''Prodigal Sons'' is a studio

album An album is a collection of audio recordings issued on compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl, audio tape, or another medium such as Digital distribution#Music, digital distribution. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early ...

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 we ...

group

The Dubliners The Dubliners were an Folk music of Ireland, Irish folk band founded in Dublin in 1962 as The Ronnie Drew Ballad Group, named after its founding member; they subsequently renamed themselves The Dubliners. The line-up saw many changes in personn ...

. Produced by

Bill Whelan Bill Whelan (born 22 May 1950 in Limerick, Ireland) is an Irish composer and musician. He is best known for composing a piece for the interval of the 1994 Eurovision Song Contest. The result, ''Riverdance'', was a seven-minute display of tradi ...

, who later became famous for ''

Riverdance ''Riverdance'' is a theatrical show that consists mainly of traditional Irish music and dance. With a score composed by Bill Whelan, it originated as an interval act during the Eurovision Song Contest 1994, featuring Irish dancing champions Jean ...

'', this album featured

cellist The cello ( ; plural ''celli'' or ''cellos'') or violoncello ( ; ) is a bowed (sometimes plucked and occasionally hit) string instrument of the violin family. Its four strings are usually tuned in perfect fifths: from low to high, C2, G2, D3 ...

Nigel Warren-Green as guest musician. Although

Luke Kelly Luke Kelly (17 November 1940 – 30 January 1984) was an Irish singer, folk musician and actor from Dublin, Ireland. Born into a working-class household in Dublin city, Kelly moved to England in his late teens and by his early 20s had become i ...

recorded his famous versions of " Raglan Road" and "Song for Ireland" during these sessions, neither track featured on this album, although Seán Cannon's version of "Song for Ireland" did. The two Kelly recordings would first appear on the

compilation album A compilation album comprises Album#Tracks, tracks, which may be previously released or unreleased, usually from several separate recordings by either one or several Performing arts#Performers, performers. If by one artist, then generally the tr ...

, '' Luke's Legacy'' after his death. The album took its name from

John Sheahan John Sheahan (born 19 May 1939) is an Irish musician and composer. He joined The Dubliners in 1964 and played with them until 2012 when The Dubliners' name was retired following the death of founding member Barney McKenna. Early years and m ...

's composition, "The Prodigal Son". The

featured both

contemporary Contemporary history, in English-language historiography, is a subset of modern history that describes the historical period from approximately 1945 to the present. Contemporary history is either a subset of the late modern period, or it is o ...

and

traditional A tradition is a belief or behavior (folk custom) passed down within a group or society with symbolic meaning or special significance with origins in the past. A component of cultural expressions and folklore, common examples include holidays or ...

songs as well as

instrumental An instrumental is a recording normally without any vocals, although it might include some inarticulate vocals, such as shouted backup vocals in a big band setting. Through semantic widening, a broader sense of the word song may refer to instru ...

pieces.

Track listing

Side One: # "Building Up and Tearing England Down" (Dominic Behan) # "Jigs - My Darling Asleep/Paddy in London/An Tathair Jack Walsh" # "

The Newry Highwayman "The Newry Highwayman" is a traditional Irish or British folk song about a criminal's life, deeds, and death. It is also found in Ireland, the USA and Canada with titles such as "Rambling Boy" and "Rude And Rambling Man". The earliest known version ...

" # "When Margaret Was Eleven" (Pete St. John) # "Prodigal Son" (John Sheahan) Side Two: # "The Waterford Boys" # "Reels - The Humours of Scariff/The Flannel Jacket" # "Now I'm Easy" (Eric Bogle) # "The Hen's March to the Midden" # "Song for Ireland" ( Phil Colclough) # "Second World Song" (David McDonagh) All tracks Trad. Arr. The Dubliners unless otherwise stated

Personnel

Ronnie Drew Joseph Ronald Drew (16 September 1934 – 16 August 2008) was an Irish singer, folk musician and actor who achieved international fame during a fifty-year career recording with The Dubliners. He is most recognised for his lead vocals on the si ...

- guitar, vocals * Barney McKenna - banjo, mandolin, vocals *

- fiddle, tin whistle, vocals *

Seán Cannon Seán Cannon (born 29 November 1940 in Galway) is an Irish musician. Since 1982 he has been a guitarist for The Dubliners and their follow-up-band The Dublin Legends. Early life Seán Cannon was born in Galway, Ireland. He travelled around Europ ...

- guitar, vocals *

Eamonn Campbell Eamonn Campbell (29 November 1946 – 18 October 2017) was an Irish musician who was a member of The Dubliners from 1987 until his death. He was also in the Dubliners when they recorded their 25th anniversary show on '' The Late Late Show'' hos ...

- guitar *Des Moore - guitar *Nigel Warren-Green - cello *

- keyboards, producer *Philip Begley - engineer *Fergus Bourke - photographer *Dara O Lochlainn - sleeve design

References

{{Authority control The Dubliners albums 1983 albums Polydor Records albums