Put that Horn in your Pipe: The Chieftains and "Brafferton Village: Walsh's Hornpipe"

Today's song, randomly chosen, is from a holiday CD. I actually had second thoughts when it popped up as the random pick, but a couple of things swayed me to keep it as today's song and not randomly pick another. First, it doesn't sound like a holiday song. It's short, only 1 minute and 24 or so seconds, and it's a fast hornpipe, so fast that it almost sounds like a reel. Second, well, since Halloween is over I am just betting, though I haven't been to a store, that all of the shops and stores have taken down their Halloween stuff and have already put up Christmas decorations, put out Christmas goods, and are starting to play Christmas music. I find it difficult to stomach that crass commercialism means that we will be hearing Christmas carols in US stores and seeing holiday commercials on television for the next 2 months, but that's the way it is.

In the meantime, enjoy this song, from a holiday CD, that can really be played at any time of the year. The Chieftains are an Irish ensemble who introduced the wider world to Irish music. The Chieftains were formed in Dublin in 1962 and played their music primarily around the distinctive sound of uileann pipes. They took their name from the title of a novel by Irish author John Montague. Besides releasing several critically acclaimed albums, they are just as well known for their collaborations with such artists as Van Morrison, The Rolling Stones, Madonna, Sinead O'Connor and Roger Daltry. They have released 44 albums. Brafferton Village: Walsh's Hornpipe is from their holiday themed album The Bells of Dublin (1991), on which also appeared Jackson Browne, Elvis Costello, the McGarrigle sisters, Marianne Faithfull, Rickie Lee Jones, Nanci Griffith and Burgess Meredith.

A little PS: Megan got this CD a long time ago. I had never heard Irish Christmas music before she introduced me to this album. The Christmas music I grew up with was the schmaltzy Christmas music of Bing Crosby and Andy Williams and Nat King Cole. This album opened me to different types of holiday music, and as a result we have a nice little collection of non-traditional holiday music, including some really interesting ones from all different genres. Thanks, Megan, for enlarging my world so long ago.