Paul Brady

Biography

Paul Joseph Brady (born 19 May 1947) is a Northern Irish singer-songwriter and musician from Strabane, Northern Ireland. His work straddles folk and pop. He was interested in a wide variety of music from an early age.
Initially popular for playing Irish traditional music in a duo with Andy Irvine and later with Tommy Peoples and Matt Molloy and solo, he later turned to a more rock-inspired electric style with poignant political lyrics. Some of his most popular songs are his interpretations of the traditional "The Lakes of Pontchartrain" and "Arthur McBride", and the originals "Crazy Dreams", "Nothing but the Same Old Story", "The Island", "Night Hunting Time", "Steel Claw" performed by Tina Turner, "Paradise Is Here", "The World is What You Make It" and "Once in a Lifetime".

Early life

Paul Joseph Brady was born in Belfast and raised in the small town of Strabane in County Tyrone, Northern Ireland, on the border with County Donegal, Republic of Ireland. His father Seán Brady and mother Mollie Brady née McElholm were school teachers. Brady was educated at Sion Mills Primary School, St. Columb's College, Derry and University College Dublin. He is featured in the documentary film The Boys of St. Columb's.
He began learning piano around age six and by the age of eleven he had begun to play guitar, spending hours of his school holidays learning every song that the Shadows had recorded. He was also influenced by Chuck Berry.
In 1963, Brady began performing as a piano player in a hotel in Bundoran, Donegal. In October 1964, he attended University College Dublin and performed with a number of RnB groups, covering songs by the likes of Ray Charles and James Brown. The first of these was the Inmates (late 1964–about April 1965), which evolved into the Kult (about April–December 1965), featuring Brady, Jackie McAuley (ex-Them, and future Belfast Gypsies and Trader Horne), Brendan Bonass, and Dave Pennefather. Brady can be seen in the documentary film Charlie Is My Darling waiting outside Dublin's Adelphi Theatre for the Rolling Stones' concert of 3 September 1965. He next joined Rootzgroup (late 1965–May 1966) and Rockhouse (about May–December 1966).

1960s and 1970s

During his time at college in Dublin, the country saw a huge rise in interest in traditional Irish music. Brady joined the popular Irish band The Johnstons when Michael Johnston left in May 1967. They moved to London, England, in 1969 and subsequently to New York City in 1972 to expand their audience. Despite some success, Brady returned to Ireland in 1974 to join the Irish group Planxty, the band that would subsequently launch the solo careers of Andy Irvine, Liam O'Flynn, Dónal Lunny, and Christy Moore.
When Planxty disbanded in late 1975, Brady formed a duo with Irvine from 1976 to 1978, a partnership that produced the successful album, Andy Irvine/Paul Brady. The next few years saw him establish his popularity and reputation as one of Ireland's best interpreters of traditional songs. His versions of ballads like "Arthur McBride" and "The Lakes of Pontchartrain" were considered definitive and are still popular at concerts today. In 1975 in New York he recorded two albums for Shanachie Records as guitar accompanist to resident Irish fiddlers Andy McGann and Paddy Reynolds. He also recorded a 1976 album, The High Part of the Road×The High Part of the Road1976 · Studio albumSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 12 tracksA1The Oak Tree / The Pinch of Snuff3:18A2The Kid on the Mountain / O'Farrell's Welcome to Limerick4:04A3The Wheels of the World / Toss the Feathers3:36A4Ard an Bhothair (The High Part of the Road) / Port an Bhrather (The Monk's Jig)3:07A5The Band of Ireland / The Dairy Maid2:39A6The Nine Points of Roguery / Bean an It Ar Lar (The Mistress on the Floor)3:13B1The Green Groves of Erin / The Pigeon on the Gate2:47B2Port Shean Tseain (Old John's Jig) / The Queen of the Fair3:11B3The Salamanca / Lucy Campbell3:34B4The Silver Slipper / The Old Hag in the Kiln2:24B5Farewell to Ireland2:55B6McCahill's Reels3:12, for the same label with Irish fiddler Tommy Peoples. And a 1977 Shanachie album with another Irish fiddler named John Vesey.

