Sean Tyrrell - Cry Of A Dreamer

Sean Tyrrell’s 1995 album Cry Of A Dreamer has been hailed as a timeless masterpiece. In the long run, however, it may be seen as merely the beginning of an extraordinary musical saga. Right from the opening bars of Johnny Mulhern’s ‘Mattie’, Seán Tyrrell’s Cry Of A Dreamer sounded like one of those handful of discs that can only be described as timeless and transcendent. Never having heard of Seán Tyrrell before, the impact of his first release was all the greater. Undoubtedly a master of his craft.

Indulge me for a moment as an exile with a few lyrics from Dick Farrellys classic Isle Of Inisfree which is covered expertly by Sean Tyrell.....enjoy

"I've met some folk who say that I'm a dreamer

And I've no doubt there's truth in what they say

For sure a body's bound to be a dreamer

When all the the things he loves are far away.

And precious things are dreams unto an exile

They take him through a land across the sea

Especially when it happens he's in exile

From that dear lovely Isle of Inisfree."

1. Mattie

2. Isle Of Inisfree

3. House Of Delight

4. November Rain

5. Blue Green Bangle

6. Trilogy: Message Of Peace

7. Trilogy: Cry Of The Dreamer

8. Trilogy: Only From Day To Day

9. No-Go

10. Connie's Song

11. Fortune For The Finder

12. Coast Of Malabar

13. Demolition Dan

14. The 12th Of July

link to the free album

Sean Tyrrell - Cry Of A Dreamer

Tri Yann - Le Pélégrin

As the best known "Celtic" band in France, Tri Yann [Three Johns] are one of the longest-standing Breton music groups surviving from the folk rock revival of the 1970's. Le Pélégrin released in January 2001 is a trip across Celtic regions, from Scotland to La Compostella. The songs are almost all compositions by the group. For the first time, the group uses a female singer in Bleunwenn (sister of Konan Mevel) who took over while Jean-Paul Corbineau was sick in 2000. The group are also famous for the outlandish costumes worn on stage.

Band
Jean Chocun
Jean-Paul Corbineau
Jean-Louis Jossic
Gérard Goron
Jean-Luc Chevalier
Konan Mevel (bagpipes)
Freddy Bourgeois (keyboards)
Christophe Peloil (violin)

I Rim Bo Ro  

Je m'en vas  

Le Chasseur de temps

Keenan's Pub  

Les Filles d'Irlande  

La Geste de Sarajevo  

Korantenig  

Fransozig  

Maiawela  

Buvons vin de Clisson  

Gwerz Porsal 

L'ULM Merveilleux  

De nivôse en frimaire  

À matine à la télé  

Kas abahr en Okitania  

Dansons la listériole  

L'Arrivée à Compostelle ..

link to the free album
Tri Yann - Le Pélégrin

   

Clannad - Lore

Lore was a 1995 studio album by Irish Traditional group Clannad. It was greeted with great acclaim by music critics worldwide, often stating that this was one of Clannad's greatest recordings. This has the most Gaelic songs of all Clannad albums since 1982, and was nominated for a Grammy Award for Best New Age Album, the band's second nomination, although it lost to The Memory of Trees by Enya (Eithne Ní Bhraonaín), who was once a member of Clannad and is the sister of band members Moya Brennan, Ciarán Brennan and Pól Brennan as well as niece to Noel Ó Dúgáin and Pádraig Ó Dúgáin. This reissued edition contains an additional 6 tracks all of which were high charting singles.

Croí Cróga

Seanchas

A Bridge (That Carries Us Over)

From Your Heart

Alasdair MacColla

Broken Pieces

Tráthnóna Beag Aréir

Trail Of Tears

Dealramh Go Deo

Farewell Love

Fonn Mhárta

Theme From Harry's Game

Robin (The Hooded Man)

In A Lifetime

I Will Find You

Something To Believe In

New Grange

link to the free album

Clannad - Lore

Clancy Brothers & Tommy Makem - Sing Of The Sea

Here is an excellent collection of Sea Shantys by the equally excellent Clancy Brothers & Tommy Makem. Released in 1968 Sing Of The Sea contains songs with Celtic origins plus songs from all over the world, songs of every subject matter under the stars — work — love — loneliness — always the truth about the way they felt — "For love is king to the least of men, though he be but a drunken tar" — or "My dear old mother wrote to me, 'Son, dear son, come home from sea.'". Sing Of The Sea remains one of my favourite Clancy Brothers & Tommy Makem albums....it's a joy to listen to.

