Folklore: James Young, aka 'Our Jimmie'

Subject: Folklore: James Young, aka 'Our Jimmie'
From: paddymac
Date: 30 May 07 - 11:24 PM

I was introduced to James Young (1918 - July 5, 1974) by scavenging two poems from Mudcat by him: "The Orangeman's Hell" and "Wee Davey Shaw." From what I have been able to find on the web, he was a comic genius who had the rare ability to cross the various divides in Belfast and leave 'em laughing on both sides of the street. Nobody seems to know, much less care, whether he was this or that in the greatly divided Belfast of his time. I've recently gotten involved in "performance poetry," and did a show two weeks ago with an ensemble of ten performers. One of the bits I did was "The Orangeman's Hell," and a gal pal did "Wee Davey Shaw." The two bits were the hits of the show, with the first leaving them with tears of laughter in their eyes, and the other with tears of a different kind. Both bits received thunderous applause (well, as thunderous as could be from a crowd of 40 or so listeners). The audience appreciation got me motivated to do some web research about the man. I've found a 4-CD set of his material done by others, but haven't yet discovered any recordings of him doing his own material. And, I haven't yet discovered whether there might be a print version of "the collected works of" available somewhere. If anyone here might be able to inform me of such things, I would be greatly appreciative. I have developed a sense of the man as one of the rare souls able to help all of us see more clearly.

Subject: RE: Folklore: James Young, aka 'Our Jimmie'
From: GUEST,Ballyholme
Date: 31 May 07 - 04:44 PM

Emerald Records of Northern Ireland released Jimmy's albums when he was alive and they seeem to have re-issued most of them again on CD.

Try this link: http://www.emeraldmusiconline.com/search/?search=James+Young&x=11&y=8

You might also want to listen to Crawford Howard's material.

Ballyholme

Subject: RE: Folklore: James Young, aka 'Our Jimmie'
From: paddymac
Date: 31 May 07 - 06:03 PM

Ballyholme - The Emerald Records 4-disk set is the one I found, but I somehow had the notion it was other folks doing his stuff. - Maybe too late at night and an extra pint or two when I found it. I hope to acquire the set - even more so now the you've told me it is Himself doing his own stuff.

The thread from which came "The Orangeman's Hell" referenced Crawford Howard, and indictaed that he also did something sort of similarly named, But I have not pursued that further, as yet..

Thanks very much for your help.