Solo career

In 1978, Brady released his first solo album, Welcome Here Kind Stranger×Welcome Here Kind Stranger1978 · Studio albumSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 8 tracks1Don’t Come Again3:372I Am a Youth That’s Inclined to Ramble6:193Jackson and Jane4:284The Lakes of Pontchartrain6:475The Creel / Out the Door and Over the Wall8:076Young Edmund in the Lowlands Low5:537The Boy on the Hilltop / Johnny Goin’ to Céilidh2:138Paddy’s Green Shamrock Shore6:07, which won him critical acclaim and was awarded the Melody Maker Folk Album of the Year. However, it would prove to be Brady's last album covering traditional material. He decided to delve into pop and rock music, and released his first album of this genre in 1981, Hard Station×Hard Station1981 · Studio albumSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 8 tracksA1Crazy DreamsA2The Road to the Promised LandA3Busted LooseA4Cold Cold NightB1Hard StationB2Dancer in the FireB3Night Hunting TimeB4Nothing but the Same Old Story.
Brady released a number of successful solo albums throughout the 1980s: True for You×True for You1983 · Studio albumSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 9 tracks1The Great Pretender4:582Let It Happen4:323Helpless Heart4:284Dance the Romance5:055Steel Claw4:036Take Me Away5:447Not the Only One6:018Interlude2:289Trouble 'round the Bend5:16 (1983), Back to the Centre×Back to the Centre1986 · Studio albumSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 9 tracks1Walk the White Line4:582Wheel of Heartbreak5:023Deep in Your Heart5:524To Be the One4:495Follow On4:156Soulbeat4:477Airwaves4:368The Island5:309The Homes of Donegal7:26 (1986), and Primitive Dance (1987). By the end of the decade, Brady was recognised and accepted as a respected performer and songwriter. His songs were being covered by a number of other artists, including Santana and Dave Edmunds.
When Tina Turner heard a demo of his song "Paradise Is Here", she recorded it for her Break Every Rule album of 1986. By now, he was a favourite songwriter among such artists as Bob Dylan and Bonnie Raitt, who would do a duet with Brady on his 1991 album, Trick or Treat×Trick or Treat1991 · Studio albumSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 10 tracks1Soul Child5:422Blue World5:373Nobody Knows4:444Can't Stop Wanting You4:595You and I4:366Trick or Treat5:037Don't Keep Pretending4:598Solid Love4:349Love Goes On5:0510Dreams Will Come6:06. A couple of Brady songs soon appeared on Raitt's album Luck of the Draw, including the title track.
Dylan was sufficiently impressed by Brady's work to name-check him in the booklet of his 2006 compilation album The Collection.
In 1991, Brady reached number 5 in the Irish Singles Chart with Nobody Knows.
Since his Hard Station album (1981), Brady was on various major labels until he created his own label, PeeBee Music, in the late 1990s. He released three albums in the 1990s: Trick or Treat, Songs & Crazy Dreams×Songs & Crazy Dreams18 June 1992 · Studio albumSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 12 tracks1Crazy Dreams4:562Paradise Is Here5:033Dancer in the Fire5:364Nothing but the Same Old Story6:025Deep in Your Heart5:586The Homes of Donegal7:387Walk the White Line4:558The Road to the Promised Land5:339The Island5:2710Steal Your Heart Away5:5311Follow On4:1612Helpless Beast4:27 (a remixed compilation of earlier songs) and Spirits Colliding×Spirits Colliding1995 · Studio albumSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 11 tracks1I Want You to Want Me5:592Trust in You5:263The World Is What You Make It4:234Marriage Made in Hollywood5:115Help Me to Believe4:586You’re the One5:357I Will Be There4:148After the Party’s Over6:179Just in Time5:1110Love Made a Promise5:0411Beautiful World4:55, which were met with critical acclaim. Trick or Treat was on Fontana/Mercury Records and received a lot of promotion. As a result, some critics considered it his debut album and noted that the record benefited from the expertise of experienced studio musicians, as well as producer Gary Katz, who worked with the rock group Steely Dan. Rolling Stone, after praising Brady's earlier but less-known solo records, called Trick or Treat Brady's "most compelling collection."

