Which Chieftains album (and other music)???

picardy third · Post by **picardy third** » Wed Jan 05, 2005 8:47 am

Well,

I've always put off buying Chieftains albums since there are so many and I didn't know where to start. But I've always wanted to collect their stuff. I got a best of a few years ago and love it. Can anyone recommend a couple of their albums to get for now?

I've got $50 at BestBuy which will probably go toward about 4 CDs. If any one has any other recommendations of great whistle music (that may be available at the oh-so commercial BestBuy), I'd love to hear your input. I could tell you what I have already but I'd rather just hear your recommendations. Chances are that I don't have it.

Thanks!

picardy third

Brian Lee · Post by **Brian Lee** » Wed Jan 05, 2005 9:02 am

Water from the Well, Celtic Harp (With the Belfast Harp Orchestra), An Irish Evening, Long Black Veil, Film Cuts, all great stuff. Also, any of their earlier cuts...like 1-8.

Bloomfield · Post by **Bloomfield** » Wed Jan 05, 2005 9:13 am

I would start with 1 - 5 (there is a boxed set out, I think) and would not bother with anything past Chieftains 9.

dubhlinn · Post by **dubhlinn** » Wed Jan 05, 2005 9:15 am

The earlier the Chieftains album the better.
As Brian as suggested 1-8 are all good but the first four albums are superb. They were really into straightforward trad playing in those days but in later years between soundtracks,guest artists and the dreaded "Tone - Poems" they lost the way a wee bit.
If you want to focus on whistle playing then Mary Bergins two solo albums are must haves.
Planxty and the Dubliners both use whistle in very imaginative ways as well and are worth checking out.

The Bothy Band,Altan,Lunasa,Flook and De Dannann are other great bands that should be listened to a lot to develop your sense of rhythm and phrasing.

In the end,it all boils down to practice.

Slan,
D.

Wombat · Post by **Wombat** » Wed Jan 05, 2005 9:44 am

I have the boxed set Bloomfield mentioned—1 to 4 actually. I like it. I also have Boil the Breakfast Early which I hardly ever listen to. I've been told that 5 is good but I've never heard it. I'd definitely go for the early ones first and then creep forward if you are still hungry for more after five or six.

If you are a fan of mixed-genre collaborations between famous 'personalities' who admire eachother, you might find their more recent efforts enjoyable. I'm not, but neither do I begrudge people who've stayed the distance and done as much as they have to bring good traditional music to the broader public a few good paydays and a little broad recognition. I'd prefer it if the broader audience went for pure drop recordings and recordings by innovative bands trying to extend the tradition or at least play creative fusion but that isn't going to happen any time soon.

IDAwHOa · Post by **IDAwHOa** » Wed Jan 05, 2005 10:45 am

I have The Chieftains 4. If you are interested in getting it from me send me a message and make an offer.

Joseph E. Smith · Post by **Joseph E. Smith** » Wed Jan 05, 2005 11:02 am

5 and 7 are my two favorites, and pretty much got me whistling and piping. I am especially fond of #7 for the following tunes: Tarbolton Reel, Lucy Campbell, Jerry Hoolihan's, Cuimhne an phiobaire, Repeal The Union and Bimid Ag Ol.

michael_coleman · Post by **michael_coleman** » Wed Jan 05, 2005 12:55 pm

Ditto on getting the box set of Chieftains 1-4, stay away from them playing with other people, it can be really hit or miss.

Will O'B · Post by **Will O'B** » Wed Jan 05, 2005 1:13 pm

My wife was sent "The Best of the Chieftains" which contains tracks from
7 - 9. I like most of it. Those of you that say 1 - 4 are the best, what
exactly is there about those that make them so much better than the
rest? Also, why do you say that their later work isn't as good? Not
looking for a fight -- just curious is all. I haven't heard many Chieftains'
tunes that I don't care for.

In my college days there was a circle of folks (almost everyone, actually)
who laughed at me for liking Bob Dylan and Neil Young. So I guess that
may explain to some people why my musical tastes are odd.

