Andy Irvine on music favourites and appearing with Peter Sellers

Woody Guthrie

Lonnie Donegan talked about Woody Guthrie on the again of certainly one of his EPs. I used to be decided to search out out who Woody Guthrie was, however the world was a far greater place in 1957 than it’s now. I couldn’t discover any recordings of him. In the future, I used to be strolling previous this small file retailer in London and I noticed this album within the window and it mentioned Extra Songs by Woody Guthrie & Cisco Houston. I purchased it. As quickly as I put it on the file participant, throughout the first eight bars, I used to be hooked. It was a mixture of his guitar taking part in and his Oklahoma accent. I bought so concerned in him that he turned my life hero. I by no means overlooked the hand of Woody Guthrie all by means of my life. Politically, I’ve at all times agreed with practically every little thing that Woody needed to say.

The Grapes of Wrath

I like Henry Fonda and Jane Darwell in The Grapes of Wrath. The movie, which is about an Okie household travelling to California, relies on John Steinbeck’s novel. I beloved it I suppose due to Woody Guthrie. Woody had written a tune about Tom Joad, the character performed by Henry Fonda. Shortly after viewing the film within the Nineteen Forties, Woody met John Steinbeck at a celebration. Steinbeck mentioned, “You’re the man who wrote that tune about my e book. I want you’d written the tune earlier than I wrote the e book. It could have saved me a complete heap of bother.”

Twelve Offended Males

Twelve Offended Males – which, coincidentally, additionally stars Henry Fonda – is sort of a troublesome movie for lots of people as a result of all of it takes place within the jury room of a homicide trial. It’s an amazing story. Originally, Henry Fonda is the one one that raises his hand and says, “Not responsible.” The remainder of them are saying, “Ah, come on, let’s get out of right here.” It’s a boiling sizzling afternoon. One of many guys needs to get to the baseball sport that night. However finally Henry Fonda is ready to deliver sufficient doubt into his fellow jurors’ minds. That’s the whole plot. It’s a beautiful movie.

Tennessee Williams

I’ve at all times beloved the movie variations of the performs of Tennessee Williams. For instance, A Streetcar Named Want and The Rose Tattoo, with the great Anna Magnani, who I assumed was an amazing actress. The movies are good. They’re not relying basically on a storyline. It’s the characters that are great.

A Lengthy Day’s Journey into Evening

Eugene O’Neill’s A Lengthy Day’s Journey into Evening is a powerful piece of theatre. It’s essentially the most miserable play you could possibly ever hope to observe. All O’Neill’s stuff is a bit like that. He had a troublesome childhood and it simply sounds in his performs like he by no means fairly bought over it.

All that jazz

Within the early 60s, I beloved listening to the music Miles Davis, Duke Ellington and Dave Brubeck performed. I’m undecided why I beloved jazz a lot, however the truth that I didn’t actually perceive the music was a part of it. I’ve at all times wished to play jazz ever since, but it surely’s an advanced musical type. Later, I appreciated to take heed to jazz as a result of it didn’t have any bearing by myself music. I couldn’t be in in the least jealous of those folks.

Early Pink Floyd

Again within the late Nineteen Sixties/early Nineteen Seventies, I bought into what they referred to as progressive rock. I like early Pink Floyd stuff: A Saucerful of Secrets and techniques and the nice album referred to as Ummagumma. I like that album. Why did I get into Pink Floyd? The reality of the matter is that I’d given my coronary heart to a lady from Ljubljana in Slovenia, and he or she was actually heavy into Pink Floyd. I used to be led by the nostril of affection to take heed to her music, and I beloved it.

Terry Riley

I appreciated Terry Riley. He was a Californian who performed digital music. I found him as a result of Brian Masterson – who turned an amazing recording engineer – lived reverse me. He was forward of me in all this stuff. He turned me on to Terry Riley. I beloved Terry Riley’s album A Rainbow in Curved Air.

Mom Jones

All these individuals who fought for labour rights are very large heroes of mine. I’ve written quite a few songs about them. Mom Jones, for instance, was a unprecedented girl. Particularly within the late nineteenth century, it wasn’t in any respect a girl’s place to be at protests and strikes. She turned recognized by the folks she was preventing in opposition to – companies and the wealthy folks – as “essentially the most harmful girl in America”. She was a lighthouse.

O’Donoghue’s Pub

With out O’Donoghue’s [a bar off St Stephen’s Green in Dublin], I wouldn’t be within the place I’m in in the present day. I used to be kind of an apprentice musician after I first went into O’Donoghue’s. The corporate there was simply great. It was at all times higher when The Dubliners have been there and after they weren’t – after they have been away on tour. I used to be good mates with Ronnie Drew, Ciarán Bourke and Luke Kelly. The bar was as soon as crucial place in my life – the place I did my apprenticeship.

Peter Sellers

Peter Sellers was solely ever in a single theatrical play and I used to be in it. The play we have been in, Brouhaha, was a straight story, but it surely was a comedy as effectively. He was emotionally unstable. You might by no means inform whether or not he was going to be in an excellent temper or screaming on the producer. I used to be a bit afraid of him. Performing with him was scary as a result of he was completely unpredictable. You didn’t know whether or not he was going to alter the story in the midst of the play. He was not the person for taking part in eight exhibits per week for six months. Generally to entertain himself, he’d come on stage as a unique character. It was terrifying.

Spanish guitar

I bought a message one night from Lionel Jeffries, who was additionally within the play with Peter Sellers, and he mentioned: “Andrew, Peter wish to see you.” So I went all the way down to his dressing room. He mentioned: “I hear you play the guitar.” I mentioned: “Sure, I do some bit.” I performed classical music on the time. He mentioned: “Properly, what do you consider this?”

He handed me a Spanish guitar. I performed one thing on it. He mentioned: “That’s beautiful. What do you consider the guitar?” Truly, the guitar was crap, however I couldn’t say that so I mentioned: “It’s lovely.” He mentioned: “Properly, it’s yours, with my compliments.”

He apparently bought it the evening earlier than at a tapas restaurant. He purchased the guitar off a Spanish musician, prone to cease him taking part in it: “There’s just one solution to cease that bastard taking part in music in our ear and that’s to purchase the guitar off him.”