78s

Irish bagpipes solo, Decca W4681. The light speed tempo of Drops of Brandy makes sense when Leo goes into his charming version of Barney Brannigan, which is more complex than the book setting generally played, with its characteristic trio of dotted quarter notes at the opening of the third part. Leo fills out these notes melodically instead. He was recorded by Ciaran MacMathuna in the 60s, and played Barney B and the Drops of B with fiddler Larry Redican, resulting in less-than-perfect synchronization!

Irish bagpipes solo - Scottish medley, HMV IM354. Leo had a huge repetoire of music and shows his versatility with Scottish music here as well, rendered as no other piper has since. His son Leon was also a piper and had a desire to play Scottish music on the accordion - which his parents forbid him to do until he became an adult! Leon later wrote in the early 90's of how the Belfast fiddler Sean McGurie let it be known that Leon needed to put the accordion aside and go back to playing the pipes - which advice he also heeded.

More of Leo's 78 RPM recordings may be heard on the CD "Classics of Irish Piping" on the Topic label. Leo's 50s LP Ri Na Bpiobairi (The King Of The Pipers) has also been reissued on CD.

Irish bagpipes solo, Winner 4262. Two patriotic marches played in grand style. The Soldier's Song was composed in 1907 by Peadar Kearney and curiously enough replaced God Save Ireland as the Irish national anthem.

More of Leo's 78 RPM recordings may be heard on the CD "Classics of Irish Piping" on the Topic label. Leo's 50s LP Ri Na Bpiobairi (The King Of The Pipers) has also been reissued on CD.

Irish bagpipes solo, Decca W5245. The Maid(s) of Mount Kisco is said to be a composition of Sligo fiddler Paddy Killoran, who recorded it in the 30s. His recording can be heard on the CD From Ballymote to Brooklyn, which is compiled from Killoran/James Morrison anthologies released by the Shanachie label in the 70s. Killoran played it very much as a fiddler might, with a prominent bowed triplet in the first bar; flute players and pipers like Leo very quickly substituted more standard rolls, and a different rhythmic emphasis, resulting in the setting you hear here. The Yellow Tinker is invariably played with F naturals in both octaves, following a setting popularized by accordionist Paddy O'Brien on a 78 from the 50s. Pipers such as Willie Clancy also played F naturals but Leo throws them out in their entirety, playing F sharps instead; his third part is unusual as well, having a DED triplet at its start. Possibly this was a setting that came down from his father. A two part Galway version in A mixolydian mode is also sometimes heard. Galway box player Kevin Keegan called this the Old Yellow Tinker; Kevin Burke and Jackie Daly called it the Drunken Tinker on Burke's If the Cap Fits LP.

More of Leo's 78 RPM recordings may be heard on the CD "Classics of Irish Piping" on the Topic label. Leo's 50s LP Ri Na Bpiobairi (The King Of The Pipers) has also been reissued on CD. Walton's has published an excellent book of Leo's transcriptions, the Leo Rowsome Collection of Irish Music.

Irish bagpipes solo, HMV IM1001. The Broken Pledge is generally played with F natural notes, thus in the "key" of D minor, but pipers traditionally simply slid into F sharps, retaining the mournful sound of the tune. A couple of very interesting takes on this reel may be of interest: Seamus Ennis's extremely mannered version on his 40 Years of Irish Piping LP, where he combines extreme sloppiness with a very stretched out rhythm for a unique effect; and a privately recorded version by Galway flute player Paddy Carty. Carty was capable of playing in any key, managing even tricky Bb hornpipes with ease; in his version of the Broken Pledge he alternated between Fnat and F# throughout the tune.
Miss Thornton('s) was earlier recorded by Tom Ennis and John Gerrity, which recording can also be heard on this website; James Morrison also recorded it in the 30s. Leo's ace student Liam O'Flynn finished off his Fine Art of Solo Piping LP with this tune, played much as Leo had although Leo's record has some personal touches, such as his tricks of playing a long bottom D at the end of a part, or starting the first part in the second octave.

More of Leo's 78 RPM recordings may be heard on the CD "Classics of Irish Piping" on the Topic label. Leo's 50s LP Ri Na Bpiobairi (The King Of The Pipers) has also been reissued on CD. Walton's has published an excellent book of Leo's transcriptions, the Leo Rowsome Collection of Irish Music.

