Growing up in the Detroit area, we had no shortage of radio and TV to choose from, including content from an entirely different country, which, if you are a media geek like me, was an awesome gift. Windsor, Ontario, was right across the river, and from there we got some great radio stations, including CKLW, “The BIG 8,” which blasted music on the AM dial into the states (more about them another time). On the TV side, we had CBET, channel 9 from Windsor, which played a variety of interesting programming that was similar, but different from what the three big networks and fledgling UHF independent channels were offering. (What’s this got to do with music, you ask, and rightly so… read on).
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One of the programs that got beamed into our home when I was a kid was a little show that ran on the CBC for 10 years from 1967-1977, and it was called “The Pig And Whistle." It was kind of like The Lawrence Welk show (that is to say, very, very Caucasian and as hokey as "The Brady Bunch") with singers and music. But it also wasn’t champagne music. It was, in part, pub music. The Pig and Whistle was a fictional Irish pub that welcomed you in on Monday nights for some songs, some humor, a pint, and a visit with friends. (And they wonder why teens are fascinated with adult establishments?!?).
The music was still very pedestrian, but it also had a Celtic influence, with banjos, accordions, tin whistles, reels, jigs and joy — and THAT is what pulled me into Irish and Scottish music and led me to The Chieftains (who as far as I can tell, never appeared on “The Pig and Whistle," but they should have).
The Chieftains were a traditional Irish folk band formed in Dublin in 1962 by Paddy Moloney, Seán Potts, and Michael Tubridy. Their sound, which is almost entirely instrumental and largely built around uilleann pipes, has become synonymous with traditional Irish music. For their first dozen years, the group saw their music as a hobby and not entirely a career, but that all changed 50 years ago in 1975.
"The Chieftains 5" saw a huge change for the band members, who decided to quit their permanent jobs to become full-time musicians. The band, their work being distributed by major labels outside Ireland, now had to make it on a global basis, and this album had to consolidate their careers and prove that The Chieftains were not just a live band.
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The music on this album covers the entire spectrum of traditional instrumentation, and the range of tunes is also quite comprehensive, from the stateliness of the older pieces to the bounding rhythms of the dance tunes. In other words, it’s a full night at the pub, and 50 years later, it sounds as authentic and real as it did then. Reels, Polkas, and traditional Irish tunes make up this 10-song set that will take you away — not 50 years away, but to a pub in Dublin, a timeless space where you can sit back, close your eyes, sip your pint, and shape the scene to whatever suits your fancy. It’s really nothing short of magic, which is not surprising as Celtic music has always had a sense of enchantment and a spark of imagination that lets you believe that the impossible, given the blessings of the leprechauns and a perfect four-leaf clover, just might be real. For all intents and purposes, the music of The Chieftains is the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow.
Two other reasons “Chieftains 5” deserves a replay: first, the musicianship is outstanding. These fellows are the genuine article, and they play with grace and precision. Second, being an all-acoustic record, it’s not dated by the instrumentation used. So many records from this time feature the latest synthesizer, guitar effect, or popular drum rhythm, and you can tell pretty quickly when they came from. This set of tunes could come out today, and still sound fresh and contemporary, which you’ll find out if you give these gems a listen. It’s not a trip to “The Pig and Whistle," it’s better.
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Over the years, The Chieftains collaborated with a vast array of talent ranging from Elvis Costello to Ricky Skaggs. Sadly, in 2021, Paddy Moloney, The Chieftains' co-founder and leader, died suddenly on October 12, effectively ending the band. During their long run, they won six Grammys, were nominated 18 times, and sold over 45 million records worldwide — not a bad legacy for a group of musicians who kept their day jobs while honing their skills and building their fan base. Luckily for us, their music will always be here for us to enjoy.
