By: Jeff Meade

Here at Irish Philadelphia World Headquarters—essentially, wherever my laptop happens to be plugged in—we respect tradition.

However, it can’t have escaped anyone’s notice that Irish music gets some pretty mainstream interpretations these days. And a lot of that music, however many liberties the artists might take with the source material, injects new life into the old tunes. At the same time, traditional artists are taking quite a few liberties with modern tunes as well. So turnabout is fair play.

To celebrate St. Patrick’s Day 2007, we thought we’d stroll down to the Celtic-contemporary crossroads to see what kind of music passed by. And just because we needed a gimmick, we selected 17 tunes to highlight in our first admittedly arbitrary and capricious pass at such a list.

Seventeen—March 17—get it?

We plan to take another whack at it next year. But for now, here is our list—“The Irish Philadelphia March 17”—for St. Patrick’s Day 2007:

1. Pastures of Plenty
Solas
Reunion: A Decade of Solas
Label: Compass Records
2006

Reunion: A Decade of Solas was recorded on the night of Sept. 13, 2005, at Philadelphia's Indre Studios. The performance brings together past and present members of the Irish supergroup. The band performs frequently in the Philadelphia area. (There's a World Cafe Live appearance on March 9.)

Solas features Hatboro boy and multi-instrumentalist Seamus Egan. Among Egan's accomplishments are soundtracks for two movies, "The Brothers McMullen" and "Dead Man Walking."

Karan Casey was Solas’s first singer. She’s since gone on to pursue a solo career, but she returned to Philadelphia to join the band in recording Reunion. “Pastures of Plenty” is a Woody Guthrie tune, written in 1941. It’s been recorded by many, many artists, including Odetta, Dave van Ronk, and, most recently, Alison Krauss and Union Station. This was always one of the best tunes ever recorded by Solas. It was originally released on the 1998 Shanachie CD, The Words That Remain.

2. Farewell, Angelina
DANÚ
When All Is Said and Done
Label: Shanachie
2005

Bob Dylan wrote "Farewell, Angelina" in 1965. You can hear Dylan's version of the song on the 1991 CD, The Bootleg Series, Volumes 1-3. Here it is sung by Muireann Nic Amhlaoibh.

DANÚ is slated to appear March 20 at the Kennett Square American Legion Hall as part of the Green Willow Concert Series. Green Willow is Delaware's home for Celtic and British Isles music. Nic Amhlaoibh will appear at the Coatesville Cultural Society on June 16 as part of the Coatesville Traditional Irish Music Series.

3. Mrs. McGrath
Bruce Springsteen and the Seeger Sessions Band
We Shall Overcome: The Seeger Sessions
Label: SONY
2006

The origins of this tune are obscure. It was first published as a broadside in 1815, but the song was especially popular among Irish Republicans in the years just before World War I and during the 1916 Easter Rising. The song has been widely performed by Irish artists such as Tommy Makem and the Clancy Brothers. American folk singers also performed it, including Burl Ives and Pete Seeger. Bruce Springsteen and the Seeger Sessions Band offer an especially poignant interpretation.

4. The Madwoman of Cork
John Spillane
Hey Dreamer
Label: Hypertension
2005

John Spillane is an enormously gifted and prolific singer-songwriter. Perhaps not surprisingly, he's from Cork, and he's one of the county's biggest boosters.

Lots of artists have performed his tunes, including Christy Moore, Sharon Shannon, Sean Keane and Karan Casey.

This song is based on a poem by the Cork poet Patrick Galvin. It's deliciously creepy and silly. Spillane performed it last September at World Café Live.

5. Here’s a Health
Cara Dillon
After the Morning
Label: Compass
2006

This is an old drinking song recorded by many artists, including the Chieftains. It’s often performed a capella. Like many Irish tunes, it has at least one other name. It’s sometimes called “The Parting Song.”

On her most recent CD, County Derry native Cara Dillon takes the old song and gives it a swingy jazz 3/4 treatment—and accompanist Sam Lakeman gives the keys a serious pounding that easily rivals the abuse Tori Amos heaps upon her poor piano. This one rocks.

6. Sacred Ground
Blackthorn
Push&Pull
2006

Blackthorn is probably the best-known Irish band in the Philadelphia area. In 2006, the band released a new CD, produced by guitarist Eamon McElholm of Solas.

One of the best cuts off the CD is a memorial to the ghosts of Duffy’s Cut—57 Irish railroad workers who died of cholera near Malvern in the summer of 1832. It could have been a maudlin tribute, but Blackthorn turns tragedy into an upbeat celebration of the lives of those 57 hard-working men who are now—thanks to the local historians who found their grave—no longer forgotten.

7. Darkness Darkness
Solas
Edge of Silence
Label: Shanachie
2002

After Karan Casey left Solas, Deirdre Scanlan took over as lead singer. Edge of Silence is Deirdre’s second CD with the band. “Darkness Darkness” is the opening track. This rendition is an updated version of a tune written by Jesse Colin Young and performed by the Youngbloods, among others.

There’s also a live version of the song on Solas’s recently released Reunion CD/DVD set, but the tune is available only on the DVD.

It’s probably heresy for an Irish-American to say this, but I am not a huge fan of “Danny Boy.” It’s not really an Irish song at all. It was written by an English lawyer. It is often beaten to a bloody, mushy pulp by red-nosed, weepy tenors around this time every year.

Nevertheless, it’s the emotional favorite of many a Mick, and it has been recorded countless times, by everyone from Bing Crosby to Jackie Wilson.

