In 1979, Andy Irvine released his first solo album. This was far from his first encounter with the music world, he had at this point already been in two quite innovative and memorable Irish trad groups, Sweeney’s Men in the 1960’s, and in the 1970’s, the one, the only, Planxty, the band that took Irish folk music in a multitude of new directions while still being so true to the spirit of the music that they became a kind of blueprint for many future Irish trad acts to follow. Rainy Sundays… Windy Dreams would prove to be an interesting and memorable combination of many genres, with a dizzying array of musical instruments, hurdy gurdys, synths, harmoniums, saxophones, it was all here, from Irish folk, to Balkan music, to at times a sound you could almost mistake for the jazz tinged folk rock of Moving Hearts.
Andy Irvine’s solo albums are always a treat because with his solo work, he never really falls into a formula. I think this has a lot to do with the fact that, Andy Irvine either is, or has been, a member of, well, a lot bands. Sweeney’s Men, Planxty, Patrick’s Street, Mozaik, Usher’s Island, that’s what I can think of so far and I’m almost certainly forgetting a few. So by the time he records another solo album, I think he has played with so many musicians that he has absorbed many new musical ideas. Which I think is why Rainy Sundays… Windy Dreams doesn’t sound that much like Rude Awakening, which doesn’t sound that much like Rain On the Roof, which is different again from Way Out Yonder, and Abocurragh has a different sound again. They all contain what Andy Irvine does best, his own songs, combined with skillful and innovative reinterpretations of other songwriter’s work, but the sounds that come out tend to be different each time.
I think a great skill Andy Irvine developed during the days of Planxty is how to create music that doesn’t date. It’s rare that the music he produces sounds “of it’s time”, it’s timeless. And I think he faces the dilemma that I think all musicians face, do you bring in more modern instrumentation, to give your music a fresh sound, but while it sounds modern in the here and now, you risk dating your music to that particular year? I think on Rainy Sundays Andy navigates that skillfully, sure there’s a Polymoog synth and a Fender Rhodes, but because his bouzouki and mandolin playing is still front and center, I don’t feel that this album sounds dated.
And all these tracks reflect the fact that Andy Irvine is a traveling man, it might be easier at this stage to name the countries he has not lived in, but, in addition to the Irish folk music he started in, he has a particular love for Eastern European folk music, having lived in this part of Europe for many years, and spending a lot of time studying the time signatures and melodies of those Eastern folk songs, which can sound so bizarre to western ears. And most of these songs contain Andy’s trusty harmonica, his playing on this instrument is heavily inspired by his hero Woody Guthrie, so what you’re getting is a quite nice combination of Irish, Balkan, and American folk music.
This album, as his typical of Andy Irvine’s albums, contains a who’s who of legends of the Irish trad scene. Liam O’Flynn, a bandmate from Planxty, supplies the uilleann pipes and tin whistle, Donal Lunny, also of Planxty, plays, it would be easier to name the instruments he doesn’t play, and he also produced this album. And Paul Brady, who later went on to be a world famous singer and songwriter in the rock and pop world, was at this time very well regarded in the Irish trad scene. Also featured is Keith Donald of Moving Hearts. So let’s get into the songs.
The Emigrants. Here Andy combines three songs about immigration into one, creating a 13 minute epic. If you’re a prog rock fan like me the length of the song and its many stylistic twists and turns will appeal to you. But the lyrics are so very sad. It tells the tale of an Irish person who emigrates to Canada, after having received countless letters about how life was wonderful there, but upon arriving, realizing that those letters came from people who were embarrassed about how bad things were for them in Canada, so he was tragically lured in by the promise of a better life. So now this person is as poor as they were in Ireland, but he is in a strange land where he has no family or friends. It’s heartbreaking. The latter half of the song is about him doing the only thing he can do at that point, warning his fellow Irish people not to travel to Canada, in the hope of saving them from the cruel fate that he is enduring.
