Black 47 Charts

As the arranger for Black 47, I had the privilege of being the first to hear new songs. I would go to Larry's apartment armed with a pencil, paper and a Walkman. First I recorded the song with just Larry singing and playing acoustic guitar. He had a typed sheet of the lyrics with chords and the main lines written out with letter names. Next he would whistle the lines from the lyric sheet while I transcribed into notation. From that I would make the charts. After rehearsing with the band, I would update the charts to reflect any changes we had made that day. By the time we recorded, the final arrangements saved a lot of studio time because we could play a song all the way through without stopping.

Here are 124 charts from those sessions. There are 175 songs in this list including cover songs and some Black 47 songs we never did.

Black 47 Repertoire

Click the Black 47 Song Book icon next to a song title to read that song's story.
Bankers and Gangsters album cover
* Bankers and Gangsters
Song Melody
40 Shades of Blue
This is an early chart with letter names over rhythms only. On the back are the lines for several more songs which were in progress at the time. The choral was written later for the recording session.
Down By The Sally Gardens
A Pair of Brown Eyes  
Afterglow  
All Along the Watchtower  
All The Years  
* American Tragedy (old version)
(Title changed to Bankers and Gangsters)
 
American Wake
Here's one I worked a long time on, including the weird jazz line in the bridge. The first time we tried it at rehearsal Chris said, "Who turned the lights off."
 
Last Call green circle 47 logo Ballad of Brendan Behan  
The Ballad Of Cindy Sheehan  
Bang On The Ear  
* Bankers and Gangsters (See: American Tragedy)  
Banks of the Hudson
Probably one of the first horn charts made by Larry
 
* Bas in Eireann  
The Battle Of Fallujah  
Bico  
Big Fellah
Geoff came up with the middle instrumental for this tune. Those pages are in his handwriting in this PDF.
 
Black 47  
Black Rose  
Blind Mary/Her Dear Old Donegal
Same chart as Sleep Tight in New York City/Her Dear Old Donegal
 
Blood Is Thicker Than Water  
Blood Wedding  
Bobby Kennedy The Red Haired Boy
Bobby Sands MP  
Bodhrams On The Brain The Kesh Jig
Brooklyn Girls  
Brooklyn Goodbye  
Carlita's Revenge  
The Ceiling And The Stars  
* Celtic Rocker The Silver Spear
Change Come Slowly Kelly The Boy From Killane
Last Call green circle 47 logo Culchie Prince Garret Barry's
Czechoslovakia Merrily Kiss The Quaker
Danny Boy Danny Boy
Days Of Rage  
Delirious  
Desperate  
Different Drummer Patsy's Jig
Dirty Old Town  
Downtown Baghdad Blues The Moreen
Drinkin' Again  
Last Call green circle 47 logo Dublin Days  
Elvis Murphy  
Emergency  
Fallin' Off The Edge Of America Again  
Fanatic Heart
Geoff writes, "Larry gave me that rough tape as he had no idea what to do with it & nor did I till I got the idea from the 1st movement of Sibelius' 2nd symphony."
 
Fatima  
Fermoy Lassies/Rakish Paddy/Sally Gardens  
Fiona's Song  
Fire of Freedom The Sligo Maid
Fisherman's Blues  
Five Points Shake Hands With Your Uncle Pat Me Boys
For What It's Worth  
Forty Deuce  
Free Joe Now March of the King of Laois
Funky Ceili (Bridie's Song) Ships In Full Sail
Garret Barry's/Gander In The Pratie Hole/Lark In The Morning  
Gerty's Farewell  
Get Up Stand Up  
Gina, Love Me Like A Sin  
Girl Next Door  
Gloria/I Fought the Law  
Go Home Paddy  
Green Card  
Green Suede Shoes
Larry asked me to write a swing part for the break in this tune. His advice was, "Drink a bottle of Whiskey, then lay in bed and listen to all your old Jazz records."
The Wind That Shakes The Barley
Halelujiah In The Rain  
Last Call green circle 47 logo Hard Times  
Here Comes the Night  
Home Of The Brave
This may be the first horn part I wrote out for the band. There were three of us at that point.
 
Hooker City  
How Much Longer  
I Got Laid On James Joyce's Grave Donegal Reel
I Won't Take You Home Again, Kathleen  
Into The West Into the West (1992)
* Izzy's Irish Rose Hava Nagila
James Connolly
Here's another of my first arrangenemts. I distinctly remember sitting at my roommate John Kuhlman's piano on E. 12th St. listening to a rehearsal tape of this tune. As I wrote down these notes a wave of emotion came over me. I thought, "This is one powerful tune".
 
