Best of

Silly Wizard | Format: Audio Cassette

Product Details

• Audio Cassette (October 17, 1990)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Shanachie
• ASIN: B000000E7F
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  Vinyl  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,354,833 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Track Listings

1. Valley of Strathmore

2. Donald McGillavry/O'Neil's Cavalry March

3. A.A. Cameron's Strathspey/Mrs. Martha Knowles/The Pitnacree Ferryman

4. The Fishermen's Song

5. The Queen of Argyll

6. Finlay M. MacRae

7. The Pearl

8. Isla Waters

9. Mo Chuachag Laghach (My Kindly Sweetheart)

10. Broom O' the Cowdenknowes

11. Green Fields of Glentown/The Galtee Reel/Bobby Casey's Number Two/Wing

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

17 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Worth every ounce of praise I can heap upon it., October 1, 2003

By A Customer

This review is from: Best of (Audio CD)

I remember this album when it was first released in 1985 and in the 18 years since, I have found few albums in the genre that rival it. It is a fantastic selection of Silly Wizard's work. The "Queen of Argyll" is my absolute favorite love song of all time with lyrics like "All the roses in the garden bow and ask their pardon for not one could match the beauty of the Queen of all Argyll". If that doesn't conjure the image of a red haired Scottish beauty strolling in a garden or meadow, I don't know what does. Amazon gives us a space of 1,000 words to express our opinion in a review, but ten times that many praises might begin to express how I feel about this album ... even after all these years since I first heard it.

14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A great Scottish band I discovered by accident..., March 23, 2002

By 

Java Wench "javawench" (Columbia, SC United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Best of (Audio CD)

This vintage Scottish band was featured on a compilation CD of Celtic music I purchased several years ago...the song "Queen of Argyl" is the one song that was featured and it made me HAVE to find other music by this band. If you like both traditional Scottish music and more contemporary music with Celtic elements, you have to listen to this group! The vocals are stirring, instrumentation is skillful...I wish I had been around when Silly Wizard was in its heyday. Search out their music...you won't be disappointed.

14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars I was born ten years too late!!!, August 4, 2000

By 

"qyv" - See all my reviews

This review is from: Best of (Audio CD)

I was born in 1982, and my mom played Silly Wizard music for me (as well as the Chieftans and De Danaan) since before I knew what it was. I rediscovered Silly Wizard one day when I found the tape, "The Best of Silly Wizard," buried in a box somewhere. The songs are in a slightly different order than on the CD, but they're otherwise all the same, so I can assure you, this is a GREAT album.

The Silly Wizard sound is traditional Scottish fare, featuring the accordion, fiddle, flute, piano, guitar, and of course the pulsing bodhran, but they also have an electric bass, which they took a lot of heat for back in the day because it wasn't "traditional." Nevertheless, their music is fondly remembered today by those in the know as some of the best of its type.

A number of the songs are instrumentals- some, like "A.A. Cameron's Strathspey etc.", are fast, powerful pieces, which make you wanna stomp your feet. Then there's "The Pearl," a beautiful piece with a flute melody supported by a nice piano accompaniment. They're all excellent, but Silly Wizard DOES have a singer, and he has an excellent tenor. Indeed, some of the sung pieces are the most memorable- from the rousing "Donald McGillavry," and the charming "Isla Waters" (a song about how a friend will buy you drinks, but a GOOD friend will carry you home when you're drunk), to the mournful "The Valley of Strathmore" and the haunting "Fisherman's Song." Indeed, there's not a bad track on this CD, although I feel the weakest is definitely "The Broom o' the Cowdenknowes," which is a little too slow, too long. Fortunately, you'd be buying this as a CD, so YOU can skip it, whereas I have to fast=forward. But I usually don't, because it's still a pretty decent tune.

"The Best of Silly Wizard" is truly that- it's a must-have for any American who fancies himself a Celt, like myself, and I highly recommend it to anybody who wants to hear some truly timeless music.