The Chieftains

The Chieftains are indisputably the world's leading proponents of traditional Irish music. As such, their appeal has extended well beyond Ireland's folk community, engendering international praise and collaborations with a wide range of musicians, from leading symphony orchestras to major rock artists. The five original Chieftains - including current members Paddy Moloney, initially the group's sole producer/arranger and still its leader, and fiddler Martin Fay - met in the late '50s while playing in Ceoltoiri Caulann, a folk ensemble. As the Chieftains, they aimed to lend their classical training to skilled interpretations of Celtic music, using traditional instruments like the tin whistle, uilleann pipes, and bodhran drum. In the decade following the group’s 1964 debut, it put out albums sporadically - Chieftains 2 didn’t materialize until 1969 - and made some personnel changes as its members tried to maintain their day jobs.

The Chieftains finally became a full-time act in 1975 and commemorated it by selling out London’s Royal Albert Hall and providing the Oscar-winning soundtrack for Stanley Kubrick’s film Barry Lyndon. In 1979 they played before 1.3 million people at an outdoor Mass in Dublin, as the supporting act for Pope John Paul II. The following year they released their ninth studio album, 9 Boil the Breakfast Early, which introduced vocals to their music, courtesy of bodhran player Kevin Conneff. 10 Cotton Eyed Joe found the Chieftains diversifying further, experimenting with American country textures. In 1983 they were among the first Western acts to play China, performing with a Chinese folk orchestra. Appearances with prominent North American symphonies, including the Boston Pops, followed.

In 1987 the group recorded the first of two traditional albums with Irish classical flutist James Galway. The following year saw a similar collaboration with Van Morrison [see entry]. Morrison also appeared, alongside singer/songwriter Nanci Griffith [see entry] and others, on A Chieftains Celebration. That year the Irish government made the Chieftains national musical ambassadors. The group’s ’90s accomplishments include The Bells of Dublin (1991), featuring such folk and rock luminaries as Griffith, Elvis Costello, Jackson Browne, and Rickie Lee Jones; An Irish Evening (1992), recorded live at Belfast’s Grand Opera House with Griffith and Roger Daltrey; and Another Country (1992), a collaboration with C&W stars including Willie Nelson and Emmylou Harris. The latter recordings won Grammys for Best Contemporary Folk Album and Best Traditional Folk Album, respectively.

The Long Black Veil (#22, 1995) includes contributions from Sinéad O’Connor, Marianne Faithfull, Ry Cooder, Mark Knopfler, Sting, and the Rolling Stones. The record went gold, and its version of Van Morrison’s “Have I Told You Lately That I Love You” beat out Mariah Carey and Michael Jackson to win a 1995 Grammy for Best Pop Vocal Collaboration. Santiago, released in 1996, won a Grammy for Best World Music Album. Tears of Stone (1999), a concept album about women and love, features guest performances from Bonnie Raitt, Joni Mitchell, Joan Osborne, and others. Recorded live and in the studio at locations throughout Ireland, Water From the Well consists entirely of traditional Celtic music.

from The Rolling Stone Encyclopedia of Rock & Roll (Simon & Schuster, 2001)