Jim Larkin  
Joe Hill's Last Will  
Johnny Byrne's Jig Garret Barry's
Last Call green circle 47 logo Johnny Comes a'Courtin  
Johnny Jump Up  
Josie & Johnny  
Just Another 4 Letter Word  
Just Like a Woman  
Knockin' on Heaven's Door  
Last Call green circle 47 logo Lament For John Kuhlman  
Land Of DeValera  
Leitrim Fancy/Harvest Home/Sporting Paddy  
Last Call green circle 47 logo Let The People In  
Like a Rolling Stone  
Liverpool Fantasy  
Livin' in America
(Bainbridge Avenue 2:00 a.m.)
 
Bass Tab
The Foggy Dew
Livin' in America: 11 Years On  
* Long Hot Summer Comin' On  
Losin' It  
Love Infinitesimal
Thanks to Hammy for unearthing the lyric sheet.
 
Maggie Barry
Another unsung song
 
Man From RTE  
Maria's Wedding  
McCafferty  
Men From South Armagh  
Mo Bhrón  
Ms McLeod's/Morning Star  
My Love Is in New York  
Mychal  
New Year's Eve In Olde Times Square Old Ayne Syne
New York, NY 10009 The Streets Of Laredo
Last Call green circle 47 logo The Night The Showbands Died  
No Love Lost Between Us  
NYPD Blues  
Oh Maureen
Geoff arranged this tune. The last page of this PDF is his handwriting.
 
Oliver's Army  
* One Starry Night  
Orphan of the Storm  
Our Lady Of The Bronx  
Paddy's Got A Brand New Reel Drowsy Maggie
Patriot Game  
Paul Robeson (Born To Be Free)  
Peace, Love & Understanding  
Peadar O'Donnell/Drowsy Maggie  
Permanent State Of Grace  
Last Call green circle 47 logo Queen of Coney Island  
Ramadi  
Redemption Song  
* Red Hugh O'Donnell  
Road to Ruin The Boys Of Wexford
Rockin' the Bronx Miss McLeod's
Rory  
* Rosemary  
Sadr City Blues in E
Last Call green circle 47 logo Salsa O'Keefe  
Sam Hall  
San Patricio Brigade  
Shakin' In The Wind  
Last Call green circle 47 logo Shanty Irish Baby  
Sleep Tight in New York City
Her Dear Old Donegal
          
Blind Mary
Somethin' Going Down (New York Town)  
Southside Chicago Waltz  
Stars and Stripes (Night In Ramadi) Sloop John B (Trad. version)
Staten Island Baby In The Mood
Last Call green circle 47 logo St. Patrick's Day Lament For John Kuhlman
Sun Rise On Brooklyn  
Susan Falls Apart  
* That Summer Dress  
The Bells of Hell  
The Far Side of the Wall  
* The Islands  
The Last One To Die Buachaill Ón Éirne (A Boy From Erne)
* The Long Lost Tapes Of Hendrix  
The Night Belongs To Us  
The Poetry Of Stone  
The Reels
Funny how I never wrote out Drowsy Maggie. I guess I always played trombone during that reel so there was no need.
Fermoy Lasses/Drowsy Maggie
The Sally Gardens/The Sligo Maid  
This Is Rock And Roll  
Those Saints The Sally Gardens
Three Little Birds  
Time to Go Return From Fingal
Tippin It Up To Nancy  
Together Alone  
Too Late To Turn Back  
Touched By Fire (Sister)  
Tramp's Heartbreak  
Tricolor Dream  
Trouble In The Land  
Uncle Jim  
Last Call green circle 47 logo US of A 2014  
Vinegar Hill  
Vision On 14th Street
Two different arrangements of the tune.
 
Voodoo City  
Walk All the Days  
Walk On The Wild Side  
* The Wedding Reel YouTube - Lunasa at Celtic Connections 2007
Who Killed Bobby Fuller?  
Winds Of Change  
Wrath Of The Rain YouTube - Horslips Wrath of the rain
* Yeats And Joyce  
Yellow John/Gander In The Pratie Hole/Garret Barry's  

Chris Byrne arranged Walk All The Days and Time To Go.
Geoff Blythe arranged Fanatic Heart, Oh Maureen and the middle instrumental section of Big Fellah and Fire of Freedom. And proof that you don't have to put pencil to paper to be an arranger, listen to Geoff's sax lines on Fire of Freedom, the high lead tenor line on On The Banks Of The Hudson, and all the tenor stuff in Her Dear Old Donegal.
NOTE: If I didn't have a chart for a song then I point to the first recording instead.
Oh yea, and everybody got charts, even the Drum Machine (R.I.P).