It was a strange walk home. Somewhere between my office and my house the
power went out. The descending darkness
made me enjoy the winter wonderland around me (a rare snow day here in
Victoria). This next album was a nice
soundtrack to the experience.
Finding my way around my darkened
home was less fun, but having grown up in a rural community I am used to power
failures in the winter that go on for days.
Not that I’m welcoming a zombie apocalypse, but forty-five minutes without
power is nothing.
Disc 573 is…. The Best of the Chieftains
Artist: The
Chieftains
Year of Release: 1992 but music from
1977 to 1979
What’s up with the Cover? Some very bad fashion and some even worse haircuts, none
worse than the guy seated in the middle.
For these guys, it is music before style. An incredibly long way before style.
How I Came To Know It: My friend Kelly bought me this one year as a
birthday present. I have a lot of music
and I can be tricky to buy for, but Kelly always manages to stretch my
horizons. Not that I didn’t already know
Celtic folk music, but I had somehow missed the Chieftains, and Kelly made up
for that. Thanks!
How It Stacks Up: ‘best of’ albums don’t stack up.
Rating: I don’t rate ‘best of’ albums either. It isn’t fair to the other records, and makes
them feel bad.
When I first got seriously into
folk music in the early nineties I would often wax poetic about how it was the
most life-affirming music I’d ever heard.
The songs are about people celebrating the everyday, or everyday people
rising above tragic personal circumstances.
Folk music was a kind friend to me then, putting a spring in my step
when I most needed one. That joyous
feeling came flooding back into me like an old friend as I listened to this
collection of Chieftains songs.
The first thing that must be noted
is these guys are all masters of their chosen instruments. Each of these songs is a flurry of notes,
each one precise and perfect, and each instrument precise as it plays off its
neighbor. The Chieftains are famous for
their musical prowess, so this will be nothing new to hard-core fans of the
band, but as a casual fan - I only have this one compilation album - it left a
serious impression on me.
In terms of singing voices, I
don’t terribly appreciate their overly rustic approach, but the album is almost
entirely instrumental, so no harm done.
In fact, out of twelve tracks, I think you hear voice only two or three
times, and on each occasion it is only a small part of the song.
Everywhere else you are buoyed
along by the fiddles of Sean Keane and Martin Fay, and the tin whistles of
Paddy Moloney and Mick Tubridy. Moloney
is the band’s leader and does the majority of the writing and arranging. He does a masterful job of both. The notes
all land just where your heart wants them to, at just the right time, which is
exactly what you want from a folk song.
The songs filled me with a
positive energy that carried me not only happily to and from work each day, but
set me in a kind and generous mood throughout the day as well. At first I thought it was because the music
was so perfectly suited to a crisp autumn day, but on the walk home I realized
if it had been a rainy spring day, or a beating hot summer day it would have
felt just as fitting.
The music is lively and the songs
have fun and whimsical titles to match their mood. If you are looking for your folk music to
reference the ordinary lives of people, then you can’t do much better than “Boil the Breakfast Early,” although that
particular song is a grim reminder of the type of cooking you can expect in
Ireland. Other favourite titles
(although not necessarily songs) include “Oh!
The Breeches Full of Stitches” and “The
Dogs Among the Bushes” both of which sound like stories that are hilarious
only if you were there.
Despite no words, the music
conveys every bit of emotion intended. “O’Sullivan’s March,” with its
bodhran-driven beginning makes you feel like you are marching off to battle,
with just the right mix of duty, homesickness, and nervous excitement. “Sea Image” makes you feel like you are
an able seaman working on a ship, braiding rope, swabbing decks and setting
sail. If both sound more than a touch
too romantic for reality, that is their intent.
Although labeled “Best Of” this
record is a fairly tight snapshot of time for the band, with all the songs
coming from three albums that were released from 1977 through 1979. These albums – like most Chieftains albums –
have the less than imaginative titles of “The Chieftains 7,” “The Chieftains
8,” and the positively verbose “The Chieftains 9: Boil the Breakfast Early.”
As a result the music has a nice
cohesive feel to it, and gave me a better appreciation for the band than if
they had covered a wider range of time.
Celtic folk records often end with
a track or two that are medleys of a bunch of different songs, and the
Chieftains do the same on this best of effort.
“Chase the Windmill” is the
first, and it is a bit uneven, but the second medley (and last track) is “The Wind That Shakes the Barley/The Reel
With the Beryle” which delivers an enthusiastic energy to close things out
and leave you wanting more.
In terms of wanting more, I’m not
sure I’m ready to delve into the Chieftains discography any more seriously, but
I really enjoyed this compilation album.
Although I only put it on rarely, I’m never disappointed when I do.
Best tracks: Up Against
the Buachalawns, Friel’s Kitchen, O’Sullivan’s March, Sea Image, The Job of
Journeywork, The Wind that Shakes the Barley/The Reel with the Beryle
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