- The Long Black Veil · 1995
- The Essential Van Morrison · 1988
- The Chieftains 8 · 1978
- Irish Heartbeat · 1988
- Another Country · 1992
- Tears Of Stone · 1999
- The Long Black Veil · 1995
- The Long Black Veil · 1995
- Irish Heartbeat · 1988
- The Chieftains 7 · 1977
- Water From The Well · 2000
- The Essential Chieftains · 1973
- Irish Heartbeat · 1988
Essential Albums
- It may be the Chieftains’s most blatant stab at crossover fame, but there’s nothing about Long Black Veil that feels calculated or crass. These elder statesmen of Irish music have collaborated with other musicians before, but here they go for the big pop-culture guns, bringing in the Rolling Stones, Van Morrison, Sting, and Sinead O’Connor, among others, to guest on tunes both traditional and contemporary, Irish and otherwise, all of them done up in full Celtic dress. Frankly, everyone concerned sounds like they’re having a wonderful time. From Sting’s surprisingly heartfelt turn on “Mo Ghile Mear” (complete with beautifully sung Gaelic) to Sinead O’Connor’s goosebump-inducing version of “Foggy Dew,” there’s not a phoned-in performance in the bunch (though Tom Jones’s “Tennessee Waltz” may be a bit overwrought for some). Marianne Faithfull’s world-weary voice is made for “Love is Teasin’,” and when the Rolling Stones slip a few riffs of “Satisfaction” into “The Rocky Road to Dublin,” it feels as natural as a high-spirited Saturday night at the pub. Best of all, none of these affectionate and respectful performances ever overshadows the band. This sounds like ensemble work, not a bunch of star turns, and when the Chieftains alone let loose on a rollicking “Changing Your Demeanour,” it’s clear whose album this is. Purists may resist these kinds of pop/folk collaborations, but they will find it hard to fault the music that resulted in this case. By turns haunting and joyous, raucous and melancholy, Long Black Veil is a fitting celebration of Irish music and the many forms it can take. Good crac, indeed.
Artist Playlists
- Meet the long-lived ambassadors of Irish folk.
- A new generation of Irish revivalists, punk rockers welcome.
Compilations
About The Chieftains
Over the course of 60-plus years and more than 40 albums, The Chieftains have taken Irish traditional music's lively jigs, reels, and primeval airs from Dublin's smoke-filled folk clubs to the world's most prestigious concert halls. Formed by a trio of amateur enthusiasts in 1962, The Chieftains revolved around frontman Paddy Maloney's enchanted whistles and Uilleann pipes. Director Stanley Kubrick helped launch them internationally in 1975 by choosing "The Women of Ireland" from The Chieftains 4 as the ethereal, Oscar-winning theme music for Barry Lyndon. Blending fiddles, flutes, harp, pipes, whistles, and bodhran, The Chieftains reinvented their local musical tradition as impeccable chamber music. Irish Heartbeat, their 1988 collaboration with Van Morrison, established them as Celtic godfathers to the likes of Clannad and The Pogues. Collaborations with artists as eclectic as Stevie Wonder, Mick Jagger, Bon Iver, Pavarotti, Dolly Parton, The Decemberists, and The Muppets—some of whom appear on their 50th-anniversary, T-Bone Burnett-produced album Voice of Ages—convincingly demonstrate that Irish music has no boundaries. For further proof, consult Chronicles, a satisfying 60th-anniversary celebration that also serves as a eulogy to final founding member Paddy Maloney, who died in 2021.
- FROM
- Dublin, Ireland
- FORMED
- 1962
- GENRE
- Worldwide