''Older But No Wiser'' is a 1995 album by the

Irish folk Irish traditional music (also known as Irish trad, Irish folk music, and other variants) is a genre of folk music that developed in Ireland. In ''A History of Irish Music'' (1905), W. H. Grattan Flood wrote that, in Gaelic Ireland, there w ...

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 Vanguard Recording Society is an American record label set up in 1950 by brothers Maynard and Seymour Solomon in New York City. It was a primarily classical label at its peak in the 1950s and 1960s, but also has a catalogue of recordings by a n ...

. 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. This was the only album that

Paddy Clancy Patrick Michael Clancy (7 March 1922 – 11 November 1998), usually called Paddy Clancy or Pat Clancy, was an Irish folk singer best known as a member of the Clancy Brothers and Tommy Makem. In addition to singing and storytelling, Clancy playe ...

Bobby Clancy Robert Joseph 'Bobby' Clancy Jr (11 May 1927 – 6 September 2002) was an Irish singer and musician best known as a member of The Clancy Brothers, one of the most successful and influential Irish folk groups. He accompanied his songs on five-s ...

Liam Clancy Liam Clancy ( ga, Liam Mac Fhlannchadha; 2 September 1935 – 4 December 2009) was an Irish folk singer from Carrick-on-Suir, County Tipperary. He was the youngest member of the influential folk group the Clancy Brothers, regarded as Ireland's ...

, and their nephew,

Robbie O'Connell Robbie O'Connell (born 1951) is an Irish singer songwriter who performs solo, as well as with The Green Fields of America. He also appears with Dónal Clancy (cousin), Dan Milner, and fiddler Rose Clancy. O'Connell has also toured and recorded ...

, 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 Bob Dylan (legally Robert Dylan, born Robert Allen Zimmerman, May 24, 1941) is an American singer-songwriter. Often regarded as one of the greatest songwriters of all time, Dylan has been a major figure in popular culture during a career sp ...

30th Anniversary Concert Celebration ''The 30th Anniversary Concert Celebration'' is a live double-album release in recognition of Bob Dylan's 30 years as a recording artist. Recorded on October 16, 1992, at Madison Square Garden in New York City, it captures most of the concert, ...

, where the group performed, "

When the Ship Comes In "When the Ship Comes In" is a folk music song by Bob Dylan, released on his third album, '' The Times They Are a-Changin, in 1964. Background and composition Joan Baez states in the documentary film ''No Direction Home'' that the song was ins ...

". 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. 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 Those Were the Days may refer to: Music Albums * ''Those Were the Days'' (Johnny Mathis album) (1968) * ''Those Were the Days'' (Cream album) (1997) * ''Those Were the Days'' (Dolly Parton album) (2005) * '' Those Were the Days – The Best of L ...

" by

Gene Raskin Eugene Raskin or Gene Raskin ( Bronx, New York, September 5, 1909 – Manhattan, New York, June 7, 2004),Eu ...

, were written by the Clancys' old friends from

Greenwich Village Greenwich Village ( , , ) is a neighborhood on the west side of Lower Manhattan in New York City, bounded by 14th Street to the north, Broadway to the east, Houston Street to the south, and the Hudson River to the west. Greenwich Village ...

during the

American folk music revival The American folk music revival began during the 1940s and peaked in popularity in the mid-1960s. Its roots went earlier, and performers like Josh White, Burl Ives, Woody Guthrie, Lead Belly, Big Bill Broonzy, Billie Holiday, Richard Dyer-Benn ...

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 William "Willy" Brennan (also known as John) was an Irish Highwayman caught and hanged in Cork in either 1804Norman Cazden, Norman Studer, ''Folk songs of the Catskills'', State Univ of New York Press, 1983, pg 414 1809 or 1812, whose story was i ...

," 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 Tradition Records was an American record label from 1955 to 1966 that specialized in folk music. The label was founded and financed by Guggenheim heiress Diane Hamilton in 1956. Its president and director was Patrick "Paddy" Clancy, who was soon ...

, a small record label that he ran at the time. The numbers, "Roll on the Day" and "

Lily Marlene "Lili Marleen" (also spelled "Lili Marlen'", "Lilli Marlene", "Lily Marlene", "Lili Marlène" among others; ) is a German love song that became popular during World War II throughout Europe and the Mediterranean among both Axis and Allied troop ...

