This Review Along With 300+ Others Is Available In My
SOUNDS GOOD E-Book on all Amazon sites
1960s and 1970s MUSIC ON CD - Volume 2 of 3 - Exceptional CD Remasters
As well as 1960s and 1970s Rock and Pop - It Also Focuses On
Folk, Folk Rock, Country Rock, Reggae, Punk and New Wave
As well as 1960s and 1970s Rock and Pop - It Also Focuses On
Folk, Folk Rock, Country Rock, Reggae, Punk and New Wave
Just Click Below To Purchase for £3.95
Thousands of E-Pages - All Details and In-Depth Reviews From Discs
(No Cut and Paste Crap)
"...Good Tidings..."
In the hot and sweaty summer
of 1979 – I was a young Dubliner living in the Fair Strumpet City and it was
near impossible to escape how huge the traditional air "The Green Fields
Of France" was by The Fureys - a Number in Ireland for an astonishing 28
weeks.
Prior to that - the two
brothers of four from the dog-rough Ballyfermot area of Dublin couldn't get
musically arrested any where else for decades (no pun intended) despite having
played their beloved Traditional Irish Music since they were lads of 14 (Finbar
had won 23 All-Ireland Pipe Playing championships by 1966). To put this into a
real world context - I ran the Rarities Dept. in Reckless Records in Berwick
Street for the guts of 20 years (one of the great used record shops in the
capitol) and I can count on one finger the number of times I saw actual vinyl
copies of 'any' of these four UK-issued LPs. Released between 1968 and 1972 on
Transatlantic and Dawn Records - they fell into that nether-world category of
being physically rare three/four decades later - but not necessarily valuable.
They're forgotten almost completely now of course – seriously receded back into
the hairless hairlines of old fogeys like me.
Which brings us hopping
gaily and bleary-eyed to this quite brilliantly put together 2CD set from
England's 'Beat Goes On'. It finally brings together four of those rarities
(three by the Duo and one Solo for Finbar) and all of it in quality
presentation and properly gorgeous Audio too. Let's get to the Rakish Paddies
and Sally who sits weeping...
UK released Friday, 30 June
2017 - "Finbar and Eddie Furey/Traditional Irish Pipe Music/The Lonesome
Boatman/The Dawning of The Day" by FINBAR and EDDIE FUREY on Beat Goes On
BGOCD 1299 (Barcode 5017261212993) offers 4LPs Remastered onto 2CDs and plays
out as follows:
Disc 1 (66:35 minutes)
1. The Spanish Cloak [Side
1]
2. Come By The Hills
3. Sliabh Na Mban (The
Mountain Of The Women)
4. Dainty Davy
5. Jig: Tattered Jack Welch
6. The Flowers In The Valley
7. Reel: Pigeon On The Gate
8. Jig: Graham's Flat [Side
2]
9. Leezie Lindsay
10. Set Dance: Piper In The
Meadow Straying
11. The Curragh Of Kildare
12. Eamonn An Chnuic (Ned Of
The Hills)
13. This Town Is Not Your
Own
14. Jig: Rocking The Baby
Tracks 1 to 14 are their
debut LP "Finbar and Eddie Furey" - released 1968 in the UK on
Transatlantic Records TRA 168. Produced by BILL LEADER - FINBAR FUREY plays the
Irish Uilleann Pipes and Penny Whistle - EDDIE FUREY sings Lead Vocals, plays
Guitar and Bodhran
15. Rakish Paddy [Side 1]
16. The Hag With The Money
17. Castle Terrace
18. Madam Bonaparte
19. The Young Girl Milking
The Cow
20. Fin's Favourite
21. Peter Byrne's Fancy
[Side 2]
22. O'Rourke's Reel
23. Roy's Hands
24. Planxty Davy
25. The Bonny Bunch Of Roses
26. Eddie's Fancy
27. The Silver Spear
Tracks 15 to 27 are Finbar
Furey's first solo album "Traditional Irish Pipe Music" - released
1969 in the UK on XTRA Records XTRA 1077. Produced by BILL LEADER - FINBAR
FUREY plays the Irish Uilleann Pipes, Acoustic Guitar and a Variety of Whistles
Disc 2 (79:55 minutes):
1. Bill Hart's Favourite
[Side 1]
2. Dance Around The Spinning
Wheel
3. Let Me Go To The
Mountains
4. McShane
5. Colonel Fraser
6. The Lonesome Boatman
[Side 2]
7. Carron Lough Bay
8. The Prickly Bush
9. Bogy's Bonny Belle
10. The Fox Chase
Tracks 1 to 10 are their
second duo album "The Lonesome Boatman" - released 1969 in the UK on
Transatlantic Records TRA 191. Produced by BILL LEADER - FINBAR FUREY plays
Irish Uilleann Pipes and Penny/Indian Whistles - EDDIE FUREY sings Lead Vocals,
plays Guitar, Mandolin and Bodhran
11. Drops Of Brandy [Side 1]
12. My Lagan Love
13. Farewell To Tarwathy
14. Locks And Bolts
15. William Hollander
16. Crowley's reel
17. Jennifer Gentle
18. Barney Hare
19. Her Father Didn't Like
Me Anyway [Side 2]
20. Reynardine
21. The French Drink Wine
22. Blackbird
23. The Dawning Of The Day
24. Coppers And Brass
25. Tie The Bonnet
26. Sally Sits Weeping
Tracks 11 to 26 are their
third duo album "The Dawning Of The Day" - released May 1972 in the
UK on Dawn Records DNLS 3037. Produced by BARRY MURRAY - FINBAR FUREY plays the
Irish Uilleann Pipes and Whistles - BRIAN BROCKLEHURST plays Bass and EDDIE
FUREY sings Lead Vocals, plays Guitar and Bodhran. All songs are Traditionals
except "Her Father Didn't Like Me Anyway" by Gerry Rafferty and
"The French Drink Wine" by Seamus McGrath.
