Irish Music Magazine review:
LIAM CLANCY - The Wheels of Life(With Mary Black, Donovan, Gemma Hayes & Tom Paxton)Dolphin Records, DOLTVCD 115
http://www.liamclancy.comTom Clancy
Irish Music
March 2009Liam Clancy is one of Ireland’s great treasures and perhaps our most artful entertainer. At 73, he could be coasting on his considerable back catalogue but instead, he’s been in the studio making a new album. He has an unerring ear for fine songs and his voice brings spirit and grace to whatever he chooses to sing. You know you’re in good hands right from the opening track; a glorious version of Paul Brady’s anthem, Follow On. Brady’s songs are so utterly his own that they are difficult to cover successfully. Clancy’s version opens with the chorus - a good entry point to a tricky song - and goes on to reveal its heart and soul.
If I had to pick just one, standout track, it would be The Broad Majestic Shannon, a Shane McGowan song reminiscing about a Tipperary childhood. Clancy cajoles every last ounce of emotion from the lyrics. And then he segues deftly from the Shannon to the wide Missouri on the classic song of the American Civil War, Shenandoah.
The album includes songs by Kate McGarrigle, Tom Rowe, Bill Staines, and two by the Maine man, poet & singer David Mallett. One of his songs, Phil Brown - The Painter, is done as a recitation, reminding us that Clancy’s unforgettable voice is still in great shape. The other, I know this Place, is a sweet compilation of memories forged into a musical tone poem. The Bill Staines song, Roseville Fair, is a delicate and delicious duet with Gemma Hayes. The other duet is with Mary Black on the McGarrigle song, Talk to me of Mendocino.
It wouldn’t be a real Liam Clancy album without a few shanties and there are a couple of sea-worthy ones in this collection. John Cook is based on a true story about a whaling captain whose greed causes him to lose everything - a song for our times. Ambletown is a sweeter shanty and it may be the original version of Home Boys Home.
The album features Clancy’s regular backing musicians, Kevin Evans and Paul Grant and his own immensely talented son, Donal. Various members of Danú constitute a high-powered house band at Clancy’s own studio in Ring, Co Waterford including singer, Muireann NicAmhlaoibh, Bennie McCarthy on accordion, and bodhrán-player, Donnchadh Gough. Other guests are Geraldine Dunne on cello, slide fiddler, Daire Bracken, and the other Danú member, Tom Doorley, on flute.
Three bonus tracks are all from a live performance, still the best way to experience Liam Clancy. He sings solo on Donal Óg, Tom Paxton joins him for The Last Thing On My Mind, that memorably melodic break-up song, and finally, Donovan shows up to reprise Catch the Wind. Like Clancy, he’s in fine voice, going strong and surely on his second or third wind.
