The Chieftains

For other uses, see Chieftains.

The Chieftains
The Chieftains performing in 2008
Background information
Origin	Dublin, Ireland
Genres	Irish folk music, Celtic music
Years active	1962–present
Labels	Claddagh Records, RCA Records
Associated acts	Ceoltóirí Chualann
Website	thechieftains.com
Members
Paddy Moloney Seán Keane Kevin Conneff Matt Molloy
Past members
Derek Bell Martin Fay Michael Tubridy Seán Potts Peadar Mercier Ronnie McShane David Fallon

The Chieftains are a Grammy-winning Irish musical group founded in 1962, best known for being one of the first bands to make Irish traditional music popular around the world.^[1]

Name

The band's name came from the book Death of a Chieftain by Irish author John Montague.^[2] Assisted early on by Garech Browne, they signed with his company Claddagh Records. They needed financial success abroad, and succeeded in this, as within a few years their third album's sleeve note section was printed in three languages.

Work

The band has recorded many albums of instrumental Irish folk music, as well as multiple collaborations with popular musicians of many genres, including Country music, Galician traditional music, Cape Breton and Newfoundland music, and rock and roll. They have performed with Luciano Pavarotti, the Rolling Stones, Ultravox, Carlos Núñez, Van Morrison, Ashley MacIsaac, Glass Tiger, Bela Fleck, Siobhán O'Brien, Moya Brennan, Mark Knopfler, Loreena McKennitt, Ry Cooder, Los Cenzontles, Mick Jagger, Elvis Costello, Roger Daltrey, Nanci Griffith, Tom Jones, Sinéad O'Connor, Natalie Merchant, James Galway, The Corrs, Art Garfunkel, Sting, Rosanne Cash, Jim White, Ziggy Marley, Lyle Lovett, Jackson Browne, Eros Ramazzotti, Kepa Junkera, Mike Gordon, Madonna, and numerous Country-western artists, including Earl Scruggs, Ricky Skaggs, Willie Nelson, and others. In May 1986 they performed at Self Aid, a benefit concert held in Dublin that focused on the problem of chronic unemployment which was widespread in Ireland at that time. In 1994 they appeared in Roger Daltrey's production, album and video of A Celebration: The Music of Pete Townshend and The Who.

The front covers of the first four albums were designed by Edward Delaney.

Success and recognition

The group has won six Grammy Awards and have been nominated eighteen times. They have won an Emmy and a Genie and contributed tracks, including their highly-praised version of the song Women of Ireland, to Leonard Rosenman's Oscar-winning score for Stanley Kubrick's 1975 film Barry Lyndon.^[1] In 2002 they were given a Lifetime Achievement Award by the UK's BBC Radio 2. Two of their singles have been minor hits in the UK Singles Chart. "Have I Told You Lately" (credited to The Chieftains with Van Morrison) reached #71 in 1995. "I Know My Love" (credited to The Chieftains featuring The Corrs) reached #37 in 2002.^[3]

Dr Gearoid O hAllmhurain^[4] said the success of The Chieftains has helped to place Irish traditional music on a par with other musical genres in the world of popular entertainment. By collaborating with pop and rock musicians, they have taken Irish music to a much wider audience. They have become, in effect, musical ambassadors for Ireland. This de facto role was officially recognised by the Irish Government in 1989 when it awarded the group the honorary title of Ireland's Musical Ambassadors.^[1]

They played in a concert for Pope John Paul II, and an audience of more than one million people in 1979 in Phoenix Park in Dublin, to mark the Papal visit to Ireland.^[1]

In 1983, they were invited by the Chinese Government to perform with the Chinese Broadcasting Art Group in a concert on the Great Wall of China, becoming the first western musical group to do so.^[5] They were the first group to perform in the Capitol Building in Washington, D.C.; invited to do so by Senator Edward Kennedy and the former Speaker of the House, Tip O'Neill.^[1]

