I Loved The Ground She Walked Upon - Roy Buckley - The Song Collector

From Cork City celebrating the songs of Ireland and beyond, Roy Buckley The Song Collector...
Known affectionately among his peers in the music industry as “The Irish Songbook” - not least because he knows and can perform hundreds of songs - but also because his encyclopedic knowledge of folk music is so wide and diverse...
Roy Buckley has now decided to document and archive the songs he has collected throughout his career - he will uncover & breathe new life into forgotten gems and deliver old favourites with his unique sound.
We present Roy Buckley... The Song Collector.
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Here it is! The newest release from The Song Collector Sessions and Roy Buckley Music on UA-cam!
“I loved The Ground She Walked Upon” is the only song that songwriting legends Phil Coulter and Ralph McTell collaborated on and they wrote it for their pal, Irish folk superstar Jim McCann - three musical heroes of mine.
A JIM MCCANN STORY:
Back in 2002, some of our family went to see The Dubliners play The Cork Opera House on their 40th Anniversary Tour with guests Ronnie Drew, Paddy Reilly and Jim McCann. The late great Jim McCann hung around Cork in the days that followed to play an additional few solo gigs...
I was 15 years old and too young to be in a pub late at night but being a huge fan of Irish folk music I was determined to see the McCann man...
Jimmy Byrne and Ann Riordan played support to Jim in Cork at the Fox & Hounds in Ballyvolane and The Sunset Ridge Hotel in Killeens. They were also part of a weekly trad session at The Residence on Blarney Street where many a great session was had!
Ann’s late husband Connie was a music promoter and used bring many Irish acts to Cork for years and had a friendship with Jim McCann. It was arranged that I would get to meet Jim and he made all the time in the world for a young kid, I asked him to sing “Down by the Glenside” and he dedicated it to me. I was thrilled. After the show he sat in beside me and spoke to me as he signed autographs and CD’s for fans... he signed everything in a permanent black marker, except for mine... I got the special gold marker - I went home feeling like a king that night. That was my first encounter with the mighty Jim McCann.
A RALPH MCTELL STORY:
October 2016, I had a text from Phil Coulter telling me that Ralph McTell was playing in Cork at The Ballymaloe Grainstore and he’d put me on the guest list so of course I took him up on the offer and went along to hear “Streets of London”, “Clare to Here”, “The Grande Affaire” and all the other great songs live in person.
Afterwards, I hung out with Ralph McTell and we spoke about many things including Jim McCann, Luke Kelly and and Ralph’s pet parrot! Another memorable night getting to meet one of the songwriting kings.
A PHIL COULTER STORY:
Early 2014, I picked up the phone and rang Phil Coulter’s office to see if I could get Phil to come to Cork and play one of my Song Collector Sessions... the answer was no! The office ran me! Haha!
To be fair, I was asking one of the greatest Irish songwriters of all time to come and play a 200 seater event on a series that had been running for barely 2 years...
But I persevered and called the office back about two days later... but this time Phil himself answered the phone... the next 30 minutes would be the catalyst for a great friendship...
We had a long conversation about how and why I created The Song Collector Sessions to promote Irish artists and songwriters, we spoke about songs and homegrown talent... he was very intrigued and said he would consider coming to play a show in Cork and would contact me during the week... I thought to myself, that’s the end of that, no more will come of this...
Three days later I got a phone call to tell me that Phil would be coming to play four Song Collector Sessions events in Cork and Kerry because he thought it was admirable that I was independently supporting Irish artists and songwriters... with all his success, he still came and played those smaller shows with us because he respects the craft of songwriting and believes Irish artists should be supported. That’s the stuff of Legend.
John Spillane, Mike Hanrahan of Stockton’s Wing and Dave Browne of The Black Donnellys joined us for the shows that week.
We’ve become good friends in the years since and I look forward to performing with Phil Coulter and his lovely wife Geraldine Branagan again on Dec 1st 2019 at The Grainstore in Ballymaloe.
Roy Buckley
• I Loved The Ground She...