Mel Corry: an Irish bluegrass legend

The irreplaceable Mel Corry of Lurgan, Co. Armagh, died on 13 January this year from the effects of COVID. Among the tributes that were paid to Mel after his death, Tony O'Brien gave one of the first - as well as most of the photos that appeared on the BIB of Mel and the bands that he was at the heart of.

To follow and complement this, over the past couple of months Tony has compiled an album of Mel's music, taken from recordings made in several different formats. The result is an eighteen-track CD - fourteen songs and four classic bluegrass instrumentals. Seven were recorded with KingBlue; six with the Tennessee Hennessees; one with High Lonesome; and four with Buddy Merriam & Back Roads, marking the fact that just one of Mel's distinctions was to have played banjo for a professional touring US band throughout their tour of Ireland.

The image above, from one side of the CD inlay card, shows photos of Mel at the microphone and two of his bands; two more bands are shown inside, where the tracks are listed. Also shown above are Tony's descriptive notes, which can be read by clicking on the image. The whole is a worthy tribute to - as Tony's title says - an Irish bluegrass legend.

© Richard Hawkins