Planxty – The Planxty Collection (CD)

Compiled in 1976 after the band's first split, this pulls the best of the original run into one place. Fourteen tracks drawn from the three Polydor albums, taking in the Jolly Beggar with its runaway reel, The Lakes of Pontchartrain before Paul Brady made it his own, Andy Irvine's Balkan flourish on The Blacksmith, and the Raggle Taggle Gypsy pairing that opened it all. Christy Moore, Dónal Lunny, Andy Irvine and Liam O'Flynn, with Johnny Moynihan on the later material. If you're starting a Planxty shelf, the studio albums are where the full story lives, but as a single-disc case for why this band mattered, it's hard to argue with.

Tracklist:

1. The Jolly Beggar / Reel
2. Merrily Kissed the Quaker
3. The Lakes of Pontchartrain
4. The Blacksmith
5. Jigs: The Hare in the Corn / The Frost Is All Over / The Gander in the Pratie Hole
6. Cliffs of Dooneen
7. Cúnla
8. Pat Reilly
9. Bean Pháidín
10. Raggle Taggle Gypsy / Tabhair Dom Do Lámh
11. Polkas: Dennis Murphy's / The £42 Cheque / John Ryan's
12. As I Roved Out