Black 47 Still Waltzing

By Will Jordan
Shots courtesy of Black47

Their songs range from whiskey soaked, anthemic bar brogue to sympathetic “working men” songs to political protest music and old-country Irish ballads.
Based in New York, the originally Irish-bred outfit, Black 47, paid their dues playing the pub scene in Manhattan and self-producing their first indie record, Black 47, before converting The Cars' Ric Ocasek to the cause and gaining mainstream attention with their second album, Fire Of Freedom.
Since then the six member crew has produced nine albums, the most recent being Bittersweet Sixteen on Gadfly Records. Bittersweet Sixteen is a 16-track retrospective of Black 47’s recording career from early 1990 to the present and contains two new songs, “Southside Chicago Waltz” and “Joe Hill’s Last Will.” The band embarked on a U.S. tour February 23 in support of the release.
“The album includes a song for every year we’ve been a band,” says Larry Kirwan (lead vocals, Stratocaster). “It’s a look back over the last 16 years.”
In addition to new songs, Bittersweet Sixteen is packed with previously unavailable fan favorites including “Home of the Brave” and “Patriot Game,” unreleased tracks from their first recording session. Other highlights include the original mix of their hit “Funky Ceili” and a movie-commissioned version of Steven Stills’ “For What It’s Worth.”
“We wanted to get some of these songs back in circulation,” Kirwan adds. “The fucking labels have kept many of them from us for so long. We lost the rights to a handful of our earlier songs when we first signed and were up shit creek. It’s not been a horror story for us, but put it this way, I can’t even find some of our albums and have had to go on Ebay to bid on our own CDs.”
For the re-releases, Black 47 either went back into the studio and remixed the tracks or pulled some live versions. Bittersweet Sixteen is being released on Gadfly, an independent label with personal ties to the band, and this time around, the band is holding on to the rights. Black 47 consists of Geoffrey Blythe (tenor and soprano saxophone, Andrew Goodsight?(bass and vocals), Thomas Hamlin?(drums and percussion), Fred Parcells?(trombone and pennywhistle), Joseph Mulvanerty?(Uilleann pipes, flute, bodhrán) and Kirwan.
It wouldn’t be a Black 47 album without the protest songs. Bittersweet Sixteen features a Vietnam/Iraq War trilogy, “My Love is in New York”/”Downtown Baghdad Blues”/”Southside Chicago Waltz” dedicated to the band’s many fans serving in Iraq and Afghanistan while also highlighting Black 47’s ongoing resistance to the Bush Administration’s foreign and domestic policies, according to the band.
“We were involved in the Iraq conflict before the war broke out,” Kirwan says. “We saw from studying history that it was going to be a disaster. We were bitterly against it right from the start.”
Kirwan admits the early, outward opposition caused a lot of problems for the band, which was a ¼ mile from 911 when it occurred.
“A lot of our fans have a working class connection and are cops and firemen,” he says. “Some broke with us at that point, but that’s what patriotism is—to stand up against something if you don’t believe in it.
“We also felt we needed to help our fans who were over there and don’t have a voice,” he adds. “’Baghdad Blues’ is a line from the e-mails that I have personally gotten from troops over there. As with Vietnam Vets, they are going to be left out on a limb. They are literally coming home with their legs under their arms.”
Black 47 has always been heavily connected to their fans. They play over a hundred gigs a year in North & South America and Europe and their winter Saturday night NYC shows have been described as “a rite of passage for all New Yorkers.” Having once closed down the town of Hoboken, Black 47 shows are legendary and incendiary, according to the band.
“When we go to a city we see 500 friends instead of an audience,” Kirwan laughs. “They all want to party with us and talk with us. We don’t disappear into our dressing rooms. We go to the bar and drink with them. It’s a rare thing because the life of a Rock ‘n’ Roll player is so mythologized. We may be on stage for a couple of hours, but the rest of the time we’re just like everyone else.”
Every year in November the band take “getting to know their fans” to the next level by organizing an enormous trip to their homeland.
“We take back between 100 and 120 fans to Ireland with us every year,” Kirwan says. “They get to see Ireland through the eyes of Black 47 and see what life is like on the road for a Rock ‘n’ Roll band.”
Kirwan describes the experience as being “quite tumultuous, but a great time.”
With a song for every year of their career, Bittersweet Sixteen, is an appropriate introduction for the newcomer but also a must-have for the avid Black 47 fan who has appreciated the band’s originality and unwavering political stance over the last sixteen years. The band is recognized as being one of the premier Irish-American rock group who paved the way for the current Irish punk/roots explosion led by such bands as Flogging Molly and The Dropkick Murphys. Kirwan programs Celtic Music for SIRIUS Satellite Radio and hosts his own show, “Celtic Crush,” twice weekly. His plays have been performed both in the US and Europe and are collectively published under the title Mad Angels. Both his novel, “Liverpool Fantasy,” an alternate history of the Beatles, and a memoir, “Green Suede Shoes,” have received strong sales and much critical acclaim.
“Irish music always has been about what’s happening in Irish history. Ireland’s history, like America’s, has had so much conflict in, but if you use music as [learning] material, then your senses are honed for what’s happening around you.”


See Black 47 perform in the following cities:


March 2 BOSTON, MA The Harp
March 3 CHICAGO, IL 115 Bourbon Street
March 4 FARMINGDALE, NY The Nutty Irishman
March 8 PHILADELPHIA, PA Keswick Theater
March 9 PITTSBURGH, PA The Club Café
March 10 ORANGEBURG, NY Chubby McGuire’s
March 11 WEST PALM BEACH, FL Meyer Amphitheater
March 12 TAMPA, FL Four Green Fields
March 16 FALLS CHURCH, VA State Theater
March 17 NEW YORK, NY Knitting Factory
March 18 NIAGARA FALLS, NY Seneca Niagara Casino
March 25 LONDONDERRY, NH Tupelo Music Hall
April 1 CALLICOON, NY Villa Roma Resort

For tour dates and more information visit: www.black47.com

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