tune in the sources listed below (plus notes of mine about this tune):
If I Had a Wife / The Next Wan / Mick Mahony's / Mick Mahoney's / Johnny Leary's Slide / Johnny O Leary's (2nd in set Three Slides on PS 7; 1st in set Lios Uí Bhigín on NNC) (also in A, also without 3rd part) (compare 1st part with 1st part of Barrel Organ #3105)
What do the "track#tune" codes mean?

cd 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). Album details
and contents
197713#1[JOL 1] Johnny O'Leary. Music for the Set. Traditional Irish Music from Sliabh Luachra. Johnny O'Leary (accordion).View album details
~19793#1[Ev] Kevin Burke and Jackie Daly. Eavesdropper. Kevin Burke (fiddle), Jackie Daly (accordion, concertina).View album details
~19898#1[JOL 2] Johnny O'Leary. An Calmfhear. The Trooper. Johnny O'Leary (accordion).View album details
199518#1[JOL 3] Johnny O'Leary. Johnny O'Leary of Sliabh Luachra. Dance Music from the Cork-Kerry Border. Johnny O'Leary (accordion).View album details
19987#2[PS 7] Patrick Street. Live from Patrick Street. Kevin Burke (fiddle), Jackie Daly (accordion), Andy Irvine (vocals, bouzouki, mandolin, hurdy-gurdy, harmonica), Ged Foley (guitar, fiddle).View album details
~20009#2[DH 3] Dan Herlihy and John Drew. The Ballydesmond Polka. Traditional Irish Music from Sliabh Luachra Played By Dan Herlihy and John Drew. Dan Herlihy (accordion), John Drew (mandocello).View album details
~200713#1[NNC] Niamh Ní Charra. Ón Dá Thaobh. From Both Sides. Niamh Ní Charra (fiddle, concertina).View album details

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 #90 in [JOL] Terry Moylan. Johnny O'Leary of Sliabh Luachra. Dance Music from the Cork-Kerry Border. [available]

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): 1977