Margaret Barry is perhaps the best known and most prominent of the early generation of banjo-wielding "tinkers."
Born in Cork into a family of travellers/street singers, she taught herself how to play the zither banjo and the fiddle at an early age. At the age of 16 she left on her own after a family row and started her career as a street singer.
In the early 1950s she moved to London and joined forces with fiddler Michael Gorman. The duo soon become an important part of London's Irish exile music community, and Barry's singing and banjo playing became a main influence on the younger generation of ballad singers like Luke Kelly.
In London she also caught the attention of Alan Lomax who made a series of recordings of her alone and with Michael Gorman, recordings that further established her position as the grand old lady of Irish ballad singing.
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  | The liner notes lists Margaret Barry as the CD artist and Michael Gorman as the "track artist" on each and every track. That sounds a bit strange. In fact the record is very well balanced between the two - on their own and as a duo. If "I Sang Through the Fairs" is the ultimate Margearet Barry collection, this is definitely the perfect companion to it. The two CDs have only three tracks in common, and "Her Mantle So Green" gives an idea of the great variety Barry and Gorman managed to get from their relatively limited instrumentation. Oh, and whoever called Barry's banjo playing simple couldn't possibley have hear "The Boys of Blue Hill" and "The Factory Girl." |
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  | Perhaps the ultimate Margaret Barry CD. Ballads, uptempo songs - even a Margaret Barry banjo instrumental and some excerpts from the interviews Alan Lomax did with her. |
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  | A traditional collection of traditional songs with a few very interesting tracks, including three Margaret Barry tracks. Peter Kennedy is supposed to play banjo on some trakcs too, but I don't know which. |
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  | Volume 6 of the "Voice of the People" series include three Margaret Barry tracks, on of which ("If You Ever Go to Ireland") I haven't seen on any other CD. |
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  | I haven't been able to listen to any of this record, but apparently it includes among other stuff three MArgaret BArry tracks not found anywhere else. Really interesting. |
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  | Collection of Irish songs inclding some hard-to-find tracks like Margaret Barry's "The Bold Fenian Men." |
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  | A collection of Irish folk songs, including a Margaret Barry track ("Farewell, My Own Dear Native Land" that isn't inlcuded on any of the two "big" Barry colelctions. |
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  | Great collection of some really old Irish dance music. Banjo content: Mike Flanagn plays a set with his brothers, Michael Gaffney plays Up and Away/The Merry Girl with his band and Margaret Barry accompanies Michel Gorman on "The Versavienna." |
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  | Collection of Irish artist. Margaret Barry sings three songs but only plays the banjo on "The Cycling Champion of Ulster." |
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  | A compilation of some of the best Irish ballad singers. Margaret Barry is represented with "My Lagan Love," a good example of how the banjo can be used effectively for slow ballads. |
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  | Collection of Irish folk songs. Including "She Moved Through the Fair" with Margaret Barry. |
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  | A compilation of some of the field recordings Alan Lomax did with various Irish musicians during the 1950s. Margaret Barry is represented with "She Moved Through the Fair." |
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  | Song collection with various artist. Margaret Barry is included with her version of "The blarney stone." (Not available at the moment) |
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  | As the title says. Includes two Dubliners' tracks ("Johnson's Motor Car" and "Whiskey in the Jar") and Margaret Barry's "Farewell, My Own Dear Native Land." (Not available at the moment) |