Customer Reviews

First Ten Years

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

A great summary of the group's terrific stage presence, composed mostly of nautical-themed ballads and some traditional folk songs. These guys are great in concert, and best experienced live. If you want to have a reminder of a great concert experience, or perhaps a preview thereof, this is a good choice.

I have been a Schooner Fare fan for over 10 years. For those who remember the Kingston Trio and the like will really enjoy "the boys". Their songs are crisp and evoke memories of the salt air and seas of Maine and Nova Scotia. In concert they are fabulous performers. If you are not into sea shanties this album is not for you. But for those of you who have the sea in your blood you will really enjoy it.

Let me be clear: Schooner Fare is a wonderful band. Their music, their sense of friendship and fellowship, their banter, their wit, it's all amazing. So why the one-star review? The First Ten Years (the CD) does not include everything from The First Ten Years (the Cassette Tape). I was looking forward to replacing my worn-out, dubbed cassette copy with a fresh CD, only to find that some songs are missing ("The Little Beggarman," among others), as well as all of the banter between Schooner Fare and the audience. To not include such wonderful tidbits on a live recording diminishes the quality of the experience, and the enjoyment.

As with a previous viewer, this is not the album you may think it is. I bought it to replace my worn out LP and found as the user of the cassette tape, it just ain't all there. Shame.

This is their best, they are highly talented and best seen live or a live performance. Tom Rowe playing the peent whistle is not to be missed!

The Schooner Fare first 5 years is a great combination of original and classic tunes. Wonderful stuff!

I first saw Schooner Fare in Boston in early 1983 and was entirely blown away. I grew up with PP&M and the Kingston Trio, and knew the songs of the Clancy Brothers, and these guys sang to that folk place in my heart. The First Ten Years condenses their genius in one long-play CD, with sailing tunes, but also contemporary songs. "Seekers' Melody" and "16 Tons/Hit the Road Jack" are worth the very reasonable price of the album alone if you aren't a sea-chanty fan yet! Okay -- the bottom line -- this is one of the all-time classic sing-along-in-the-car and the heck with the folks around you! One of the best stick-in-your-head albums. Just buy it, you'll be happy!
PS: Unfortunately the band is no more, since Chuck Rowe met an untimely death this past winter. We'll miss ya, laddie!