THE KILDARE BOY:The Christy Moore Story
Selected as the Best Irish Male singer at the Meteor Awards 2010, CHRISTY MOORE first emerged as a performer towards the end of the 1960s. Since then, he has become one of the most distinctive and influential voices in Irish music. A magnetic performer, his work variously with Planxty, Moving Hearts and as a solo artist, has been widely acclaimed and he is regarded among his international peers as one of the pre-eminent folk singers.
Niall Stokes, 24 Jan 2011
But did it exist beforehand and then you found the chorus later?
Well I recorded a different version of it about ten years ago but it never took off, nobody liked it.
And, how did the chorus of that come to you?
I was in a VIP suite in Punchestown. They were all getting’ locked on free champagne but I was playin’ it cool drinkin’ tea, studying form and keeping a close eye on movements in the ring. I was sweatin’ on Ruby in a 2-mile steeplechase. Comin’ to the last I was offering him some loud advice. Luckily enough a friend of mine, the late Ronnie Nolan, was on the phone to his bookie and all my roars were recorded. “Hould her back Ruby/ Hould her back... now give her a crack Ruby/ give her a crack.” Anyone could write these auld songs!
Are you a pen and paper man?
Oh definitely. All the time. Coming back from Sligo last night, I got two verses in the back of the van. I’m trying to write all the time. 99.99% of it ends up in the bin but every now and then… I’m very engaged with the process of writing at this point in time – last year I wasn’t at all.
Was there a moment, going back, when you thought, ‘Okay, I’ve been doing the interpretative thing – but there’s stuff I have to get out, and I can do it through songs’?
That certainly was the way… I can’t describe what way it is now. At the moment I’d love to – have you heard of Jinx Lennon? I really like what Jinx is doing. I think Jinx Lennon is a great writer and performer. He doesn’t get any airplay. Have you covered him?
We have, yeah. And he was here yesterday talking to us.
Well, there’s a song of his that I’d love to do if I can find my own way of doing it. He has such a distinctive style of delivery – it’s very hard for me to take in – but he’s given me permission to fool around with a song, and it’s really, really good. It’s about the Conquistador’s Gas and Oil in Mayo. How Shell carry on in the same way no matter where they go, be it the Land of the Ogoni or the plains of sweet Mayo. To them we’re just a third world country. They snap their fingers at the Gardai, who jump to attention. Shell are so crafty they got the bishops in to bless the sea, like when Don Cortez mobilised his mob to deal with native people – I just love that. It’s spot on. Jinx Lennon.
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