What a thoroughly enjoyable 2-CD set of "The Essential Chieftains"!

From a press release -- sorry for any loss of formatting:

http://www.thechieftains.com/

THE ESSENTIAL CHIEFTAINS
RELEASE DATE FEBRUARY 21RD 2006

2 CDs, 35 tracks, spanning from 4th LP (in 1965) through 2002's Down
The Old Plank Road – guests along the way: Jackson Browne,
Ry Cooder, the Corrs, Elvis Costello, Marianne Faithfull, Nanci
Griffith, Béla Fleck, James Galway, Emmylou Harris, Alison Kraus, the
McGarrigles, Van Morrison, Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, Carlos Núñez, Ricky
Skaggs, Sting, and others!

Scholarly liner notes written by Nashville's Robert K. Oermann

THE ESSENTIAL CHIEFTAINS (RCA Victor/Legacy/SonyBMG), the first
two-disc, 35-track anthology to draw from their output on Columbia in
the 1970s, Claddagh in the '80s, and RCA Victor in the '90s and '00s,
as personally selected by original founding member Paddy Moloney, with
over a dozen guest stars ranging from James Galway, the Corrs, Carlos
Núñez, Ry Cooder, Emmylou Harris, and Béla Fleck, to Sting, Elvis
Costello, Marianne Faithfull, Van Morrison, Alison Kraus, Jackson
Browne, the McGarrigles, and many others; compiled by Jerry Rappaport
and Paddy Moloney, with liner notes written by Nashville's Robert K.
Oermann.

Legacy's annual tradition of welcoming St. Patrick's Day with newly
compiled collections of Irish and Celtic music has developed into a
successful catalog over the years. In addition to classic individual
albums and anthologies by the Clancy Brothers & Tommy Makem, the
Dubliners, and the Chieftains, there are also a number of favorite
various artist compilations. These include: St. Patrick's Day
Celebration (released in 1992), Come Back To Erin & Other Irish Love
Songs, They Call It Ireland, and Kiss Me, I'M Irish (all three
released in 1994), and The Ultimate St. Patrick's Day Celebration (1999).

THE CHIEFTAINS

The enduring lineup of Ireland's Chieftains, which coalesced for the
recording of their fourth album in 1973 (about ten years after their
creation) comprised founding member Paddy Moloney on Uilleann pipes,
tin whistle and accordion, Sean Potts on the tin whistle, fiddler
Martin Fay, Mick Tubridy on flute and concertina, Kevin Conneff on
bodhrán (the hand-held drum) and occasional vocals, and the beloved
Derek Bell on harp, oboe and timpan (who passed away in 2003). The
Chieftains' traditional instrumentation built them a worldwide
audience, and won them Grammy Awards, gold records, and the respect of
fellow musicians everywhere from Spain and France, to Nashville and
China. This collection reaches back to their debut album of 1965,
released in the U.S. for the first time in 1977 on Columbia, the label
that ultimately reissued the first nine Chieftains albums over the
next three years. They spent virtually the entire '80s on Shanachie
Records in the U.S., including such landmark international releases as
The Year Of The French and the live album The Chieftains In China.
They arrived at RCA Victor in the U.S. in 1989; the earliest tracks
here date from 1991's incredible all-star sessions, The Bells Of
Dublin, in which an A-list of artists showed up to share their
talents, among them Jackson Browne ("The Rebel Jesus") and the duo of
Kate and Anna McGarrigle ("Il Est Né/Ca Berger"). 1989 also brought
another historic collaboration, James Galway & The Chieftains – In
Ireland ("The Munster Cloak / Tabhair Dom Do Lamh [Give Me Your
Hand]"). Three years later, the Chieftains were joined at the Grand
Opera House in Belfast by Nanci Griffith on An Irish Evening ("Red Is
The Rose"), a concert that also starred Roger Daltrey. That same
year, the Chieftains traveled to Nashville for the first time to
record American tunes for Another Country with a show-stopping array
of friends including Ricky Skaggs ("Cotton-Eyed Joe"). In 1995, came
yet another gathering of stars for The Long Black Veil, on which the
Chieftains welcomed, among others, Sting ("Mo Ghile Mear - Our Hero"),
Marianne Faithful ("Love Is Teasin'"), and Sinéad O'Connor ("The Foggy
Dew"), a track also featuring guitarist Ry Cooder and BMG's Galician
pipes virtuoso Carlos Nuñez.
Nuñez turned out to be the focal point of 1996's Santiago, an album
that explored the Celtic connection to the Basque provinces of Galicia
in northwest Spain. The musical strain spread to the New World as
heard on a cameo from Linda Ronstadt and Los Lobos ("Guadalupe") and
another that featured Ry Cooder and Cuban bassist Cachaito, son of
Cachao ("Santiago De Cuba"). When the producers of 1998's Long
Journey Home, the PBS/Disney documentary of Irish-American life, chose
Paddy to produce the soundtrack featuring the Irish Film Orchestra
with the Chieftains, Paddy invited an impressive guest list including,
among others, Elvis Costello and the Anúna choir ("Long Journey Home -
Anthem"), and Van Morrison ("Shenandoah").
1999's Tears Of Stone was conceived as a sequel to The Long Black
Veil, with an all-star cast boasting the Corrs ("I Know My Love") and
the Rankins ("Jimmy Mó Mhíle Stor"). The guests on Water From The
Well in 2000 were drawn from the traditional (rather than pop) field,
among them the dancer and fiddler Ashley MacIsaac ("An Poc Ar
Buile/The Dingle Set") and the group Altan ("The Donegal Set"). That
was the year of the O Brother, Where Art Thou? phenom, and plans were
soon set for the Chieftains to return to Nashville for 2002's Down The
Old Plank Road, (a sequel to Another Country). Music City's greatest
names joined them: Buddy & Julie Miller ("Country Blues," with Bryan
Sutton), Béla Fleck ("Ladies Pantalettes/Belles Of Blackville/First
House Of Connaught," with Jeff White and Tim O'Brien), the Nitty
Gritty Dirt Band ("The Squid Jiggin' Ground/Larry O'Gaff," with Béla
Fleck, Jerry Douglas and Edgar Meyer), Emmylou Harris ("Lambs In The
Greenfield"), and Alison Krauss ("Molly Bán," with Béla Fleck), to
name a few. Most recently, the Chieftains and their friends gathered
to honor the memory of Derek Bell on Live From Dublin, recorded in
2004 and released February 2005. This collection is their first new
album release since then.

