Elvis Murphy's Green Suede Shoes
Black 47 is not only "New York's house band" but a work-in-progress. Their albums document the history, joys and frustrations the city's deeply connected yet antagonistic Irish immigrant and Irish-American communities and their equally colorful and fractious neighbors. The group's Wexford-born bandleader, Larry Kirwan also has a novel,Liverpool Fantasy, to his credit and now, a memoir calledGreen Suede Shoes : An Irish-American Odyssey. In it, he relates how the Catholic Church, the IRA and raging hormones drove him to embark upon a riotous American apprenticeship and form an iconic rock group. The simultaneously released "soundtrack" is peopled by characters like Kirwan's uncle, an atypically non-judgmental priest, Malachy McCourt, owner of the notorious Bells Of Hell bar and a bewildered Irish-American soldier, stuck in Baghdad and dreaming of home. These politically outspoken, hilarious, sexually-charged, bitter-sweet vignettes will intrigue new listeners but hit longtime fans like a Guiness-soaked madeleine. --Christina Roden