#Planxty #Christy Moore #Andy Irvine #Irish folk #world music #Celtic folk #traditional #1970s
Veritable supergroup of Irish traditionalists that helped spark an Celtic folk renaissance in the 1970s. Along with groups like the Bothy Band, Planxty helped to usher in a new era for modern Celtic music. While their sound remained rooted to traditional music, the band's virtuosic musicianship and high-energy delivery reflected modern influences, while their unique vocal harmonies and instrumental counterpoint were unprecedented in Irish music. The founding members of Planxty - Christy Moore, Donal Lunny, Liam O'Flynn, and Andy Irvine - initially came together to provide instrumental accompaniment for Irish singer/songwriter Christy Moore's 1973 album, Prosperous. The sessions proved so inspiring that the musicians agreed to continue working together. With the release of their debut single, "Cliffs of Dooneen," the new band attracted international attention. An equally memorable, self-titled album, affectionately known as the "Black Album," followed shortly afterwards. Despite its success, Planxty was plagued by a series of personnel changes. Following the release of the band's second album, The Well Below the Valley, Lunny departed for the Bothy Band and was replaced by Johnny Moynihan, who had previously played with Irvine in Sweeney's Men. Moore followed after the release of the band's third album, Cold Blow and the Rainy Night to resume his solo career, and was replaced by singer/songwriter Paul Brady. The loss of Moore and Lunny was devastating and, shortly after releasing their fifth album, The Woman I Loved So Well, Planxty disbanded in 1981. From: https://www.allmusic.com/artist/planxty-mn0000852842/biography
The Rambling Sailor
It was Cecil Sharp's opinion that early broadsides were about a soldier. There is an argument that the original was an Irish, particularly Ulster song, according to Sam Henry, the greatest collector of Ulster folk songs. The Irish song was called The Rambling Suiler (suiler translated as beggarman, which, indeed, still provides a metaphor for movement, fluidity and lack of fixity). Another suggestion is that ‘The Rambling Suiler' refers to the amorous encounters of James V of Scotland, who roamed his kingdom in disguise and may have written the song about himself or had it written about him. Whether of Gaelic origin, and whomsoever the subject, the anglicised versions of this song are many, using different place names. Nevertheless, the key points are well illustrated. Detaching himself from authority and beoming mobile earns the subject his liberty as an English man. As was frequently the case, 'rambling' was a metaphor for sexual liberty or libertinism. The story of the woman who went to sea inverts several aspects of 'The Rambling Sailor'. Instead of being universalised by being given a name which could apply to any English man - a young man, the son of John - the woman is particularised - Rebecca Young of Gravesend. She is loyal to the memory of her 'true love', a pressed seaman who had drowned, and it was to honour him that she went to sea. She too, drowned, but was undaunted, and in death 'anchored', rather than mobile. From: https://www.lancaster.ac.uk/fass/projects/english_folk/EFS/Ramblingsailor.html
