Older But No Wiser

Older But No Wiser is a 1995 album by the Irish folk group, The Clancy Brothers and Robbie O'Connell. This was the Clancy Brothers' final album, released almost four decades after the group's first album, The Rising of the Moon. It was also their third album for Vanguard Records. The songs on Older But No Wiser are notable for their thicker musical accompaniment than was typical of Clancy recordings, as well their first use of female back-up singers.

Older But No Wiser
Studio album by
The Clancy Brothers and Robbie O'Connell
ReleasedNovember 7, 1995
Recorded1995
GenreIrish folk
Length45:49
LabelVanguard
VSD 79488 2 CD
ProducerGarry O'Briain
The Clancy Brothers and Robbie O'Connell chronology
Tunes 'n' Tales of Ireland
(1988)		 Older But No Wiser
(1995)
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
Allmusic link

This was the only album that Paddy Clancy, Bobby Clancy, Liam Clancy, and their nephew, Robbie O'Connell, recorded together. For all previous Clancy Brothers recordings, the group had different line-ups.

Background and music

The inspiration for this album came from the Clancy Brothers' performance at Bob Dylan's 30th Anniversary Concert Celebration, where the group performed, "When the Ship Comes In".[1] Except for this live number, which they re-recorded in a studio, the Clancy Brothers had never before recorded any of the tracks on this album.[2] Liam Clancy performed the most solos.

The Clancy Brothers and Robbie O'Connell focused this album largely on the theme of aging and nostalgia. Three of the numbers, "When the Ship Comes In" and "Ramblin' Gamblin' Willie" by Bob Dylan and "Those Were the Days" by Gene Raskin, were written by the Clancys' old friends from Greenwich Village during the American folk music revival of the 1960s. Bob Dylan had originally based "Ramblin' Gamblin' Willie" on the Clancy Brothers' version of the Irish rebel song, "Brennan on the Moor," one of the group's most popular songs in the early 1960s. The tavern mentioned in the song, "Those Were the Days," referred to the White Horse Tavern in Greenwich Village, where the Clancy Brothers used to drink and informally sing.

Paddy Clancy's one solo on the album, "Let No Man Steal Your Thyme," was a song that he recorded Robin Roberts performing in 1959 for Tradition Records, a small record label that he ran at the time. The numbers, "Roll on the Day" and "Lily Marlene," deal with themes of death and loss, respectively. The Clancys had known "The Boys of Wexford" since their boyhoods, and a few other songs on the album were written by old friends, including "The Flower of Scotland," by the late Roy Williamson of The Corries.[3][4]

The group recorded the album at Ring Studios next to Liam Clancy's home in County Waterford, Ireland. Older But No Wiser was the Clancy Brothers' first studio album since their 1974 LP, Greatest Hits.

Reception

Patrick Street, writing in the magazine, Dirty Linen, called this last Clancy Brothers album "probably the best studio recording of their distinguished career." He applauded all the singers and accompanists, while singling out Robbie O'Connell for having the best voice of the group.[5]

The reviewer for the folk music magazine, Sing Out!, praised the "Clancy's patented hearty and gusty singing and O'Connell's more sensitive style" on the album.[6]

Track listing

All songs arranged by the Clancy Brothers & Robbie O'Connell and Garry O'Briain.

No.TitleWriter(s)Lead vocalsLength
1."Ramblin' Gamblin' Willie"Bob DylanEach singer has solos3:25
2."When the Ship Comes In"Bob DylanLiam Clancy and Robbie O'Connell3:46
3."Lily Marlene"Norbert Schultze, Tommie ConnorBobby Clancy3:42
4."Roll On The Day"Allan TaylorLiam Clancy3:08
5."Let No Man Steal Your Thyme"TraditionalPaddy Clancy4:09
6."Salonika"TraditionalNo solos2:31
7."Flower of Scotland"Roy WilliamsonLiam Clancy3:02
8."The Curragh of Kildare"TraditionalRobbie O'Connell3:36
9."The Boys of Wexford"Arthur Warren Darley, Patrick Joseph McCallBobby Clancy, Paddy Clancy and Liam Clancy3:55
10."The Final Trawl"Archie FisherLiam Clancy4:53
11."The Lads of the Fair"Brian McNeillRobbie O'Connell3:25
12."Those Were the Days"Boris Fomin, Gene RaskinLiam Clancy5:46

Personnel
The Clancy Brothers and Robbie O'Connell

with:

  • Miss Brown To You - backup vocals
  • Dónal Clancy - guitar
  • Martin Murray - fiddle, mandolin, viola
  • Dave Prim - bass
  • Martin Cooney - banjo
  • Mairtin O'Connor - accordion
  • Tommy Keane - uilleann pipes
  • Harry Doherty - clarinet, alto saxophone
  • Donnachadha Gough - bodhrán
  • Damien Foley - trombone, euphonium
  • Garry O'Briain - mando-cello
  • Geraldine Cullen - cello
Technical
  • Recorded and mixed at Ring Studios, County Waterford, Ireland
  • Martin Murray - engineering, mixing
  • Jeff Zaraya, Sound Byte, NY - mastering
  • Jim McKague - executive producer
  • Norton Associates, Dublin - photography
  • Georgette Cartwright - creative services[7]

References
  1. AN (May 1996). "THE CLANCY BROTHERS and ROBBIE O'CONNELL". Sing Out! The Folk Song Magazine. 41 (1): 160.
  2. "The Clancy Brothers: Older But No Wiser Review". All Music. Retrieved 2 June 2014.
  3. Clancy, Liam (October 1995). "Older But No Wiser: Sleeve Notes". Retrieved 3 June 2014.
  4. Street, Patrick (August 1996). "Recordings". Dirty Linen: 56.
  5. Street, Patrick (August 1996). "Recordings". Dirty Linen: 56.
  6. AN (May 1996). "THE CLANCY BROTHERS and ROBBIE O'CONNELL". Sing Out! The Folk Song Magazine. 41 (1): 160.
  7. "Older But No Wiser: Liner Notes". The Clancy Brothers and Tommy Makem. Retrieved 2 June 2014.
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