I'll Take You Home Again, Kathleen

"I'll Take You Home Again, Kathleen" is a popular song written by Thomas Paine Westendorf (1848–1923) in 1875. (The music is loosely based on Felix Mendelssohn's Violin Concerto in E Flat Minor Opus 64 Second Movement). In spite of its German-American origins, it is widely mistaken to be an Irish ballad.

"I'll Take You Home Again, Kathleen"
Song
Written1875
Published1876 by John Church Company
GenreTraditional pop
Songwriter(s)Thomas P. Westendorf

Westendorf, born in Virginia of German parents, was then teaching at the reform school known as the Indiana House of Refuge for Juvenile Offenders in Hendricks County, Indiana. He wrote it for his wife (who was, however, named Jane), who had made a visit to her home state of New York due to homesickness. It's in the form of an "answer" to a popular ballad of the time, "Barney, Take Me Home Again," composed by Westendorf’s close friend, George W. Brown, writing under the nom de plume of George W. Persley.[1][2]

Recorded versions
  • A version by Will Oakland on Edison Amberol (catalog 1102) was popular in 1912.[3]
  • On 30 January 2011 Jon Boden released a version as part of his A Folk Song A Day project.[4]
  • On March 31, 1971 Johnny Cash sang a version of this song on the 56th episode of his television show The Johnny Cash Show.
  • Frank Connors (released by Varsity Records) as catalog number 519, with the B-side "When Irish Eyes Are Smiling").[5]
  • Eugene Conley, American operatic tenor, recorded a version released by London Records.[6]
  • Michael Crawford performed the song for his album In Concert in 1998, and also in his concert tour.
  • Bing Crosby and John Scott Trotter's Orchestra (recorded on July 17, 1945,[7] released by Decca Records as catalog numbers 18721B[8] and 28261,[9] both with the B-side "The Bells of St. Mary's";[8][9] also as catalog number 23789B with the B-side "Too-Ra-Loo-Ra-Loo-Ral").[10]
  • Merv Griffin (released by RCA Victor Records as catalog number 20-4749, with the B-side "Wild Colonial Boy").[11]
  • Irish tenor Josef Locke recorded a version around the late 1940s.
  • Danny Malone (recorded November 27, 1934, released by Decca Records as catalog number 12052A, with the B-side "All That I Want Is in Ireland").[12]
  • Mitch Miller – Favorite Irish Folk Songs – Originally released in 1959 (now Sony BMG MUSIC ENTERTAINMENT – USSM10020418).
  • Henry Moeller (released by Gennett Records as catalog number 10069, with the B-side "Sing Me To Sleep").[13]
  • Popular English-born singer Cavan O'Connor recorded and regularly performed the song.[14]
  • British novelty pop band Lieutenant Pigeon (released by Decca Records in 1974 as Decca F13486), with the B-side "Big Butch Baby", reached #3 in Australia.[15]
  • Elvis Presley released a version (with overdubbed accompaniment) of him singing to his own piano-playing on the 1973 self-titled album called Elvis on RCA Records, better known as The Fool album. He can be seen rehearsing the song by himself in the 1981 documentary This Is Elvis as taken from the footage for the 1970 film That's the Way It Is. He can also be heard performing the same song while in the Army while stationed in Germany in the so-called "Bad Neuheim Medley" of the 1997 RCA CD boxset Platinum: A Life In Music.
  • Oscar Seagle (recorded in September 1915, released by Columbia Records as catalog number A-5718, with the B-side "The Bloom Is on the Rye").[16]
  • Vaughan Quartet (released by Vaughan Records as catalog number 725, with the B-side "When Honey Sings an Old Time Song").[17]
  • Tenor and Chorus with Orchestra, Walter Van Brunt. Edison Diamond Disc, 1914, Disc 80160-R. B-side "On The Banks of the Brandywine".
  • Lew White (released by Victor Records as catalog number 27467, with the B-side "On the Wings of Song").[18]
  • Clarence Whitehill (recorded on July 30, 1914, released by Victor Records as catalog number 74425 (a single-sided record);[19] also as catalog number 1275, with the B-side "In the Gloaming").[20]
  • Victor Young and his Orchestra (released by Decca Records as catalog number 28194, with the B-side "My Mother").[9]
  • Slim Whitman recorded a version in 1957, on Imperial 8310, also issued in the UK on London HLP 8403.
  • Daniel O'Donnell recorded the song, where it was released on the album, he Daniel O'Donnell Irish Collection, in 1996.
  • Scottish tenor Robert Wilson released a version in the late 1940s.
  • Dexys (a.k.a. Dexys Midnight Runners) recorded a version for their 2016 UK Top 10 album Let The Record Show: Dexys Do Irish And Country Soul.

