''Ride On'' is an album by Irish folk singer

Christy Moore Christopher Andrew "Christy" Moore (born 7 May 1945) is an Irish folk singer, songwriter and guitarist. In addition to his significant success as an individual, he is one of the founding members of Planxty and Moving Hearts. His first album, ...

, released in 1984. Its title track remains one of his most popular songs. A number of songs relate the actions of those involved in political struggles, or those affected by those struggles; such as " Viva la Quinte Brigada" which is concerned with the Irish contingent amongst the International Brigade in the

Spanish Civil War The Spanish Civil War ( es, Guerra Civil Española)) or The Revolution ( es, La Revolución, link=no) among Nationalists, the Fourth Carlist War ( es, Cuarta Guerra Carlista, link=no) among Carlism, Carlists, and The Rebellion ( es, La Rebeli ...

; or "El Salvador" dealing with the

civil war A civil war or intrastate war is a war between organized groups within the same state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government polici ...

in that country in the 1980s. Other songs deal with

Irish history The first evidence of human presence in Ireland dates to around 33,000 years ago, with further findings dating the presence of homo sapiens to around 10,500 to 7,000 BC. The receding of the ice after the Younger Dryas cold phase of the Quaterna ...

– "The City of Chicago", about emigration to America during the Irish famines of the late 1840s; "Back Home in Derry" written by

Bobby Sands Robert Gerard Sands ( ga, Roibeárd Gearóid Ó Seachnasaigh; 9 March 1954 – 5 May 1981) was a member (and leader in the Maze prison) of the Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA) who died on hunger strike while imprisoned at HM Prison M ...

about the

transportation Transport (in British English), or transportation (in American English), is the intentional movement of humans, animals, and goods from one location to another. Modes of transport include air, land ( rail and road), water, cable, pipelin ...

to Australia of convicts; and "Lisdoonvarna" celebrating a music festival that took place annually in that town until the early 1980s.

Reception

Since ''Ride On'' is widely accepted as a landmark Moore album, it has been available ever since its original release and is regarded as one of the best possible introductions to the artist. The title track was written by one of Ireland's most famous songwriters, Jimmy MacCarthy, and many other artists have interpreted the song.

Track listing

# "The City of Chicago" ( Barry Moore) # "Ride On" ( Jimmy MacCarthy) # "

Viva la Quinta Brigada "Viva la Quinta Brigada" is a Christy Moore song about the Irishmen who fought in the Spanish Civil War against Franco. The title was changed to "Viva la Quince Brigada" in some later recordings. The song is about the Irish socialist volunteers, ...

" (Christy Moore) # "

The Song of Wandering Aengus "The Song of Wandering Aengus" is a poem by Irish poet W. B. Yeats. It was first printed in 1897 in British magazine ''The Sketch'' under the title "A Mad Song." It was then published under its standard name in Yeats' 1899 anthology ''The Wind Amo ...

" (

William Butler Yeats William Butler Yeats (13 June 186528 January 1939) was an Irish poet, dramatist, writer and one of the foremost figures of 20th-century literature. He was a driving force behind the Irish Literary Revival and became a pillar of the Irish liter ...

Travis Edmonson Travis Edmonson (September 23, 1932 – May 9, 2009) was an American folk singer, who performed both as a soloist and in the duo Bud & Travis. Early life Edmonson was born on September 23, 1932, in Long Beach, California, but grew up in Nogales ...

) # "McIlhatton" (

) # "Lisdoonvarna" (Christy Moore) # "Among The Wicklow Hills" (

Pierce Turner Pierce Turner (born June 1949) is an Irish singer-songwriter. After forming a duo with Larry Kirwan he went solo in the mid-1980s and has since released several albums. Biography Turner grew up in the port town of Wexford, where his mother r ...

) # "Sonny's Dream" (

Ron Hynes Ron Hynes (December 7, 1950 – November 19, 2015) was a folk singer-songwriter from Newfoundland and Labrador. He was especially known for his composition "Sonny's Dream", which has been recorded worldwide by many artists and was named the 41s ...

) # "The Dying Soldier" (Ger Costelloe) # "El Salvador" ( Johnny Duhan) # "Back Home in Derry" (Bobby Sands,

Gordon Lightfoot Gordon Meredith Lightfoot Jr. (born November 17, 1938) is a Canadian singer-songwriter and guitarist who achieved international success in folk, folk-rock, and country music. He is credited with helping to define the folk-pop sound of the 1 ...

