Planxty - Planxty (CD / Vinyl)

The Black Album. The 1973 debut that changed what Irish traditional music could be. Christy Moore, Andy Irvine, Dónal Lunny and Liam O'Flynn walked into a London studio in autumn 1972 and came out with the record every trad group since has had to reckon with. Bouzouki and mandolin locked around O'Flynn's pipes, songs learned from travellers and Clare fiddle players sitting beside Carolan tunes and a Ewan MacColl number, and the whole thing carrying itself with the swagger of a rock band. Raggle Taggle Gypsy into Tabhair Dom Do Lámh remains one of the great opening statements in Irish music, and Irvine's Balkan-tinged coda on The Blacksmith points to everywhere the tradition would travel next. Essential is an overused word. Not here.

Tracklist:

1. Raggle Taggle Gypsy / Tabhair Dom Do Lámh
2. Arthur McBride
3. Planxty Irwin
4. Sweet Thames Flow Softly
5. Junior Crehan's Favourite / Corney Is Coming
6. The West Coast of Clare
7. The Jolly Beggar / The Wise Maid
8. Only Our Rivers
9. Sí Bheag, Sí Mhór
10. Follow Me Up to Carlow
11. Merrily Kissed the Quaker
12. The Blacksmith