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Cariboo Road Music Presents

from

Stewart Hendrickson

and

Celtic-Palantine Records

PADDY GRABER'S

 

THE CRAIC WAS GREAT

IRISH SONGS & STORIES FROM MY HOME

NOW AVAILABLE ON CD

ORDER NOW

 

Graphic Design by Krista McKeague

Item # WL87-0337

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$18.00 plus $4.00 shipping & handling

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Rainshadow Gallery Online
ORDER DESK
4158 West Tenth Avenue
Vancouver, BC
V6R 2H3

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photo by Stewart Hendrickson

 

Engineered and Produced by

Stewart Hendrickson

Recorded by Stewart Hendrickson

in the living room of Palantine House

Seattle, Washington

November 9 & 10, 2003

©Paddy Graber 2003

 

The Craic ('krak) Was Great is a well known Irish expression meaning there was a great feeling of warmth and friendship felt at a gathering where songs and stories were shared, as well as a touch of the "Old Blarney".

Paddy Graber is a traditional singer and story-teller who lives in Vancouver, B.C.  He was born in 1923 in Clonmel, County Tipperary, in southern Ireland. He grew up in a rich musical family. His mother was a Sephardic Jewess, whose lineage can be traced back to the Spanish Inquisition. Her ancestors came to Ireland about ten generations earlier. She was also a well-known traditional singer in Counties Limerick and Tipperary. His father, first-generation Irish born, was a political/labour activist. As a youth, Paddy also lived in China and England before coming to Canada many years ago.

He has a phenomenal memory, and probably knows most Irish folk songs and stories sung or told. Much of his musical repertoire comes from his family in Ireland and often includes local variants of traditional Irish songs.

As Paddy grows older and is subject to more strokes, we are all too aware of the treasure contained in his mind. Paddy says these songs and stories “stand a real chance of being lost forever, much like when the sea washes over a beach, then recedes, washing all that was left on the beach away.” It is important that we preserve these traditions from people like Paddy who have experienced much of it themselves, otherwise they will be lost forever.

In November, 2003, I spent a couple of days with Paddy in Seattle, recording his stories and songs in my living room. Here is a sample of some of them; there are more to be released in the future. I hope you will preserve these and pass them on to future generations.

Stewart Hendrickson, November, 2003

“Paddy Graber is a Canadian National Treasure. What counts is the love and respect for the songs and their histories presented by the expert who has essentially been there, done that. Anyone who is Irish, part Irish, wished they were Irish or just likes to hear and know more about Irish songs and history is strongly advised to get this CD” 
~ Faith Petric, San Francisco Folk Music Club

"This is a striking CD – part documentary, part entertainment – featuring only the voice of the storyteller and traditional singer Paddy Graber. Producer Stewart Hendrickson has done a splendid job of arranging Graber’s incredible store of tales and songs, so that listening to the whole CD is a seamless experience: like listening in the most intimate club, or at a friend’s fireside."
~ Mary DesRosiers, SingOut! Vol. 48 #3, Fall 2004

“It’s a great pleasure to hear the CD which includes some of my favorites and some new treats too. Stewart Hendrickson is to be congratulated on recording this material so well; the disc offers ‘a sample’, and I trust more is on tape to be issued. Paddy Graber’s repertoire has been astonishingly diverse and eclectic, with little (or large) variations from standard versions, besides sometimes being apparently unique; and the songs he has himself composed are ofttimes delightful – as witness his contribution to Easter mythology, ‘The Hen that became a Hare’.” ~ Murray Shoolbraid, Editor, Journal of the British Columbia Folklore Society B.C. Folklore, No. 19, 2004

The Craic Was Great

Irish Songs and Stories from My Home

Song List

  1. Far From the Land of the
                                Shamrock and Heather     (2:17)

  2. The Arbutus Tree (4:35)

  3. The Mystery of Amergin (1:38)

  4. The Silkie of Sule Skerrie (7:09)

  5. The Song of the Sea Maidens (6:09)

  6. Colcannon (3:01)

  7. A Maid Went to Cumbaa (1:46)

  8. Daniel O’Connell & His Steam Engine(4:23)

  9.  Jim Mead the Cooper (2:59)

  10. The Hen That Became a Hare P Graber (3:16)

  11. The Ballad of Moll Magee W. B. Yeats (6:48)

  12. The Craig Above Kilmara (5:45)

  13. The Trip Over the Mountain (3:28)

  14. The Battle of the Drink (5:52)

  15. The Old Lady of Skin and Bones (4:29)

  16. Donald Og (4:32)

  17. Carrighfergus (2:22)

  18. The Parting Glass (3:02)

 

 

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