Rainy Sundays... Windy Dreams

Rainy Sundays... Windy Dreams^[1] is Andy Irvine's first solo album, produced by Dónal Lunny and recorded at Dublin's Windmill Lane Studios in late 1979. It was released in January 1980 by Tara Records.^[2]: 274

Rainy Sundays... Windy Dreams
Studio album by Andy Irvine
Released	January 1980
Recorded	Late 1979
Studio	Windmill Lane Studios, Dublin
Genre	Irish / Southeastern European / Balkan folk music
Length	46:38
Label	Tara Records
Producer	Dónal Lunny
Andy Irvine chronology
Andy Irvine/Paul Brady (1976) Rainy Sundays... Windy Dreams (1980) Parallel Lines (1982)

Andy Irvine's first solo album showcased songs and tunes from two of his main influences: side one (on the vinyl LP) featured pieces inspired by Irish traditional music, and side two concentrated on Balkan music.

Recording

The album opens with a trilogy of songs ("The Emigrants"), comprising: "The Green Fields Of Amerikay" (which Irvine learnt from Len Graham), "Farewell To Old Ireland"^{[3]: 56–58} (Irvine's adaptation of "The Emigrant's Farewell", H743^[4]: 200 from Sam Henry's collection) and "Edward Connors"^{[3]: 60–62} (which Irvine learnt from Eddie Butcher of Magilligan, County Londonderry).^[5]

Then comes "The Longford Weaver"^{[3]: 62–64} (H745^[4]: 47 in Sam Henry's, where it is also known as "Long Cookstown" or "Nancy Whiskey"); it segues into "Christmas Eve" (reel).^[5]

The Irish set concludes with "Farewell To Balleymoney"^{[3]: 66–67} (H615^[4]: 343 in Sam Henry's collection).^[5]

The Balkan set begins with "Romanian Song (Blood and Gold)",^{[3]: 68–69} based on a Romanian song collected by Béla Bartók, re-written by Irvine and Jane Cassidy and set to the music of a Bulgarian dance tune in the 'paidushka' rhythm of ⁵
₁₆; the song then segues into "Paidushko Horo", an extensive collection of musical phrases borrowed from Bulgarian dance tunes in the same rhythm and performed at breakneck speed.^[5]

"King Bore And The Sandman",^[5] in mixed rhythms of ⁶
₈, ⁹
₈ and ⁴
₄,^{[3]: 70–72} is Irvine's energetic lament about his times in Bucharest and "dedicated to the man, in the public house, we are always trying to avoid".

The original album (LP) closes with the self-penned "Rainy Sundays",^{[3]: 72–76} reminiscing about a young lady called Vida with whom Irvine pursued "a one-sided romance in Ljubljana years ago."^{[3]: 72 [5]}

The CD version of Rainy Sundays... Windy Dreams, released in 1989, includes a bonus track of "Bonny Woodhall"^{[3]: 24–25} featuring Irvine with Mick Hanly during their live performance as a duo at 'The 4th Irish Folk Festival' in Germany on April 30, 1977.^[6] "Bonny Woodhall" is Irvine's interpretation of "Bonny Woodha' " (H476 in Sam Henry's Songs of the People^[4]: 84), which he also set to new music. On this track, Irvine accompanied himself on Fylde 'Octavius' bouzouki (with the bottom two courses strung in octave).^[7]

Track listing

1. The Emigrants – 13.51

(a) "Come to the land of sweet liberty" (Traditional; arranged by Irvine, Lunny, Gavin and O'Flynn)

(b) "Farewell to old Ireland" (Traditional; arranged by Irvine, Lunny, Brady and Gavin)

(c) "Edward Connors" (Traditional; arranged by Irvine and Lunny)

2. "Longford Weaver"/"Christmas Eve" (Traditional; arranged by Irvine, Gavin and Epping) / (Traditional; arranged by Irvine, Gavin, Epping and Lunny) – 5:31
3. "Farewell to Ballymoney" (Traditional; arranged by Irvine, Lunny and Brady) – 4:31
4. "Romanian Song (Blood and Gold)" (Andy Irvine, Jane Cassidy) – 4:09
5. "Paidushko Horo" (Traditional; arranged by Irvine and Lunny) – 3:34
6. "King Bore and the Sandman" (Andy Irvine) – 3:05
7. "Rainy Sundays" (Andy Irvine) – 6:13
8. "Bonny Woodhall" (Bonus Track) (Traditional; arranged by Andy Irvine) – 5:44 (*)

Personnel

• Andy Irvine - vocals, bouzouki, mandolin, mandola, hurdy-gurdy, harmonica
• Dónal Lunny - guitar, bouzouki, 10-string bouzouki, harmonium, Pan flute, percussion, backing vocals
• Liam O'Flynn - Uilleann pipes
• Paul Brady - guitar, piano
• Frankie Gavin - fiddle, viola, flute
• Rick Epping - accordion, harmonica, jaw harp
• John Wadham - bongo and congas
• Paul Barrett - Fender Rhodes and Polymoog
• Garvan Gallagher - bass guitar
• Keith Donald - soprano saxophone
• Lucienne Purcell - vocals
• Mick Hanly - guitar (Bonus track) (*)

Recorded and mixed at Windmill Lane Studios in Dublin.
Produced by Dónal Lunny.
Engineered by Brian Masterson.
(*) Bonus track recorded live at 'The 4th Irish Folk Festival' in Germany on April 30, 1977.