Glossary entry for
Drumshanbo

Drumshanbo is situated in the heart of County Leitrim (Ireland), in senic woodland and on the shores of Lough Allen, one of the major course fishing centres in the country. It is easily accessible by rail, road or river. With a population of about 700 it provides a friendly atmosphere for the visitor and there is an abundance of self-catering accommodation and Guest Houses, Pubs and modern Supermarkets.

According to Johnny Rogan's Van Morrison: Portrait of the Artist (page 110):

At least Irish viewers were afforded the opportunity of hearing an unreleased song performed on the show in the form of "Drumshanbo Hustle". The song was an amusing tale of Van's tribulations as a member of a showband booked to play Drumshanbo, Co. Leitrim, but unable to locate the gig.

The above quote refers to Van's appearance on Talk About Pop, Irish television, in 1973. I thought that I would go and dig up exactly what Van said about "Drumshanbo Hustle" on that show. The following is transcribed by ear from the tape and it was a lot harder than I thought to catch all of it - I don't know how those court reporters do it. Hearing how Van hates to be misquoted I tried to include EVERYTHING that I could make out: [full interview text available here]

This, this is a song that is going to be on the album after the, after the Live album is in. The new album coming out after the Live album is done. I don't know when it's uh... (guitar strumming) It's called the. . . (guitar strumming) The title of the song is "Drumshanbo Hustle". You know that's the title from a time we played, when I was with a showband one time, and we, you know, we always got, we were getting ripped off in those days. Like you always getting ripped off, I mean, you always get ripped off no matter, you know, what you do if you are a musician. But that's where the title comes from and the rest of it is uh, is uh, about something else.

Contributed by Van list member Linda Tuttle

More information available at:

• http://www.iol.ie/~cgibbons/ - a Website with some information on Drumshanbo
• Paul Durcan's essay "The Drumshanbo Hustler"

Van references in:

• "Drumshanbo Hustle" (on The Philosopher's Stone)
• "Drumshanbo Hustle" (transcribed from Van's Talk About Pop appearance)

Part of the van-the-man.info unofficial website