Irish Traditional Music Tune Index
Tune ID#277 (Captain Kelly)
about these two barsThese two bars were transcribed by me from how this tune was played – the first time through – on the recording BtB (details in the Discography below).
| Rhythm ? | Bars | 8-bar phrase structure | Mode ? |
|---|---|---|---|
| Reel | 16 | AB | G Major |
Captain Kelly / Captain Kelly's / Captain Kelly's Reel (misidentified on FG 6 as The New Road) (also in D or C or F)
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.
Click 
to hear the first 12 seconds.
to hear the first 12 seconds.| Year Recorded |
Track #Tune? |
[Album code] Artist. Title. Performers (instruments). |
|---|---|---|
| 1939 | 21#2 | [BtB] Paddy Killoran, James Morrison. From Ballymote to Brooklyn. Paddy Killoran (fiddle), James Morrison (fiddle). For this tune: James Morrison (fiddle). |
| ~1985 | 4#2 | [CW] Matt Molloy and Sean Keane. Contentment Is Wealth. Matt Molloy (flute), Sean Keane (fiddle). For this tune: Matt Molloy (flute). |
| ~1986 | 4#1 | [HMSP] Joe Burke, Michael Cooney, Terry Corcoran. Happy to Meet and Sorry to Part. Joe Burke (accordion), Michael Cooney (pipes, whistle), Terry Corcoran (guitar, vocals). |
| 1990 | 16#1 | [COG] Conal O Gráda. The Top of Coom. Conal Ó Gráda (flute). |
| ~1994 | 7#2 | [JCt 1] John Carty and Brian McGrath. The Cat that Ate the Candle. John Carty (banjo, fiddle), Brian McGrath (piano, banjo). |
| ~1996 | 1#1 | [JBrosnan] John Brosnan. The Cook in the Kitchen. John Brosnan (accordion). |
| ~2001 | 13#1 | [FG 6] Frankie Gavin. Fierce Traditional. Frankie Gavin (fiddle, flute). |
| 2002 | 7#3 | [AJK] Alan and John Kelly. Fourmilehouse. Alan Kelly (piano accordion), John Kelly (flute, whistle). For this tune: John Kelly (flute). |
| 2002 | 14#2 | [HB 2] Harry Bradley. As I Carelessly Did Stray
. Harry Bradley (flute, whistle). For this tune: (flute). |
| ~2002 | 2.1#3 | [WFO 2] Wooden Flute Obsession 2. John Kelly (flute). |
| ~2006 | 6#2 | [DCB 1] The Doon Céilí Band. Around the World for Sport. Paddy O'Brien (accordion), Kate Dowling (flute), Laura MacKenzie (flute), Brian Miller (flute), Jode Dowling (fiddle), Django Amerson (fiddle), Sean Egan (piano). |
Bibliography
Here are all transcriptions of this tune 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 #1330 in [1850] Francis O'Neill and James O'Neill. O'Neill's Music of Ireland. |
| As tune #588 in [1001] Francis O'Neill and James O'Neill. The Dance Music of Ireland. 1001 Gems. |
| As tune #72 in [A] Hugh McDermott. Allan's "Irish Fiddler." |
| On page 120 of [Krsn] Miles Krassen. O'Neill's Music of Ireland. New and Revised. |
| As tune #12 in [DM 3] Dave Mallinson. 100 Evergreen Irish Session Tunes. |
| As reel #363 in [Cobb] Dan Cobb. Cobb's Music of Ireland. |
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