Brady went on to record several other albums (15 in total since he went solo in 1978) and collaborated with a number of other established musicians including Bonnie Raitt and Richard Thompson. In 2006, he collaborated with Cara Dillon on the track "The Streets of Derry" from her album After the Morning. He has also worked with Fiachra Trench.
He performed Irish language songs as a character in the 2002 Matthew Barney film Cremaster 3. He also played tin whistle on the single "One" by Greg Pearle in 2008, from the album Beautiful You, a collaboration between Greg Pearle and John Illsley; this song featured in the 2008 film Anton, directed by Graham Cantwell.
Brady's fifteenth studio album, Hooba Dooba×Hooba Dooba24 May 2011 · Studio albumSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 12 tracks1Cry It Out3:082Rainbow3:293The Price of Fame4:514One More Today4:025The Winners' Ball3:186Luck of the Draw4:157Follow That Star2:488Mother and Son5:189Money to Burn4:1810You Won't See Me4:4011Over the Border5:4812Living the Mystery5:56, was released in March 2010.
As of 2017, a friendship was struck with Theo Katzman (vulfpeck) and Brady toured Ireland in 2019 as half of this duo with Joe Dart, also of vulfpeck, Louis Cato and Lee Pardini.
Brady had continued to tour, record and collaborate with other artists. In 2019, Jimmy Buffett began performing a cover of Brady's hit, "The World is What you Make It". In September 2019, Brady joined Jimmy Buffett on his tour stops in both Dublin and London.
He released the album "Unfinished Business×Unfinished Business8 September 2017 · Studio albumSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 11 tracks1Unfinished Business3:342I Love You but You Love Him3:323Something to Change2:394Say You Don't Mean3:565Oceans of Time3:576Harvest Time4:327The Cocks Are Crowing6:158I Like How You Think3:019Maybe Tomorrow3:3410Once in a Lifetime3:5111Lord Thomas and Fair Ellender5:18" on his own label PeeBee Music, licensed to Proper Music UK, in 2017.
While Brady and Andy Irvine's planned tour of their 1976 album Andy Irvine, Paul Brady was impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic, they finished the tour in 2022. Musicians to join them on the tour included fiddle player Kevin Burke and multi-instrumentalist Dónal Lunny, both of whom had played on the original album.

Solo studio albums

Welcome Here Kind Stranger (1978)
Hard Station (1981)
True for You (1983)
Back to the Centre (1986)
Primitive Dance (1987)
Trick or Treat (1991)
Spirits Colliding (1995)
Oh What a World (2000)
Say What You Feel (2005)
Hooba Dooba (2010)
Unfinished Business (2017)
Maybe So (2022)

Solo live albums

Full Moon (1984)
The Paul Brady Songbook (album and DVD) Live recordings for RTÉ TV series (2002)
The Missing Liberty Tapes (2002) - Recorded Live at Liberty Hall, Dublin, 21 July 1978

Solo compilation albums

Songs & Crazy Dreams (1992)
Nobody Knows: The Best of Paul Brady (1999)
Dancer in the Fire: A Paul Brady Anthology (2012)

With Andy Irvine

Andy Irvine/Paul Brady (1976)
Andy Irvine/70th Birthday Concert at Vicar St 2012 (2014)

With various artists

The Gathering (1981), Greenhays Recordings, Paul Brady, Peter Browne, Andy Irvine, Dónal Lunny, Matt Molloy, Tommy Potts, Tríona Ní Dhomhnaill (Brady plays on three tracks)
Feed The Folk (1985), Temple Records, ("The Green Fields Of Canada")
The Rough Guide to Irish Music (2005), World Music Network, ("Mary and the Soldier")
An Irish Goodbye with Willie Nile on The Great Yellow Light (2025)

DVDs

The Transatlantic Sessions Series 3 (2007) (various artists)
The Paul Brady Songbook (2002)
Paul Brady Live at Rockpalast 1983 (Repertoire Records 2016)