The Essential Chieftains

The Essential Chieftains the first two-disk, 35 track anthology to draw from their output on Columbia in the 1970s, Claddagh in the '80s, and RCA Victor in the '90s and ‘00s, as personally selected by original founding member Paddy Moloney, with over a dozen gust stars ranging from James Galway, the Coors, Carlos Nuñez, Ry Cooder, Emmylou Harris, and Béla Fleck, to Sting, Elvis Costello, Marianne Faithful, Van Morrison, Alison Kraus, Jackson Browne, the McGarrigles, and many others; compiled by Jerry Rappaport and Paddy Moloney.

The enduring lineup of Ireland’s Chieftains, which coalesced for the recording of their fourth album in 1973 (about ten years after their creation) comprised founding member Paddy Moloney on Uilleann pipes, tin whistle and accordion, Sean Potts on the tin whistle, fiddler Martin Fay, Mick Tubridy on flute and concertina, Kevin Conneff on bodhran and occasional vocals, and the beloved Derek Bell on harp, oboe and timpan (who passed away in 2003). The Chieftain’s traditional instrumentation built them a worldwide audience, and then won them Grammy Awards, gold records, and the respect of fellow musicians everywhere from Spain and France, to Nashville and China. This collection reaches back to their debut album of 1965, released in the U.S. for the first time in 1977 on Columbia, the label that ultimately reissued the first nine Chieftains albums over the next three years. They spent virtually the entire ‘80s on Shanachie Records in the U.S., including such landmark international releases asThe Year Of The French, and the live album The Chieftains in China.

They arrived at RCA Victor in the U.S. in 1989; the earliest tracks here to date from 1991’s incredible all-star sessions, The Bells Of Dublin, in which an A-list of artists showed up to share their talents, among them Jackson Browne (“The Rebel Jesus”) and the duo of Kate and Anna McGarrigle (“Il Est Né / Ca Berger”). 1989 also brought another historic collaboration, James Galway & The Chieftains – In Ireland (“The Munster Cloak / Tabhair Dom Do Lamh [Give Me Your Hand]”) Three years later, the Chieftains were joined at the Grand Opera House in Belfast by Nanci Griffith on An Irish Evening (“Red Is The Rose”), a concert that also starred Roger Daltry. That same year, the Chieftains traveled to Nashville for the first time to record American tunes for Another Country with a show-stopping array of friends including Ricky Skaggs (“Cotton-Eyed Joe”). In 1995, came yet another gathering of stars for The Long Black Veil, on which the Chieftains welcomed, among others, Sting (“Mo Ghile Mear – Our Hero”), Marianne Faithful (“Love Is Teasin”), and Sinéad O'Connor (“The Foggy Dew”). A track also featureing guitarist Ry Cooder and BMG’s Galician pipes virtuoso Calos Nunez.

Nunez turned out to be the focal point of 1996’s Santigo, an album that explored the Celtic connection to the Basque provinces of Galicia in northwest Spain. The musical strain spread to the New World as heard on a cameo from Linda Ronstadt and Los Lobos (“Guadalupe”) and another featured Ry Cooder and Cuban bassist Cachaito, son of Cachao (“Santiago De Cuba”). When the producers of 1998’s Long Journey Home, the PBS/Disney documentary of Irish-American life, chose Paddy to produce the soundtrack featuring the Irish Film Orchestra with the Chieftains, Paddy invited an impressive guest list including, among others, Elvis Costello and the Anuna Choir (“Long Journey Home-Anthem”), and Van Morrison (“Shenandoah”).

199’s Tears Of Stone was conceived as a sequel to The Long Black Veil, with an all-star cast boasing the Corrs (“I Know My Love”) and the Rankins (“Jimmy Mo Mhile Stor”). The guests on Water From The Well in 2000 were drawn from the taditional (rather than pop) field, among them the dancer and fiddler Ashley MacIsaac (“An Poc Ar Buile/The Dingle Set”) and the group Altan (“The Donegal Set”). That was the year of the O Brother, Where Art Thou? Phenom, and plans were soon set for the Chieftains to retuen to Nashville for 2002’s Down The Old Plank Road, (a sequel to Another Country). Music City’s greatest names joined them: Buddy & Julie Miller (“Country Blues,” with Bryan Stton), Bela Fleck (“Ladies Pantalettes / Belles Of Blackville/First House Of Connaught,” with Jeff White and Tim O’Brian), the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band (“The Squid Jiggin’ Ground/Larry O’Gaff,” with Béla Fleck, Jerry Douglas and Edgar Meter), Emmylou Harris (“Lambs In The Greenfield”), and Alison Krauss (“Molly Ban,” with Béla Fleck), to name a few, Most recently, the Chieftains and their friends gathered to honor the memory of Derek Bell on Live From Dublin, recorded in 2004 and released Feburary 2005. This collection is their first new album release since then.

Track Listing:

CD 1

1 Lots Of Drops Of Brandy
2 O'Sullivan's March
3 An Poc Ar Buile / Dingle Set, The
4 Carolan's Concerto
5 Wind That Shakes The Barley, The / Reel With The Beryle, The
6 Sea Image
7 Boil The Breakfast Early
8 Women Of Ireland, The / Morning Dew (The Love Theme From Barry Lyndon)
9 Full Of Joy
10 Green Fields Of America, The
11 Santiago De Cuba
12 Donegal Set, The
13 Jabadaw
14 Bells Of Dublin, The / Christmas Eve
15 French March, The
16 Stone, The
17 Munster Cloak, The / Tabhair Dom Do Lamh (Give Me Your Hand)
18 Chasing The Fox (From The Ballad Of An Irish Horse)

CD 2

I Know My Love - (with The Corrs)
2 Shenandoah - (with Van Morrison)
3 Country Blues - (with Buddy & Julie Miller)
4 Ladies Pantalettes / Belles Of Blackville / First House Of Connaught - (with Bela Fleck)
5 Foggy Dew, The - (with Sinead O'Connor)
6 Red Is The Rose - (with Nanci Griffith)
7 Squid Jiggin' Ground, The / Larry O'Gaff - (with Nitty Gritty Dirt Band)
8 Lambs In The Greenfield
9 Guadalupe - (with Linda Ronstadt/Los Lobos)
10 Mo Ghile Mear - (with Sting)
11 Cotton-Eyed Joe - (with Ricky Skaggs)
12 Molly Bán - (with Allison Krauss)
13 Long Journey Home, The - (with Elvis Costello/Anuna)
14 Rocky Road To Dublin, The - (with The Rolling Stones)
15 Love Is Teasin' - (with Marianne Faithfull)
16 Rebel Jesus, The - (with Jackson Browne)
17 Il Est Né / Ca Berger - (with Kate & Anna McGarrigle)
18 Jimmy Mó Mhíle Stór - (with The Rankins)

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