Danny Boy - Eric Clapton (solo acoustic, no vocal)
Danny Boy (traditional) Arranged by Eric Clapton
go here for video clip of this song performed by Irish fiddler Eugene O'Donnell with James MacCafferty at the piano:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vfi1gIbJF9g
"Ancient Music of Ireland", a book by the early collector George Petrie (1789-1866) published in 1855, is the first appearance of this tune in print. It is not given a title in that collection. The tune was provided to him by a "Miss J. Ross, of N.-T.-Limavady, in the county of Londonderry" and a plaque at her house today acknowledges this. Miss J. Ross said the tune was "very old".
Beyond these facts, in ascertaining the tune's origins, is all speculation.
Exhaustive information of the tune can be found at the website "Danny Boy—the mystery solved!" - by Michael Robinson:
http://www.standingstones.com/dannyboy.html
I got this clip off a VHS tape of the 1995 PBS documentary "Danny Boy - In Sunshine or in Shadow". UK TV folks interviewed Eric about the tune and filmed him in Olympic Studios, London, performing the number on guitar. "Danny Boy" has never been released on a full-length CD of Eric's. However, it was included as a bonus track on his 1992 CD single "Change The World".
Danny Boy (Londonderry Air)
