Help: Galway Farmer (Show of Hands)

Subject: RE: Help: Galway Farmer (Show of Hands)
From: s&r
Date: 24 Jun 11 - 02:28 AM

Wonderful. Thanks for sharing.

Stu

Subject: RE: Help: Galway Farmer (Show of Hands)
From: GUEST,Phil B
Date: 23 Jun 11 - 09:03 AM

Try again!!


Sorry its taken so long. Can't find the hi def version so I've just done it straight to computer. Hope this helps.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pb6jGwOOyP8

Subject: RE: Help: Galway Farmer (Show of Hands)
From: GUEST,Phil B
Date: 23 Jun 11 - 08:59 AM

Sorry its taken so long. Can't find the hi def version so I've just done it straight to computer. Hope this helps.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pb6jGwOOyP8

Subject: RE: Help: Galway Farmer (Show of Hands)
From: Tattie Bogle
Date: 08 Jun 11 - 02:29 PM

Look forward to it Phil: despite my post above, it is a great song!

Subject: RE: Help: Galway Farmer (Show of Hands)
From: GUEST,Phil B
Date: 06 Jun 11 - 07:27 AM

If you'll bear with me a day or two, I'll dig out a small piece of video and put it on my youtube channel. The tune was originally in Bminor but these days its in Eminor.

Subject: RE: Help: Galway Farmer (Show of Hands)
From: Tattie Bogle
Date: 05 Jun 11 - 08:17 PM

Sorry, can't help but think of "Donald where's yer troosers" when I hear this tune! OK, not the SAME, but definitely some similarities! (I've heard of putting your shirt on a horse, but yer troosers?)

Subject: RE: Help: Galway Farmer (Show of Hands)
From: GUEST
Date: 05 Jun 11 - 09:58 AM

The chords are in 2 progressions;

The first just B minor and A, and ends on E.
the next is Bm, G, A, F#m and G.

Subject: RE: Galway Farmer(Show of Hands)fiddle reel?
From: Scrump
Date: 16 Dec 06 - 07:12 AM

Yes, at a recent gig Steve more or less what you quote above, regarding his reasons for writing the song. It was interesting to hear Phil's comments above on the tune though - thanks for posting it, Sailorboy.

[Btw they performed it on that occasion 100% acoustically, by which I mean they stepped down from the stage and Steve sang it unamplified in front of the audience (this was in a large concert hall type venue), while Phil played his (also unamplified) fiddle as the only accompaniment. I just mention this for the benefit of those SOH-knockers who claim they are not folk artists but just a rock band (or whatever it is they claim)]

Subject: RE: Galway Farmer(Show of Hands)fiddle reel?
From: GUEST,Sailorboy
Date: 15 Dec 06 - 01:42 PM

This from a Phil Beer webchat some five years ago--

'Show of Hands played hundreds of pub gigs in the early days.This was to enable stringing together those long 70 date tours which would be impossible to do with folk clubs which might only have you back a couple of years later. A successful pub gig ensures that they have you back A S A P. Steve's object was always to do as much of our own material as possible and one way round the demand for 'standards' was to create songs that sounded and felt like their more well known counterparts. 'Galway' was the route to not doing any of the obvious songs like, wait for it, 'Wild Rover' or 'Black Velvet'. 'Cars' was designed to replace any Status Quo demands. The strategy worked over a period of time and by the end of the pub era we already had an embryonic mainstream audience willing to travel to see us. The tune in Galway is mine. Its just a pastiche. I have fond memories of Andy Cutting learning it on the one row box and making it sound a far better tune then it actually is. It was the most requested song for a long time and has been covered by lots of people. It also turned up as 'Trad' on an Irish song website. We also gave it to Alan Burke and Tim Potts of 'afterhours' but they didn't like it!!!

Didn't know I'd kept this

Subject: RE: Galway Farmer(Show of Hands)fiddle reel?
From: Scrump
Date: 15 Dec 06 - 08:14 AM

I've just checked the CD booklet and it says nothing about the tune, so I think that supports my theory that it isn't a separate reel, just an instrumental passage played by Phil, based around the melody of the song itself. I think if it was a traditional tune they would have said so in the CD notes, and identified it (that's what they normally do).

Subject: RE: Galway Farmer(Show of Hands)fiddle reel?
From: GUEST
Date: 15 Dec 06 - 07:44 AM

Any takers?

Subject: RE: Galway Farmer(Show of Hands)fiddle reel?
From: Scrump
Date: 14 Dec 06 - 10:24 AM

I'm not sure if it's a traditional tune, I think it's Phil's own, based on variations around the melody of the song.

But if you or anyone else knows differently, I'll be interested to know what it is too.

Subject: Galway Farmer(Show of Hands)fiddle reel?
From: GUEST,Donald
Date: 14 Dec 06 - 09:35 AM

One of my mates lent me a copy of a Show of Hands cd, with just a track listing. Track 12 is a thing called Galway Farmer (a song about a guy who backs an long shot in a horse race and wins)
Anyway, there are a couple of short fiddle bits between verses before bursting into a great (and fast!) fiddle reel (to signify the actual race) - does anyone know what the reel is called?

I think the fiddler is Phil Beer, but what's the reel ?