Just how good is Van Morrison!? He can sing the blues with the best of them; has one of the best voices to come out of the 60s; he can sing ballads as good as it gets; he can play about 6 instruments and as shown here he can even sing Irish folk songs like this!! How much musical talent can one man have!
This is the most beautiful version of "Star of the county down". All istruments are like another voices. They are connected together with the voice of Van Morrison and the brilliant was born.
First heard this in a car with 4 musician mates on our way to limerick co Munster, we were travelling from Wales to a rugby match, and they made me play this over and over, the more they drank, the louder it got, and we sang it all weekend our Irish friends loved it
Near Banbridge town in the County Down one morning last July, from a boreen green came a sweet Colleen And she smiled as she passed me by. She looked so sweet from her two bare feet To the sheen of her nut-brown hair. Such a coaxing elf, sure I shook myself For so see I was really there. From Bantry Bay up to Derry Quay and from Galway to Dublin town, No maid I've seen like the fair colleen that I met in the County Down. As she onward sped, sure I scratched my head And I looked with a feeling rare. And I say, say's I, to a passer - by, "Who's the maid with the nut - brown hair"? He smiled at me and he say's, say's he, "That's the gem of Ireland's crown. Young Rosie Mc Cann, from the banks of the bann She's the star of the County Down." At the Harvest Fair she'll be surely there And I'll dress in my Sunday clothes, with my shoes shone bright and my hat cocked right for a smile from my nut - brown rose. No pipe I'll smoke, no horse I'll yoke Till my plough it is rust - coloured brown. Till a smiling bride, by my own fireside sits the Star of the County Down
What impresses me about this project was how late in Van's career that he did a traditional Irish turn with the Chieftains. And he wedged it in between two mammoth records of his own (Poetic Champions, Avalon Sunset). This is on the Chieftains great DVD Water from the Well, which in addition to having great musical moments, also serves as a travelogue for Ireland. A real visual postcard and some beatiful moments with the late great Derek Bell.
Evilbob33 EvilBob: you're right. Why listen to this or any other music, other than to enjoy ourselves? That's what music's for, we make music to make ourselves feel better. My late mum was from County Down, she sang at various fleadh cheoil and she sang on BBC Radio. If she could have heard Van singing this, I think she would have liked it... and she would have smiled. (edited to remove small dumb grammar mistake).
The tune is from a very old English folk song called _"Dives and Lazerus"_, which was collected towards the end of the 19th century in a village called Kingsfold in Sussex. Ralph Vaughan Williams took up the tune, called it Kingsfold, and set it to a hymn in "The English Hymnal" in 1906. Since then it has been used for dozens of different hymns used by all denominations.
Just saw the movie Belfast...Van's music was perfect...couldn't help think of my Gran born in Bangor and all the members of her family that, over the years, left Ireland
Paddy Moloney may his whistle being the cofounder of the Chieftains and was playing it with Van,,and they made music that took us to heaven,,,and Paddy now passes into folklore and hes Irish band left a tune and a whistle that i thank him for
I saw Van Morrison in the 80's/'90's in the Cork Opera house in the middle of a Cork Jazz festival. One of the ten biggest events I will ever witness. Whatever it is that he does....no one does it better. A credit to his background and to all of Ireland.
Wonderful , great happy music making and not forgetting of course the legendary Derek Bell on the piano there. RIP Derek.. By the way , did I see Van Morriison almost break into a smile at the end of that performance ? !!
probably had a chuckle at himself for singing the 3rd verse before the 2nd and ending with the 2nd. not that it matters a lick cuz still the most beautiful rendition around.
I listened to this cassette all through high school and it's still a favorite. No matter how many times I've heard it (and that would be in the hundreds, I still get goosebumps. I love this combination of artists so very much. And it's so difficult to find today. Thanks for sharing!
This is one of the first videos I can ever remember seeing on TH-cam, it was the same day I got my first smartphone. Still only 1mill views after all these years.
What memories from childhood hearing van Morrison go round and round on the tape deck!! I hated it back then but now I've grown to love van's music. And I already know all the words...
thanks for putting this up! i remember a couple years ago it was on youtube, then dissapeared pretty much off the face of the internet (except for some crappy realplayer version i had in my bookmarks for a while) to me this is one of the best live performances of any song ever
Exactly what I was thinking just now! My dad played this song so much, and I couldnt listen to it without falling asleep, now it sounds brilliant. Maybe I was spoilt for music as a kid because compare this to what you hear on the radio its just ridiculous how good it sounds. Ah crap, I think I might be old.
