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With this recording we have a wonderful opportunity to listen to yet another of the under-recorded masters of Donegal fiddle music. Danny Meehan was born in 1940 and grew up in Mountcharles, just west of Donegal Town. There, he was exposed to the music of a relatively unrecorded, apparently underappreciated circle of musicians, mainly fiddlers. The influence of the Dohertys and their relatives was strongly felt, as it was in other parts of southwest and central Donegal. The liner notes, by Reg Hall, nicely elaborate on these influences.
Other influences on Danny's playing, however, seem to my ears equally strong. As a young man Danny moved to London, where he fell in with the now-famous London Irish music scene that included the likes of Bobby Casey, Michael Gorman, Margaret Barry, Reg Hall, and many other musicians, many of them brilliant. The liner notes also state that Danny was also very much taken with Coleman. The result in Danny's playing is the blend of a staccato, attacking Donegal style with a more understated southern style perhaps somewhere intermediate between the styles of Gorman, Casey, and Jimmy Power. Danny's style is nonetheless unique--a very lively, bouncy, attacking style, which is highly ornamented, featuring rolls, cuts, triplets, and quite a bit of unison double stops.
Having listened to the CD twice, I already have some favorite tracks. The first, "The Navvy on the Shore/Cathal McConnell's" is rightly highlighted, since the playing swings along confidently, is cleaner than on some other tracks, the fiddle is higher in the mix, and the tunes too are nice and well-performed. "Humours of Whiskey," a Donegal slip jig, is played unaccompanied, very briskly, with great spirit, in two octaves, and in a setting somewhat similar to (but also different from) that played by Francie and Mickey Byrne and recorded by Altan. Danny does a fine job on some Donegal showpieces, including "The Japanese Hornpipe" and a couple of strathspeys. I was particularly taken with his playing of "Rakish Paddy," not the Donegal version, but a nonetheless wonderful, elaborate, four-part version. We are also treated to a duet of Mick O'Connell, an All-Ireland accordion champion who apparently learned a great deal from Danny, backed by Reg Hall. Very nice playing on that track--Mick definitely has the touch. There are 21 tracks in all, and definitely you're getting your money's worth in terms of sheer amount of music, especially considering that the CD is reasonably priced (and available from Danny's website).
From the point of view of the Donegal fiddle afficionado, the CD is valuable not only for the above-mentioned reasons, but also because there are a few tunes recorded here that are not recorded on any other commercially-available recordings of Donegal music--indeed, there are a few Donegal-sourced tunes I'd never heard before. One is based on a song Danny's grandmother used to sing, called "Johnny's So Long at the Fair." Another is a polka, sourced from his father, called "Jimmy Meehan's." There's a very nice strathspey Danny calls "Dermot Byrne's Delight," which, the liner notes say, "comes from a much younger fiddle player ... who is now playing with Altan." Finally, there's a piece, either a song tune or a march, called just "Johnny Docherty's." Many of the other Donegal-sourced tunes--about half of the several dozen tunes--are in settings close to those of players such as James Byrne and Con Cassidy, while others are interestingly different. Unfortunately, Danny did not record "Danny Meehan's," the reel so masterfully played by Tommy Peoples on The High Part of the Road as one of "McCahill's Reels."
I would be neglecting my duty as a reviewer if I did not note some imperfections; I wouldn't want anyone writing in to say that they purchased a copy of the CD expecting to hear one thing but hearing something quite different. But I don't want to pan the recording either, because it is very nice and valuable. By way of compromise I will quickly and without elaboration state my misgivings. -- The guitar is often too high in the mix. But the guitar playing is adequate, usually appropriately understated (the mix notwithstanding), and sometimes very nice; it is in a sort of style somewhat reminiscent of the guitar you'd hear on 78s. Danny's playing is sometimes a bit rough, which the liner notes seem to acknowledge, attributing this to microphonophobia. The sound production of the CD is not the best, far from slick, but adequate. Finally, there's a bit of huffing and puffing audible on the recording (we all know that fiddling is hard work) but of course that's no problem. -- Now that that's over with, you might say, "Well, that's exactly how some of my favorite recordings are: a bit rough and ready in places." And I would agree with you.
I'd recommend this to any fan of Donegal fiddling and anyone interested in the London Irish trad scene. The playing is very solid, listenable, and traditional.
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