Thanks. Interesting reading.

There's a whole thread with discussion of Kavana here:

http://pogues.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=20&t=2808&hilit=Irish+Live+Trust

Carol Clerk's book (Pogue Mahone Kiss My Arse: The Story of The Pogues) goes into the relationship with Kavana a great deal. In that version, it was management wanted Kavana on bass - the band had wanted Daryl, who had been on the crew basically since the beginning, and had been filling in on bass after Cait's sudden departure. Ron was touring with the band, opening as a duo with Elvis Costello. He did a lot of work with Terry in this period, writing "Every Man Is King" & "Young Ned of the Hill" together, and appearing in the 1990 film "Hidden Agenda" together, and Ron's 1991 album Home Fire featured Terry heavily. I guess it was no surprise they went on to found a band together.

It's worth noting that there are NO track-by-track credits on "If If Should Fall From Grace With God" (and most Pogues albums) which was always annoyed me, but Kavana has always been credited (Tenor Banjo, Spoons, Mandolin) in the liner notes along with all the other musicians. I think Philip gave some insight here...

http://pogues.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=19&t=10314&p=234425&hilit=ron+kavana#p234425
[quote="philipchevron"][quote="foggydew1970"]Hi Philip

Can you confirm for me who actually played on Thousands are Sailing and what instruments were used.

Thank you[/quote]

Well, all the usual characters playing all their usual instruments, basically, though I think I'm right in saying that Fran Byrne (bodhran?) and Ron Kavana (tenor banjo) also play on the instrumental section. Fran played drums with, it sometimes seems, every Dublin beat group of consequence in the Sixties before pitching up in Ace ("How Long") with Paul Carrack. He and Kavana played together in the excellent North London bar band Juice On The Loose in the Eighties.

There may be more people playing on the track as well, but without the album sleeve to hand, I can't be sure.[/quote]

I recently bought Ron Kavana's "Alien Alert" album, which contains a very detailed bio/ interview. The Pogues, and in particular Shane MacGowan, crop up many times. A few things I learnt (or had maybe forgotten) were:
Shane and Kavana met whilst working for "Rock On" records in Camden;
The drummer in his band in 1977, Gerry McIlduff, later joined The Nips;
Kavana played with The Pogues on the Sid & Nancy soundtrack;
Shane wanted him to replace Cait in the band on bass but was overruled by Frank Murray;
He played on more tracks on "If I Should Fall..." than he was credited for, which he blames on management politics rather than the band;
He walked out of the sessions for "Peace & Love" and quit the Popes for similar reasons - "promises to stay clean were being broken";
Whilst in the Popes he played guitar on "Haunted" and wrote the tune for "The Snake With Eyes of Garnet" (which was never credited to him).
The band he formed with Terry Woods, The Bucks, were badly let down by the record company and Kavana never received a penny for the record.
He says of The Pogues at the time of "If I Should Fall...": "During that period I thought they were the greatest band around...they weren't the greatest musicians, but they'd figure out exactly what was right for a number and then play the living shite out of it...I'd seen all the reputedly wild acts of rock - the Stones, the Who, Hendrix, the Pistols, Ramones and MC5 and they all seemed tame by comparison."