Mick Maloney: Typical Tipperary

Mick Maloney, our next Irish artist this St. Patrick's Day week, has our Traditional Tuesday selection “Typical Tipperary.” While the song extols the virtues of the Irish in America and compares the US to geographical locations in the Emerald Isle, it was not written by an Irish songwriter. Two Jewish tune smiths from Tin Pan Alley, Abner Silver and Alex Gerber, composed this very Irish sounding song.

I had the opportunity to hear Mick back on St. Patrick’s Day in 1988 when he performed at Woodrow Wilson High School in Beckley, WV. I thoroughly enjoyed his performance, but a friend of mine who also attended that show hated his brand of Irish of music because he was a fan of the Clancy Brothers style and was disappointed in Mick's acoustic style. Oh well, you can’t please everyone.

Mick, who is 100% Irish, makes his home now in Philadelphia. He also has an earned doctorate (PhD) in folklore and folklife from the University of Pennsylvania. Notice his pronunciation of the word “think” as he sings the line “you’ll 'tink' that you are home in Ireland.” This will make sense with tomorrow’s post.