Live on St. Patrick's Day
1973 — Audio Fidelity AFSD-6256 LP
Side One
The Barnyards of Delgaty
Isn't It Grand Boys
Finnegan's Wake
Reilly's Daughter
Will You Go, Lassie
The Patriot Game
The Rising of the Moon
Johnson's Motor Car
Side Two
Brennan on the Moor
Carrickfergus
Nancy Whiskey
Monday Morning
The Wild Colonial Boy
I'll Tell Me Ma When I Go Home
The Wild Rover
A Parting Glass
Credits
Paddy Clancy: Vocals and Harmonica
Tom Clancy: Vocals
Liam Clancy: Vocals and Guitar
Louis Killen: Vocals Concertina, Spoons and Banjo
Bob Cranshaw: Bass
David Jone: Recording Engineer
Elvin Campell: Re-mixing Engineer (Mercury Sound Studios)
Produced by Orrin Keepnews
Recorded at Bushell Memorial Auditorium; Hartford, Conn., March 17, 1972
Alternate cover
Reviews by Sean McGuinness
This LP finds the group in familiar territory. All of the songs, except for Louis a capella song "Monday Morning" (which is great, by the way), were previously recorded and released with Tommy Makem. There is some great in-between song stage banter on this album that really gives the feeling of a concert. Why Columbia never chose to include much of this is beyond me, but that's another subject. This was really recorded on St. Patrick's Day in 1972 in Hartford, CT.
The album itself is kind of strange. First off, the cover picture is backwards. Then, rather than individual tracks, the sixteen songs are grouped into five cuts. The mix is off as well in that Paddy and Louis are dominant, while Liam and Tom sound sort of muffled. Despite all of this, this is quite an enjoyable album — not their best live album, but still enjoyable.
The standout tracks are "Finnegan's Wake", "Will Ye Go Lassie Go" (the best version, very nice and slow with great concertina work by Killen), "The Rising of the Moon", and "Brennan on the Moor". Live versions of "Isn't It Grand Boys" and "Nancy Whiskey" were released for the first time on this album. The only real clunker here is "Reilly's Daughter", which just doesn't work without Tommy Makem on the lead. I really am surprised that this made it on the album. Certainly, there must have been something else sung at the concert that would have been better. This album hasn't been released on CD, nor have any of the individual songs.
I rate this album a B.
Reviews Copyright © Sean McGuinness, 2001-2012