More (Mostly) Folk Music

Blackthorn   •   Against The Wind

image
image image image
  • Against The Wind
    • 1981 - SPIN SP 102 LP (UK)
  • Side One
    1. My Lagan Love (Trad. Arr. Blackthorn)
    2. I Roamed Out (Trad. Arr. M. Downey)
    3. Flower Of Scotland (Roy Williamson)
    4. Sally Gardens (W.B. Yeats)
    5. Night'ngale (Trad.)
  • Side Two
    1. Edward Sayers' Brass Band (Richard Digance)
    2. The Beggin' I Will Go (Trad.)
    3. Against The Wind (John McCormick, Jon English)
    4. My Love Is Like a Red Red Rose (Trad. Robert Burns)
    5. Trillick Races (Trad. Arr. Blackthorn)

  • Blackthorn
    • Dominic McShane: Vocals & Double Bass
    • Desi McHenry: Vocals, 6 string & 12 string Acoustic Guitars
    • Stevie Mulhern: Fiddle, Keyboards & Vocals
    • John McCormick: Vocals, G-Banjo & Bodhrán
    • Gordon Manly: Flute, Whistle, Mandolin, Banjo
  • Musicians
    • Drums: Paul McAteer
    • Trombone: Paul Barrett
    • Trumpet: Mike Nolan
  • Credits
    • Produced & Engineered by Brian Masterson
    • Assistant Engineer: Paul Thomas with Kevin & Pearce
    • Recorded & mixed down at Windmill Lane Recording Studios Limited, Dublin
    • Sleeve Design & Front Photography: Spring Graphics
    • Back Photographs: Des Turley

Sleeve Notes

Blackthorn is a folk band, but a folk band with a difference. Their stage show is electrifying and compulsive!! and their varied choice of material seems to have been a recipe for success over the years. On this album, their first on Spin Label, they have provided a selection of material to please all ears. From the haunting strains of 'My Lagan Love' to their "up tempo" version of Burns' immortal 'Red, Red Rose'.

'As I Roamed Out' and 'To the Beggin' I Will Go' are basically Irish in content and design and are played with all the vigour that Irish traditional music imbues, while 'Sally Gardens' and 'Against the Wind' (the words of which the band wrote themselves) are almost classical.

'Nightingale' and 'Edward Sayers' Brass Band' are both English folk songs yet contrast quite dramatically, while 'Flowers of Scotland' is dedicated solely to Blackthorn's fans. The album finishes with 'The Trillick Races', a medley of two tunes, a march and a jig, which in a way symbolises Blackthorn, their determination to please their listeners and, having achieved this, they dance along with them.