Customer Reviews

The Girls Won't Leave the Boys Alone

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4 star:		(3)
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2 star:		(2)
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Joanie Madden has done it again. The latest release by Cherish the Ladies proves their ability to transcend all musical genera's. The CD cleverly entitled "The Girls won't leave the boys alone", includes brilliant tracks from such male artists as Arlo Guthrie, Pete Seeger, Tom Chapin, Eric Weisberg, Matt Molloy, John McCutheon, John Jennings, Brian Kennedy and Paddy Reilly, just to name a few. This is also the first release with Cherish's new singer Deirdre Connolly of Queens, NY. Deirdre angelic voice would warm the heart of any individual that has the great fortune of listening to her. The CD also introduces Liz Knowles, as a member of Cherish, on fiddle. Liz, a native of Lexington, Kentucky, combines her classically trained playing ability and her deadly execution of traditional tunes to bring a beautifully sounding fiddle to the CD. The other Cherish veterans (Joanie Madden, Mary Coogan, Donna Long, and Mary Rafferty) flex their musical muscle and all work together to produce their best CD to date. I suggest you rush to order this historic CD and see Cherish the Ladies when they come to your town. The live show combines unbelievable music, fantastic Irish Dancing, traditional Irish humor.

Anybody who loves real, traditional, Irish music should absolutely love this CD. It ranges the gamut of all that there is to love, cherish, and enjoy in this culture. For the instrumentals, I especially enjoyed cut 5 consisting of Mullins'Fancy, The River's Hank of Yarn, and Gilbert Clancy's, featuring flute, Uilean pipes, and guitars. Those dances are followed by the emotional "Ireland, Love of My Heart". Dierdre's singing has to touch the heart of anybody who has any Irish blood in them at all. Paddy Reilly's vocal backed by fiddler John Sheehan makes "Down By the Glenside" another absolute standout. However, all of these are great and muchly recommended.

The Girls Won't Leave the Boys Alone is one of the loveliest, liveliest, and pleasurable discs that I own. I knew the Ladies could play--but this disc also shows what wonderful singers they are.

I'm not usually one for recordings that I call "guest-fests." Yet the Ladies have picked such great partners (John McCutcheon, the Clancy Brothers and Arlo Guthrie among them) on this CD that I am most impressed.

Beyond its excellence, you just get the sense that this music was a blast to play. This is artistry and music done at its best--in community and friendship.

The songs are all great. There is not a weak link to be found. My personal favorite is the version of The Mad Puck Goat. Also of special note are Rambling Irish Man (with its excellent grouping of artists) and the absolutely haunting Down by the Glenside.

I give this disc my wholehearted recommendation.

If it's jigs, reels and good ole Irish tunes, is to your liking...then you've come to the right place...wearing of the green, is the theme as ~ "The Girls Won't Leave The Boys Alone", is the latest from Joanie Madden, Mary Coogan, Donna Long, Mary Rafferty and Liz Knowles known as ~ "Cherish the Ladies"...featuring some well known guests artists.

Young women performing tradtional Irish tunes...as I remember their first album ~ "The Back Door", from the early '90s was a musical treat...as Celtic Traditional Folk is performed by one of today's great Irish Music Groups...entire album is simply delicious..."THE BROOM OF THE COWDENKNOWES", opening track is close harmony for the bonnie, bonnie broom with an addictive chorus ringing in your head is wonderful..."LAST NIGHT'S FUN/THE CHATTERING MAGPIE/THE BLACK HAIRED LASS/THE COMMODORE, has everyone in a festive mood...reeling and dancing up an "Irish Heyday".

Hats off to Brian Keane (producer), Steve Gates & Larry Hamby (A&R direction), Windham Hill Records and of course the best Irish musicians in America...bringing a little bit of heaven (Irish) into our lives ~ CHERISH THE LADIES!

Total Time: 59:30 on 13 Tracks ~ Windham Hill 01934-11583-2 ~ (2001)

Clear, sweet voices are the main attraction of this CD, with well-chosen male guests to sing those songs best delivered in a masculine voice, like "Bonny Blue-Eyed Nancy" and "Queen of Connemara." The selections range from lively reels and jigs and the tongue-twisting (well, maybe not if you're Celtic) "An Poc Ar Buile" to the haunting "Broom of the Cowdenknowes," "Down by the Glenside," and my favorite, "Erin Gra Mo Chroi." This is another new-to-me group that I plan to collect more of.

I bought this CD after hearing Cherish the Ladies live (which, by the way, I also highly recommend; it was an amazing performance). All of the tracks are extremely good, but the best one is Erin Gra Mo Chroi (Ireland Love of My Heart), in my opinion. It is a stunningly beautiful rendition of an older song and is guaranteed to have you in tears by the end. After this one CD and performance, I went and bought as many Cherish the Ladies CD's as I could find. Don't miss the opportunity for a live performance; it's an excellent, very funny show, with absolutely outstanding music.

I bought this Cd without ever having listened to a single note of the band's work. I had read a review in Sound and Vision, then the views here at Amazon, and I took a chance. I was not disappointed. Every song here is an absolute gem. The harmonies are magical, and the instrumentation will transport you. I play this disk again and again, and I think my wife is going to hide the CD if I play it at dinnertime once more. I promise you will not be disappointed. Buy this disk, and simply enjoy; it's magic, gorgeous, and worth any price.

The Girls Won't Leave the Boys Alone is one of the loveliest, liveliest, and pleasurable discs that I own. I knew the Ladies could play--but this disc also shows what wonderful singers they are.

I'm not usually one for recordings that I call "guest-fests." Yet the Ladies have picked such great partners (John McCutcheon, the Clancy Brothers and Arlo Guthrie among them) on this CD that I am most impressed.

Beyond its excellence, you just get the sense that this music was a blast to play. This is artistry and music done at its best--in community and friendship.

The songs are all great. There is not a weak link to be found. My personal favorite is the version of The Mad Puck Goat. Also of special note are Rambling Irish Man (with its excellent grouping of artists) and the absolutely haunting Down by the Glenside.

I give this disc my wholehearted recommendation.

I think there should have been more focus on the band, rather than guest performers. In general, I didn't like the guest singing performances, despite how famous the guys may be. The instrumental tracks are stellar, with all-star guests such as Liam O'Flynn and Matt Molloy. "Broom of the Cowdenknowes" is my favorite track. Great song, great vocals. "Erin Grá Mo Chroí" is a beautiful song very well-sung (the Dervish version on Midsummer's Night is also highly recommended). "Queen of Connemara" and "Jolly Beggarman" are other good songs. I didn't really like the arrangement of "An Poc Ar Buile", although it is still a good song. The other songs just didn't do it for me. But still definitely worth buying for any trad fan.

This CD is full of beautiful harmonies and the musicians, as usual, are outstanding! I listen to this CD frequently in my car and my 6 month old son sits quietly (not sleeping) in the back seat and listens with a smile on his face. I'm not kidding! Try it for yourself!