Planxty

Planxty was an Irish folk music group that was founded in the early 1970s. She played mostly Irish traditionals, but also contemporary songs. This Planxty has mainly Irish traditional acoustic instruments used, but early on, also included elements from other cultures, such as the Balkan folklore and instruments such as the bouzouki in their music.

Line-up and band name

The original cast of Planxty consisted of:

• Andy Irvine (vocals, mandolin, Irish bouzouki )
• Christy Moore ( vocals, acoustic guitar, bodhrán )
• Dónal Lunny ( Irish bouzouki, guitar, synthesizer )
• Liam O'Flynn ( uilleann pipes, flute)

However, the group was never a fixed formation, but rather a " music project "; Planxty added for recordings and performances again and again by individual additional musicians, and also played together the named individuals with other musicians.

The name Planxty comes from the harpist Turlough O'Carolan, who used the word in many of his pieces. Beyond its importance, there are different statements, for example, that it is a variation of the popular drinking award sláinte or plangere derived from the Latin word, which means as much as beat.

Band History

1972 Christy Moore released his second album Prosperous, which he recorded with Lunny, Irvine and O'Flynn. After this recording, the four musicians founded Planxty. The first appearance as the opening act for Donovan in Galway made ​​them known to a wider audience.

Their first LP, Planxty, the band 1972 or 1973 still self-publishing brought out; especially the -heard it song The Raggle Taggle Gypsy - not the only one previously already the singer John Reilly had adapted - brought the group a record deal on the Polydor label, in which they probably sold under a lot of value: we are talking of only 30,000 pounds sterling for six albums. There she published the same year, the albums The Well Below the Valley and 1974 Cold Blow and the Rainy Night.

In keeping with the informal nature of cooperation, exchanged a few of the musicians in this period: Johnny Moynihan replaced Dónal Lunny and Paul Brady Christy Moore. In the original formation Planxty entered until five years later a recording studio; Resulted in two more LPs, namely After the Break ( 1979) and The Woman I Loved so Well ( 1980). The members of Planxty were still occasionally separate ways, found also in between together again and relation with other musicians, such as the flute player Matt Molloy, who later became a member of the Chieftains. As of 1983, Lunny and Moore concentrated on their new group Moving Hearts, Irvine and O'Flynn on their solo performances.

In 2004 she toured in to Nollaig Ni Cathasaigh and Bill Whelan reinforced original cast back together by Ireland; there was a live recording ( The Best of Planxty Live), which was released on DVD and CD.

Discography

• Planxty, 1972 or 1973
• The Well Below The Valley, 1973
• Cold Blow And The Rainy Night 1974
• The Planxty Collection, 1976
• After The Break, 1979
• The Woman I Loved So Well, 1980
• Words & Music, 1983
• The Best of Planxty Live 2004