Rainy Sundays... Windy Dreams


Rainy Sundays... Windy Dreams 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.
Andy Irvine's first solo album showcased songs and tunes from two of his main influences: side one featured pieces inspired by Irish traditional music, and side two concentrated on Balkan music.

Recording

The album opens with a trilogy of songs, comprising: "The Green Fields Of Amerikay", "Farewell To Old Ireland" and "Edward Connors".
Then comes "The Longford Weaver" ; it segues into "Christmas Eve".
The Irish set concludes with "Farewell To Balleymoney".
The Balkan set begins with "Romanian Song ", 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 ; 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.
"King Bore And The Sandman", in mixed rhythms of, and, 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 closes with the self-penned "Rainy Sundays", reminiscing about a young lady called Vida with whom Irvine pursued "a one-sided romance in Ljubljana years ago."
The CD version of Rainy Sundays... Windy Dreams, released in 1989, includes a bonus track of "Bonny Woodhall" featuring Irvine with Mick Hanly during their live performance as a duo at 'The 4th Irish Folk Festival' in Germany on April 30, 1977. "Bonny Woodhall" is Irvine's interpretation of "Bonny Woodha' ", which he also set to new music. On this track, Irvine accompanied himself on Fylde 'Octavius' bouzouki.

Track listing

1. The Emigrants - 13.51

2. "Longford Weaver"/"Christmas Eve" / - 5:31

3. "Farewell to Ballymoney" - 4:31

4. "Romanian Song " - 4:09

5. "Paidushko Horo" - 3:34

6. "King Bore and the Sandman" - 3:05

7. "Rainy Sundays" - 6:13

8. "Bonny Woodhall" - 5:44

Personnel

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.