Gay & Terry Woods

• Terry Woods - mandola, concertina, acoustic, electric & bass guitars, vocals;
• Gay Woods - concertina, autoharp, dulcimer, bodhrán, vocals;
  
  

Bio:

Gay Corcoran (b.1948) and Terry Woods (b.1947) recorded together for most of the 1970s. They first began performing in 1963. Terry Woods played in numerous bands during the '60s before replacing Joe Dolan in Sweeney's Men in 1967. Terry and Gay married in 1968. When the Sweeneys drifted apart in 1969, by which time they were reduced to a duo of Woods and Johnny Moynihan, Terry had been playing with various outfits with including Phil Lynott's Orphangage.

Both Woods and Moynihan were invited along with founding Sweeneys member Andy Irvine to join a new project by ex Fairport Convention bass player Ashley Hutchings, who was basically trying to reassemble the first LP Sweeney's Men lineup with himself added on bass. Though they rehearsed, Irvine and Moynihan pulled out, and so it was Gay and Terry Woods who co-founded Steeleye Span with Ashley Hutchings, Tim Hart and Maddy Prior in 1970. Steeleye split after their first, groundbreaking Steeleye album "Hark! The Village Wait" and Gay & Terry formed the Woods Band. Steeleye then reformed without the Woods, much to Terry's annoyance but perhaps the personalities involved needed to do it that way. Steeleye never made as good an album as their debut but enjoyed a long and successful career and long and acrimonious interpersonal relationships. Gay rejoined them for a number of years in the 1990s. During their time with Steeleye Span, Gay & Terry contributed backing vocals to two tracks on Lea Nicholson's Horsemusic LP (Trailer LER 3010 - UK - 1971) which is not listed in the discography below.

The Woods Band's were active until 1974 approx, at which point Gay & Terry began to record as a duo, though they'd played gigs as a duo before then as the above advert shows. They made four albums between 1975-1978. The couple split, Gay forming Auto Da Fe and Terry eventually joining The Pogues.

Gig advert for Teach Furbo in Spiddel, Galway on 25th November 1972.		Adverts for the Jolly Beggar Club in November & December 1973 with support act Monroe.

Ed Deane, Gay Woords, Terry Woods at Lisdoonvarna.

side one:
I Missed You
The Hymn
Dublin Town
The Fair
Side Tracked

side two:
Thinking of You
Second Hand Sale
Sorry Friend
Winter Poem
Dunlavin Green (trad.arr.)

Notes:
All tracks Gay and Terry Woods except where indicated.

Guests:
Geoff Whitehorn - electric guitar
Ed Deane (Woods Band) - slide guitar
Joe O'Donnell (East Of Eden, etc) - electric violins
Dave Wintour - bass
Mike Giles (King Crimson, Giles & Giles) - drums
Tony Carr - congas
Peter Arnesen - piano

side one:
Song for the Gypsies
The Brown Girl (trad.arr)
Northwinds
When the Time Is Right
Back to You

side two:
Redlake Piker
Empty Rooms
Under the Ewe Tree
Stealer of Dreams
Country Girlie

Notes:
All tracks Gay and Terry Woods except where indicated.
Guests:
David Morrison - slide guitar
Pat Donaldson, Dave Pegg - bass
Dave Mattacks, Timmi Donald - drums
Brian Golbey - fiddle
B. J. Cole - dobro, steel
Jon Gillaspie - keyboards
Tristan Fry - vibes

side one:
Love Is Like a Burden
One More Time
Radio Man
Solace
Save the Last Dance for Me (Doc Pomus & Mort Schuman)

side two:
I Found You
Jameson and Port
Country Blues
Van Diemen's Land

Notes:
All tracks Gay and Terry Woods except where indicated.

 
side one:
We Can Work This One Out
Friends of Mine
Full Moon
I've a Lady
The Reward

side two:
I Won't Believe It
Dream Come True
Piece of Summer
Lonesome Blues
Heart of Stone

Notes:
All tracks Gay and Terry Woods.
Guests:
Phil Palmer - lead guitar & 12-string guitar
Pat Donaldson - bass & harmony vocals
Jim Russell - drums
Fran Breen - percussion
Jolyon Jackson - organ & cello
Kate McGarrigle - piano & harmony vocals
Keith Donald (Moving Hearts, etc) - alto saxophone
Martin O'Connor - accordion
Neil Toner - mandolin

We Can Work This One Out
Full Moon
Dreams Come True
Lonesome Blue
Under the Yew Tree
The Time Is Right
Song for the Gypsies
Country Blues
Love Is Like a Burden
Radioman

Notes:
All songs composed by Gay & Terry Woods.

Tracks 1-4 Recorded in session for John Peel, March 28, 1978.
Produced by Chris Lycett. Engineered by Mike Robinson
Lineup:
Gay Woods - dulcimer, vocals tracks 1, 2 & 4
Terry Woods - rhythm guitar, vocals track 3
Phil Palmer - lead guitar
Kuma Hara - bass
Jim Russell - drums

Tracks 5-10 Recorded live in concert at The Paris Theatre, London, September 11, 1976
Produced by Mike Appleton. Engineered by Tom Corcoran
Lineup:
Gay Woods - dulcimer, vocals
Terry Woods - rhythm guitar, vocals
David Morrison - slide guidar
Dave Pegg - bass
Dave Mattacks - drums

tracklisting:
I Missed You
Song for the Gypsies
Love Is Like a Burden
Dublin Town
Dunlavin Green
The Fair
Redlake Piker
The Hymn
Sorry Friend
Winter Poem
Under the Ewe Tree
Stealer of Dreams
When the Time Is Right
Northwinds
Radio Man
Empty Rooms
The Brown Girl
Country Blues
Solace
Save the Last Dance for Me

sources:
Tracks 1, 4-6, 8-10 from Backwoods (1975)
Tracks 2, 7, 11-14, 16-17 The Time Is Right (1976)
Tracks 3, 15, 18-20 from Renowned (1976)

Steeleye Span

• Gay Woods - vocals, autoharp, concertina, bodhrán
• Terry Woods - vocals, mandola, electric guitar, 5-string banjo, concertina, mandolin
• Tim Hart - vocals, electric guitar, 5-string banjo, electric dulcimer, fiddle, harmonium
• Maddy Prior - vocals, 5-string banjo
• Ashley Hutchings - electric bass
• Gerry Conway - drums
• Dave Mattacks - drums

Bio:

tbd.

 

 

side one:
A Calling-On Song
The Blacksmith
Fisherman's Wife
The Blackleg Miner
The Dark-Eyed Sailor
Copshawholme Fair

side two:
All Things Are Quite Silent
The Hills of Greenmore
My Johnny Was a Shoemaker
Lowlands of Holland
Twa Corbies
One Night As I Lay on My Bed

Help!: We need your help to complete this entry. If you can tell us more about this band then please do! We welcome any corrections, missing details, connections to other bands, where are they now, etc. We also need photos, scans, copies of releases or live or demo recordings, and any other memorabilia gathering dust in the attic. If you can help, then please get in touch.