," deal with themes of death and loss, respectively. The Clancys had known "

The Boys of Wexford "The Boys of Wexford" (also known as ''The Flight of the Earls'') is an Irish ballad commemorating the Irish Rebellion of 1798 and, more specifically, the Wexford Rebellion. The aim of rebellion was to remove English control from Irish affairs and ...

" 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 Roy Murdoch Buchanan Williamson (25 June 1936 – 12 August 1990) was a Scottish people, Scottish songwriter and folk musician, most notably with The Corries. Williamson is best known for writing "Flower of Scotland", which has become the de fa ...

The Corries The Corries were a Scottish folk group that emerged from the Scottish folk revival of the early 1960s. The group was a trio from their formation until 1966 when founder Bill Smith left the band but Roy Williamson and Ronnie Browne continued ...

. The group recorded the album at Ring Studios next to Liam Clancy's home in

County Waterford County Waterford ( ga, Contae Phort Láirge) is a Counties of Ireland, county in Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Munster and is part of the South-East Region, Ireland, South-East Region. It is named ...

, Ireland. ''Older But No Wiser'' was the Clancy Brothers' first studio album since their 1974 LP, ''

Greatest Hits A greatest hits album or best-of album is a type of compilation album that collects popular and commercially successful songs by a particular artist or band. While greatest hits albums are typically supported by the artist, they can also be crea ...

''.

Reception

Patrick Street, writing in the magazine, ''

Dirty Linen ''Dirty Linen'' was a bi-monthly magazine of folk and world music based in Baltimore, Maryland. The magazine ceased publication in the spring of 2010. The magazine offered extensive reviews of folk music recordings, videos, books, and concert ...

'', 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. The reviewer for the folk music magazine, ''

Sing Out! ''Sing Out!'' was a quarterly journal of folk music and folk songs that was published from May 1950 through spring 2014. It was originally based in New York City, with a national circulation of approximately 10,000 by 1960. Background ''Sing Out ...

'', praised the "Clancy's patented hearty and gusty singing and O'Connell's more sensitive style" on the album.

Track listing

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

Personnel

;The Clancy Brothers and Robbie O'Connell *

- vocals, harmonica *

- vocals, concertina *

- vocals, harmonica *

- vocals, guitar with: *Miss Brown To You - backup vocals *Dónal Clancy - guitar *Martin Murray - fiddle,

mandolin A mandolin ( it, mandolino ; literally "small mandola") is a stringed musical instrument in the lute family and is generally plucked with a pick. It most commonly has four courses of doubled strings tuned in unison, thus giving a total of 8 ...

viola The viola ( , also , ) is a string instrument that is bow (music), bowed, plucked, or played with varying techniques. Slightly larger than a violin, it has a lower and deeper sound. Since the 18th century, it has been the middle or alto voice of ...

*Dave Prim - bass *Martin Cooney - banjo *Mairtin O'Connor - accordion *Tommy Keane -

uilleann pipes The uilleann pipes ( or , ) are the characteristic national bagpipe of Ireland. Earlier known in English as "union pipes", their current name is a partial translation of the Irish language terms (literally, "pipes of the elbow"), from their ...

*Harry Doherty - clarinet, alto saxophone *Donnachadha Gough -

bodhrán The bodhrán (, ; plural ''bodhráin'' or ''bodhráns'') is a frame drum used in Irish music ranging from in diameter, with most drums measuring . The sides of the drum are deep. A goatskin head is tacked to one side (synthetic heads or othe ...

*Damien Foley - trombone,

euphonium The euphonium is a medium-sized, 3 or 4-valve, often compensating, conical-bore, tenor-voiced brass instrument that derives its name from the Ancient Greek word ''euphōnos'', meaning "well-sounding" or "sweet-voiced" ( ''eu'' means "well" ...

*Garry O'Briain -

mando-cello The mandocello ( it, mandoloncello, Liuto cantabile, liuto moderno) is a plucked string instrument of the mandolin family. It is larger than the mandolin, and is the baritone instrument of the mandolin family. Its eight strings are in four paired ...

*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

References

{{Authority control The Clancy Brothers albums Vanguard Records albums 1995 albums