Upon the breakup of the Irish folk act Planxty in 1976, multi-instrumentalists Andy Irvine and Paul Brady cut an eponymous album of traditional Irish tunes that has endured as one of the genre’s recorded pinnacles. Compass Records Group has just done the music buying public a considerable service by reissuing the freshly remastered set on 180 gram purple vinyl in a gatefold sleeve and on CD in a trifold wallet, both available now. Even if you expectations are high, this album will very likely exceed them.
Although Paul Brady joined Planxty in 1975, it doesn’t appear he ever recorded with the band, as they broke up, albeit temporarily, shortly after, with this work stoppage leading directly to the team-up with Andy Irvine. Prior, Brady was a longstanding member of The Johnstons, a close-harmony quartet with guitar accompaniment who cut a few albums and gathered a substantial following in the late ’60s-early ’70s, alternating between trad Irish material and contemporary folk (notably, a cover of Joni’s “Both Sides Now”).
Around the time that Brady joined the Johnstons, Irvine was transitioning from acting into music as part of Sweeney’s Men, who cut a trio of albums in a relatively short span. After the dissolution of that group, Irvine accompanied Christy Moore on his 1972 album Prosperous, alongside Dónal Lunny and Liam O’Flynn, with that album’s lineup morphing in Planxty, whose eponymous debut emerged the following year.
For this album, Irvine plays bouzouki, mandolin, mandola, hurdy-gurdy, and harmonica, while Brady plays guitar, mandolin, bouzouki, tin whistle, cittern, and harmonium. Both sing. Dónal Lunny joins on guitar, bouzouki, bodhrán, and backing vocals. Five of the album’s ten tracks feature master fiddler Kevin Burke.
Anybody who’s tuned into The Thistle & Shamrock will be familiar with the contents of Andy Irvine / Paul Brady. Originality and broken ground aren’t what makes this record a masterpiece. Instead, it’s the unerring sharpness of the playing combined with the richness of the material, as all but one selection is of traditional origin.
The consistent intensity and the edge of execution is crucial, as Irish music, in a manner similar to other trad folk forms, has a tendency to be a little too polite. The breadth of instrumentation is also a big plus, especially the hurdy-gurdy in “Lough Erne Shore,” as is Irvine’s and Brady’s levels of comfort throughout, the pair adapting the sources rather than merely repeating previously established versions of the songs.
In two cases, opener “Plains of Kildare” and “Bonny Woodhall,” Irvine combines trad lyrics with music of his own writing, entries that underscore how Irvine extends Irish folk’s possibilities with aspects of then-nascent singer-songwriter-ism, though it’s also doubtful that anyone other than a total expert in Irish folksong would be able to pick out the album’s wholly original composition.
Brady adds some words of his own to “Mary and the Soldier,” and is credited with six arrangements on the record, plus an adaptation of “Arthur McBride” with new lyrics that is effectively the album’s centerpiece. It made a solo record all but inevitable. In 1978 he cut “Welcome Here Kind Stranger,” though it was to be his last folk album before redirecting into an extensive rock career.
It’s tempting to get a little bummed out over Brady’s choice, as there is no shortage of rock artists and Irish folk records have never been better then Andy Irvine / Paul Brady. But on that note, it’s clear the LP is sheer lightning in a bottle, its brilliance the perfect combo of low pressure and high ambition. In short, it’s an absolute must for any folk collection.
GRADED ON A CURVE:
A+
