Irish Traditional Music Tune Index
Tune ID# 986 (Johnny Allen's)

RhythmBars8-bar phrase structureMode
Reel32AABBD Mixolydian
Transcription of first 2 bars of Johnny Allen's
 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 BMc (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):
Johnny Allen's / Johnny Allen's Reel / Johnny Allen / Sean McGlynn's Fancy / Sean McGlynn's / An Bhean Tincéara / An Bhean Tinceare / Bean a' Tincéara / Ban Tinceiri / The Tinkerman's Wife (also singled, also with additional part between 1st and 2nd) (compare single jig Ask My Father #91)
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
196030#1[ECr] Elizabeth Crotty. Concertina Music from West Clare. Elizabeth Crotty (concertina).View album details
~19819#1[BMc] Billy McComiskey. Makin' the Rounds. Irish Traditional Music. Billy McComiskey (accordion).View album details
~19812.15#1[GL20] various. Green Linnet Records. The Twentieth Anniversary Collection. View album details
~199513#1[MMR 1] Mike and Mary Rafferty. The Dangerous Reel. Mike Rafferty (flute, whistle, pipes), Mary Rafferty (accordion, flute, whistle).View album details
199711#1[SCAC] Séamus Creagh, Aidan Coffey. Séamus Creagh, Aidan Coffey. Séamus Creagh (fiddle), Aidan Coffey (accordion).View album details
19982#2[Chlr] Chulrua. Barefoot on the Altar. Paddy O'Brien (accordion), Tim Britton (pipes, flute, whistle), Pat Egan (guitar, vocals).View album details
~200011#2[MMcG 2] Michael McGoldrick. Fused. Michael McGoldrick (flute except where noted).View album details
~20047#3[Ovld] Randal Bays and Dáithí Sproule. Overland. Randal Bays (fiddle, guitar), Dáithí Sproule (guitar, vocals).View album details
200613#1[TCB 4] The Tulla Céilí Band. 60th Anniversary Celebration. Mark Donnellan (fiddle), Martin Hayes (fiddle), Jim Corry (piano), Sean Donnelly (accordion), Michael McKee (accordion), J.J. Conway (flute), Jennifer Lenihan (flute), Martin Glynn (flute), Mick Flanagan (drums).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 #774 in [1001] Francis O'Neill and James O'Neill. The Dance Music of Ireland. 1001 Gems. [available]
As tune #6 in [WC] Pat Mitchell. The Dance Music of Willie Clancy. [available]
As reel #36 in [Ng] Alan Ng. Alan Ng's Transcriptions. [available]
As reel #154 in [Cobb] Dan Cobb. Cobb's Music of Ireland. [available]
As reel #62 in [JKg 3] Josephine Keegan. A Drop in the Ocean. Traditional Irish Tunes Collected by Josephine Keegan. [available]
As tune #130 in [Raff] Lesl Harker. 300 Tunes from Mike Rafferty. [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): 1907
Please cite your source when you use information from this document.
© 2000–2008 Alan Ng, agng@facstaff.wisc.edu. Questions? Comments? Please use the easy Feedback Form. Thank you!
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