Thursday, January 10, 2013

Tir Na NOg - Strong In The Sun (1973 ireland, colorful folk rock)



On their third album Strong in the Sun (1973), the band took even bigger steps towards the mainstream. Matthew Fisher of Procol Harum produced, giving the duo a fuller, cleaner sound. It opens with a cover of Nick Drake's "Free Ride", surely one of the earliest Nick Drake covers and a bold step for 1973. Even so this is the most conventional of their three albums and apart from some beautiful songs it is sometimes their most mundane. In any event it did not bring the hoped for commerical breakthrough and Chrysalis lost interest in the band. 

They returned to Dublin and split up. Sonny Condell subsequently enjoyed the more visible solo career and was a founder member of Scullion. O'Kelly played with Naima in the mid-70s and became a producer, working for the Irish branches of EMI and Polydor, before moving abroad again to live and work in Amsterdam and London. 
Irish Rock
Tracks
1. Free Ride (Nick Drake) - 3:08
2. Whitestone Bridge (Condell) - 4:14
3. Teesside (Condell) - 3:55
4. Cinema (O'Kelly) - 4:41
5. Strong In The Sun (O'Kelly) - 3:40
6. The Wind Was High (O'Kelly) - 3:22
7. In The Morning (Condell) - 3:23
8. Love Lost (O'Kelly) - 3:19
9. Most magical (Condell) - 3:47
10.Fall Of Day (Condell) - 2:36

Musicians
*Brian Odgers - Bass
*Dave Markee - Bass
*Jim Ryan - Bass
*Larry Steele - Bass
*Ace Follington - Drums
*Barry De Souza - Drums
*Jeff Jones - Drums
*Matthew Fisher - Keyboards
*Leo O'Kelly - Vocals, Acoustic, Electric Guitar, Dulcimer, Violin
*Sonny Condell - Vocals, Acoustic, Electric Guitar, Drums, Jew's Harp, Clavinet, Percussion

1971  Tir Na Nog

Free Text
Free Text II

4 comments:

  1. What a great album that presents magic,intelligent, poetic and sometimes funny lyrics, well-crafted songs beautifully performed. Atmospheric and 'sensitive', as folky stuff goes, they did incredible job.
    Second album "A Tear And Smile" with some good moments is also a keeper and nice part of "Troyka" collection.
    I have 5-6 rare photos from Strong In The Sun photo shoot.
    http://i46.tinypic.com/2cqzomt.jpg
    http://i47.tinypic.com/2rz6pnb.jpg
    http://i47.tinypic.com/1y32no.jpg
    http://i47.tinypic.com/a4vqev.jpg
    http://i46.tinypic.com/35n28p3.jpg
    http://i46.tinypic.com/263f1uv.jpg
    Interesting story involving famous Beetle, Paul McCartney, says,during recording of his "band On The Run" album,Strong in The Sun was his fav album to listen....
    Peace.

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