Track Listing

Disc 1:

1. Lots Of Drops Of Brandy
2. The Green Fields of America
3. Santiago de Cuba
4. The Donegal Set; Willy's Single\ King of the Pipers\ The Glen Road to Carrick
5. Jabadaw
6. The Bells of Dublin/Christmas Eve
7. The French March
8. The Stone
9. The Munster Cloak/Tabhair Dom Do Lamh (Give Me Your Hand); The Munster Cloak\ Tabhair Dom Do Lamh (Give Me Your Hand)
10. Chasing The Fox

Disc 2:

1. I Know My Love
2. Shenandoah
3. Country Blues
4. Medley; Ladies Pantalettes\ Belles of Blackville\ First House in Connaught (Reels)
5. The Foggy Dew
6. Red is the Rose
7. The Squid Jiggin' Ground / Larry O'Gaff; The Squid Jiggin' Ground\ Larry O'Gaff
8. Lambs in the Greenfields
9. Guadalupe
10. Mo Ghile Mear ("Our Hero")
11. Cotton-Eyed Joe
12. Molly B�n (Bawn)
13. Long Journey Home
14. Love Is Teasin'
15. The Rebel Jesus
16. Il Est N� / Ca Berger; Il Est Ne\ Ca Berger
17. Jimmy M� Mh�le St�r

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #12641 in Music
• Brand: RCA
• Released on: 2006-02-21
• Number of discs: 2
• Format: Original recording remastered
• Dimensions: .26 pounds

Album Description
Import only 37-track collection, part of Sony/BMG's 'Essential' line.

Amazon.com
More than 40 years on, the Chieftains are still the world's nonpareil Irish acoustic instrumental outfit. While celebrated for the international dissemination of their national mother lode they have actually promoted music from all six Celtic Nations; beginning with Ireland (Eire) but also honoring ancient folkways from Scotland (Alba), the Isle of Mann (Ellan Vannin), Brittany (Breizh), Wales (Cymru), and Cornwall (Kernow.) Furthermore, they have sought out musicians from other Celtic enclaves, such as Galicia (Northern Spain,) Cape Breton Island (Nova Scotia -- one of North America's few Gaelic-speaking regions) and the Southern U.S., where haunting modal tunes imported by mountain-dwelling Scots-Irish immigrants provided the essence of old-timey country and bluegrass music. There have also been pop-star collaborations and a myriad of concept, live-in-concert and tribute albums. The set includes excerpts from the thoroughly traditional "numbered" albums that made the group's reputation but also covers their pan-Celtic explorations, duets with stars of other genres, including Bela Fleck, Nanci Griffith, Linda Ronstadt and Los Lobos, plus encounters with notable Irish performers like Sinéad O'Connor, Van Morrison, and The Corrs. It is obviously impossible to encapsulate such a long and varied career, even over the length of two generously-filled disks, but this well-picked program gives an accurate picture of the band's astonishing scope and virtuosity. --Christina Roden

Customer Reviews

Celebrating a remarkable 40-year career
It's probably best to just go out and buy every CD the Chieftains have ever released. Barring that -- or in addition to it -- The Essential Chieftains is a amazing two-disc collection spanning four decades of music.

Produced by Jerry Rappaport and band founder Paddy Moloney, the compilation spans the band's history from roots to branches. The first disc boasts 18 tracks from the Chieftains' extensive solo career, while the second provides 17 tracks from their numerous collaborations. Each track has been newly remastered from the original recordings to provide crystal-clear sound.

The very first track of disc 1, "Lots of Drops of Brandy" from the 2000 release Water from the Well, is the Chieftains at their prime. But as tracks progress, from 1977 to 2006, from 1992 to 1978, it quickly becomes clear that the Chieftains were always at the top of their game. Their musicianship is flawless, their arrangements clever and diverse, their devotion to Ireland's native music never in doubt.

But even in the band's solo albums, the Chieftains continued reaching out to other cultures with their music. "Full of Joy" seamlessly blends Irish sounds with a Chinese ensemble in 1987, while famed Spanish instrumentalist Carlos Nunez adds a Galician sound to the mix on 1996's "Santiago de Cuba." Within Ireland's borders, they joined forces with the excellent players of Altan for "The Donegal Set."

Samples from disc 2 include recordings with the Corrs, Van Morrison, Bela Fleck, Sinead O'Connor, the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, Emmylou Harris, Linda Rondstadt, Los Lobos, Sting, Elvis Costello and the Rankins. The music is diverse, but the quality is uniform. And the Chieftains' ability to find the common ground between various styles and cultural traditions is nothing short of remarkable.

An excellent overview of Ireland's most famous band that isn't U2
If there's a lack of green in your wardrobe, consider loading The Essential Chieftains on your iPod this St. Patrick's Day to celebrate your Irish side ... and avoid any unwanted pinches. This new two-CD, sprawling anthology features the best of Ireland's leading band. For novices unsure where to begin with the band's approximately 40 albums over the past four decades, "The Essential Chieftains" is the place to start. This compilation focuses on their work from the 1960s to 2003, collecting for the first time together their work on several different record labels. The Essential Chieftains is nicely split into two complementary discs: "The Chieftains' Roots," focusing heavily on more traditional instrumentals, jigs and reels, and Disc 2, "The Chieftains and Friends," which includes collaborations over the years with a cast of all-stars including Sting, Elvis Costello, Ricky Skaggs, Alison Krauss, Jackson Browne and many more. If you're wanting that classic pipes-heavy, cheery Irish bounce, Disc 1 offers it in spades. Disc 2 has the sound of a slightly tipsy, mad all-star jam that lasts for hours, and the many voices contributing to the Chieftains sound gives it a nicely diverse feel. Particular highlights include Van Morrison's clarion voice on "Shenandoah," Irishwoman Sinéad O'Connor on the magnificently epic "The Foggy Dew," and Skaggs's countrified turn on "Cotton-Eyed Joe." You'll also find The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, Béla Fleck and Nanci Griffith popping up on Disc 2. The Chieftains long ago reached beyond Ireland's borders for influences - you'll find guest stars like a Chinese ensemble in a track from 1987's The Chieftains in China, or a Spanish flavor to the jaunty "Guadalupe," which features guest spots by Los Lobos and Linda Ronstadt. Chieftains aficionados will appreciate the survey of their career this 35-track set offers, but it's perhaps even better for newcomers - who can get a healthy sampling of one of the leading popularizers of world music.

A good collection--but not entirely my definition of essential
They've got a lot of the country roots in this collection in addition to a lot of their early work, but I'm particularly missing "Morning has Broken" with Art Garfunkel, "Rocky Road to Dublin" and the multinational chart hit, "Sake in the Jar."

Still this is a very worthwhile collection particularly if you don't have some of the Nashville Chieftains CDs.