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Clannad in Concert
Clannad
Shanachie
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Bhean A Ti- Fairies Hornpipe Off To California
- Neansai Mhile Gra
- Mhaire Bruineall
- Planxty Burke
- An Giobog
- Down By The Sally Gardens
- Nil Se'n La
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Wonderful Live Performance of Folk-Era Clannad!
The music featured in this live album by Clannad back before they went contemporary and became internationally famous is mostly Gaelic folk oriented, and is a wonderfully acoustic treat featuring with all the amazing virtuosity this very musically-talented extended family of sisters, brothers and uncles from a small village in rural Ireland is noted for. Although I enjoy their newer work, I am always drawn back to this particular album as well as several other folk albums they produced in the late 1970s. From the opening frets of the traditional ballad "Bhean A Ti" to the stirring instrumental "Fairies Hornpipe Off to California" to the evocative and dramatic "Neansai Mhile Gra" sung with singular emotion by Maire O'Brennehan, this album showcases the group at the apex of their folk powers, and they never make a false step here.
My own personal favorites are "Planxty Burke", a wonderful harp instrumental work written by a legendary Irish harpist named Paulin O'Carolin, and "Down By The Sally Gardens", which is a poem by William Butler Yeats put memorably to melody in this cautionary song sung both in English and Gaelic about the fateful dangers of not living one's life in the present moment. The final song, "Nil Se'n La", is the group's signature song, their first hit, and is a gorgeously improvised Gaelic song with an extended instrumental section. All of the songs included are wonderful, and I was lucky enough to see a well-produced BBC production of the concert including these as well as other songs caught live over the airwaves of BBC-1 when I lived near London for a while in the early 1980s. Whenever I hear the album I remember the gorgeous Celtic countryside and the time I spent in Galway along the Irish coastline. This is authentic Gaelic folk music at its best! Enjoy
Amazingly clear gaelic vocals
I was given a recording of this album years ago and it continues to be one of my all-time favorites. It's simple. It's unpretentious. It dips into jazzy fusion at points, but, being a concert album...and a small venue it must have been....there's little in the way of 'theatrical' tricks with the sound mixing. All we hear is pure, clear music crowned by heavenly female vocals......I recommend all Clannad fans buy this album in order to understand Clannad.
this is the best clannad album!!!!!
I first bought this album in Ireland 20 years ago. It is there best, most lyrical and melodic. You need to own this one, but not so the other albums