Paddy Connolly with Colin Smiley & Friends – The Missing BBQ Tapes 2 CD set

2-disc set
PADDY CONNOLLY With Colin Smiley and friends is a double CD compliation that has been put together by Colin Smiley as a memorial to his and our great friend Paddy Connolly who passed away just before Christmas.

It has been compiled from various rehearsal, performance and “party” tapes and was recorded at various barbecues and guest appearances made by Paddy with his long time collaborator Colin Smiley, plus many other local Perth folk luminaries. Although not of what may be called “studio quality” (being home-made recordings by Colin in the main), they none the less are very listenable and of a very marketable quality. I found them most enjoyable.

They bring out both Paddy’s vibrant personality and his powerful voice beautifully and thus are a great testament to his memory. To those of you who have not heard Paddy’s singing before, I encourage you to give these CD’s a listen – they will be a superb introduction to him. Then you will all know, as we too know, the tremendous loss that his passing is to the Perth folk and Irish music scene.

For me, the stand out tracks are Tom Blackman’s Waltz/Girls of Ivy, two tunes played admirably on harmonica by Colin Smiley and backed by Paddy in this instance (they were also played by Colin Smiley at Paddy’s funeral), and two songs – Tarry Flynn/Raglan Road (two quite different songs that segue beautifully together for this track) and Freeborn Man (aka the Travelling People) a song of the tinkers by Ewan MacColl. These songs demonstrate both the power of Paddy’s voice and the depth of emotion that he seemed to be able to call upon at will. He will indeed be sorely missed.

The second CD comprises the songs from a presentation that Paddy and Colin performed dedicated to the life of Robert Service, a fine writer and poet. This is again beautifully performed and a thoroughly enjoyable listen.

The CD set is available for $30 – all profits arising on their sale are being donated to the Australian Cancer Research Foundation in Paddy’s memory. This is a limited edition pressing – the first 100 copies were sold very quickly and I was lucky to get mine when I did. Please hurry if you wish to get hold of a copy – not only to support such a worthy cause but also to add this lasting tribute/memorial to such a great singer and performer as Paddy Connolly.

Colin Merrey.