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"The Fields of Athenry"

Date range assessed by the fact that it was only during this period in Ireland when it was known that Michael was actively recording music (“Tiger Woods had made a reservation to stay at the property while participating in the 2006 Ryder Cup competition [(occurred September 24-26, 2006)], so once the golf superstar showed up, Michael moved on again. This time he settled at Grouse Lodge, a Georgian estate located in the Irish Midlands about an hour west of Dublin. It was in the lodge’s state-of-the-art recording studio where Michael was able to experiment with music again. Producers who flew over from America included Rodney Jerkins, Theron Feemster (aka Neff-U) and will.i.am, who admitted that working with Michael in an Irish cottage felt like a ‘dream’.”) (Mike Smallcombe, “Making Michael”); Michael arrived back in Los Angeles, California on December 23, 2006.

“News From Ireland” by Kevin Brady from “The Irish Times” (October 20, 2009) (archived)

Michael Jackson's last original recording may not be any of the music featured in the This Is It movie, but an off the cuff singalong of The Fields of Athenry with a little known Irish choir.

The amazing recording featuring the late Jackson singing six verses of the popular Irish song only emerged tonight (Wednesday) when the choir revealed that they had the digital tapes to the impromptu session recorded while the star was living in Ireland in 2006.

...Jackson became attracted to the song because of the line "Michael, they have taken you away." The song refers to the deportation of an Irishman during the Famine years of the mid-1840s.

The recording was discovered by the secretary of the Caherraggin Choir group, who were brought in to perform backing tracks in rehearsal sessions while Jackson spent five months in the county recording in 2006. Spokesman for the choir Kieran Gillane said last night they had known about the recording for three years but were unwilling to record it out of friendship for the singer and in the last few months, out of respect for him after he passed away.

"He had a great interest in the old Irish stories so one day while we were there getting ready to provide a sort of choral wall for him, we started belting out Irish songs and he was fascinated by The Fields of Athenry, especially, the song has a line "Michael, they have taken you away."

"He was amazed by that that and then he asked for the lyrics.

"We were doing this to loosen up the vocal chords but Mr Jackson came in with his entourage and clapped to the music.

"He wanted to know what it was so we printed out the lyrics and he sang along to it for about five minutes. At that stage, we were all laughing as he didn't make a bad fist of it at all.

"The decks were recording our own efforts and so it was all put down on tape and lo and behold, it is excellent quality.

"We have had it in the local studios and the engineers say that it is possible to make something out of it. We haven't contacted Mr St John yet about it because as a mark of respect to Mr Jackson and the release of his film.

"However, now that we know there is considerable interest in it, it may be a hit, you'd never know.

Last night, a spokesman for the company who owned the rights to Mr Jackson's music for the This Is It concert series said that they had known for some time that he had made several recordings in Ireland which are not their property because they were made in his private capacity.

"We know that Michael had a very enjoyable time in Ireland and recorded several songs but any recordings there would be totally owned by the Jackson estate, his record company and his legal entity.

“News From Ireland” by Kevin Brady from “The Irish Times” (October 25, 2009) (archived)

[The Caheraggin Village Choir] spokesman Kevin Gillane has revealed that the choir and its trustees have determined that after all, they may hold the entire rights to the recording as technically Jackson was merely a guest on their recording.

'Technically, what we were doing when he sang the song was recording the Caheraggin Christmas choir single, so it was recorded in our time. We were in the former Sunset Studios recording our album with owner, the late Gerry McGrade when we were asked to work on doing some backing vocals for material that Mr Jackson and his people were working on.

"However, it was during our paid-for time and down time in his recording that we got together to sing The Fields of Athenry, so technically, this creates a different issue for the choir and the trustees. That is why we have placed the tapes in the vault," he said.

...The recording was discovered by the secretary of the Caherraggin Choir group, who were brought in to perform backing tracks in rehearsal sessions while Jackson spent five months in the county recording in 2006. Mr Gillane said last week they had known about the recording for three years but were unwilling to record it out of friendship and respect for Jackson.

However, they have now denied reports that they are now merely exploiting the singer's publicity

"No, that is not the case," said Mr Gillane. "That is why we met last night (Saturday) and decided to ensure that the digital tapes, and all the recorded materials be placed in the bank vault. We do not want to be seen as exploiting the situation at all.

However, AEG who own the rights to This Is It said that they were not involved in any way with negotiations with the Irish choir as the recordings were now made under their jurisdiction.

Music analysts have estimated that the recording could be worth as much as 20 million dollars to the owners of the tape.

Marve Herbstein, the NY publisher said that he is aware that several record labels are investigating the reports and that Sony Music may not be able to claim ownership of the Jackson recording if the singer performed as a guest on the Irish recording.

"Whatever way it works out, a new Michael Jackson single, away from all the controversy of This Is It would be worth at least twenty million dollars for starters to whoever owns the rights," he said.