Dessie O'Halloran

Subject: Dessie O'Halloran
From: GUEST,nickr90
Date: 12 Dec 04 - 06:10 AM

Any one got views on Dessie as a singer. Is he seen as an acquired taste?

Subject: RE: Dessie O'Halloran
From: MartinRyan
Date: 12 Dec 04 - 06:27 AM

I once heard him described as "The Tom Waits of Irish traditional singing"!

Regards

Subject: RE: Dessie O'Halloran
From: GUEST,Toenails John
Date: 12 Dec 04 - 08:58 AM

Definetly an aquired taste.

I actually quite enjoy the man, but his vocal abilities are definetly a love hate issue

I know a few friends, who have played with him in a pub in Galway, and by all accounts, the man is an absoslute gem, one who is out to enjoy life, and is garanteed to put a smile on your face, and it's maybe this persona you should think of, a man in a pub, pint in hand, bringing cheer and atmosphere to the session, which is what music's about is it not? He was never a professional singer (to my knowledge) and will never be world famous, as it's not in his making, But what he is, is something, wich someday soon, may well be gone.
On Ya Dessie!

Subject: RE: Dessie O'Halloran
From: Ernest
Date: 12 Dec 04 - 09:43 AM

Dessie O`Halloran is a character. He enjoys his music, and that is coming through. This is what folk music is about - not technical perfection.
I heard him a few years ago at a concert at the Doonmore Hotel on Inishbofin, where he lives. A lot musicians from the island played in a concert with Eleanor Shanley, John Faulkner and Alec Finn. I had never heard of him before, but had bought a nice CD from Geraldine King (also recommendable), so when he came up on stege getting a big applause I thought he was just some local character. When we left the island the next day an came to Clifden, I bought the Irish music magazine: it contained a interview, a review of his upcoming CD and a full-page advertisement! Quite a surprise...
Regards
Ernest
P.S.: I only got the CD a year later on my next visit to Ireland...

Subject: RE: Dessie O'Halloran
From: Moleskin Joe
Date: 13 Dec 04 - 08:55 AM

In the mid seventies Des and his brother Vince made an LP of jigs and reels with four songs by Des. Des won the All-England Singing in 1974 and 1975 and had also come third in the All-Ireland.
Good Luck,
MJ.

Subject: RE: Dessie O'Halloran
From: belfast
Date: 13 Dec 04 - 11:59 AM

Des O'Halloran singing is as good as it gets. For my money he's at his best singing unaccompanied (although he's also a fine fiddler) and I think he may be found on one of those things recorded at the Favourite. To put it simply he is "the real thing". Not everyone is going to get it. Their loss.

Subject: RE: Dessie O'Halloran
From: PoppaGator
Date: 13 Dec 04 - 12:20 PM

Never heard of him before, but he definitely sounds like my kind of guy. I'll be scouring the internet for free sound clips...

Subject: RE: Dessie O'Halloran
From: MartinRyan
Date: 14 Dec 04 - 07:44 AM

p.s. lest there be any doubt - I'm a fan of Tom Waits!

Regards

Subject: RE: Dessie O'Halloran
From: GUEST,nickr90
Date: 14 Dec 04 - 01:57 PM

Thanks for restoring my faith in folk music.
I like the man's sound and loved his album The Pound Road which I reviewed recently. But he did get some slagging by other reviewers

Subject: RE: Dessie O'Halloran
From: GUEST,mise
Date: 12 Sep 06 - 03:10 PM

anyone words of say you love me

Subject: RE: Dessie O'Halloran
From: Stewie
Date: 12 Sep 06 - 09:04 PM

Despite the voice, I must admit to a strange affection for his 'Say You Love Me'. However, the review of 'Pound Road' at the Musical Traditions website - CLICK - is a real hoot. It is some time since I have read a more amusing hatchet job. The flavour of the piece is well illustrated by the final paragraph:

If, after all this, any masochists are still keen to undergo aural torture (the 'mercy' words, by the way, are "natterjack toad"), they'll discover that this largely execrable album consists of the maudlin, the dreadful and the just plain dire, contrastingly spiced by some actually excellent instrumental sets. Apart from Blue Eyes Cryin' in the Rain, the key contenders for the worst track are The Soldier's Farewell (ideal for a drunken wake) and I'll Fly Away (from the soundtrack of the film O, Brother, Where Art Thou? or, in this case, O, Dessie, How Could You?). Really hardcore pain-lovers will thrive on a reggae-inspired version of Courtin' in the Kitchen and the closing track, a diabolical rendition of Will the Circle Be Unbroken - which might lead to gang warfare between the Carter Family and the O'Hallorans - where Dessie is joined by a choir of people who really ought to get out more in the evenings. I know I should after listening to this dross.
Geoff Wallis - 1.9.01.

--Stewie.

Subject: RE: Dessie O'Halloran
From: MartinRyan
Date: 13 Sep 06 - 02:47 AM

He didn't like it, then?

Regards

Subject: RE: Dessie O'Halloran
From: GUEST,Ruston Hornsby.
Date: 13 Sep 06 - 04:28 AM

I'm not really into the Irish stuff but Dessie brings pure joy. You either get it or you don't - much as with a lot of traditional singers and musicians in the eyes of the folk revivalists over the years.....

Subject: RE: Dessie O'Halloran
From: Geoff Wallis
Date: 13 Sep 06 - 01:35 PM

No, I definitely did not like 'The Pound Road' and there are many folk I know in Ireland who shared my abhorrence.

Still, my review for Mustrad - http://www.mustrad.org.uk, not the clickable link in Stewie's message - did result in the only physical threat I've ever received after writing such a piece. I was soundly told that, should I ever set foot on Inishbofin, then my life wouldn't be worth living!

Ever determined, I ignored the threat and took the ferry to the island. However, truth be told, I found myself in a pub where Dessie was not only singing but giving vent to the half-baked scraping he'd probably call fiddling. Faced with such aural monstrosities I realized that, indeed, my life had become valueless.

Subject: RE: Dessie O'Halloran
From: GUEST,truckerperry
Date: 24 Dec 10 - 04:12 PM

wish Mr. O'Halloran would came to the southern states, sure would like to hear him live!