The Chieftains
The Chieftains are an Irish music group founded in 1962, best known for traditional Irish music. The band recorded many instrumental albums with Irish folk ; in addition, there were numerous collaborations with musicians of various styles such as country , rock 'n' roll or traditional Galician music, from the Cape Breton island or from Newfoundland . They played with Van Morrison , Eros Ramazzotti , Elvis Costello , Tom Jones , Sinéad O'Connor , James Galway and various country and western artists.
Band history
The band had their origins in Seán Ó Riada's folklore formation Ceoltóirí Cualann in the late 1950s. Its members were Seán Ó Riada (harpsichord), Paddy Moloney (Uilleann Pipes, Tin Whistle), Martin Fay (violin), Michael Tubridy (flute), Seán Keane (violin), John Kelley (violin), Eammon Butler (Button Accordion) , Ronnie McShane (Bones) and Derek Keane (vocals), later Sean O'Se (vocals). The band continued to exist in the early stages of the Chieftains and also released records under this name. In order to realize his own ideas, Moloney founded the Chieftains for an album in 1962 with the following line-up:
- Paddy Moloney ( Uilleann Pipes , Tin Whistle )
- Martin Fay ( Fiddle )
- Michael Tubridy ( flute , tin whistle)
- Seán Potts (Tin Whistle)
- David Fallon ( Bodhrán )
After the demise of Ceoltóirí Cualann, Moloney reshaped the Chieftains for the second album. Peadar Mercier (bodhrán) replaced the bodhrán player Fallon for reasons of age and Moloney brought Seán Keane from O'Riada's band as second violinist . This occupation lasted from 1969 to 1973.
In 1973 the classical harpist Derek Bell (Irish harp , keyboard, oboe ) started as a guest musician, later as a full member and made the group a septet. In 1976 Kevin Conneff (bodhrán, vocals) replaced Peadar Mercier, who had also retired for reasons of age. Once again, the band had the opportunity to include vocal pieces in their repertoire.
The next personnel change came in 1980 when Seán Potts and Michael Tubridy gave up professional music. They brought in Matt Molloy (flute, Tin Whistle), who had previously played with the Bothy Band and Planxty , and thus became a sextet again. This line-up existed until 2002, when Martin Fay limited his membership in the band to Ireland; the band went on tour as a quintet. Derek Bell passed away unexpectedly on October 7, 2002. Martin Fay also died in November 2012. In 2013 Seán Keáne also retired as an active musician. Since then, the Chieftains have only consisted of the three permanent members Moloney, Molloy and Conneff. They are accompanied on tours by Triona Marshall (harp), Jon Pilatzke (violin), Jeff White (guitar) and the Scottish singer Alyth McCormack.
On the 1995 album The Long Black Veil , the Chieftains accompanied, among others, Sting , Mick Jagger & Darryl Jones , Sinéad O'Connor, Mark Knopfler , Van Morrison, Ry Cooder , Marianne Faithfull , Tom Jones and the Rolling Stones .
To celebrate the founding 50 years ago, the band released the album Voice of Ages in 2012 , on which they play with guest musicians of various styles.
Honors
The Chieftains won six Grammys out of 18 nominations . In 2002 they were honored with the Lifetime Achievement Award by BBC Radio .
Discography
Studio albums
| year | title |
Top ranking, total weeks, awardChart placementsChart placements (Year, title, rankings, weeks, awards, notes) |
Remarks | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 DE
|
 AT
|
 CH
|
 UK
|
 US
|
|||
| 1987 | In Ireland | - | - | - |
UK32 (5 weeks) UK |
- |
First published: March 1987
with James Galway |
| 1988 | Irish heartbeat |
DE62 (1 week) DE |
- |
CH27 (1 week) CH |
UK18 (7 weeks) UK |
US102 (13 weeks) US |
First published: June 1988
with Van Morrison |
| 1991 | The Bells of Dublin | - | - | - | - |
US107  (5 weeks)US |
First published: December 1991
|
| 1992 | An Irish Evening | - | - | - | - |
US120 (4 weeks) US |
|
| 1995 | The Long Black Veil |
DE28 (12 weeks) DE |
AT12 (10 weeks) AT |
CH18 (11 weeks) CH |
UK17th  (13 weeks)UK |
US22nd (19 weeks)US |
First published: January 1995
|
| 1996 | Film cuts | - | - | - | - |
US193 (1 week) US |
First published: March 1996
|
| 1999 | Tears of Stone |
DE34 (8 weeks) DE |
- |
CH39 (3 weeks) CH |
UK36 (5 weeks)UK |
US56 (13 weeks) US |
First published: February 1999
|
| 2000 | Water from the well | - | - | - | - |
US96 (4 weeks) US |
First published: March 2000
|
| 2002 | The Wide World Over |
DE56 (3 weeks) DE |
AT29 (6 weeks) AT |
- |
UK37 (3 weeks) UK |
US77 (4 weeks) US |
First published: March 2002
|
| Down the Old Plank Road | - | - | - | - |
US91 (6 weeks) US |
First published: September 2002
|
|
| 2003 | Further Down the Old Plank Road | - | - | - | - |
US180 (2 weeks) US |
First published: September 2003
|
| 2010 | San Patricio | - | - | - |
UK93 (2 weeks) UK |
US37 (5 weeks) US |
First published: March 2010
with Ry Cooder |
| 2012 | Voice of Ages | - | - | - |
UK25 (3 weeks) UK |
US17 (6 weeks) US |
First published: March 2012
|
more publishments
|
|
Singles
| year | Title album |
Top ranking, total weeks, awardChart placementsChart placements (Year, title, album , rankings, weeks, awards, notes) |
Remarks | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
DE
|
AT
|
CH
|
UK
|
US
|
 IE
|
|||
| 1989 | Have I Told You Lately Avalon Sunset |
- | - | - |
UK71 (7 weeks) UK |
- |
IE12 (... weeks) IE |
First published: June 1989
with Van Morrison |
| 1999 | I Know My Love Tears of Stone |
- | - | - |
UK37 (3 weeks) UK |
- |
IE22 (4 weeks) IE |
First published: May 1999
with The Corrs |
Involvement of the Chieftains in soundtracks
- 1975: Barry Lyndon
- 1979: Un taxi mauve (The Purple Taxi)
- 1990: Treasure Island (Treasure Iceland)
- 1992: Far and Away (Far and Away)
- 1995: Rob Roy
- 1999: Agnes Browne
- 2008: Mein Freund, der Wasserdrache (The Water Horse - Legend of the Deep)
The Chieftains as accompanist
- 1972: John Montague on his work The Rough Field
Ceoltóirí Cualann
- 1962: The Playboy of the Western World
- 1963: Racaireacht to Riadaigh
- 1967: Ding Dong
- 1970: Ceol na nUasal Music of the Nobles
- 1971: Ó Riada sa Gaiety (live)
- 1971: Ó Riada (live)
- 2011: Seoda an Riadaigh - The Essential Collection (3 CDs with Playboy of the Western World, Mise Eire and a best-of compilation as well as a 40-page booklet)
they also played the music for The Battle of Aughrim in 1968 , told by Richard Murphy
More shots
In addition, all members can also be heard solo or with other musicians (see article on the musicians)
Web links
- Website of The Chieftains (English)
- Band history (English)