The Chieftains: Martin Fay, Sean Keane (fiddle); Michael Tubridy (flute, tin whistle, concertina); Sean Potts (tin whistle); Paddy Moloney (tin whistle, Uilleann pipes); Peadar Mercier (bodhran, bones).
Additional personnel: Derek Bell (harp).
Recorded at Morgan Studios, London, England in September 1972 & February 1973. Includes liner notes by Alun Owen, Peter Sellers, Maire Aine Ni Dhonnchadha & Alan Stivell.
Widely considered the Chieftains' first truly classic album, 1973's CHIEFTAINS 4 is, if nothing else, historically important for introducing harpist Derek Bell, who would go on to become nearly as crucial to the group's signature sound as leader/arranger Paddy Moloney. On the harp-and-tin-whistle duet "The Tip of the Whistle" and the full-band tune "Morgan Magan," Bell and Moloney forge a distinctive bond that would go on to become the group's primary musical trademark. Other highlights include the nearly eight-minute suite "The Battle of Aughrim" and the simply lovely "Mna Na hEireann" (Gaelic for "Women of Ireland"), a delicate air that gave the Chieftains their first notable mainstream exposure when Stanley Kubrick chose to feature the haunting tune in his 1975 film BARRY LYNDON.
