Lyrics

"Green Suede Shoes"

Six months out on the road
Don't know if I'm ever goin' home
Out there in the middle of America
Out...

Biography

Black 47 (a name deriving from the year 1847, the blackest year of the Irish potato famine) is a New York-based band made up of Irish expatriates and led by songwriter/playwright Larry Kirwan. In addition to Kirwan (vocals, guitar), the band consists of Chris Byrne (uilleann pipes, tin whistle, vocals), Fred Parcells (trombone, tin whistle, vocals), Jeff Blythe (saxophone), Thomas Hamlin (percussion), and David Conrad (bass). Black 47 plays a mixture of traditional Celtic folk music, rock & roll, rap, and reggae, all topped by the idiosyncratic songwriting and persona of Kirwan. While playing a residency at the Irish pub Paddy Reilly's in Manhattan, the group released its debut album, Black 47, on its own BLK label in 1992, and then was signed to SBK/EMI, which issued a five-song EP, also called Black 47, in November 1992, and a critically acclaimed major-label debut album, Fire of Freedom, in March 1993.

On Demand

Discography