Irish bagpipes solo, HMV IM525. Jackson was an 18th century piper/composer who gave his name to many fine tunes, most famously this one, which lends itself well to the pipes with room for cranning and staccato passages. Patsy Touhey recorded a typically intricate three part version on a wax cylinder, with one of his trademark flurries of notes in the third part. The Clare Jig is the title in John Roche's collection for the tune now called the Mug of Brown Ale. The next tune in Roche's book after the Clare Jig is the Maids of Tramore, which Leo also recorded. This is a version of Scatter the Mud but with a different second part.

More of Leo's 78 RPM recordings may be heard on the CD "Classics of Irish Piping" on the Topic label. Leo's 50s LP Ri Na Bpiobairi (The King Of The Pipers) has also been reissued on CD. Walton's has published an excellent book of Leo's transcriptions, the Leo Rowsome Collection of Irish Music.

Irish bagpipes solo, Decca label, number unknown. Conroy probably refers to Andy Conroy, a Roscommon piper who was a close friend of Leo's, and probably his opposite in musical sensibilities - Andy's playing was almost experimental in its staccato, and he almost always played just the chanter - no drones. The tune Leo plays is called the Boys of Cappaquin in O'Neill's, and nowadays the Boy in the Gap. Limerick flute player Paddy Taylor composed a third part which is often heard nowadays. The Glenallen strikes me as as a flute player's reel, which Leo plays with his usual gusto. These 1948 recordings were made at the peak of his powers, and despite the somewhat murky audio are probably his most powerful recorded music.

More of Leo's 78 RPM recordings may be heard on the CD "Classics of Irish Piping" on the Topic label. Leo's 50s LP Ri Na Bpiobairi (The King Of The Pipers) has also been reissued on CD. Walton's has published an excellent book of Leo's transcriptions, the Leo Rowsome Collection of Irish Music.

Irish bagpipes solo, HMV IM354. A marching tune relating to the Irish Rebellion of 1798, followed by a song written by Jack Sheehan, a Republican prisoner in Hare Park Prison Camp in County Kildare, in 1924. These two present either end of a spectrum of difficulty for pipers, Who Fears to Speak of '98 is somewhat tricky to play while Legion of the Rear Guard is an excellent tune for a beginner, especially for learning to use the regulators.

More of Leo's 78 RPM recordings may be heard on the CD "Classics of Irish Piping" on the Topic label. Leo's 50s LP Ri Na Bpiobairi (The King Of The Pipers) has also been reissued on CD. Walton's has published an excellent book of Leo's transcriptions, the Leo Rowsome Collection of Irish Music.

Irish bagpipes solo, Decca F6254. The Manchester is an alternate name for Rickett's Hornpipe; also available on this site is the recording of Rickett's by piper Tom Ennis. Leo's version is faster, more free flowing perhaps, although both sound like good dancing music if the dancer were OK with the tempos (not the case these days). The Honeysuckle seems to have been a popular tune with old Dublin pipers such as Jim Brophy, whose playing of it was transcribed in a recent issue of the US publication Iris na bPíobairí/The Pipers' Review, the journal of the US Pipers' Club/Cumann na bPíobairí Uilleann.

More of Leo's 78 RPM recordings may be heard on the CD "Classics of Irish Piping" on the Topic label. Leo's 50s LP Ri Na Bpiobairi (The King Of The Pipers) has also been reissued on CD. Walton's has published an excellent book of Leo's transcriptions, the Leo Rowsome Collection of Irish Music.

Irish bagpipes solo, HMV IM525. Rowsome's playing of the Boys of the Lough puts to rest the notion that he was merely an "Open piper," being chock full of precisely played staccato that is the equal of anybody (despite one squawk on the bottom D that is one of his rare recorded slipups). In fact I think he plays it a bit more staccato than Patsy Touhey did, and Touhey was the ne plus ultra of that sort of piping. Leo's setting of this grand old reel is very nice; Felix Doran played it on his Last of the Travelling Pipers LP, and private recordings exist of Tommy Reck and Seamus Ennis playing it as well, to just name pipers. Michael Coleman's very pipish fiddle recording was much emulated as well. Coleman's record was titled "Boys at the Lough" by the way; a good name for a band, perhaps.
The Green Mountain is another old chestnut; Liam Walsh also put it on a 78 and this recording will be featured on this site. Walsh was a student of Leo's father Willie so the comparision will be instructive.

More of Leo's 78 RPM recordings may be heard on the CD "Classics of Irish Piping" on the Topic label. Leo's 50s LP Ri Na Bpiobairi (The King Of The Pipers) has also been reissued on CD. Walton's has published an excellent book of Leo's transcriptions, the Leo Rowsome Collection of Irish Music.