In television
  • In the second series episode "Antony's Birthday" of the British TV series The Royle Family, the family's neighbour Joe Carroll (played by Peter Martin), normally quiet and retiring, gives a well-received rendition of the song.[21]
  • In the Star Trek (TOS) episode, "The Naked Time" (first aired on September 29, 1966), the crew of the Enterprise is affected by a substance, unknowingly picked up from an uninhabited, frozen planet named Psi 2000 about to break up, which brings repressed feelings and behavior to the surface. One crewman, Lt. Kevin Thomas Riley, who "fancies himself a descendant of Irish kings" (as described by Science Officer Spock), locks himself in Engineering and shuts the engines off, causing the ship to decay its orbit toward the disintegrating planet. While the behavior-altering disease spreads throughout the ship and the ship continues to fall toward the planet, Riley adds to the stress by repeatedly singing, "I'll Take You Home Again, Kathleen" in a half-drunken manner through ship-wide communication speakers.

References
  1. Richard S. Hill, "Getting Kathleen Home Again" in Notes [of the Music Library Association] Vol. 5, No. 3 (Jun., 1948), pp. 338–353
  2. "Columnist Debunks Plainfield's Connection to a Famous Song". Patch.com. 3 November 2011. Retrieved 13 March 2023.
  3. Whitburn, Joel (1986). Joel Whitburn's Pop Memories 1890-1954. Wisconsin, USA: Record Research Inc. p. 339. ISBN 0-89820-083-0.
  4. "A Folk Song A Day, 30 January 2011, "I'll Take You Home Again Kathleen"". Archived from the original on 4 November 2011. Retrieved 11 February 2011.
  6. "Eugene Conley, Robert Farnon And His Orchestra - A Concert of Favorites by Eugene Conley (tenor)". Discogs. Retrieved 2018-12-08.
  7. "A Bing Crosby Discography". BING magazine. International Club Crosby. Retrieved July 5, 2017.
  8. "DECCA (USA) 78rpm numerical listing discography: 18500 - 19000". 78discography.com. Retrieved 13 March 2023.
  9. "DECCA (USA) numerical listing discography: 28000 - 28500". 78discography.com. Retrieved 13 March 2023.
  10. "DECCA (USA) 78rpm numerical listing discography: 23500 - 24000". 78discography.com. Retrieved 13 March 2023.
  11. "RCA Victor 20-prefix series: 4500 - 5000, 78rpm numerical listing discography". 78discography.com. Retrieved 13 March 2023.
  12. "DECCA (USA) 78rpm numerical listing discography: 12000 (Irish) series". 78discography.com. Retrieved 13 March 2023.
  13. "GENNETT 78rpm numerical listing discography: 10000 series". 78discography.com.
  14. Peter Coles, "Obituary: Cavan O'Connor", The Independent, 23 October 2011. Retrieved 22 January 2021
  15. "Lieutenant Pigeon - Official Website". Lieutenantpigeon.co.uk.
  16. "Columbia A Series numerical listing discography: A5500 - A6000". 78discography.com. Retrieved 13 March 2023.
  17. "Vaughan 78rpm numerical listing discography". 78discography.com. Retrieved 13 March 2023.
  19. "VICTOR 74000 series Red Seal 78rpm numerical listing discography". 78discography.com. Retrieved 13 March 2023.
  21. "Sing it again, Joe | Culture". The Guardian.
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