Davey Spillane has his own haunting take on the tune. Spillane is a famous uilleann piper and a former member of the Riverdance band. On his 1998 CD, “Sea of Dreams,” “Danny Boy” gets a brilliant re-interpretation by none other than Sinead O’Connor. To my ears, this is the only version of “Danny Boy” worth listening to.

9. Fairytale of New York
The Pogues
If I Should Fall From Grace with God
Label: Polygram
1988

This is a Christmas song … but Jingle Bells it’s not. The lyrics, by Shane MacGowan, are strong stuff. “Fairytale” is a song about two down-and-outers who meet up on Christmas Eve in New York City. If this is a fairy tale, then “The Bell Jar” is musical comedy.

The outlook for the new year is not what you’d call particularly rosy for these two. All the same, it’s a touching tune, and it’s easy to see why this duet, pairing MacGowan with the late Kirsty MacColl and originally released as a single, was such a big hit.

10. Long Journey Home
The Chieftains with Elvis Costello
Long Journey Home
Label: RCA
1998

Elvis Costello wrote the plangent lyrics for this remarkable anthem, and he sings the tune as well—backed up by the fabulous Chieftains, the men of the Irish choral group Anuna and a full orchestra. The CD was released in 1998 as the soundtrack to the popular TV mini-series, “The Irish in America—Long Journey Home.”

For a lot of fans of the mini-series and the CD, this tune is by far the best of the album’s 16 tracks.

11. Streams of Whiskey
Bogside Rogues
Rogue Mahone
2004

If St. Patrick’s Day says “party” to you, The Bogside Rogues could provide a fitting soundtrack.

A top Philly local Irish band, the Rogues released Rogue Mahone in 2004. “Streams of Whiskey” plays into all the old stereotypes about the Irish and their affinity for whiskey, “the water of life” … and, hey, we could care less. So set ‘em up, Joe.

12. Pretty Wild Bride
Barleyjuice
Six Yanks
2006

More than one Barleyjuice fan has observed that it isn’t completely necessary to have a pint in your hand when you’re listening to this hard-pounding Philly paddy-rock band—but should a pint happen to find its way into your possession, you wouldn’t regret it. Barleyjuice was born to rock and roll. So what are you waiting for?

13. Tennessee Waltz
The Chieftains with Tom Jones
Long Black Veil
Label: RCA Victor
1995

This is an odd but ultimately successful collaboration. After all, here are the Chieftains, the seminal Irish traditional music standard-bearers and keepers of the flame. And here is Tom Jones, Welsh hip-grinder and occasional recipient of weird gifts such as ladies’ undergarments … along with the ladies’ hotel room keys. This alliance shouldn’t work. And yet it does. It’s one of the best tunes on the Chieftains’ Long Black Veil, an otherwise hit-or-miss effort featuring pairings with many rockers—including Mick Jagger, who sings the title track.

And as weird as the Chieftains-Tom Jones pairing might strike you, it gets even weirder: Frank Zappa hosted the recording session at his studios in L.A., Utility Muffin Research Kitchen. By all accounts, the Grand Wazoo was … amused.

Frank Zappa died not long thereafter. The Chieftains dedicated the song to their friend Frank.

14. In the Sweet By and By
Dolly Parton with Altan lead singer Mairéad Ní Mhaonaigh
Little Sparrow
Label: Sugarhill
2001

In her long career, Dolly Parton has collaborated with many artists, including, of course, her friends Linda Ronstadt and Emmy Lou Harris.

On Little Sparrow, Dolly teams up with the Irish traditional band Altan. On this track, Altan fiddler, lead singer and co-founder Mairéad Ní Mhaonaigh lends her pure, crystalline harmonies to this mid-19th century hymn. The result is just magical. Dolly returns the favor on Altan’s 2002 CD, The Blue Idol.

15. Whiskey in the Jar
Metallica
Garage, Inc.
Label: Elektra
1998

Watch the music video, and it’ll put you off drink for life. (It could even give the Pogues’ Shane MacGowan a run for his money in the boozing and carousing department.) But if you can close your eyes and just listen to the music, this is a wild and wooly interpretation of the definitive Irish drinking song. It’s actually a reinterpretation of the tune as performed several years before by Thin Lizzy. This one’s better.

16. Only a Woman’s Heart
Mary Black (featuring Emmy Lou Harris)
Looking Back
Label: Curb Records
1995

A lot of our picks are collaborations. We could hardly call this a complete list without an appearance by Emmy Lou Harris, who might be the queen of all musical collaborators. Written by the brilliant Irish singer-songwriter Eleanor McEvoy, “Only a Woman’s Heart” is performed here by Mary Black—herself a poster girl for Celtic-contemporary cross-pollination. She’s made a career out of crossing boundaries.

Emmy Lou’s matchless heartbreak harmonies provide a perfect and tender counterpoint. One of my favorite songs, ever.

17. I Will Remember You
Solas
The Hour Before Dawn
Label: Shanachie
2000

This song was a big hit for Sarah McLachlan in 1995. But did you know that Philly boy Seamus Egan of Solas co-wrote the tune? On Solas’s first CD without Karan Casey, lead Singer Deirdre Scanlan does the honors. I’ve heard Deirdre sing many traditional tunes, and she has quite the gift—but she’s equally adept in her ability to deliver contemporary songs.

And as wonderful as Sarah McLachlan’s version was and is, it’s great to hear the tune as interpreted by one of the finest Irish traditional bands in the world.