Penobscot Memory

©1981 Vincent O'Donnell

        Two years back, Dave Para and Cathy Barton sent Ed a tape of music they'd heard on the West Coast; this tune was on it without name or names of the musicians. When Ed played it for us, we loved it and learned it on the spot. Later, we played it in New Haven, asking if anyone at the concert knew who made it, and we were told it was by Vince O'Donnell and it was about Penobscot Bay - where I grew up. At the end of the tour, I brought it home with great glee, only to find that Nick Apollonio and George Fowler were already playing it, with name and author attached. Turns out that Nancy Mattila, from the next town , had introduced me to Vince on the very week of the sailing trip which had inspired the tune . We record it here with Vince's kind permission; he says he's glad the tune finally found its way back to the bay, even though it did take the long way around. (GB)

Penobscot Memory is recorded on the CD Minneapolis Concert