Band members

Paddy Moloney is the band's founder and leader, and composes or arranges most of the band's music. While the band's members changed numerous times in the band's early history, the membership solidified in 1979 when Matt Molloy replaced Michael Tubridy. From then until 2002, members included:

• Paddy Moloney - uilleann pipes, tin whistle, button accordion, bodhrán
• Matt Molloy - flute, tin whistle
• Kevin Conneff - bodhrán, vocals
• Seán Keane - fiddle, tin whistle

Former members

• Martin Fay - fiddle, bones (retired in 2002)
• Derek Bell - Irish harp, keyboard instruments, oboe (died in 2002 due to complications following minor surgery)
• David Fallon - bodhrán
• Ronnie McShane - percussion
• Peadar Mercier - bodhrán, bones
• Seán Potts - tin whistle, bones, bodhrán
• Michael Tubridy - flute, concertina, tin whistle

Tours

Main article: The Chieftains' concert tours

Discography

• The Chieftains 1 (1963)
• The Chieftains 2 (1969)
• The Chieftains 3 (1971)
• The Chieftains 4 (1973)
• The Chieftains 5 (1975)
• The Chieftains 6: Bonaparte's Retreat (1976)
• The Chieftains 7 (1977)
• The Chieftains Live! (1977)
• The Chieftains 8 (1978)
• The Chieftains 9: Boil the Breakfast Early (1979)
• The Chieftains 10: Cotton-Eyed Joe (1980)
• The Year of the French (1981)
• The Grey Fox (1982) (soundtrack to The Grey Fox)
• Concert Orchestra (1983)
• The Chieftains in China (1985)
• Ballad of the Irish Horse (1986)
• Celtic Wedding (1987)

• In Ireland (1987) (with James Galway)
• Irish Heartbeat (1988) (with Van Morrison)
• The Tailor Of Gloucester (1988)
• A Chieftains Celebration (1989)
• Over the Sea To Skye: The Celtic Connection (1990) (with James Galway)
• The Bells of Dublin (1991)
• Another Country (1992)
• An Irish Evening (1992)
• The Celtic Harp: A Tribute To Edward Bunting (1993) (with The Belfast Harp Orchestra)
• The Long Black Veil (1995)
• Film Cuts (1996)
• Santiago (1996)
• Long Journey Home (1998)
• Fire in the Kitchen (1998)
• Silent Night: A Christmas in Rome (1998)
• Tears of Stone (1999)
• Water From the Well (2000)
• The Wide World Over (2002)
• Down the Old Plank Road: The Nashville Sessions (2002)
• Further Down the Old Plank Road (2003)
• Live From Dublin: A Tribute To Derek Bell (2005)
• The Essential Chieftains (2006)
• San Patricio (2010) (with Ry Cooder)

References

Glatt, John (1997). The Chieftains: the Authorized Biography. New York: Da Capo. ISBN 9780306809224. 

1. ^ ^{a b c d e} McCarthy, John Patrick (2006). Ireland: a reference guide from the Renaissance to the present. Infobase. p. 216. ISBN 9780816053780. 
2. ^ the Chieftains - A Musical History
3. ^ Roberts, David (2006). British Hit Singles & Albums (19th ed.). London: Guinness World Records Limited. p. 104. ISBN 1-904994-10-5. 
4. ^ Pocket History of Irish Traditional Music, pub The O'Brien Press, Dublin, p155
5. ^ Lannert, John (6 March 1992). "An Irish Tradition For 29 Years, The Chieftains Have Been Entertaining Audiences And Attracting The Admiration Of Fellow Performers". Sun-Sentinel. http://articles.sun-sentinel.com/1992-03-06/features/9201120378_1_paddy-moloney-chieftains-traditional-irish-music/3. Retrieved 27 February 2011. 

External links

• Official Website
• Band History
• National Geographic World Music website - The Chieftains
• http://www.irishmusicforever.com/bands/chieftains