Original vesions of Pogues songs

[marukomu]

Does anyone know if there is a compilation out there of the original versions of Pogues songs? e.g. I'm a man you don't meet every day, dirty old town, waltzing matilda, the traditional songs? Something similar to the Songs the Cramps Taught Us compilations?

Thanks.

[Fr. McGreer]

Hi marukomu, Welcome to the raft.

There isn't a compilation like that. Whose versions would you settle on for any given song? Don't forget that The Pogues' version of 'Dirty Old Town' or 'The Auld Triangle' for instance, would have been just another cover in a long line of covers.

Do you use Spotify? You could make up a playlist of earlier versions of the trad songs/tunes that you like.

[Low D]

Oooh, shall we start?

Either first or last song on the compilation should be:

I'm a Man Youse Don't Meet Every Day - Jeannie Robertson (from 'Scottish Ballads and Folk Songs', 1960)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lhkLy_ZM03Q

[Fr. McGreer]

Oooh, shall we start?

Either first or last song on the compilation should be:

I'm a Man Youse Don't Meet Every Day - Jeannie Robertson (from 'Scottish Ballads and Folk Songs', 1960)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lhkLy_ZM03Q

Great idea! This is brilliant
I'd not heard of Jeannie Robertson but her version is enthralling. I reckon Cait had listened to that version before recording hers.

Maybe some rules. Should the earlier version have been recorded at least 10 years before The Pogues recorded their version?

Ok so.... Track 2... Sean O'Riada 'The Dingle Regatta' performed by Ceoltóirí Chualann (sometime late 50's into the 60's)
https://youtu.be/571aIL4OzpA

[marukomu]

Now we're talking!

Then there's Ewan McColl's Dirty Old Town: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=baFIaOGkN90

and

Eric Bogle's Waltzing Matilda: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WG48Ftsr3OI

Leaving of Liverpool, Parting Glass, Galway Races, ...

[Low D]

Poor Paddy On The Railway - The Dubliners, feat. Luke Kelly on lead (from 'A Drop Of The Hard Stuff', 1967)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B5XTjA7ft9s

Ewan MacColl recorded an early version, and I actually didn't know that The Weavers had also done it, and Pete Seeger later on his own, but to my ears, The Pogues' version owes a huge debt to the Dubliner's arrangement and Luke's vocal. The Dubliners and especially Luke Kelly were a such a huge influence on Shane, and it's maybe heard nowhere more clearly than on The Pogues's recording of this song, so this is the one.

Waxie's Dargle - Sweeney's Men (released as a single, 1968)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GKExPzTWFJU

Recordings go back to 1958 with Dominic Behan and Ewan MacColl on 'The Singing Streets', and of course The Dubliners did this one as well. I think we will find that Ewan & The Dubs have done most of these songs first! However, Terry Woods was in Sweeney's Men, and this was an early, groundbreaking electro-acoustic/folk-rock release, so this is the version i would pick.

[firehazard]

Great thread!

Of course, Greenland Whale Fisheries goes back many years (according to Wiki, there's a version of it from the eighteenth century). The oldest recording that I've managed to find online is from 1954, by American folkie Paul Clayton: https://youtu.be/VF4P4zWTa-w

[soulfinger]

I'll nominate Christy Moore's version of The Limerick Rake (a trad song that developed from an earlier one called Agús fagaimid siúd mar atá sé). It's lovely and I heard it first though it doesn't quite have the slightly snarling, menacing undertone of the Pogues version!

Most of the traditional songs The Pogues did were things I had heard first as a child at home through my constant exposure to the sound of The Clancy Brothers & Tommy Makem and The Dubliners.

[DzM]

For those playing this game (and yes, I salute you!) may I recommend looking closely at the song names and liner notes of the Box Set? They identify the root tunes (if not the lyrics) of many of the Pogues tracks as well.

[DzM]

Also: Maidrin Rua
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LtIgTy5N1_g
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MdED_gjzKEI

[marukomu]

Thanks everyone. It's starting to take shape. I've done a rough list of the covers I could think of. There are probably others I've forgotten about. I need to look at the boxset to get more info on the versions that inspired the band but here's a list to be going on with. Feel free to amend/fill in the blanks. I'm most interested in the versions of the traditional songs people think are the "best"/most influential.

[the list got rejected by the spam checker so will need to break it up and send in bits]

[marukomu]

A message to you, Rudy – the Specials
And don’t it make your brown eyes blue – Crystal Gayle
Auld Triangle –
Biddy Mulligan –
Brand New Cadillac – Vince Taylor
Dingle Regatta - Sean O'Riada
Dirty old town – Ewan McColl
Gentleman soldier –
Goodnight Irene –
Greenland Whale Fisheries – Paul Clayton
Holy Ground -
Honky Tony Women – Rolling Stones
I’m a man you don’t meet every day - Jeannie Robertson
Jesse James –
Johnny Was –
Kitty –
Leaving of Liverpool -
Lillibulero –
Limerick Rake – Christy Moore
London Calling/I fought the law – the Clash
Maggie May – Rod Stewart
Maidrin Rua –
Me and Bobby McGee –
Muirshin Durkin –
Parting Glass –
Poor Paddy – Dubliners
Redemption song – Bob Marley
Rocky Road to Dublin -
South Australia –
Star of the County Down –
Waltzing Matilda – Eric Bogle
Waxie’s Dargle – Sweeney’s Men
Whiskey in the Jar – Thin Lizzy
Whiskey you’re the devil –
Wild Rover -

[marukomu]

Here are some more that I'd missed off:

Danny Boy -
Do you believe in magic -
Eve of destruction –
Hot asphalt – Ewan McColl
I’m alone in the wilderness – Culture
Japan -
Kerry polka -
Nicaragua Libre -
North sea holes – Ewan McColl
The hen and the cock are in Carrickmacross -
The Travelling People – Ewan McColl


Oh, and I do realise that Bobby Fuller did I fought the law before the Clash.

[marukomu]

And if you want to go a bit further back you could have Dandy Livingstone's "Rudy, A Message to you" instead of the Specials' "A message to you, Rudy".

[DzM]

If you're throwing live covers in there, don't forget Straight to Hell (The Clash).