John Lavelle and Joe Cooley

As mentioned in John's bio, he, Joe Cooley and Joe Leary toured Ireland together in 1963. Ciaran MacMathuna recorded a session at Bridie Lafferty's house in Homefarm Road in Dublin for Radio Éireann. Charlie Piggott dug a copy of that radio program from the RTE archives and sent it to John. It arrived at John's house in San Jose, California on St. Patrick's Day, 1993, exactly 30 years to the day that Joe Cooley and John landed in Ireland in 1963. Some of this recording session can also be heard on the famous Cooley album.
















John Lavelle, Billy Soden and Joe Cooley in the Blarney Club ballroom.

John remembers meeting Joe Cooley:

"I first met Joe Cooley in the house of Tom Masterson, a very well known and respected leader of Comhaltas Eireann. It so happened that fiddle immortal Sean McGuire was also present. We were all there for the Craic. At first, I mistook Joe for a member of the Aughrim Slopes Ceili Band. That band included the great Kevin Keegan R.I.P. When I started to play, I got tremendous support from Cooley who also felt the affinity in the air. Shortly thereafter, I made a trip to England and met all of Joe's friends from 'the old days'. I have always considered it an honor to have played with Joe. I hope you enjoy listening to him speak and play in the tunes included in this blog post.

More to come in future blog posts.

Papa John"

Now the tunes:

01 - Introduction - Tommy Cohen's Reel
02 - Ciaran MacMathuna Introduction
03 - Tommy Cohen's Reel
04 - Ciaran MacMathuna Interviews John Lavelle
05 - The Trip To Durrow
06 - Ciaran MacMathuna Welcomes Joe Cooley Home
07 - Queen of the Fair - The Carraroe Jig
08 - Dowd's No. 9 Introduction
09 - Dowd's No. 9
10 - The Humours of Tulla - The Skylark - Roaring Mary Introduction
11 - The Humours of Tulla - The Skylark - Roaring Mary
12 - Dick Darby The Cobbler Introduction
13 - Dick Darby The Cobbler
14 - The Bucks of Oranmore Introduction
15 - The Bucks of Oranmore
16 - The New Custom House Introduction
17 - The New Custom House
18 - My Love She's in America Introduction
19 - My Love She's in America