Here's what Peanut Butter himself has to say!

"After the collapse of my previous band The Johnstons I was stuck in a going nowhere period in New York City in late 73 when I got a letter from my friend, the uileann piper Liam O'Flynn asking me to come home and join Planxty, the great Irish folk band of that era. It was a complete change of direction for me. Although I had recorded lots of traditional music and songs in the late 60's/ early 70's with the Johnstons, I was at that time moving in a contemporary songwriting direction. Arriving home in Ireland the following year, the Planxty album that was currently in the shops included a song sung by Christy Moore, 'The Lakes Of Pontchartrain'. I loved it.

Two or three years later when the band had broken up and I was touring with Andy Irvine, I drifted back to the song and eventually decided to do my own version when it came to recording my first solo album 'Welcome Here Kind Stranger' in 1978. It quickly became one of my most popular songs and for years later and to the present day people ask me to sing it."

--Paul Brady