Louis McManus

StevieJ · Post by **StevieJ** » Fri Feb 14, 2003 3:44 pm

This is to let you know some sad news about a very fine musician, and to appeal to you all to help by buying a CD.

Louis McManus of Melbourne, Australia is by far the most gifted musician that I have ever known personally. I knew Louis (the name BTW is pronounced in the European fashion -- "Lou-ie" not "Lewis") when I spent a few years in Melbourne in the early 1980s.

Louis' parents were Irish Scots who emigrated to Australia from Glasgow when Louis was 6, by which time he had already begun playing the mandolin, an instrument on which he was simply fabulous. He soon became equally proficient on tenor banjo and guitar, in fact anything with strings and frets. His flatpicking of traditional tunes on guitar was almost literally stunning - easily the best I have ever heard. He was also a very handy fiddle player.

I say "was" because I recently learned that Louis has been disabled by a series of catastrophic strokes that began in 1997 when he was only 41. He cannot walk and I am told his speech is unintelligible to everyone but his wife, who is caring for him. It seems certain that he will never play music again. For anyone that has known Louis and been exposed to his personality and to his particular brand of musical genius, this is very disturbing news.

It is a great pity that Louis never made a solo CD (although he appeared on many albums as a session musician or producer, and on those of bands of which he was a member, including the everlasting Bushwackers). I think this must in large part be attributed to Louis' character - he is a very likeable, unpretentious, happy-go-lucky man, forever joking and punning. I could never understand why he didn't go to live in Ireland like his now-famous mate Steve Cooney; if he had, you would certainly have heard of him.

Now however Louis' friends and colleagues have put together a CD comprising various performances by Louis spanning 25 years. There are appearances at clubs and festivals and odd tracks recorded in studios, some at the ABC (Australian public radio). The CD is really a scrapbook but Louis' technical brilliance and sense of musical fun shine through very strongly. The live tracks astonish with their daring, the studio tracks with their incredible precision.

The CD ends with one of Louis' own tunes, "Feathers", on which he plays all instruments. It is a kind of minimalist Irish raga played on tenor banjo, a melancholy improvisation on a four-note minor-mode riff - stark and simple, but mysteriously and powerfully affecting. In the light of what has happened to Louis, I can't help hearing it as a kind of auto-requiem for a great musical mind.

Please buy this CD: the proceeds go directly to Louis. You'll help a great musician in dire straits, and you'll be rewarded with some very fine music.

You can buy it online from Celtic Southern Cross. Go to http://www.celt.com.au/austcd.html and search for "McManus". The price is AUS$ 25 (currently about US$15) plus postage. Celtic Southern Cross are selling the CD as a service to Louis, who gets AUS$24 for every copy sold.

Note 1: at present there seem to be only a handful of copies of the CD left. Our man in Australia, Wombat, is using his contacts to track down any remaining copies. I hope that a repressing can be arranged, and if enough of you order a copy, this will surely happen.

Note 2: although CSC say their web site is secure, my browser failed to close the little padlock on the page asking for my credit card number. So I chose to fax my order to them at (+61) 3 63973533 and received the CD in a nice little package a week or two later. Please note that they are about 16 hours ahead of EST and as I post this the Australian weekend has already begun, so it might take a day or two before orders are confirmed.

Steve Jones

PS I hope over the next few days to get time to write an article reviewing the CD and giving some personal recollections of Louis. In the meantime, here is what another great musician wrote for the CD liner notes:

<font size = -1>
Louis McManus is, in my view, one of the great musicians alive today, and there are several good reasons for thinking so. A blotting paper memory, a great sense of humour (musical and otherwise) and, much more unusually, a fabulous intuition fed by his firm roots in the Irish fiddle music taught initially to him by his father, but which he allows to take him anywhere he musically fancies. One by-product is the galvanising effect which he has on those musicians who are lucky enough to play with him. It's not always an easy ride, because hallmarks of his playing are risk and daring, but the end result can be electrifying. He's an inspiring bloke to be around, as I discovered personally in Australia in 1989 when the Perth Festival arranged a shotgun wedding for the two of us for two gigs. The result lives in my memory. -Martin Carthy.

[Two tracks from the CD feature performances from those gigs, with Louis on mandolin and Carthy backing him up on guitar.]</font>

<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: StevieJ on 2003-02-14 17:02 ]</font>

carrie · Post by **carrie** » Fri Feb 14, 2003 4:36 pm

I've heard a few of the tracks from this CD, and my copy is already on its way to me. One track I've heard is Belfast Hornpipe, played with a bounce and joy on guitar and mandolin (both by McManus) that set the world right every time I listen to it. Another, a set of tunes called Ragtime Maggie taped at a live show, has some of the most phenomenal flatpicking I've ever heard on guitar, as well as swing and verve and humor. I've also heard "Feathers," and I can tell you that that four note banjo riff, answered and elaborated with an expressive guitar and supported by an achingly tender bass line, will not soon leave your head and heart. McManus's talent is just shimmering: I can't wait to get the CD to hear all the tunes; and I only wish we could look forward to more from this enormously gifted and appealing musician.

Jeferson · Post by **Jeferson** » Sat Feb 15, 2003 12:23 pm

Thanks, Steve, for bringing this to our attention. What a story. I found the CD listed about 20 listings down their page. Carol, how/where were you able to listen to it? I didn't see a way to do that on the CSC page and, as often is the case, this CD isn't in Amazon.com's radar. Any suggestions?