The substantial 28-page
booklet reproduces the original album liner notes, musician credits and other
production details (lyrics that came with the Dawn Records LP "The Dawning
Of The Day" in 1972) and features superlative new liner notes from JOHN O’REGAN
– a long-time associate with BGO and a good egg at this CD reissue malarkey
(his notes cover their entire career and not just the four albums involved –
internet references and sources name). Good as they are (and the card slipcase
makes all these BGO reissues look classy too) – ultimately it’s the new ANDREW
THOMPSON Remasters from original tapes that makes this 2-Disc sucker sing. The
sound on all four records is superb – even the bare bones of "Traditional
Irish Pipe Music" where a lot of the time its simply Finbar on the
Uilleann Pipes – is lovely and warm. Tracks like "Roy’s Hands" which
combines Acoustic Guitar with the wailing elbow-pipes or the truly lovely
"My Lagan Love" have a sweetness that is enhanced by the glorious
Audio. To the material...
The Fureys Folk is
thankfully free of political posturing and full of genuine tunes, slow airs,
jigs and reels. In fact when you hear Contemporary Folk singers like Judy
Collins, Eddi Reader and Sinead O’Connor – you can so hear why they would be
drawn emotionally and spiritually to melodies like "Farewell To
Tarwathy", "Lezzie Lindsay" and "My Lagan Love" (in
that order) – while master Irish piper Liam O ’Flynn from Planxty and The
Chieftains did the gorgeous air of "Sliabh na mBan (The Mountain Of The
Women)" on his 1998 CD album "The Piper’s Call".
The lone solo outing here by
piper Finbar "Traditional Irish Pipe Music" not surprisingly has some
of the most haunting and authentic-sounding melodies. Eddie (God Bless Him) hasn’t got the greatest
nor most expressive voice in the known Universe but he still gets to shine on
"The Lonesome Boatman" and a rare moment of immigrant bitterness -
"This Town Is Not Your Own". And by the time they’re contract was up
with Transatlantic Records in the early Seventies – signing to Dawn Records was
a smart move. Although Dawn had Prog Rock/Hard Rock leanings with the likes of
Comus, Atomic Rooster and Fruupp – they’d also debuted Folk and Folk-Rock acts
like Trader Horne, Prelude, Donovan and Heron (Mike Heron of The Incredible
String Band) not to mention the Jug Band swing of Mungo Jerry. By the time we
reach 1972 and "The Dawning Of The Day" LP with its elaborate
gatefold sleeve and lyric insert (a luxury release in those days) – they were
even getting songs gifted to them by future songwriter luminaries. The Fureys
were pals with Folk/Comedy duo The Humblebums (Gerry Rafferty and Billy
Connolly) and before Rafferty debuted his own version of the witty and Folky
"Her Father Didn't Like Me Anyway" – Gerry gave the boys the tune.
Dawn clearly thought it was goer and issued the song as the album's lone 45 in
the UK on Dawn DNS 1025 (May 1972) with the Traditional "Reynardine"
on the B-side (another album cut). But despite John Peel declaring "Her
Father..." as his 7" single of 1972 – the public ignored it - the LP
too.
Perhaps they’ll give it
another go round on this timely and sweetly flowing 2CD reminder.
Recommended...
