The Irish Rovers – “The Unicorn”
So, a couple of years ago a friend and myself got this album, with about 50 or so others from an estate sale for the low price of a dollar, and I don’t mean a dollar for one record, I mean a dollar for the whole lot. A definite mix of genres from classical to country to pop to the Irish Rovers.
The album opens with the Shel Silverstein song, and title track, “The Unicorn” and obviously, when your bands name is the Irish Rovers, you’re going to have an Irish accent, and that they do. The song is nice and calming, and tells the story of Noah’s Ark, and I’m pretty sure how they forgot to load the unicorn when the world flooded. (Yes, it is.) “Bonnie Kellswater” comes next, and we have another slower folk song, and Irish folk songs have this special quality to them, sound wise, there isn’t anything that can be compared to them. We continue with the traditional humorous Irish folk song, “The Orange and Green” and it’s about a man who’s father was ‘Orange (Protestant)’ and his mother who was ‘Green (Catholic)’ and how he was mixed up due to the differing religious views. “Hiring Fair” comes next, and we get a more of an upbeat song, and I do love the inclusion of the penny whistle in a lot of Irish songs. The song “Bridget Flynn” continues the album, and the chorus is pretty neat with the Rovers doing harmony vocals together. The A-Side closes out with “Come In” and it is more upbeat song, and I do love the vocals in these old Irish folk songs, I myself, am a fan of the Pogues, so hearing the music of Ireland that might have influenced the Pogues is quite nice.
The B-Side opens with “Goodbye Mrs. Durkin” which is another traditional Irish folk song about an emigrant who goes to California during the 1849 gold rush, and it was also later covered by the Pogues. “Pat of Mullingar” comes next, and we have another upbeat song, it does pick up the pace, and we have fiddles in this one. I’m quite enjoying it. “The Wind That Shakes the Corn” comes next, and it’s a slow Irish ballad originally written by Robert Dwyer Joyce, and it’s about a young man who is going to sacrifice his relationship and fight in 1798 Irish rebellion. It’s a good song, and it really tells a story of what people had gone through back then. “The First Love in Life” continues the album, and it’s got a beautiful sound to it, the musicianship with the mandolin, fiddle and guitar pairing up with the vocals is something else. “Black Velvet Band” closes out the album, and it’s another traditional Irish song, and it’s a nice song a good one to close out the album with.
Catalog Number:
DL 74951
Credits:
Produced by Charles Bud Dant
Released:
196?
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