Will O'Ban

Bloomfield · Post by **Bloomfield** » Wed Jan 05, 2005 1:27 pm

Will O'B wrote:My wife was sent "The Best of the Chieftains" which contains tracks from
7 - 9. I like most of it. Those of you that say 1 - 4 are the best, what
exactly is there about those that make them so much better than the
rest? Also, why do you say that their later work isn't as good? Not
looking for a fight -- just curious is all. I haven't heard many Chieftains'
tunes that I don't care for.

In my college days there was a circle of folks (almost everyone, actually)
who laughed at me for liking Bob Dylan and Neil Young. So I guess that
may explain to some people why my musical tastes are odd.

Will O'Ban

I like the old stuff mostly for the whistle playing of Sean Potts (precious little of it). Also the Claddagh albums (through 8 or 9) read like a session tune list: Having those tunes, Planxty and the Bothies will get you a long way toward a "session repertoire." I am not saying that anyone should try to build a session repertoire, mind you.

During the early records, esp. 1 through 4 you notice that Chieftains are still experimenting with playing Irish traditional music as a band, which is of course not the way it used to be played (or should be played, depending who you talk to). Sean O'Riarda got that going with the proto-Chieftains in the early sixties. The effect is that you get quite a bit of uncluttered tunes in which the instruments take turns rather than play as an ensemble.

The problem with the later stuff is that it becomes heavily arranged, produced, and intruduces other influences and musicians or singers who are great in their own right but not much in terms of ITM. Some would say it becomes commercial, shallow, and unsatisfying. But of course that's also when the Chieftains started selling big time, way beyond your ITM circles. I won't say whether that later Chieftains music is good or bad, everyone can suit themselves on that count. But I will say that it contains much less Irish Traditional Music than the early stuff did.

Cayden · Post by **Cayden** » Wed Jan 05, 2005 1:59 pm

I gave up on the Chieftains pretty much after Bonaparte's Retreat (which is no 6). Personally I'll take Michael Tubridy and Sean Potts over Molloy and Moloney any day, maybe that's what it is, maybe by the time 7 was new I had broadened the horizons. I don't agree completely with Bloomfield over the early experimenting, they pretty much took Sean O Riada's arrangements verbatim into the Chieftains era. It's whatever tickles your fancy really but I haven't felt the urge to listen to them at all over the past 20 years. They are part of the staple diet though and you should at least give them a go and know what they are about.

Bartleby · Post by **Bartleby** » Wed Jan 05, 2005 2:06 pm

IMHO, if the OP's going to buy these CD's with a credit at Best Buy it's going to be unlikely that they stock the older, more obscure Chieftans albums. A CD that they should have and that I would recommend, although I know I'll get flamed for doing so, is the album that first turned me on to Irish music: Van Morrison and The Chieftans; "Irish Heartbeat." Definitely not ITM, but a great album, IMHO.

s1m0n · Post by **s1m0n** » Wed Jan 05, 2005 2:17 pm

# 2 is the best, IMO, but any of the run from 2 to about 10 is tolerable. Quality begins to decline after about #7.

Bloomfield · Post by **Bloomfield** » Wed Jan 05, 2005 2:17 pm

Peter Laban wrote:I gave up on the Chieftains pretty much after Bonaparte's Retreat (which is no 6). Personally I'll take Michael Tubridy and Sean Potts over Molloy and Moloney any day, maybe that's what it is, maybe by the time 7 was new I had broadened the horizons. ...

Ah, yes. There is that lovely bit half-way through track 1 of Chieftains 1 where Trubidy starts Tommin O'Dea (that's how I want to play when I grow up), and then Moloney comes in on the bloody pipes

and you can't hear half of what the flute is doing anymore. And No 6 is a must because of Dolores, of course.

(Speaking of that, I wish I had Turbidy's version of Ships in Full Sail, I don't think that's on any Chieftains album, guess I should dig them up again.)

Cayden · Post by **Cayden** » Wed Jan 05, 2005 2:40 pm

Bloomfield wrote: and then Moloney comes in on the bloody pipes
{...}

(Speaking of that, I wish I had Turbidy's version of Ships in Full Sail, I don't think that's on any Chieftains album, guess I should dig them up again.)

I think Moloney is more the problem , not as much the pipes.

Anyway, Sarah Jane Woods sent me a Tubridy tape some 15 years ago (just he Eagle's whistle lp and some bits and bobs, she was taking lessons off him at the time along with the other young teenagers like Caoimhin) the tune may be on that.