Paul Mullins, composer of 'Katy Daly', dies (update)

We learn with deep regret of the death on Sunday 3 August of Paul 'Moon' Mullins, short-bow fiddler, DJ and radio personality, MC, and one of the central figures of bluegrass in the Ohio Valley area for decades. He was 71.

Many performing and recording artists in Ireland have reason to be grateful to Paul Mullins for the song '(Come on down the mountain) Katy Daly'; he made a selection from verses written by Russell Simms, wrote the chorus himself, and composed the tune. The band he was currently with, the Bluegrass Playboys, recorded it in Cincinnati, OH, in October 1962 and it was released on Briar Records in 1963 (Barry R. Willis, America's music: bluegrass (1997), 571).*

A full account of his career by Richard F. Thompson appears on the Bluegrass Blog. We recommend using the link to the additional comments by Katie Laur and Fred Bartenstein and (most of all) to the compilation of things that Paul Mullins said over the years on his radio show.

*Update 23 May 2020: This account of Paul Mullins's part in the 'Katie Daly' story was based on what had previously appeared in published sources. Comparison of the earliest recordings of the song revealed that the Bluegrass Playboys made the first US recording, using the same text as in the earlier Dublin release by the original composer, Herman Weight ('Eamon O'Shea'); see the BIB for 28 Aug. 2019.