Subject: Johnny MacAdoo&Magee and me: Lyrics?? Help!! From: Date: 28 Jun 98 - 07:28 PM
How's ye?
Looking for lyrics to "Johnny MacAdoo and Magee and me", off of a totally obscure vinyl that a batty old auntie once had...the cover insisted it was a traditional arrangement, but I haven't found it since. Help!!
Subject: RE: Johnny MacAdoo&Magee and me: Lyrics?? Help!! From:Dan Mulligan Date: 29 Jun 98 - 11:39 PM
That would be "Johnny McEldo." It was recorded by "The Corries" and appears on thier "Alive, alive-oh" album from 1972. It was also recorded by "Tommy Makem & The Clancy Brothers" and is in current release "Irish Party Songs" from Excelsior music.(Listed as "Johny McEldoo.") Sorry, I don't have the lyrics...yet. Dan
Subject: RE: Johnny MacAdoo&Magee and me: Lyrics?? Help!! From:Dan Mulligan Date: 29 Jun 98 - 11:46 PM
Well ....that was easy.
Johnny McEldoo (Trad)
There was Johnny McEldoo and McGhee and me, and a couple or two or three went on a spree one day We had a bob or two which we knew how to blew, and the beer and whiskey flew and we all felt gay We visited McCann's, McIllmann's, Humpty Dan's, we then went in to Swann's our stomachs for to pack We ordered out a feed which indeed we did need, and we finished it with speed but we still felt slack
Johnny McEldoo turned red, white and blue when a plate of Irish stew he soon put out of sight He shouted out "Encore" with a roar for some more, that he never felt before such a keen appetite He ordered eggs and ham, bread and jam, what a cram! But him we couldn't ram though we tried our level best For everything we brought, cold or hot, mattered not, it went down him like a shot, but he still stood the test
He swallowed tripe and lard by the yard, we got scared, we thought it would go hard when the waiter brought the bill We told him to give o'er, but he swore he could lower twice as much again and more before he had his fill He nearly supped a trough full of broth says McGrath, "He'll devour the tablecloth if you don't hold him in" When the waiter brought the charge, McEldoo felt so large, he began to scowl and barge and his blood went on fire
He began to curse and swear, tear his hair in despair, and to finish the affair called the shopman a liar The shopman he drew out, and no doubt, he did clout, McEldoo he kicked about like an old football He tattered all his clothes, broke his nose, I suppose he'd have killed him with a few blows in no time at all
McEldoo began to howl and to growl, by my sowl, he threw an empty bowl at the shopkeepers head It struck poor Mickey Flynn, peeled the skin off his chin and the ructions did begin and we all fought and bled The peelers did arrive, man alive, four or five, at us they made a drive for us all to march away We paid for all the mate, that we ate, stood a trate, and went home to reminate on the spree that day
i thought it was "johnnny mceldoo turned as blue as the dew"....see, me thinkin was that "the dew" = good moonshine, which burns blue, of course, & mceldoo was eating so ravenously, not even pausing for breathe, etc...
Subject: Lyr Add: JOHNNY MCELDOO (from Great Big Sea) From:GEST Date: 08 Nov 05 - 08:21 PM
I understood Tommy Makem copyrights everything he records as if it were his own, even traditional songs.
Here is a version by Great Big Sea:
Johnny McEldoo
There was Johnny McEldoo and Mcghee and me, And a couple or two or three, went on a spree one day; We had a drop or two, which we knew how to brew, And the beer and whiskey flew, and we all felt gay.
We visited Mccann's, Mcillmann's, Humpty Dan's, We then went in to Swann's, our stomachs for to pack; We ordered out a feed, which indeed we did need, And we finished it with speed, but we still felt slack.
Johnny McEldoo turned as blue as the dew, And a plate of Irish stew he soon put out of sight; He shouted out "Encore", with a roar for some more, And he never felt before such a keen appetite.
He ordered eggs and ham, bread and jam, what a cram! But him we couldn't ram, though we tried our level best; For everything we brought, cold or hot, mattered not, It went down him like a shot, but he still stood the test.
He swallowed tripe and lard by the yard, we got scared, We thought it would go hard, when the waiter brought the bill; We told him to give o'er, but he swore he could lower, Twice as much again and more, before he had his fill.
He nearly supped a trough full of broth, says Mcgrath, "He'll devour the tablecloth, if you don't hold him in." When the waiter brought the charge, McEldoo felt so large, He began to scowl and barge, and his blood went on fire.
He began to curse and swear, tear his hair in despair, And to finish the affair, called the shopman a liar; The shopman he drew out, and no doubt, he did clout, McEldoo he kicked about like an old football.
He tattered all his clothes, broke his nose, I suppose he'd have killed him with a few blows in no time at all; McEldoo began to howl and to growl, by my soul, He threw an empty bowl at the shopkeeper's head.
It struck poor Mickey Flynn, peeled the skin off his chin, And the ructions did begin, and we all fought and bled; The peelers did arrive, man alive, four or five, At us they made a drive for us all to march away.
We paid for all the m'at that we ate, stood a tr'at, And went home to ruminate on the spree that day.