) # "The Least We Can Do" (Gerry Murray)

Personnel

*Christy Moore – guitar, bodhran, vocals * Declan Sinnott – acoustic & Spanish guitar, violin, vocals *

Dónal Lunny Dónal Lunny (born 10 March 1947) is an Irish folk musician and producer. He plays left-handed guitar and bouzouki, as well as keyboards and bodhrán. As a founding member of popular bands Planxty, The Bothy Band, Moving Hearts, Coolfin, Mozai ...

– bouzouki, bodhran, vocals

Cover versions

Due to the success of the version Moore recorded on this album, "Ride On" has been covered by many other artists in subsequent years. *This song was a hit for Irish jazz singer Mary Coughlan in 1987 on her album '' Under the Influence''. *In 1991 "Ride On" was released by its writer Jimmy MacCarthy on his debut solo album ''

The Song of the Singing Horseman ''The Song of the Singing Horseman'' is the first album of Irish singer songwriter Jimmy MacCarthy James MacCarthy (born 1953) is an Irish singer-songwriter. Early life and career (1953–1979) MacCarthy was born in Macroom, County Cork, I ...

''. *More recently newer Irish band

Celtic Thunder Celtic Thunder is an Irish singing group and stage show known for its eclectic, theatrical style show. The group is backed by the Celtic Thunder Band on their concert tours, and their live shows are known for the use of dramatic set pieces (of ...

have recorded "Ride On". *Australian band Molly Rusher has also covered this song. *Cleatormoor Band The Black Guards (formerly D'Bleedin Blaggards) from West Cumbria UK have also paid homage to Christy with their soulful & lilting rendition of "Ride On" featuring Owen Evans on accordion from Iron Sea Wolf. *Canadian/Taiwanese recording artist Kandy Chen also covered this song in 1992. *Irish Celtic Metal band Cruachan released their version with Shane MacGowan as a single in 2001 and on their 2002 album '' Folk-Lore''. *Dutch folk band Rapalje has covered the song in their ''Rakish Paddies'' (2000) album, while also executing a live version of the song. *British band

Coldplay Coldplay are a British rock band formed in London in 1997. They consist of vocalist and pianist Chris Martin, guitarist Jonny Buckland, bassist Guy Berryman, drummer Will Champion and creative director Phil Harvey. They met at University ...

joined Christy Moore for a rendition of "Ride On" to close the 2011 Oxegen Festival in Ireland on Sunday, 10 July 2011 *Russian dark-folk band Neutral covered the song on their live album ''Luisenkirche, Königsberg'' in 2006. *English band Crustation has covered the song in their album ''Bloom'' in 1997 *Canadian astronaut

Chris Hadfield Chris Austin Hadfield (born August 29, 1959) is a Canadian retired astronaut, engineer, fighter pilot, and musician. The first Canadian to perform extravehicular activity in outer space, he has flown two Space Shuttle missions and also se ...

performed "Ride On" with NASA astronaut

Catherine Coleman Catherine Grace "Cady" Coleman (born December 14, 1960) is an American chemist, an engineer, a former United States Air Force colonel, and a retired NASA astronaut. She is a veteran of two Space Shuttle missions, and departed the Internatio ...

accompanying him on flute at the United Space School's traditional Mexican Night in 2012. They dedicated the song to the late space pioneer

Sally Ride Sally Kristen Ride (May 26, 1951 – July 23, 2012) was an American astronaut and physicist. Born in Los Angeles, she joined NASA in 1978, and in 1983 became the first American woman and the third woman to fly in space, after cosmonau ...

. *Americana singer-songwriter Dave Hawkins also performs this song. He also included it in his 2015 release, ''Stripped Down''. * Mairéad Carlin and

Éabha McMahon Éabha McMahon (pronounced ''AY-va'') is a contralto Irish singer and a former member of the ensemble Celtic Woman. In 2020 she began recording music under the name AVA. Early life Éabha was born in Dublin, Ireland on 9 December 1990. She is a ...

covered this song on Irish music group

Celtic Woman Celtic Woman is an all-female Irish musical ensemble conceived and created by David Kavanagh, Sharon Browne and David Downes, a former musical director of the Irish stage show ''Riverdance.'' In 2004, Downes recruited five Irish female music ...

's 2015 album ''

Destiny Destiny, sometimes referred to as fate (from Latin ''fatum'' "decree, prediction, destiny, fate"), is a predetermined course of events. It may be conceived as a predetermined future, whether in general or of an individual. Fate Although often ...

'', accompanied by

Máiréad Nesbitt Máiréad Nesbitt ( , ) is an Irish musician. She is known for performing Celtic and classical music and being the former fiddler for ''Celtic Woman''. She was also one of the two original fiddlers in Michael Flatley’s '' Lord of the Dance'' ...

on the fiddle.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ride On (Christy Moore Album) 1984 albums Christy Moore albums