Band

Paddy Clancy: Vocals and Harmonica

Tom Clancy: Vocals

Liam Clancy: Vocals and Guitar

Tommy Makem: Vocals, Banjo and Tin Whistle

Louis Killen: Concertina (un-credited)

Congo River

Santy Anno

Farewell to Carlingford

Paddy West

Johnny's Gone to Hilo

The Lowlands Low

The Good Ship Calibar

Love Is Kind

Blood Red Roses

Three score and Ten

Heave Away My Johnny

link to the free album

Clancy Brothers & Tommy Makem - Sing Of The Sea

Silly Wizard - So Many Partings

Silly Wizard played a variety of Scottish folk music, both instrumental and vocal, from fast jigs and reels to slow airs. While the majority of the items they played were traditional songs or tunes, the band did write many compositions of their own. Phil Cunningham generally wrote instrumental music centered on the accordion, and Stewart wrote several songs in a style often distinctly traditional. Once Stewart's singing and the driving, impassioned instrumentals of the Cunningham brothers had established themselves at its centre, the group's overall sound changed little. So Many Partings was the third album by Silly Wizard released in 1979. On this album the songs "The Valley Of Strathmore" and "The Highland Clearances" were written by Andy M. Stewart.

Band
Phil Cunningham: Accordion, tin whistle, Synthesizers, piano, vocals
Johnny Cunningham: Fiddle, vocals
Martin Hadden: Electric bass, harmonium, guitar
Gordon Jones: Guitar, mandola, bodhran
Andy M. Stewart: Lead vocals, tenor banjo

Scarce O'Tatties/Lyndhurst

The Valley Of Strathmore

Bridget O'Malley (Brid Og Ni Mhaille)

A.A. Cameron's Strathspey/Mrs. Martha Knowles/The Pitnacree Ferryman/The New Shillin'

Donald McGillavry/O'Neill's Cavalry March

The Highland Clearances

Miss Catherine Brosnan

Wi' My Dog and Gun

Miss Shepherd/Sweeney's Buttermilk/McGlinchey's Reels

link to the free album

Silly Wizard - So Many Partings

Clancy Brothers & Tommy Makem & Tommy Drennan & The Monarchs - Irish Revolutionary Songs

The first 12 songs on this 1959 compilation are performed by Tommy Drennan & The Monarchs from Limerick, who were one of the biggest showbands of that era. Tommy Drennan along with the likes of Brendan Bowyer and Dickie Rock enjoyed celebrity status in the ballrooms of Ireland and mainland Britain. The rest of this fine collection is performed by the legendary Clancy Brothers & Tommy Makem who need no introduction. It's an expertly performed album and a piece of Irish social history covering mainly the 1798 Rebellion.

Here's a quick extract from Seamus Heaney’s  poem “Requiem for the Croppies” one of my favourites covering the 1798 Irish rebellion..

Until… on Vinegar Hill… the final conclave.

Terraced thousands died, shaking scythes at cannon.

The hillside blushed, soaked in our broken wave.

They buried us without shroud or coffin

And in August… the barley grew up out of our grave.

Seamus Heaney

1. Boulavogue

2. Kevin Barry

3. Holy Ground

4. The Patriot Game

5. A Nation Once Again

6. Soldier's Song

7. Tri-Colored Ribbon

8. Boys from County Cork

9. Roisin Dubh

10. Ireland's 32

11. Irish Soldier Boy

12. Rebels of Our Land

13. O Donnell Aboo

14. The Croppy Boy

15. The Rising of the Moon

16. The Foggy Dew

17. The Minstrel Boy

18. The Wind That Shakes the Barley

19. Tipperary Far Away

20. Kelly the Boy from Killane

21. Kevin Barry

22. Whack Fol the Diddle

23. The Men of the West

24. Eamonn an Chniuic

25. Nell Flaherty's Drake

26. Boulavogue

link to the free album

Clancy Brothers & Tommy Makem & Tommy Drennan & The Monarchs - Irish Revolutionary Songs

Winston Scotty Fitzgerald - A Selection of new Jigs, Reels, Strathspeys, Hornpipes & Waltzes

Winston 'Scotty' Fitzgerald was a renowned Cape Breton fiddler. He was a pioneer in recorded performances of the music, and has heavily influenced the style and repertoire of later generations of players. Both his father and older brother played the violin, and Winston began to take an interest in playing at age eight. His first public performance was at a picnic at age twelve. The Fitzgeralds worked as fishermen in the summer, and in the 1930s Winston also worked at the shipyards in Halifax in the winter. During this time, Winston played radio shows and tours with Hank Snow for about two and a half years. Winston formed a group called the "Radio Entertainers" with Beattie Wallace (piano) and Estwood Davidson (guitar). The group recorded numerous 78s, as well as four LPs. As he became better known, Winston also got exposure playing on the 'Cliff MacKay' and 'Don Messer' shows. Later, he played as part of the Cape Breton Symphony on The John Allan Cameron Show. Never a full-time musician, he worked at a variety of jobs, including cooking, carpentry, and aluminum work.

1-Clan Munro Strathspey

2-Clay Pipe

3-Quay Side

4-Old Southern Waltz

5-The Laird O'Dumblair

6-McNabb's Hornpipe

7-Medley Of Antigonish Polkas

8-Salute To Boston

9-Mrs. MacAulay's

10-Mrs. J. Walker

11-Crossing To Ireland

12-Stirling Militia March

link to the free album

Winston Scotty Fitzgerald - A Selection of new Jigs, Reels, Strathspeys, Hornpipes & Waltzes