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VAN MORRISON & THE CHIEFTAINS -- IRISH HEARTBEAT (1988)
Editorial Review:
Amazon.co.uk Review
It's not often mentioned as one of Van Morrison's signature performances, but the highpoint of this 1988 collaboration--a heartbreaking rendition of the traditional tune "Carrickfergus"--ranks with anything the man has done. Morrison delivers the deathbed lament with a mix of fervour and penitence that's utterly convincing as the Chieftains enshroud him in a Gaelic tapestry of sound. The remainder of this reissue of the 1988 collaboration between Ireland's finest ain't too shabby, either. On more upbeat selections such as "The Star of the County Down", Morrison sounds uncharacteristically frisky, as if he's delighted to share the burden with the Chieftains. Listeners are likely to find the alliance equally satisfying. --Steven Stolder
Description
It was inevitable that Ireland's finest singer and its mostcelebrated traditional folk ensemble would eventually collaborate. We have both talent and providence to thank for the fact that their collaboration, IRISH HEARTBEAT, works as well as it does. The Celtic folk influence had always been lurking just below the surface in Morrison's music, occasionallypeeking out, as on INTO THE MUSIC. His evocative, emotionalstyle is a perfect fit with the timeless sound of the Chieftains.
Things get off to a rollicking start on the randy "Star Of The County Down" before moving into more introspective areas. The beautiful ballad "Raglan Road" explores Celtic myths while examining the nature of art and inspiration. The well-known tune "She Moved Through The Fair" is given a haunting reading here, as Morrison fully exploits the ghostlyaspects of the tale. Morrison sounds perfectly at home on the traditional tunes that are the Chieftains stock in trade,and they back him with equal aplomb on the tile track, a paean to home and family that is the album's sole original tune.
1. Star Of The County Down
2. Irish Heartbeat
3. Ta Mo Chleamhnas Deanta (My Match It Is Made)
4. Raglan Road
5. She Moves Through The Fair
6. I'll Tell Me Ma
7. Carrickfergus
8. Celtic Ray
9. My Lagan Love
10. Marie's Wedding
91.8 MB
THE CHIEFTAINS -- AN IRISH EVENING: LIVE AT THE GRAND OPERA HOUSE, BELFAST (1992)
Editorial Review:
All Music Guide
While there's nothing quite like seeing the Chieftains live in concert, An Irish Evening marks the next best thing. Recorded live over two evenings at the Grand Opera House in Belfast, the disc captures the group's eclectic, fun, and loving approach to traditional Irish music. American country-folk singer/songwriter Nanci Griffith (a huge star in Ireland in her own right) provides sweet vocals on "Little Love Affairs," "Red Is the Rose," and "Ford Econoline." The Who's Roger Daltrey sounds a tad awkward on the traditional "Raglan Road" and the music hall-ish "Any Old Iron," but delivers a fascinating trad-style acoustic rendition of his group's "Behind Blue Eyes." An Irish Evening will appeal to die-hard fans and, with the co-billing of Daltrey and Griffith, will likely attract a whole new audience as well. -- Roch Parisien
1. Opening Medley: Dochas/King Of Laois/Paddy's Jig/O'Keefes Chattering
2. North Americay
3. Lilly Bolero/The White ~censored~
4. Little Love Affairs
5. Red Is The Rose
6. The Mason's Apron
7. The Stone
8. Theme From 'Tristan And Isolde'/Suisin Ban the Gal
9. Raglan Road
10. Behind Blue Eyes
11. O Murchu's Hornpipe/Sliabh Geal Gcua Na Feile/Wandering Minstrel
12. Damhsa
13. Rachamid A Bhean Bheag
85.0 MB/82.9 MB
THE CHIEFTAINS -- THE CELTIC HARP (1993)
Editorial Review:
Amazon.co.uk Review
In 1792, Edward Bunting invited his fellow Irish harpists to a festival in Belfast to celebrate the then-endangered art form. Bunting transcribed the tunes played at the festival, and his subsequent music books preserved traditional Celtic harp music for modern-day masters like Derek Bell of the Chieftains. The Chieftains and the Belfast Harp Orchestra met in Belfast for the bicentennial of Bunting's festival and recorded four numbers together two weeks later. The sound of fiddles, flute, pipes, bodhran and dozens of lap harps is at once big and yet strangely delicate. It inspired the Chieftains, who had been recording with American and British pop stars, to return to their strength: new instrumental arrangements of 17th and 18th-century Irish folk songs. No one does that better. --Geoffrey Himes
Description
In 1792, Edward Bunting brought together ten of the foremost Irish harpers for a harp festival in Belfast, Ireland. It was during this period that Bunting collected and cataloguedall of the available harp music of the day, which he subsequently published in books until well after 1800.
Two-hundred years after this festival, the Chieftains resurrected much of this beautiful, but largely obscure music, in concert with the Belfast Harp Orchestra. This CD contains both live tracks from the two concerts the Chieftains performed with The Belfast Harp Orchestra, as well as selections recorded later in Dublin and in Los Angeles at Frank Zappa's personal recording studio. Standout tracks include "MacAllistrum's March-Mairseail Alasdroim" and "The Green Fields of America". The former reflects the rich cross-fertilisation between Irish and Scottish harpers and pipers. The latter is a more common tune, and the theme, not surprisingly is centred around Irish emigration to the United States.
1. Mac Allistrum's March
2. Tribute To Bunting
3. The Parting Of Friends/Kerry Fling
4. Planxty Bunting
5. Madame Cole
6. The Blackbird
7. Taimse Im Chhodladh
8. Sonny Brogan's Mazurleas
9. The Wild Geese
10. The Green Fields of America
11. Cavolan's Concerto
12. The Lament for Limarick
66.0 MB/64.2 MB
THE CHIEFTAINS -- TEARS OF STONE (1999)
Editorial Review:
All Music Guide
This album is a follow-up to the 1995 album The Long Black Veil. The idea is the same: the Chieftains play house band for many guest vocalists and musicians. The difference this time around is that all the musicians and vocalists featured are women. Sinéad O'Connor is the one return performance, and she justifies that honor with her sorrowful and beautiful rendition of the traditional song "Factory Girl." The roster of guests is diverse, and it is a credit to the musical ability of the Chieftains to keep a common thread going and blend their arrangements with all the different voices. Bonnie Raitt sounds just as much an Irish folk singer on her track "A Stor Mo Chrio" as Loreena McKennitt does on her version of "Ye Rambling Boys of Pleasure." The trick is that Paddy Maloney's arrangements highlight the unique talents of each guest. Most of the songs are traditional Irish tunes with new arrangements, the exceptions being the haunting "The Magdalene Laundries" written and sung by Joni Mitchell and strange but somehow fitting "Sake in the Jar" written and sung by Akiko Yano. The song features Japanese percussion instruments and should stick out among the distinctly Celtic contributions here, but it blends right in. Paddy Maloney states in the liner notes that the point of the project was to "marry the many-faceted voices of contemporary women artists from around the world with the simple beauty of traditional Irish music." It is a job well done. -- Susan Cruickshank
1. Never Give All The Heart
2. A Stor Mo Chroi
3. The Lowlands Of Holland
4. The Magdalene Laundries
5. Jimmy Mo Mhile Stor
6. I Know My Love
7. Factory Girl
8. Deserted Soldier
9. Ye Rambling Boys Of Pleasure
10. Sake In The Jar
11. Raglan Road
12. Siuil A Run
13. The Fiddling Ladies
14. Danny Boy
85.0 MB/81.0 MB
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