Decca wanted Whiskey as the A-side, so we went with it, and the band began playing it live.” Lizzy were really in debt at the time and things were getting desperate. “He’d put so much into Black Boys, seeing it as the band’s first big statement single. “But Eric worked up this fantastic electric guitar version, with that brilliant intro of his, and the first time I heard it I said: ‘This is a hit!’” Decca head honcho Dick Rowe agreed, and unilaterally switched the tracks around, making Whiskey the A-side and Black Boys the B-side. So we put it together a little more solidly.” Ted Carroll heard us fooling around on it and started enthusing about how good it sounded. It became something of a signature tune for The Dubliners and has also been recorded by a host of other artists including Tommy Makem, The Irish Rovers and Christy Moore.As Bell recalled in 1973: “We were rehearsing in the Duke Of York pub in King’s Cross in London, and Phil picked up the Telecaster and just began singing Whiskey to his own accompaniment, and I found that little riff which announces the song and runs through it now on the disc. Still a traditional Irish songĭespite its flirtations with rock, Whiskey in the Jar remains a quintessentially Irish folk song and has been performed by most of the major Irish singers of the last 60 years. Irish whiskey is spelt with an ‘e’ as opposed to Scotch whisky, which has no ‘e’. Irish whiskey is popular all over the world and was a forerunner of American bourbon. Rock bands like Pulp, The Pogues and U2 have also done versions, highlighting the song’s universal appeal. Metallica brought Whiskey in the Jar to another generation of rock fans with their version in 1998. The Dublin rock band Thin Lizzy launched their hugely successful career when their version became a major hit back in 1972. Whiskey in the Jar is one of the most widely recorded Irish folk songs and has even crossed over to appeal to rock audiences. Performances of Whiskey in the Jar Famous Irish Whiskeys He hopes that his brother will be able to help him escape from jail and then together they will go roving in Kilkenny and no doubt return to the highwayman lifestyle. Soon he is looking to the future and considering whether his brother could come and help him. While in jail, he curses his deceitful Jenny but doesn’t linger in despair for long. Rendered defenceless, he is captured and taken prisoner. He reaches for his sabre but the deceitful Jenny has already taken it from him. He tries to shoot at them but his pistol won’t work because the powder is wet. The next morning as the highwayman ventures out again, he finds himself ambushed by Captain Farrell and his footmen. When the highwayman goes to rest after his exploits, Jenny puts water into his gunpowder, rendering his pistol ineffective. Jenny promises that she will never deceive him but she proves to be false. He counts out the money and then gives for safe keeping to Jenny – his wife or maybe his lover. He is bold enough, or reckless enough, to rob Captain Farrell, an officer in the British army. Whiskey in the Jar tells the story of a highwayman who stalks the Cork and Kerry mountains in Ireland. It features love, robbery and betrayal, and is set to a rollicking, irresistible tune, so it’s not hard to see why it has become so popular, not only in Ireland but across the world – particularly in America.
Whiskey in the Jar is one of the most famous and most widely performed Irish songs of all time.
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