A chance meeting on an Inishowen beach led to the discovery of a rare recording made almost 50 years earlier of two of Donegal’s finest traditional fiddlers.
The result – a magical new CD featuring the late Hughie Gillespie playing alongside the great living east Donegal fiddler, Frank (Francie) Kelly.
‘Sparkling Dawn’ is a unique live recording from a session in Hughie’s house in Ballybofey in 1964, not long after he returned home from New York.
Frank, from Crossroads, Killygordon, was a great friend, and cousin, of Hughie and has championed his music since Hughie’s death in 1986.
However, he had totally forgotten about the recording until he bumped into the man responsible for it almost 50 years later.
Frank Kelly with his CD ‘The Sparkling Dawn’. Pic: Gerard McHugh Photography
Strolling along Pollan Strand during a 2011 traditional singing event in Inishowen, Glaswegian Geordie McIntyre had struck up a conversation with noted Sean nós singer, Rita Gallagher.
He asked her if she had ever heard of the famous Hughie Gillespie. Rita replied that she had and McIntyre proceeded to tell her he had recorded him at his home playing alongside a young Frank Kelly in Ballybofey in 1964.
“That’s Frank over there,” she replied, pointing to Kelly as he strolled the beach with another man.
A shocked McIntyre immediately headed in his direction and couldn’t wait to tell Kelly that he still had the recordings on a number of old tapes.
Frank (Left) and Hughie playing together in 1967.
Speaking to Donegal Daily this week, Frank recalled that he played twice weekly with Gillespie at the latter’s Ballybofey home after he returned from New York in the early 1960s.
He said he had ‘totally forgotten’ about the recording until he met McIntyre on that Inishowen beach.
“I remember myself and Hughie playing one night and Paddy Tunney from Letterkenny landed in with Geordie McIntyre from Glasgow, and he had a tape recorder with him,” Frank said.
“They more or less spoiled the night for us as neither myself nor Hughie were bothered about being recorded. But Geordie just kept taping away.”
Paddy Tunney dancing to Frank’s tune in the 1960s.
Another fiddler, Jessie Smith, got wind of the story and suggested that Frank get the tapes edited, remastered and turned into a CD.
“Myself and Jessie talked about the recordings. Jessie thought it would be a great idea to bring out a CD. This went on for years and I thought nothing would come of it, but it finally came to a head and the CD was released last month. Fair play to Jessie – only for him the CD would never have come to light.”
Frank (left) and Hughie before departing for the Clones All Ireland Fleadh.
Described as ‘a must have’ by the Irish Echo in New York, the CD tells a story of tradition and mentorship that spanned 60 years.
Born in east Donegal in 1906, Gillespie emigrated to New York City in 1928. There, he met the legendary Sligo fiddler, Michael Coleman, who not only became a close friend but his musical mentor.
In those days, the two regularly performed together. Gillespie became intimately acquainted with Coleman and his music, but instead of being a mere imitator, he found in the master a path to his own musical voice.
Indeed, it was Coleman’s apparent pull with Decca Records that led to the 20 well-loved recordings Gillespie made for them between 1937 and 1939.
Hughie returned to Ballybofey in the early 1960s, almost 20 years after Coleman’s death.
There he, in turn, took young Frank Kelly under his tutelage up until the latter’s death in 1986.
Frank came from a musical household in ‘The Glen,’ a rural area above Crossroads village which he described as ‘full of music’.
Kelly and Gillespie played together twice weekly for almost 20 years.
The cover of The Sparkling Dawn.
“The recordings presented on this CD are from a night in 1964, a gathering in Hughie’s house,” the album sleeve notes state. “You can nearly smell the smoke.”
The Sparkling Dawn is a must-have recording for traditional music fans.
“The music is perfect, the restoration beautiful (credit to John Blake), and the presentation just right (Jesse Smith’s graphic design is excellent as always),” writes Daniel Neely in the Irish Echo.
“Not much more I can say about this one, other than to tell you to rush in your order. If you’re a fan of pure drop traditional music, you simply will not be disappointed by this absolutely fabulous album.”
Originally recorded by McIntyre, the ‘tape’ has been expertly sound restored and mastered by John Blake.
The Sparkling Dawn is available through Custy’s Shop in Ennis, County Clare, or from their website.
It can also be purchased on www.hughiegillespie.com
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