Artist:Frankie Gavin & De Dannan
Song:If You Love Me
Album:Jigs, Reels & Rock n' Roll
Irish fiddler Frankie Gavin is best known as leader of the band De Dannan. They have been around since the 70s. I don't think they are currently active but Gavin is. He was born in 1956 in Corrandulla, County Galway, Ireland. He grew up in a musical family. He taught himself to play the fiddle and won the All Ireland Under 18 Fiddle Competition. He started out in the early 70s at the Cellar Bar in Galway playing with Alec Finn, Mickey Finn, Charlie Piggott and Johnny "Ringo" McDonagh. Gavin and Alec Finn formed De Dannan in 1974. They recorded their debut album for Polydor in 1975. They were very popular in Ireland until they split up in 2003. Alec Finn registered the name De Dannan. Gavin started a new band Hiberian Rhapsody. But in 2008, he renamed them The New De Dannan. Needless to say, Finn objected to that and said in interviews that this band is not De Dannan. It didn't stop Gavin from using the name. On the 2012 album Jigs, Reels & Rock n' Roll, they are called Frankie Gavin & De Dannan. Gavin produced the album and he plays fiddle, viola, flute and whistle. The rest of the band is Michelle Lally on vocals, Damien Mullane on accordion, Mike Gavin on guitar and bouzouki and Eric Cunningham on bodhran, snare, flute and whistle. Cunningham is also executive producer as he owns Tara Records. They record mostly traditional songs. But If You Love Me is an English translation of the 1949 Edith Piaf song Hymne a l'amour. She wrote it with her songwriting partner Marguerite Monnot. Celine Dion performed the song at the 2024 Olympics. The English lyrics were written by Geoffrey Parsons who worked for a British company that provided English lyrics for foreign language songs. Kay Starr scored a top five hit with If You Love Me in 1954. This album is available as a digital download. Gavin last released a De Dannan album in 2014. But he still records solo and performs regularly. His latest album was released in 2022. Here's Frankie Gavin with Michelle Lally and Mike Gavin performing If You Love Me on an Irish TV show.
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