Annotation:Colonel Rogers
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COLONEL ROGERS (Coirnéal Mhac Ruaidhrí). AKA - "Colonel Roger's Favorite," "Colonel Rogers Fancy." AKA and see "Joys of Youth (1) (The)," "McKenna's Reel (1)," "Seán McKenna's (1)." Irish, Reel. G Major. Standard tuning (fiddle). AB (most versions); AA'BB' (Harker/Rafferty). Breathnach (1963) states the second turn of this tune is similar to the turn of Petrie's No. 154 in the Complete Collection of Petrie's work (edited by Stanford). The tune was recorded by flute player John McKenna (1880-1947) in New York for Decca in 1934 (in a medley with "Happy Days of Youth (1) (The)"), accompanied by Michael Gaffney on banjo; both originally hailed from County Leitrim. In fact the tunes became so associated with the flute player's name that they have often simply been referred to as "John McKenna's," "Seán McKenna's" or "McKenna's Reel (1)." McKenna and Gaffney were fast friends, remembers McKenna's daughter Catherine, who told Harry Bradshaw and Jackie Small that she could not remember a week that Gaffney was not in her father's house playing his banjo or rehearsing new numbers with the flutist for recordings, dances, weddings and other events they had booked. "Colonel Rogers" had earlier been recorded by Frank Quinn, a fiddle and accordion player originally from County Longford who became a New York policeman.
Sources for notated versions: accordion player Sonny Brogan (County Sligo/Dublin, Ireland) [Breathnach]; a 1971 recording of flute player Séamus Tansey [Miller & Perron]; New Jersey flute player Mike Rafferty, born in Ballinakill, Co. Galway, in 1926 [Harker].
Printed sources: Breathnach (CRÉ I), 1963; No. 78, p. 35. Bulmer & Sharpley (Music from Ireland), vol. 2, 1974; 27. Harker (300 Tunes from Mike Rafferty), 2005; No. 73, p. 23 (appears as "McKenna's No. 1"). Miller & Perron (Irish Traditional Fiddle Music), 1977; vol. 3, No. 13 (appears as "Sean McKenna's"). Miller & Perron (Irish Traditional Fiddle Music), 2nd Edition, 2006; p. 57.
Recorded sources: Claddagh 4CC 39, "The Pipering of Willie Clancy vol. 2" (1983. Appears as "McKenna's"). Coleman Center CD CC004, Gregory Daly & Ted McGowan - "The Mountain Road" (1999. Various artists. "A Compilation of tunes popular in South Sligo"). Gael-Linn CEFCD 103, Frankie Gavin - "Croch Suas É/Up and Away" (1983. Appears as "McKenna's"). Larraga TR 1103, Mary Rafferty - "Hand Me Downs" (2002).
See also listing at:
Alan Ng's Irishtune.info [1]