''Recorded Live in Ireland'' is a 1965 album of Irish

folk song Folk music is a music genre that includes #Traditional folk music, traditional folk music and the Contemporary folk music, contemporary genre that evolved from the former during the 20th-century folk revival. Some types of folk music may be ca ...

s performed by The Clancy Brothers and Tommy Makem. It was the first live album to be recorded in

stereo Stereophonic sound, commonly shortened to stereo, is a method of sound reproduction that recreates a multi-directional, 3-dimensional audible perspective. This is usually achieved by using two independent audio channels through a configurat ...

Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...

. It was their sixth LP for

Columbia Records Columbia Records is an American reco ...

and, unusually for the group, included two newly composed songs in the folk style. Music critic Joe Goldberg wrote the liner notes.

Music on the album

The album contained the first recording of "Lament for Brendan Behan," a recently composed tribute to the late Irish author,

Brendan Behan Brendan Francis Aidan Behan (christened Francis Behan) ( ; ; 9 February 1923 – 20 March 1964) was an Irish poet, short story writer, novelist, playwright, and Irish Republican, an activist who wrote in both English and Irish. His widely ackno ...

, whom the Clancys had personally known.

Tommy Makem Thomas Makem (4 November 1932 – 1 August 2007) was an Irish folk music, folk musician, artist, poet and storyteller. He was best known as a member of the Clancy Brothers and Tommy Makem. He played the long-necked 5-string banjo, tin whistle, l ...

wrote "The Curlew's Song" for the album. Two more songs, " Butcher Boy" and "Beggar Man" (a.k.a. "The Little Beggarman"), Makem learned from his mother,

Sarah Sarah (born Sarai) is a biblical matriarch, prophet, and major figure in Abrahamic religions. While different Abrahamic faiths portray her differently, Judaism, Christianity, and Islam all depict her character similarly, as that of a pious woma ...

, a source singer for folk song collectors. The sound fades briefly at the end of "Beggar Man" when Makem danced a

jig The jig (, ) is a form of lively folk dance in compound metre, as well as the accompanying dance tune. It first gained popularity in 16th-century England, Ireland, Scotland, and other parts of the British Isles, and was adopted on mainland Eu ...

onstage as the audience cheered. The group learned " Wild Rover" from

Luke Kelly Luke Kelly (17 November 1940 – 30 January 1984) was an Irish singer, folk musician and actor from Dublin, Ireland. Born into a working-class household in Dublin city, Kelly moved to England in his late teens and by his early 20s had become ...

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 pers ...

, with whom they were friends. They sang the number " Wella Wallia" (a.k.a. "Weile Waile" and "The River Saile") for laughs, using fake Dublin accents to the delight of the audience. As was standard in their concerts,

Tom Clancy Thomas Leo Clancy Jr. (April 12, 1947 – October 1, 2013) was an American novelist. He is best known for his technically detailed espionage and military science, military-science storylines set during and after the Cold War. Seventeen of ...

recited the opening lines of

James Joyce James Augustine Aloysius Joyce (born James Augusta Joyce; 2 February 1882 – 13 January 1941) was an Irish novelist, poet, and literary critic. He contributed to the modernist avant-garde movement and is regarded as one of the most influentia ...

's novel,

Finnegans Wake ''Finnegans Wake'' is a novel by Irish literature, Irish writer James Joyce. It was published in instalments starting in 1924, under the title "fragments from ''Work in Progress''". The final title was only revealed when the book was publishe ...

before the group sang " New Finnegan's Wake."

Reception

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertis ...

'' chose the album as a "Special Merit Pick." The magazine's reviewer called the album "a happy package, packed with lots of folk zing." The reviewer also noted how the group had "an exuberant audience for their exuberant style" during the live concert.

Other versions

A special mono version (XLP-78272-1A/XLP-78273-1A) of the album released only in Canada in 1965 contains some spoken material that is not included on the U.S. and British releases. On this mono LP,

Paddy Clancy Patrick Michael Clancy (7 March 1922 – 11 November 1998), usually called Paddy Clancy or Pat Clancy, was an Irish folk singer best known as a member of the Clancy Brothers and Tommy Makem. In addition to singing and storytelling, Clancy play ...

introduces the song, " The Rocks of Bawn"; on the standard version, there is no spoken introduction before the number. The dialogue before " Maid of Fife" is also longer, and Tom Clancy makes a comment after "New Finnegan's Wake" before the concert's intermission. This version also switches the order of the songs, "Wild Rover" and "Nightingale." The American version of the LP was released in the United Kingdom by CBS Records in both stereo and mono versions. It was also released in Australia in EP format.

Track listing

All songs are Traditional, except where noted.

Personnel

- vocals, harmonica *

- vocals *

Liam Clancy Liam Clancy (; 2 September 1935 – 4 December 2009) was an Irish folk singer from Carrick-on-Suir, County Tipperary. He was the youngest member of the influential folk group the Clancy Brothers, regarded as Ireland's first pop stars. They achi ...

- vocals, guitar *

- vocals, banjo, tin whistle

References

{{Authority control The Clancy Brothers albums 1965 albums Columbia Records albums Albums produced by Tom Wilson (record producer) 1960s in Irish music