''Alive Alive-O'' is a double

album An album is a collection of audio recordings issued on compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl, audio tape, or another medium such as Digital distribution#Music, digital distribution. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early ...

by the Irish Folk Group

The Dubliners The Dubliners were an Folk music of Ireland, Irish folk band founded in Dublin in 1962 as The Ronnie Drew Ballad Group, named after its founding member; they subsequently renamed themselves The Dubliners. The line-up saw many changes in personn ...

which was recorded live throughout several Evenings in December 1996 in

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG),, is a country in Central Europe. It is the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany lies between the Baltic and North Sea to the north and the Alps to the sou ...

at the end of their

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a subcontinent of Eurasia and it is located enti ...

an tour. After the departure of

Ronnie Drew Joseph Ronald Drew (16 September 1934 – 16 August 2008) was an Irish singer, folk musician and actor who achieved international fame during a fifty-year career recording with The Dubliners. He is most recognised for his lead vocals on the sin ...

, The Dubliners were joined by the famous Irish singer

Paddy Reilly Patrick "Paddy" Reilly (born 18 October 1939) is an Irish folk singer and guitarist. Born in Rathcoole, County Dublin, he is one of Ireland's most famous balladeers and is best known for his renditions of "The Fields of Athenry", "Rose of Allen ...

who lends his voice to several ballads on the album.

John Sheahan John Sheahan (born 19 May 1939) is an Irish musician and composer. He joined The Dubliners in 1964 and played with them until 2012 when The Dubliners' name was retired following the death of founding member Barney McKenna. Early years and m ...

's daughter Ceoladh guests with her father, duetting on fiddle with him on his

composition Composition or Compositions may refer to: Arts and literature * Composition (dance), practice and teaching of choreography *Composition (language), in literature and rhetoric, producing a work in spoken tradition and written discourse, to include ...

, "Among Friends". The album is notable for some mixed German-English song introductions by

Sean Cannon Sean, also spelled Seán or Séan in Irish English, is a male given name of Irish origin. It comes from the Irish versions of the Biblical Hebrew name ''Yohanan'' (), Seán (anglicized as ''Shaun/ Shawn/ Shon'') and Séan (Ulster variant; ang ...

, causing widespread laughter among the audience.

Track listing

Disc One

# "Fairmoye Lassies and Sporting Paddy" # "The Banks of the Roses" # " The Black Velvet Band" # " The Foggy Dew" # " The Town I Loved So Well" # "The Showman's Fancy/The Wonder Hornpipe/The Swallow's Tail" # "The Sick Note" # " The Manchester Rambler" # "Job of Journeywork/The Cork Hornpipe" # "The Maid Behind the Bar/The Boyne Hunt/The Shaskeen Reel/The Mason's Apron"

Disc Two

# "Kelly the Boy from Killane" # "

The Fields of Athenry "The Fields of Athenry" is a song written in 1979 by Pete St. John in the style of an Irish folk ballad. Set during the Great Famine of the 1840s, the lyrics feature a fictional man from near Athenry in County Galway, who stole food for his ...

" # "Step It Out Mary" # "Chief O'Neill's Hornpipe/Ryan's Hornpipe/The Mullingar Races" # "

South Australia South Australia (commonly abbreviated as SA) is a state in the southern central part of Australia. It covers some of the most arid parts of the country. With a total land area of , it is the fourth-largest of Australia's states and territories ...

" # "

Dirty Old Town "Dirty Old Town" is a song written by Ewan MacColl James Henry Miller (25 January 1915 – 22 October 1989), better known by his stage name Ewan MacColl, was a folk singer-songwriter, folk song collector, labour activist and actor. Born in ...

" # "Among Friends" # "Drag That Fiddle" # "

Whiskey in the Jar "Whiskey in the Jar" ( Roud 533) is an Irish traditional song set in the southern mountains of Ireland, often with specific mention of counties Cork and Kerry. The song, about a rapparee ( highwayman) who is betrayed by his wife or lover, ...

" # "

The Wild Rover "The Wild Rover" ( Roud 1173) is a very popular and well-travelled folk song. Many territories have laid claim to have the original version. History In 2015 the English Folk Song and Dance periodical "Folk Music Journal" vol 10 No 5 had an artic ...

" # " Molly Malone"

Mislabelled Instrumental Tracks

The tune labelled "Fairmoye Lassies" is (unsurprisingly) actually "Fermoy Lasses" (O'Neill 573). "Chief O'Neill's Hornpipe" is more commonly known as "Chief O'Neill's Favourite (O'Neill 806), from O'Neill's Dance Music of Ireland.

Personnel

Eamonn Campbell Eamonn Campbell (29 November 1946 – 18 October 2017) was an Irish musician who was a member of The Dubliners from 1987 until his death. He was also in the Dubliners when they recorded their 25th anniversary show on ''The Late Late Show'' host ...

– acoustic guitar, mandolin, vocals * Seán Cannon – vocals, acoustic guitar *

Barney McKenna Bernard Noël "Banjo Barney" McKenna (16 December 1939 – 5 April 2012) was an Irish musician and a founding member of The Dubliners. He played the tenor banjo, violin, mandolin, and melodeon. He was most renowned as a banjo player. Biograph ...

– Tenor banjo, vocals *

– vocals, acoustic guitar *

– fiddle, tin whistle

References

{{Authority control 1997 live albums The Dubliners live albums