Both Ears And The Tail

Martin Carthy | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (February 13, 2001)
• Original Release Date: 1966
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Gadfly Records
• ASIN: B000056NZU
• In-Print Editions: Audio CD  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #547,763 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Track Listings

1. Leitrim Fancy/Drowsy Maggie/Staten Island/The Corbie and the Craw/High

2. Fair Maid on the Shore

3. Porcupine Rag

4. The Bonny Black Hare

5. Sovay (The Female Highwayman)

6. The Barmaid/Peter St. /The Mason's Apron

7. The Broomfield Hill

8. The Wind That Shakes the Barley

9. The Hens March/The Four Poster Bed

10. Man of Newlyn Town

11. Dill Pickles Rag

12. The Two Magicians

13. The Kid on the Mountain/The Donegal/The Swallowstail/The Marquis of ...

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Traditional Folksongs with an Edge, February 27, 2002

By 

M. Hartman (East Coast, Etats-Unis) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Both Ears And The Tail (Audio CD)

This cd was a revelation for me. This is a rather rough live recording from the mid 1960's, that captures Carthy and Swarbrick playing passionately and off the cuff. The traditional songs presented here have all the rollick and fire of the Clancy Brothers. There are a few melancholy slow ballads here (the fantastic "The Wind that Shakes the Barley"), and there are several fabulous saucy and suggestive little ditties (the wonderfully lewd "Bonnie Black Hare") as well as some absolutely firey instrumentals. There is a certain enrgy to this recording that only a live show can generate. It's powerful, informal and a rollicking good time. Highly recommended.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars What shall we play?, April 28, 2009

By 

Paul Magnussen (Campbell, CA USA) - See all my reviews
(TOP 1000 REVIEWER)   

This review is from: Both Ears And The Tail (Audio CD)

Answer: Anything you like -- just play!

This little gem of an album captures, as the contemporary studio albums do not, the magic of a live Carthy & Swarbrick performance in the 60's.

It seems hard to remember now that no one in the Folk Revival (except The Dubliners) was yet playing jigs and reels, and traditional musicians' performances were often ruined by clomping piano-drivers (Michael Coleman being the archetypal example). Swarbrick was like a breath of fresh air.

It looks like this was recorded sometime between Martin's first and second albums, and just before Dave's pioneering Rags, Reels and Airs. Unsurprisingly, there's a large overlap in material, but some of the performances are quite different: for instance, "The Swallow Tail" and the "Marquis of Tullybardine" are on fiddle instead of mandolin, and the former is in A minor instead of E minor.

The ad hoc nature of their sets is evinced by several conversations, some actually DURING the performance, e.g. the following from the first track (Dave speaking first):

"What's next?"
"I dunno... Drowsy Maggie."
"Eh?"
"Drowsy Maggie!"

[...]

"What's next?"
"(Undecipherable)"
"No."
"You think of something then!"

The highlight of the album for me is the last tune of this set, a stunning version of "Da Corbie an' da Craw" that is quite different from Tom Anderson's, and which they never recorded elsewhere. You also get to hear "Dill Pickles Rag" in stereo for the first time ("Rags, Reels and Airs" was only issued in mono, even on CD).

The total time is 48'49".