####.... Irish Traditional, arr. by Great Big Sea (Rankin Street Live Album, 1991) ....####
Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Johnny MacAdoo / Johnny McEldoo From:Snuffy Date: 09 Nov 05 - 09:13 AM
The whole thing consists of groups of four lines, with the second and fourth rhyming. But there would appear to be a couple of lines missing, before (or after): He nearly supped a trough full of broth, says Mcgrath, "He'll devour the tablecloth, if you don't hold him in."
I've looked all over the web, but haven't been able to find such a version. Anyone know anything about it?
Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Johnny MacAdoo / Johnny McEldoo From:Scotus Date: 09 Nov 05 - 11:07 AM
This was a great favourite of the late great Jimmy McBeath, and he sang it with varying length of verses, using only parts of the tune for some of them. I think that there may be a recording of it by him on an old Topic album. I very much doubt if Tommy Makem wrote it.
The missing lines obviously go at the end of the third verse. I recall finding them in an old songbook in my aunt's house in County Down but don't remember what it was called. The full verse is therefore as follows:
He swallowed tripe and lard by the yard, we got scared We thought it would go hard when the waiter brought the bill We told him to give o'er, but he swore he could lower Twice as much again and more before he had his fill He nearly supped a trough full of broth, says McGrath He'll devour the tablecloth if we don't hold him in He ate a dozen fowl, half a cow, made a vow He was just as hungry now as when he did begin
There was Johnny McEldoo and McGee and me And a couple or two or three went on a spree one day We had a bob or two which we knew how to blew And the beer and whiskey flew and we all felt gay We visited McCann's, McLeman's, Humpty Dan's We then went into Swann's our stomachs for to pack We ordered out a feed which indeed we did need And we finished it with speed but we still felt slack
Johnny McEldoo turned red, white and blue When a plate of Irish stew he soon put out of sight He shouted out encore with a roar for some more That he never felt before such a keen appetite He ordered eggs and ham, bread and jam, what a cram But him we couldn't ram though we tried our level best For everything we brought, cold or hot, matter not It went down him like a shot and he still stood the test
He swallowed tripe and lard by the yard, we got scared We thought it would go hard when the waiter brought the bill We told him to give o'er, but he swore he could lower Twice as much again and more before he had his fill He nearly supped a trough full of broth, says McGrath He'll devour the tablecloth if we don't hold him in He ate a dozen fowl, half a cow, made a vow He was just as hungry now as when he did begin
When the waiter brought the charge McEldoo felt so large He began to scowl and barge and his blood went on fire He began to curse and swear tear his hair in despair And to finish the affair called the shopman a liar The shopman he drew out and no doubt he did clout McEldoo he kicked about like an old football He tattered all his clothes, broke his nose, I suppose He'd have killed him with a few blows in no time at all
McEldoo began to howl and to growl, by my soul He threw an empty bowl at the shopkeeper's head It struck poor Mickey Flynn peeled the skin off his chin And the ructions did begin and we all fought and bled The peelers did arrive, man alive, four or five At us they made a drive for us all to march away We paid for all the meat that we ate, stood a treat And went home to ruminate on the spree that day
I'm quite surprised to see this assertion, above: "I understood Tommy Makem copyrights everything he records as if it were his own, even traditional songs." In my experience, Tommy was scrupulous about attributions, taking the issue very seriously. In performance, he usually made a point of mentioning sources.
It is true, of course, that many songs Tommy did actually write eventually became so well know that many believed them to be traditional songs; and I also believe he had some issues with his publishers, who may have asserted copyrights that he did not agree with. (And of course, many of his songs were set to traditional airs. As everybody here knows, the lyrics are considered the more important element of authorship, not the associated air.)
Regarding Johnny McEldoo, the Clancys & Makem songbook cited above states "New words, arranged and adapted by Tommy Makem" with a copyright date of 1961; this would seem about right. The other recordings mentioned above would all seem to postdate this.
As I recall, Tommy told the story that he collected the original version of this song from an old man in Armaugh, who didn't remember all the verses -- in which case there would certainly be a need for new lyrics. I think I first heard him report this around 1985...though I can't recall whether this was told on stage or to me personally.
I do seem to recall an old Clancys & Makem album featuring local musicians from their homes, on which an obviously old man sang Johnny McEldoo at a sedate tempo. However I can't find it on my shelves any longer.
At any rate, I do take exception to the insult posted above (in 2005) which does not at all sound like the Tommy Makem I knew, nor does it make much sense given his lifelong support for traditional music.
I still have a vinyl of my mother's by the Clancy Bros & Tommy Makem recorded in a Chicago nightclub, The Gate Of Horn, called "Hearty & Hellish". I still think it's an excellent album. In fact I recently digitised it, though it's in terrible condition.
They've put the lyrics of that song alone on the back of the sleeve, presumably because by the end it's being sung so fast that people might have difficulty in distinguishing them. Except for the missing couplet, they agree with the final version posted above. The differences are:
+ Quotes around encore, which makes sense as it's something shouted.
- "It struck by Mickey Finn", but the above makes more sense.
I also have the songbook, and can confirm Trevor Hanson's statement above.
As for copyright, it was fashionable at the time to copyright everything possible, but I agree with Trevor, at least, unlike Dylan, the Clancies & TM didn't try to claim copyright over the bits they didn't actually write themselves.
Sean Mone sings "He ordered up a trough full of broth, says McGrath, He'll devour the tablecloth if we don't houl' him in. He nearly took the croup supping soop with a scoop, He was hardly fit to stoop but he didn't care a pin."
sj
