Review by Sean McGuinness
This album, which is the first Clancy effort with Louis Killen, a singer
from the north of England, was recorded in late 1971 after Bobby Clancy
left the group. Louis played concertina on the albums “Home Boys Home”
and “Sing of the Sea.” On the latter, he also receives credit for
assisting in the arrangements for a couple of songs.
This is an uneven album, but it does have its moments. It was produced
by experienced jazz producer Orrin Keepnews and has a less produced
sound than “Welcome to Our House”, though it does add some interesting
instrumentation (piano, organ and electric guitar) that the Clancys had
not used before. The old Clancy sound is clearly not dominant here, but
neither has a new sound come into its own. The album cover seems thrown
together at the last minute (an aran sweater sitting on a table with
three figurines).
The title track, a song from the 1920s, leads off side one. At this
time, the 1920s were experiencing a bit of a renaissance and perhaps
this was an another attempt for a hit single. The song is really not
that remarkable. The next track, however, is “Streets of London” and it
is the best version of that song ever recorded. This alone makes this
album worth having. This is followed by a fun ramshackle version of “The
Moonshiner”, which surprisingly features an electric guitar in the
arrangement. “Fiddlers Green” follows and it is a very impressive
version. Side 1 closes out with “Kevin Barry,” which is a strange track
in that the only instruments are bass, drums and metronome. The Clancys
are singing in an extra-robust voice and the arrangement just doesnt
work. Liams solo rendition from 1967s “The Irish Uprising” is the kind
of treatment that this song needs and deserves.
Side two starts off with “Leavin Belfast Town,” which was a
contemporary song at the time concerning the Troubles. Gene Raskins
“Dandelion Wine” is next (a better version than the Makem & Clancy
version), followed by “I Wish I was Back In Liverpool” sung by Killen,
which sounds thrown together at the last minute. It has the air of
“Louis needs to sing one” to it. The arrangement is not as developed as
other songs on the album.
Next is a great rendition of the slow original “All For Me Grog” by
Paddy. This is also essential stuff and very powerful. “Schooldays
Over”, a Ewan MacColl song, is next and it is very tastefully performed
and arranged with Louis, Liam and Paddy singing vocals. As an aside, one
cant help but notice that Liams vocals dominate the album and that Tom
is hardly heard at all. The album closes with what I think is the only
time the Clancys sang a song the Irish Rovers did first, “Liverpool
Lou.” Its not a great song and the record ends on that note. This LP is
not available on CD, nor any of its individual tracks.
I rate this album a B-
Reviews Copyright © Sean McGuinness, 2001-2007
