Johnny Moynihan
| Johnny Moynihan | |
|---|---|
| Birth name | John Moynihan |
| Born | 29 October 1946 |
| Origin | Phibsboro, Dublin, Ireland |
| Genres | Folk, Traditional Irish |
| Occupation(s) | Musician, singer |
| Instruments | Vocals, fiddle, mandolin, bouzouki, tin whistle and concertina |
| Years active | 1960s–present |
| Associated acts |
Sweeney's Men Planxty Silly Sisters Tony Hall De Dannan Fleadh Cowboys Moonshine |
John "Johnny" Moynihan (born 29 October 1946, in Phibsboro, Dublin), is a folk singer based in Dublin, Ireland. He is often credited with introducing the bouzouki into Irish music in the mid-1960s.
Known as "The Bard of Dalymount", he was a co-founder of the band Sweeney's Men with Andy Irvine and 'Galway Joe' Dolan (who was later replaced by Terry Woods). Sweeney's Men broke the mould of Irish music and are credited with starting the folk revival there in the late 1960s.
The most famous innovation of Sweeney's Men is probably Moynihan's introduction of the bouzouki, originally a Greek instrument, into Irish music, albeit with a different tuning: GDAD' (one octave lower than the open-tuned mandolin), instead of the modern Greek tuning of CFAD'. However, the original three-course bouzouki used in early Rebetika was also tuned DAD.
In his book, The Humours of Planxty, Leagues O'Toole documented that Moynihan bought his first bouzouki from a friend called Tony Ffrench, who had brought it back to Ireland from Greece but decided he couldn't play it, or didn't want to. At first, the other Sweeney's weren't too keen on Moynihan's new instrument, until the evening when he and Irvine worked out an intricate harmony for bouzouki and mandolin while rehearsing Rattlin' Roarin' Willy: Later, Moynihan swapped this Greek, round back bouzouki for a pre-war Gibson mandolin. During a subsequent trip to London, he bought a flat back bouzouki from instrument maker John Bailey, who had made it as an experiment after measuring an authentic bouzouki in one of London's Greek restaurants.
The group made two albums, Sweeney's Men and The Tracks of Sweeney. The latter was recorded without Irvine, who had taken himself off to the Balkans. Both albums are available on Transatlantic Records.
In 1973, Moynihan briefly joined Planxty for their album Cold Blow and the Rainy Night. After Planxty, Moynihan replaced Irvine in De Dannan in 1976 and can be heard on their second album, Selected Jigs, Reels & Songs, released in 1977 but never re-issued on CD.
...
Wikipedia