The Crooked Stair - Cran

The reissuing of Cran’s debut album The Crooked Stair has been remarkably unheralded and more’s the pity. According to the original release it was released in 1993 by the Cross Border Media label whose owner assumed the copyright under the company name of Dog Publishing (and certain tracks would later be licensed to other labels without the band’s knowledge or permission – indeed on one compilation the band’s name was even replaced by some now forgotten pseudonym!). The scan opposite is of the original cassette release whose striking cover image was painted by the Belfast artist Rita Duffy and features a depiction of the character Fiollaigean, the central figure in the Scots Gaelic song of the same name which forms track five of the album and also provides its title: The stair and the mirror was crooked, likewise the bedroom of Fiollaigean.

Liosta Traiceanna / Track Listing –

1. Hop Jigs: Cucanandy, The Dusty Miller
2. Reels: Spindle Shanks, The Bellharbour, The Ivy Leaf
3. Song: When A Man’s In Love
4. Dance: An Dro, Romanian Rollick
5. Song: Fiollaigean
6. Air & Reel: Tiarna Randal, Follow Me Up
7. Song & Pipe Tune: Seán Ban, Lexie McCasgill
8. Waltz: The Corsican Waltz
9. Song & Highland: Dúlmán, Charlie O’Neill’s Highland
10. Reels: The Earl’s Chair, The Copperplate, Creamer’s
11. Hornpipes: The Hills of Coor, The Mysterious No.1
12. Song: Caoineadh Na dTrí Muire
13. March, Jig & Reel: The Boys of Belfast, The Girls of Belfast, The Girl That Broke My Heart
14. Song: Laugh & Half-daft