Wow...what's it like their,Thomas? I am from N Z ....and loved the Antrim coast and Giants Causeway ...had Van Morrison on in our campervan 23 years ago.!
@Laurie111 I thank you too. I was born in Belfast & have always loved the seaside towns down the south side of Belfast Lough. What happy memories....Thank you again for posting it.
Epic. Few world sector acts from the borough-sized "nation" and inspiring to see one of them doing justice to this local and prized number. Thank you George (and Laurie)
Unparalleled other than by every group, nation and civilisation known ... we all have great music. btw. the tune that "The Star of County Down" uses is from an English folk song ... make of that what you will.
Great music yes , but why on earth is there still a difference between north-Ireland & Ireland ? Germany has no wall anymore , why has Belfast still a wall ? Just asking .... great music btw
Thank you SO MUCH For Uploading this BEAUTIFUL & JOYOUS Version of this Timeless Irish Folk Song. This is I Believe, to be the "BEST VERSION" Ever, of this Song. Cheers. :-D
Great to see this posted again. It was removed a few years ago, seems it upset Van's record company at the time. I've taken precautions this time just in case it's gets pulled again. (dvdvideosoftdotcom) Five ***** performance from both Van and the Chieftains!!
Good work Laurie111. I heard this for the first time today on Radio 2, and loved it. First thing I did when I got home was look for it. You have my thanks :)
Just how good is Van Morrison!? He can sing the blues with the best of them;
has one of the best voices to come out of the 60s; he can sing ballads as good
as it gets; he can play about 6 instruments and as shown here he can even
sing Irish folk songs like this!! How much musical talent can one man have!
Which instruments he plays?
Yeah, for me, Van's folk Irish voice will always be his true killer. Raglan Road is another one he does.
He is and Always will be the greatest of all times 😍😘🥰
You can't get ANY BETTER, than VAN & THE CHIEFTAIN'S, jamming together. Simply.:- "THE BEST".
:-D
This is the most beautiful version of "Star of the county down". All istruments are like another voices. They are connected together with the voice of Van Morrison and the brilliant was born.
Van Morrison and paddy moloney. What could possibly go wrong? Want this played at my funeral. Brilliant.
It can be arranged Mick....are you in the Province?
Best version of any song ever recorded by anyone ever.
i'm a cree native and i really love this music, when i was in high school i used to go to the legion in dauphin,mb and listen to the bagpipes
I could listen to songs like this all day.
great to see the north and south of ireland unite on this song.....marvellous.
Van and The Chieftains blend well together. This is good. Two of the Greatest.
Love it! Nothing like a little Irish music to make my blood sing!
Whatever style Van sings, he is always the best, the most convincing
Great version with Van Morrison and the Chieftains-never get tired of hearing it
This whole album was insane. What an incredible collaboration.
Incomparable song. Incomparable band. Incomparable singer. Put all three together and you have the closest thing to perfection.
my very first cd, i got it in 97 when i was 4 years old. proud to be a canadian of irish descent.
I have no idea how this could have been disliked... the cassette they did together was the first my dad ever got me before he left.
Love van morrison .since his days with rhem..a fifteen yr old ...listened to van all through the years .and still listen to van ..
I bought this tape in The late 80's i was no more than 16... I remember this Song ad one of my favorite hits of my youthness....
First heard this in a car with 4 musician mates on our way to limerick co Munster, we were travelling from Wales to a rugby match, and they made me play this over and over, the more they drank, the louder it got, and we sang it all weekend our Irish friends loved it
JUST HOW GREAT IS THIS SANG?🚶♂️💙🎶
Respect from your brothers in Croatia!! :)
Brought tears of joy to my eyes...
MY EARS APPRECIATE GREAT MUSIC
I just love Van in that cap...... :)
this is pure music, van morrison is always brilliant as well as the chieftains.
Near Banbridge town in the County Down
one morning last July,
from a boreen green came a sweet Colleen
And she smiled as she passed me by.
She looked so sweet from her two bare feet
To the sheen of her nut-brown hair.
Such a coaxing elf, sure I shook myself
For so see I was really there.
From Bantry Bay up to Derry Quay
and from Galway to Dublin town,
No maid I've seen like the fair colleen
that I met in the County Down.
As she onward sped, sure I scratched my head
And I looked with a feeling rare.