Jef

StevieJ · Post by **StevieJ** » Sat Feb 15, 2003 7:37 pm

On 2003-02-15 13:23, Jeferson wrote:
Thanks, Steve, for bringing this to our attention. What a story. I found the CD listed about 20 listings down their page. Carol, how/where were you able to listen to it? I didn't see a way to do that on the CSC page and, as often is the case, this CD isn't in Amazon.com's radar. Any suggestions?

Jef

Jef, Carol has heard the tracks because I sent them to her - after we had been chatting about Louis' case and it struck a chord with her. Not really kosher of me to do that, I know, and out of respect for Louis I don't want to do it again, sorry.

You'll have to take our word for it that the music is good. When Wombat checks into the board I think you'll get a third very favourable opinion and I'll try to get that review written.

Jeferson · Post by **Jeferson** » Sun Feb 16, 2003 12:10 am

O.K., Steve, fair enough.
Jef

Wombat · Post by **Wombat** » Sun Feb 16, 2003 7:33 am

Well, Steve and Carol have told you all you need to know to send you rushing to order. I can only echo their sentiments and provide a little more information.

Don't think that your buying this CD is *just* an act of charity. Clearly it is that; the lad is in a terrible way and every dollar will help. But this CD is musically stunning, just bursting with life, with astounding virtuosity but positively oozing impish wit, general good humour and humanity. Even when he has you gasping at the technique and audacity of his playing, this is always in the service of the music. He is, far and away, the greatest mandolin player I have ever heard. I play the instrument; I don't even dream of ever coming close to Louis on it. For $A25 plus postage, you get more than your money's worth.

Just a word of caution: if a lot of you decide to order, Celtic Southern Cross won't be able to deal with all your orders immediately; only a handful of copies from the first pressing remain. We are doing our best to arrange a new pressing and, if the original organizers can't manage a repressing at this stage, I shall try to persuade them to allow me to do it for them. I'll be working closely with Steve to get this done as quickly and efficiently as possible.

The good news for those who enjoy the CD is that there is a lot of other usable material in the can so there should eventually be more volumes. Since everybody associated with this project is donating their time and money on a non-profit basis, please bear with us if things take a little longer to organize than we would like—everything Steve and I do has to be cleared with those who got the project going to start with and, like us, they have day jobs that need to be attended to.

BTW, the copy speeding Carol's way has been paid for in full of course. For reasons that would be obvious to all decent people, this is one CD you most definitely should *not* bootleg.

John

susnfx · Post by **susnfx** » Sun Feb 16, 2003 11:02 am

I have to admit when I ordered mine I was a little taken aback at the amount of the postage - more than the CD itself - but it only took me a few seconds longer to realize how often I waste this much money on frivolous things. This is obviously money well spent. Thanks for much for alerting us all to this man and his music - and to the need.
Susan

Wombat · Post by **Wombat** » Sun Feb 16, 2003 11:11 am

On 2003-02-16 12:02, susnfx wrote:
I have to admit when I ordered mine I was a little taken aback at the amount of the postage - more than the CD itself - but it only took me a few seconds longer to realize how often I waste this much money on frivolous things. This is obviously money well spent. Thanks for much for alerting us all to this man and his music - and to the need.
Susan

I'm a bit puzzled by this Susan and I'll look into it. I send CDs to friends in the US fairly regularly—not wholly unrelated to being in this community—and I didn't think it cost that much. Then again, I'm usually not thinking about cost when I do so, so perhaps I just haven't noticed.

One thing is certain: the folks at Celtic Southern Cross will not be ripping you off—they support the folk scene here wonderfully and are great people to know and deal with. No 'Shark in the Morning' operation this one.

DaveAuty · Post by **DaveAuty** » Sun Feb 16, 2003 1:41 pm

The shipping cost to the UK is $10 Australian...a pittance.

Dave.

susnfx · Post by **susnfx** » Sun Feb 16, 2003 2:57 pm

I've sent an email to Celtic Southern Cross asking them to doublecheck the shipping charge (AUS$35). I'm sure if there's an error they'll fix it.
Susan

Wombat · Post by **Wombat** » Sun Feb 16, 2003 7:27 pm

There has to be an error Susan and yes, they will fix it. Orders are checked by real people, Beth and mike to be exact, and they correct the mistakes of the robots.

susnfx · Post by **susnfx** » Mon Feb 17, 2003 9:28 am

I received a very nice and apologetic email from CSC bright and early this morning saying that they'd been having trouble with their "shopping cart" shipping on international orders. The charge will actually be AUS$7. All's well.
Susan

Bloomfield · Post by **Bloomfield** » Mon Feb 17, 2003 10:36 am

I just ordered mine.

thurlowe · Post by **thurlowe** » Mon Feb 17, 2003 12:41 pm

Me too.

susnfx · Post by **susnfx** » Tue Feb 18, 2003 11:32 am

(also posted to the whistle board)
A quick addendum...I received another email from Beth at CSC this morning again apologizing for the shipping charge problems. She said that my shipping charges were actually about $4 US, bringing the total to about $19 US. She also said that they only had four CDs left as of that time.
Susan