The Longford Weaver. The lyrics on this one with its tale of drunken shenanigans channels the Dubliners, and the hurdy gurdy combined with harmonica makes for an ingenious sound. It ends doing something that Andy has done since the days of Planxty, having a song segue seamlessly into an instrumental, this one is called Christmas Eve, and it’s got a really joyful sound, and the sound of the jaw’s harp is delightful.
Farewell to Ballymoney. One of the stars of this song is Paul Brady, whose piano playing on this is simply lovely, the sorrowful tone of his playing really complements the song’s lyrics about the pain of a broken heart. The piano is then joined by a tin whistle. I assume this is Liam O’Flynn, it certainly sounds like him, but I can’t see a credit for tin whistle player in the liner notes. But soon we definitely have Liam, the uilleann pipes come in, and the whistle and the uilleann pipes play together to make a really beautiful sound.
Romania Song. Many years ago I heard this song before the rest of the album, and my jaw dropped metaphorically but also possibly literally. Those time signatures combined with those trippy rhythms. Wow! It started a love affair with Eastern European music that still has not ended. Over a decade after this I would buy a Turkish instrument called a saz. I still can’t quite play Eastern European music but I sure like trying! The lyrics are quite sorrowful on this one, dealing with the horror of war. Unusually for an Andy Irvine solo album, he doesn’t do the lead vocals on this, instead they are done by Lucienne Purcell, but her voice is perfect for this tale of lives lost on the battlefield.
Paidushko Horo. If Romania Song hasn’t caused you to love Eastern folk music, this instrumental will most definitely seal the deal. All of the instrumentation is top notch, but just when you thought it couldn’t get any better, in comes, the man, the legend, Liam O’ Flynn, playing those magnificent Balkan rhythms on the uilleann pipes.
King Bore and the Sandman. A comical tale of being trapped with somebody, who tells of his youthful frolics, such a load of old, eh, I can’t remember what the next word is. Is there any instrument Donal Lunny can’t play? Of course there isn’t. Here he plays panpipes, which adds to the mood of dealing with an unwanted drinking companion in quite surreal ways. And the song’s got an intro that wouldn’t be out of place on a Planxty album, with Andy playing mandolin and Donal playing bouzouki, if you were only half listening you’d nearly mistake it for the Planxty classic “The Blacksmith”.
Rainy Sundays. The title track. Here Andy produced a song that could easily be mistaken for a long lost Moving Hearts track, in part because it’s got future Hearts member Keith Donald. His sax playing is so unmistakable that when I listened to this track I knew it was the same guy from Moving Hearts without even having to look it up.It’s also got two members of Metropolis, a jazz fusion group Andy was into, so he asked Garvan Gallagher to supply bass and Paul Barrett to supply Fender Rhodes and Polymoog. This song is a tale of Andy’s time in Slovenia, and a relationship that didn’t work out.
Bonny Woodhall. I considered not reviewing this as part of this review, because it’s a bonus track with the cd, so those who only have the original vinyl wouldn’t have heard it. But I decided to review it, because it’s an excellent closing track, and since I only have the cd, the only version of Rainy Sundays… Windy Dreams that I have ever known finishes with it. Here Andy plays a bouzouki with octave strings, making for a really memorable sound. And the lyrics of a soldier who just wants to go home to be with his wife are heartbreaking.
At the time of writing, March 2024, it’s my great pleasure to say I will be going to see Andy Irvine and Donal Lunny play in a month’s time. Donal Lunny is 77 and Andy Irvine is 81, at ages when most would say it’s long past time to retire, but why retire when your job involves playing some of the most awesome music you could ever imagine?
Now you know what to do next, go listen to Rainy Sundays… Windy Dreams!
Edit: Here’s a review of the concert, however Donal Lunny couldn’t make it for health reasons, so Andy Irvine played a solo show instead:
Ponderings Of An Autist 
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