And I say, say's I, to a passer - by,
"Who's the maid with the nut - brown hair"?
He smiled at me and he say's, say's he,
"That's the gem of Ireland's crown.
Young Rosie Mc Cann, from the banks of the bann
She's the star of the County Down."
At the Harvest Fair she'll be surely there
And I'll dress in my Sunday clothes,
with my shoes shone bright and my hat cocked right
for a smile from my nut - brown rose.
No pipe I'll smoke, no horse I'll yoke
Till my plough it is rust - coloured brown.
Till a smiling bride, by my own fireside
sits the Star of the County Down
What impresses me about this project was how late in Van's career that he did a traditional Irish turn with the Chieftains. And he wedged it in between two mammoth records of his own (Poetic Champions, Avalon Sunset).
This is on the Chieftains great DVD Water from the Well, which in addition to having great musical moments, also serves as a travelogue for Ireland. A real visual postcard and some beatiful moments with the late great Derek Bell.
By Far the best version ever.
As a mormon this song makes me smile, as one of our Hymns use the same tune.
hahahahahahaha
Why is that funny?
Bob Jones As long as it makes you smile, its all good :)
Evilbob33 EvilBob: you're right. Why listen to this or any other music, other than to enjoy ourselves? That's what music's for, we make music to make ourselves feel better. My late mum was from County Down, she sang at various fleadh cheoil and she sang on BBC Radio. If she could have heard Van singing this, I think she would have liked it... and she would have smiled. (edited to remove small dumb grammar mistake).
The tune is from a very old English folk song called _"Dives and Lazerus"_, which was collected towards the end of the 19th century in a village called Kingsfold in Sussex. Ralph Vaughan Williams took up the tune, called it Kingsfold, and set it to a hymn in "The English Hymnal" in 1906. Since then it has been used for dozens of different hymns used by all denominations.
I was putting a St Patrick’s day busking set together but I think I could just keep playing this, what a tune still hits the spot!
Just saw the movie Belfast...Van's music was perfect...couldn't help think of my Gran born in Bangor and all the members of her family that, over the years, left Ireland
Van Morrison and The Chieftains - one of my all time favourite albums.
Doesn't get any better than this
Paddy Moloney may his whistle being the cofounder of the Chieftains and was playing it with Van,,and they made music that took us to heaven,,,and Paddy now passes into folklore and hes Irish band left a tune and a whistle that i thank him for
So very perfect in every way!! Oh man, this is the bomb!
Van Morrison is a legend!
Far out...just blew me out of my seat....Irish poetrs & power in perfect harmony!
I saw Van Morrison in the 80's/'90's in the Cork Opera house in the middle of a Cork Jazz festival. One of the ten biggest events I will ever witness. Whatever it is that he does....no one does it better. A credit to his background and to all of Ireland.
these guys are true legends
brilliant , it helps to have the chieftains behind you , but for me the best version of this lovely song
Wonderful , great happy music making and not forgetting of course the legendary Derek Bell on the piano there. RIP Derek.. By the way , did I see Van Morriison almost break into a smile at the end of that performance ? !!
probably had a chuckle at himself for singing the 3rd verse before the 2nd and ending with the 2nd. not that it matters a lick cuz still the most beautiful rendition around.
this has been on repeat all night. brings me back to my early childhood. pretty glad my parents had such a great taste in music.
Love Van the Man!
me and my da used ta sing this together :) love it
I listened to this cassette all through high school and it's still a favorite. No matter how many times I've heard it (and that would be in the hundreds, I still get goosebumps. I love this combination of artists so very much. And it's so difficult to find today. Thanks for sharing!
This is one of the first videos I can ever remember seeing on TH-cam, it was the same day I got my first smartphone. Still only 1mill views after all these years.
Van and Paddy Moloney and Derek Bell, the holy triumvirate of Irish music!
i know nothing in life is perfect , but this is .
awesome rhythm
What memories from childhood hearing van Morrison go round and round on the tape deck!! I hated it back then but now I've grown to love van's music. And I already know all the words...
Van the man quality stuff
Love this song❤️VMx
j'adore !!!!
