Boys of the Lough

Retro: Farewell and Remember Me by Boys of the Lough

/ mrbaxteria2008 / 4 Comments

Track listing:

  1. “Sean But/ Tommy People’s/ The Lark in the Morning” (jigs) (All traditional)
  2. “The Leitrim Queen” (song) (Ian Burns)
  3. “Lucky Can Du Link Ony/ Pottinger’s/ Billy Nicholson” (reels) (Trad/ Tom Anderson/ Trad)
  4. “Farewell and Remember Me” (song) (J Chalmers)
  5. “Angus Polka no 1/ Angus Polka No 2/ Donegal Barn Dance” (All trad)
  6. “An Spailpin Fanach (sung in Gaelic)/ The One-Horned Buck” (reel) (Trad/ Trad)
  7. “Valentia Harbour (air)/ The Jug of Punch (reel)/ MacArthur Road” (reel) (All trad)
  8. “Lovely Ann” (unaccompanied song) (Trad)
  9. “The Holly Bush/ The New Ships Are Sailing” (reels) (All trad)
  10. “The Waterford Waltz/ The Stronsay Waltz” (Trad/ Trad)

Boys of the Lough is one of those traditional Scots/Irish bands that really stick with you long after the music has been played . It makes you want to listen some more and hopefully capture incidents in nuances. The vocals are not really stylized to give out that authentic folk feel. After all folk music is the music of the people. It is the home to simplicity and honesty. These sentiments are expressed in Farewell and Remember Me. An album that has been released in 1987 but still sounds like it’s only been made yesterday. That is the beauty of recordings like this one. The traditional pieces are reinterpreted in a distinctive style but the production technique is the same. The performers don’t need to. The clarity of acoustic guitars and beautiful vocals are showcased in The Leitrim Queen. This is also a song about loss which only the Irish knows best to sing. The title track is another masterpiece accompanied in piano and cello. The sixth track An Spailpin Fanach is a song I heard performed by Connie Dover but this male vocals proved to be exquisite too. All in the all the entre album is a balance between lively and sad tunes. It has all the stuff for everyone.

Members:

  • Aly Bain (fiddle)
  • Cathal McConnell (flute, whistle, vocals)
  • Dave Richardson (concertina, mandolin, cittern)
  • Christy O’Leary (uilleann pipes, whistle, vocals)
  • John Coakley (guitar, piano, bodhran, mandoline, fiddle)
  • Guest: Ron Shaw (cello) on “Farewell and Remember Me”
  • Engineered by Alistair George