The Mudcat Café TM
Thread #130768 Message #2944814
Posted By: matt milton
14-Jul-10 - 08:48 AM
Thread Name: Congratulations to Len Graham!
Subject: RE: Congratulations to Len Graham!
I've got a review copy.
What's best about the book are the songs and the photographs. There are many songs that'll be familiar to many readers, only probably not in these versions.
But some quite unusual songs too. I particularly like 'The Flowering Trade' and the insanely pompous masonic song 'Sons of Levi'. The title song 'Here I Am Amongst You' is a great cheeky, self-deprecating little comic ditty. Some interesting polkas and mazurkas too (there's a fiddle tunes section, as Joe Holmes was a fiddler as well as a singer).
In a sense, the title "Joe Holmes - Here I Am Amongst You' might be misleading, as it's predominantly a songbook: it's very much NOT a biography. (Although part of the book does, of course, give you a Joe Holmes bio.)
ultimately, if you're interested in Irish songs, you'll want it.