Best of the Vanguard Years

ARTISTS: Liam, Paddy, & Tom Clancy, Louis Killen, Bobby Clancy*, & Robbie O'Connell*

Includes previously unreleased tracks from the recording Clancy Brothers Live! With Robbie O'Connell .

Liam Clancy - Vocals, Guitar
Paddy Clancy - Vocals
Tom Clancy - Vocals
Louis Killen - Vocals, Whistles, Concertina, Harmonica
Bobby Clancy - Vocals, Bodhrán
Robbie O'Connell - Vocals, Guitar
Barry Kornfeld -: Banjo, Guitar, Guitar (12 String)
Don McLean - Banjo, Guitar
Dick Romoff - Bass
Russ Savakus - Bass
Dick Kniss - Bass

OTHERS:

Photography: Joel Brudsky
Creative Services Coordinator: Georgette Cartwright
Mixed by: Bruno Staehelin
Liner Notes: Liam Clancy, Marsha Sculatti
Producers: Jack Lothrop, Maynard Solomon
Compilation Producer: Tom Vickers
Compilation Engineer: Captain Jeff Zaraya

TRACK LIST

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

* Not credited on album.

** Previously unreleased material from the 1982 recording Clancy Brothers Live with Robbie O'Connell featuring Bobby, Paddy, & Tom Clancy with Robbie O'Connell

Dirty Linen Review:

A very enjoyable album, this reissue dates from the period between Tommy Makem’s departure from the Clancy band and the arrival of Robbie O’Connell. According to Killen, this lineup of himself plus Pat, Tom, and Liam Clancy made four albums: three on the now-defunct Audio Fidelity label, and this one, originally released as a double LP. They’ve changed the title and the cover for the reissue, cleaned up the sound, and added four extra tracks. Otherwise, it’s pretty much the same as it was in the 1970s. The original double LP was called Greatest Hits, even though none of its tracks had yet been released. True to that hyperbolic tradition, this one is called The Best of the Vanguard Years, even though the quartet’s “Vanguard Years” consisted of June 27-30, 1973; this one CD includes not only the best but all of their Vanguard output, and more.

The original title was a bit better, as this disc does contain many of the songs the Clancys had already made famous with Makem — “Jug of Punch,” “The Irish Rover,” “Kelly, the Boy from Killarn,” “Rosin the Bow,” “Johnny McAldoo,” “Whiskey, You’re the Devil,” and “Holy Ground,” to name just a few — in new arrangements ready for the 1970s. It’s strange to hear Killen’s highly distinctive Geordie singing mixed in with the Tipperary brogues of the Clancys, but it all holds together pretty well. The hearty choruses are as rousing as ever, backed by the guitar, banjo, concertina, and whistle wielded by Killen, Liam Clancy, and session musician Barry Kornfeld, as well as tasteful bass playing by Dick Romoff. On four tracks, rock star Don McLean adds his own guitar and banjo to the band—but his playing blends in so well you probably won’t even notice. Liam, the only Clancy on this recording who is still alive, says of McLean, “They don’t make super-stars like that anymore.” The same could be said of the Clancys and Lou Killen.

A caveat emptor: According to Vanguard’s website, this release and the original Greatest Hits are both currently available on CD. They cost the same, but The Best of the Vanguard Years has better sound and four extra tracks. In addition, there’s a dodgy Vanguard compilation called Irish Pub Songs, two thirds of whose tracks come from this disc, also for the same price. If you buy any of these, it should be The Best of the Vanguard Years.

-Steve Winick

Back To Recent Audio Recordings