Oh I just love it and still do I have them records with Van And the Chieftans
thanks for putting this up! i remember a couple years ago it was on youtube, then dissapeared pretty much off the face of the internet (except for some crappy realplayer version i had in my bookmarks for a while)
to me this is one of the best live performances of any song ever
Love this song!
the rovers star of the county down
My grandad used to sing this all the time great to hear it again
Exactly what I was thinking just now! My dad played this song so much, and I couldnt listen to it without falling asleep, now it sounds brilliant. Maybe I was spoilt for music as a kid because compare this to what you hear on the radio its just ridiculous how good it sounds. Ah crap, I think I might be old.
Van is still The Man.
Can't get this song out of my head. Perfect!!
Great stuff Van, with of course fabulous backing from the Chieftains.
It's a matter of Opinion, I love this album. It's The Chieftains I wanted. Van's a plus big time. But Paddy Malone and The Chieftains, Every time.
Beautiful combination Van and Chieftains
I'm from Banbridge town in County Down :D
Let there be peace on earth
Wow...what's it like their,Thomas? I am from N Z ....and loved the Antrim coast and Giants Causeway ...had Van Morrison on in our campervan 23 years ago.!
Sorry about that just kidding great part of the world I lived in Newry a long time ago another great town now a city
@Laurie111
I thank you too. I was born in Belfast & have always loved the seaside towns down the south side of Belfast Lough. What happy memories....Thank you again for posting it.
A lOVELY SONG --- BEAUTIFULLY SUNG BY VAN MORRISON
БРАВО !!!
Beautiful song performed by Mr. Morrison!
Epic. Few world sector acts from the borough-sized "nation" and inspiring to see one of them doing justice to this local and prized number. Thank you George (and Laurie)
This stuff would make you proud to be irish....
+Gary Ryan as an irish man myself, true :)
+Gary Ryan The Irish have a unique knack for music, almost unparalleled!
Hhh
Unparalleled other than by every group, nation and civilisation known ... we all have great music.
btw. the tune that "The Star of County Down" uses is from an English folk song ... make of that what you will.
Great music yes , but why on earth is there still a difference between north-Ireland & Ireland ? Germany has no wall anymore , why has Belfast still a wall ? Just asking .... great music btw
what an awesome combo! Just discovered that Van Morrison and The Chieftans performed together!
Ortodox Celts - Star of county down,rocky road to Dublin,Far away.green rose....my fav songs
he did music for the heart and soul no BS just feeling
i cry when i hear this song was my dads favorite song rest his soul thank u Laurie111
Love this song.
ETERNO !!!!
Thanks Van...currently researching my Gran's family - Robinson, McGowan, Angus - in Bangor, Donaghadee and area...
Irish Heartbeat is a musical masterstroke
Great version of thic lovely song
It's great!!!!! I'm so glad I watched it and it's all because I herd my friend sing It at school.
Yes in 1988 on "Van Morrisson & the Chieftains - Irish Heartbeat"
Van, himself, is from 'The County Down'. That's why he makes this the best version.
+Adolf Ball Van Morrison is from Bloomfield in Belfast. Which is County Antrim. I am from Bloomfield before you go into one lol :-)
Other side of the Lagan is Co. Down. So how am I wrong?
Adolf Ball OMG Your telling me where I live!? lol You just seen that on a comment?Belfast is County Antrim
Queens Bridge. Bloomfield is in Co. Down. Now go give me head peace. FFS.
Adolf Ball Right so your telling someone that lives there hes wrong? OK, Your American arnt you?
Precious - and yes he switches verses 3 with 2 - but what a treat. Love the Chieftans
I love this version, thanks for posting.
She murdered it!
Simply THE best....... Van is th Man!
I could play this song all day.:-)
Love van Morrison and the chieftains x
Thank you SO MUCH For Uploading this BEAUTIFUL & JOYOUS Version of this Timeless Irish Folk Song. This is I Believe, to be the "BEST VERSION" Ever, of this Song. Cheers. :-D
Have a pint for me as well and God bless you Van!
love van and the chieftans,astral weeks is an irish treasure.
I love it
Van the man yeah
I've been looking for this one for a while now. Thanks!
my mother was the star or the County down xxx R.I.P.xx
Great stuff, love the accents
Wonderful!
Brilliant!
Speechless song so amazing
Best ever for sure 🍀❤️
Great to see this posted again. It was removed a few years ago, seems it upset Van's record company at the time. I've taken precautions this time just in case it's gets pulled again. (dvdvideosoftdotcom) Five ***** performance from both Van and the Chieftains!!
Good work Laurie111. I heard this for the first time today on Radio 2, and loved it. First thing I did when I got home was look for it. You have my thanks :)