THE ESSENTIAL CHIEFTAINS
(RCA Victor/Legacy BMK 82876 75398 2)

Disc One
Title From album Label Year_
1. Lots Of Drops Of Brandy Water From The Well RCA Victor 2000
2. O'Sullivan's March (The The Chieftains Columbia 1977
Theme from Rob Roy)
3. An Poc Ar Buile/The Dingle Set Water From The Well RCA Victor 2000
with Ashley MacIsaac
4. * Carolan's Concerto, live with The Celtic Harp RCA Victor 1993
the Belfast Harp Orchestra
5. The Wind That Shakes The Barley/ The Chieftains 8 Columbia 1978
The Reel With The Beryle
6. Sea Image The Chieftains 8 Columbia 1978
7. Boil The Breakfast Early The Chieftains 9 Columbia 1979
8. The Women Of Ireland (The Love Film Cuts RCA Victor 1996
Theme From Barry Lyndon)/
The Morning Dew
9. * Full Of Joy, live The Chieftains In China Claddagh 1987
10. The Green Fields Of America The Celtic Harp RCA Victor 1993
11. Santiago De Cuba with Ry Cooder, Santiago RCA Victor 1996
Carlos Núñez, Cachaito
12. The Donegal Set with Altan Water From The Well RCA Victor 2000
13. Jabadaw Celtic Wedding RCA Victor 1998
14. The Bells Of Dublin/Christmas Eve The Bells Of Dublin RCA
Victor 1991
with the bell-ringers of Christchurch
Cathedral, Dublin
15. The French March with the Radio The Year Of The French
Claddagh 1982
Telefis Éirean Orchestra
16. * The Stone, live An Irish Evening RCA Victor 1992
17. The Munster Cloak / Tabhair Dom James Galway & The RCA Victor 1991
Do Lamh (Give Me Your Hand) Chieftains – In Ireland
with James Galway, the National
Philharmonic Orchestra
18. Chasing The Fox The Ballad Of The Irish Horse Claddagh 1985

Disc Two
Title From album Label Year_
1. I Know My Love with The Corrs Tears Of Stone RCA Victor 1999
2. Shenandoah with Van Morrison, Long Journey Home o.s.
Unisphere/ 1998 the Irish Film Orchestra BMG Classics
3. Country Blues with Buddy & Down The Old Plank Road RCA Victor 2002
Julie Miller, Bryan Sutton
4. Ladies Pantalettes/Belles Of Black- Down The Old Plank Road RCA
Victor 2002
ville/ First House Of Connaught
(Reels), with Béla Fleck, Jeff
White, Tim O'Brien
5. The Foggy Dew with Sinéad O'Connor, The Long Black Veil RCA
Victor 1995
Ry Cooder, Carlos Núñez
6. * Red Is The Rose with Nanci Griffith, live An Irish Evening RCA
Victor 1992
7. The Squid Jiggin' Ground/Larry O'Gaff Down The Old Plank Road
RCA Victor 2002
with The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band,
Jerry Douglas, Béla Fleck, Edgar Meyer
8. Lambs In The Greenfield with Emmylou Down The Old Plank Road RCA
Victor 2002
Harris, Jeff White, Randy Kohrs
9. Guadalupe with Linda Ronstadt, Santiago RCA Victor 1996
Los Lobos, Carlos Nuñez
10. Mo Ghile Mear—Our Hero with Sting, The Long Black Veil RCA
Victor 1995
Anuna
11. Cotton-Eyed Joe with Ricky Skaggs Another Country RCA Victor 1992
12. Molly Bán (Bawn) with Alison Krauss Down The Old Plank Road RCA
Victor 2002
Béla Fleck, Bryan Sutton, Jeff White
13. Long Journey Home (Anthem) with Long Journey Home o.s.
Unisphere/ 1998
Elvis Costello, Anúna, the Irish BMG Classics
Film Orchestra
14. Love Is Teasin' with Marianne Faithful The Long Black Veil RCA
Victor 1995
15. The Rebel Jesus with Jackson Browne The Bells Of Dublin RCA
Victor 1991
16. Il Est Né/Ca Berger with Kate and The Bells Of Dublin RCA
Victor 1991
Anna McGarrigle
17. Jimmy Mó Mhíle Stor with The Rankins Tears Of Stone RCA Victor 1999

* indicates live recording

Ballad," "A Little Bit of Heaven," "The Minstrel Boy," and "I Met Her
in the Garden Where the Praties Grow."


http://www.legacyrecordings.com

Official Chieftains site: http://www.chieftains.com