Living Tradition, an excellent music magazine which covers folk and traditional music across both Britain and Ireland has a very interesting review of the CD coming out in its February edition (No. 112) and as the reviewer says, Foxrock Folk Club was 'the way good clubs should be!'
VARIOUS ARTISTS
Live At Foxrock
Folk Club: The Parish Hall Tapes 1970-72
Cornelscourt Records CR001
Voices and sounds from almost half a
century ago convey the atmosphere, warmth and spontaneity of their original
live performances in this enjoyable 37 track compilation album. The songs (only
one is instrumental) were recorded in a parish hall outside Dublin by Kevin
McCann using a reel-to-reel tape recorder. Amazingly, the tapes survived to be
converted to CDs! The quality of the recordings is more than satisfactory, with
excellent standards of playing and singing.
Approximately half the tracks are solid
folk, and include such classics as McAlpine’s
Fusiliers, The Unquiet Grave and Blackwaterside. The others are mostly
blues, with some jazz, reflecting the musical melting pot that was the Foxrock
Club. There is a preponderance of single male singers - Andy Irvine, Ronnie
Drew, Luke Kelly and Al O’Donnell feature – partly because the basic recording techniques
did not cope well with bands. Only one woman performs, namely Suzanne Moore, who
contributes Summertime, and beautiful
harmony vocals with the group, We 4. The lady subsequently went to become principal
soprano with the Welsh National Opera! Sally
Brown is the other harmony number.
A booklet with a brief history, and notes
on the artistes, accompanies the package.
The folk purist may baulk at the number of
blues and jazz pieces included in this selection. However the album is almost a
form of social history, and the listening experience is a pleasant one. There
are many fine examples of live folk performance – ideal for aspiring singers,
and the way good clubs should be!
www.foxrockfolkclubproject.blogspot.co.uk
Jim McCourt
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