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06 Jan 16 - 11:30 PM (#3763360) Subject: What's the deal with Dessie O'Halloran? From: michaelr He's been popping up on Sharon Shannon records and concert DVDs, and I can't figure out if it's some gigantic inside joke or what? His singing is laughably, bizarrely bad, yet he's presented as if an elder statesman of Irish music. ITMA has some recordings from An Goilin attesting to the fact that he was no better in 1991 than in 2006. Here is a review of his record which is a bit more rude than I would be, but not inaccurate. What am I missing? |
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07 Jan 16 - 02:32 AM (#3763371) Subject: RE: What's the deal with Dessie O'Halloran? From: GUEST,Guest I remember Da Danaan doing something similar about thirty plus years ago where they did the genuinely traditional singers no favours by placing them within a predominantly set based recording with no band singer. |
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07 Jan 16 - 07:07 AM (#3763422) Subject: RE: What's the deal with Dessie O'Halloran? From: Felipa read the review and it certainly isnt as if Dessie contributes unique or particularly interesting or old songs ... |
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07 Jan 16 - 07:44 AM (#3763434) Subject: RE: What's the deal with Dessie O'Halloran? From: thetwangman Under a Government scheme, every single citizen of Ireland gets to make a CD at some stage. It's a bit like National Service. I hope to get the call up soon myself. |
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07 Jan 16 - 07:54 AM (#3763437) Subject: RE: What's the deal with Dessie O'Halloran? From: Steve Shaw It's quite an old record by now. |
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07 Jan 16 - 12:25 PM (#3763540) Subject: RE: What's the deal with Dessie O'Halloran? From: Ernest If you listen to old source singers you`ll find that many of them have similar ordinary (as opposed to classically trained) voices. I got the cd and have heard him years ago in Inishbofin. Yes, he is not the greatest singer or fiddler in the world. Still, he and everybody else had fun. I call that folk music. |
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08 Jan 16 - 07:53 AM (#3763721) Subject: RE: What's the deal with Dessie O'Halloran? From: GUEST,Howard Jones Traditional singing and playing is often a long way removed from modern, more polished interpretations. To the casual listener it can be challenging, and it can take perseverance to to get to grips with, but if you make the effort to appreciate it can be very rewarding. No different from many art forms, and not only in music. |
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08 Jan 16 - 08:22 AM (#3763727) Subject: RE: What's the deal with Dessie O'Halloran? From: Jack Campin There are samples on YouTube. I didn't feel the urge to investigate further. "Challenging" isn't quite the word I'd have used. |
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08 Jan 16 - 08:38 AM (#3763735) Subject: RE: What's the deal with Dessie O'Halloran? From: maeve Here's one opinion: http://www.salutlive.com/2014/11/song-of-the-day-sharon-shannon-dessie-o-halloran-say-you-love-me.html "He has a broken, strangled voice that, in all honesty, you'd think only a close relative could love. Except that the close relative has been joined by countless other admirers and the pair of old codgers who write all that appears at Salut! Live are among them. "...ramshackle vocals on which O'Halloran may well hold some sort of trademark. But for the song and its context, that voice is as near to being the perfect match as you will find outside the pages of Mills & Boon. "You hear that song and you imagine a wizened old man in an pub somewhere on the west coast of Ireland, sipping his pints of stout, rolling his own fags and occasionally breaking into the session to sing the songs he knows," a friend said. And I love it. Maybe a whole concert of Dessie's voice would be stretching it a bit far, but I am totally hooked by the song and chorus, voice, mannerisms and the sheer fun value. Look at Sharon and the other musicians. Look at the faces of audience members. Everyone is having a fabulous time..." |
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08 Jan 16 - 08:44 AM (#3763737) Subject: RE: What's the deal with Dessie O'Halloran? From: Thompson There are sweet voices and there are characterful voices. Look at Tom Waits, Shane McGowan, Jimmy Durante… |
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08 Jan 16 - 08:56 AM (#3763741) Subject: RE: What's the deal with Dessie O'Halloran? From: GUEST In that link the instrumentation sounded more Cajun than Irish and, as a singer, he is certainly no worse than D L Meynard. |
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09 Jan 16 - 07:41 AM (#3763986) Subject: RE: What's the deal with Dessie O'Halloran? From: GUEST,Guest He has an extensive collection of songs, which is why he is so revered. So what if it doesn't sound brilliant, it's all about the songs. |
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28 Jan 18 - 08:02 PM (#3902519) Subject: RE: What's the deal with Dessie O'Halloran? From: GUEST,Grubby Can anyone help with the name of the tune Sharron plays at the end of Dessie’s singing on “Say You Love Me” Cheers Grubby |
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29 Jan 18 - 10:14 AM (#3902569) Subject: RE: What's the deal with Dessie O'Halloran? From: GUEST,GUEST GUEST "The Humours Of Benny Hill". |
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04 Feb 18 - 04:39 PM (#3903820) Subject: RE: What's the deal with Dessie O'Halloran? From: GUEST Blackbird |