Troubadours and Troublemakers. A book by Joe Jackson

In 1996 I wrote Troubadours and Troublemakers, which has long been out of print. However, i have discovered a few hardback and paperback copies that now are on sale in the shop on this website. Just click ‘shop’ at top, then click downloads drop down file to books and order from me, a signed copy.
The full title is Troubadours and Troublemakers (Ireland Now: A Culture Reclaimed). Here is the blurb ‘Joe Jackson has been at the cutting edge of Irish journalism for the past ten years. Partly as a contributor for —-(name deleted by author ) for whom he has conducted many of their most provocative interviews with leading figures in politics, literature, film, poetry and popular music. Since 1992, his interviews with the world’s most famous musicians have also appeared in The Irish Times as a key feature of their ‘Sound and Vision’ slot
In Troubadours and Troublemakers he draws on the original tapes and transcripts of at least 300 of his Irish-based interviews, and includes previously unpublished material, to explore the changing nature of Irish identity during the years 1985-1995, a decade which he suggests “will prov to be pivotal in Irish History’. The book includes major interviews with the likes of Bono, Paul Durcan, Anthony Clare, Tom Murphy, and Gerry Adams plus ‘sound-bites’ contributions from Mary Coughlan, John Bruton, Hugh Leonard, Pierce Brosnan, Jim Sheridan, Conor Cruise O’ Brien and many others. In his introduction, to Troubadours and Troublemakers, Joe Jackson also discloses for the first time, his own deeply personal reasons for his “obsession” it the question of identity.

On flyleaf it said “Joe Jackson is renowned for his in-depth, and frequently controversial interviews which have become a frequent feature of both —- and The Irish Times. He is an interviewer who sems to possess the uncommon ability to immerse himself so deeply in the psychology of his interviewees to such an extent that they invariably reveal more about themselves, and the world they inhabit, than they might have originally intended. This pursuit for what he sees as “the hidden truth” often sets up a tension which is not unlike the dynamic one finds ion a one-act play’.

Quotes were “Thank you for the most penetrating interview I’ve done since, at least The Dick Cavett Show, in the 1960′s” Richard Harris 1987

“Hot Press is noted for its probing interviews conducted by Joe Jackson”, Deaglan De Bradun, political correspondent, The Irish Times 1988

“Once a week in The Irish Times you are marking the Irish psyche with The Joe Jackson Interview” Shay Healy, broadcaster, 1994

“There’s no one in Ireland doing what you do, in terms of these in=depth — interviews on politics and the arts. These are important social documents.” Ciaran Benson, Professor of Psychology UCD, Chairman of the Arts Council, 1995.

As an aside all these years later, I haven’t a clue who these guys are talking about!