Carolyn's Mary Black MainPage

A few years ago, a friend in Connecticut sent me a CD recording by an Irish woman singer she would soon be seeing/hearing. Coincidentally, I recognized the name as a musician John Jennings had mentioned as recording a cover of Mary Chapin Carpenter's wonderful song, Moon and St. Christopher - which had intrigued me, but I had not yet tracked down the recording of that particular song. The year was 1993, the gift recording was No Frontiers, and the artiste was Mary Black. I suspect that neither my friend nor I knew the revelations that this gift would bring to my ears and brain, concert attendance, music tastes, spending habits, or even the people from around the world that I would meet - face-to-face or keyboard-to-keyboard - through Mary Black's music!

At a performance by Mary at Chicago's Park West club during May of 1995, I heard an audience member make a comment which best sums up the result of my first "listen" to my first Mary Black recording: "What a voice! why haven't I heard / heard of her before!" - with the addition of my regret, "why have I missed so much time during which I could have been enjoying her music!"

More Background

To assist others who are already familiar with Mary Black's music - as well as newcomers to these joys - I've set up these pages in an attempt to share the information I have gathered in my surfing of the web, as well as that I have written from my own collections and experiences, or scanned from my own collection.

This group of "pages" is the evolutionary growth of my exposure to and enjoyment of Mary Black's music and performance, from the initial joyful discovery, through uncovering her early, traditional recordings with General Humbert and DeDanann, and then through anecdotes of my musical travels of 1995, which began with the opportunity to hear her record the wonderful title track from Joan Baez' album, Ring Them Bells with Joan at New York City's Bottom Line - as well as a harmony duet version of Song For Ireland, and concluded with her first appearance at the Ben and Jerry's Newport Folk Festival in Newport, Rhode Island - the high (and dry) spot in a day spent sitting outdoors in rain since 6:00 a.m.!

Through my appreciation of Mary Black's music, I have had the opportunity to meet people from around the world - some in person, some by telephone, and some only by e-mail or compu-correspondence. My professional involvement with personal computers has afforded me the opportunity and skills to share my explorations with those of you reading these pages. I hope that the information included here provides you with as much joy as the gradual research and exploration has provided me!

Thanks

The information on this site is prepared from my personal collection, and comments and additions received from others. Thanks to those who introduced me to Mary Black's music (Amy P. and, indirectly, the music of Mary Chapin Carpenter), those who have furthered my enjoyment of it with additional recordings (Amy P. again, Steve Pope, Noel Lackey from West Meath, and Gerard O'Reilly at Dolphin), and those who have helped me with additional information (Hans-Juergen Buck, Alan Officer, Jerry Pirrung, John Quick, Mark Van Setten).

Getting Around

How It All Started

More Background

Thanks

Getting Around