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BLACK 47
Elvis Murphy's Green Suede Shoes

Once again, propelled by the fertile imagination of Larry Kirwan, Black 47's latest album both amuses and challenges us. The band itself is a mix of jazz influences with trombone and saxophone, supported by a solid rock rhythm section and set off by the very Irish sounds of the uilleann pipes. Many of Larry's songs are short vignettes and this album contains several gems sometimes funny, sometimes poignant. The Bells of Hells, recreates the legendary pub of the 70's owned by Malachy McCourt, who makes a guest appearance on the album. Larry tells a ribald tale of one of his all night binges there. Malachy also plays a supporting role in The History of Ireland. His sardonic comments compliment Larry's retelling the saga of the Irish battles against the British - with the danceable, jazzy background, you can almost see the chorus line kicking up their heels. The same musical counterpoint infuses new life into two other reworkings from his solo album - the title track, Kilroy Was Here and the ironic, Life's Like That, Isn't It?

The album is as contemporary as another of its tracks Downtown Baghdad Blues. In hip hop rhythm, set to the tune of the Minstrel Boy, a young soldier caught in the middle of a war proclaims “he would rather be back in the land of Giuliani, than over there with the Ayatollah Sistani.” Other of Larry's heroes include: Elvis Murphy, the 1960 Irish rocker; Uncle Jim, a very liberal priest who sets out unsuccessfully to convert Ian Paisley, the narrator of Into the West, who prefers the legends of the Silver Screen to his own reality and the macho lover who loses his girlfriend to the Girl Next Door. But what keeps all this going is the music of the band, this is rock n roll after all.

EM 5006 CD $16