Mon Feb 07, 2005 9:42 pm
The first 3 albums (originally released by Transatlantic) are very good, and have been recently reissued perfectly by Castle/Sanctuary. Each reissue comes in a slipcase and has loads of bonus tracks : EP & singles sides + a handful of unreleased material. It is the real stuff, highly recommanded... My personal favourite is their third, 1966's FINNEGAN WAKES, but THE DUBLINERS with LUKE KELLY (1964) and IN CONCERT (1965) are consistant too -- just a matter of taste, I guess...
The following albums made for EMI label Major Minor are available in a double CD collection, ORIGINAL DUBLINERS (56 tracks that comprised the 4 albums released in 1967-68, minus a few studio sides -- "Dirty Old Town" is among them ! -- that have been replaced by live performances from their 1969's ROYAL ALBERT HALL album). Very enjoyable collection, but if you think that is too much to swallow, EMI got another compilation (simply called THE DUBLINERS, w/ a green cover) that covers that era : 21 tracks that do include "DOT" & a live performance of "The Leaving Of Liverpool".
With these, you'll have the best of what the band put out, and most of the "originals" from which Shane & Co drew inspiration ("Wild Rover", "Rocky Road To Dublin", "Gentleman Soldier", "The Partin' Glass", etc...).