Silly Wizard - Live Wizardry: The Best Of Silly Wizard In Concert (1988)

Silly Wizard - Live Wizardry: The Best Of Silly Wizard In Concert (1988)
EAC Rip | FLAC, image+cue, log / 356 mb | MP3 CBR 320Kbps / 156 mb | 13 tracks | Covers
Celtic / Scottish Folk | Green Linnet Records GLCD 3036/37 | RAR 3% Rec. | Time: 1:04:21 | FileSonic, FileServe

This two-for-one bargain captures a brilliant live set in 1988, at the culmination of their career. Steve Winick, AllMusic
This was the swan song, a final farewell for the group that had taken the Celtic Revival sparked by Christy Moore and blew it into an uncompromising Firestorm that swept all before it. The incendiary virtuosity of Johnny and Phil Cunningham, the protean songwriting and mellifluous voice of Andy M. Stewart, the rock solid rhythm fretwork of Martin Haden and Gordon Jones were unparalleled at the time and set the bar so high that only Altan has ever surpassed them. And the case can well be made that there would be no Altan without Silly Wizard. This December, founding member Johnny Cunningham passed away, and thus an incredible part of Scots culture has left us. o dubhthaigh, Amazon




Imagine the Roof Top Concert of Let It Be

This was the swan song, a final farewell for the group that had taken the Celtic Revival sparked by Christy Moore and blew it into an uncompromising Firestorm that swept all before it. The incendiary virtuosity of Johnny and Phil Cunningham, the protean songwriting and mellifluous voice of Andy M. Stewart, the rock solid rhythm fretwork of Martin Haden and Gordon Jones were unparalleled at the time and set the bar so high that only Altan has ever surpassed them. And the case can well be made that there would be no Altan without Silly Wizard. This December, founding member Johnny Cunningham passed away, and thus an incredible part of Scots culture has left us.

You must remember that this band was formed by Cunningham in 1972 when he was 14 and Phil was 12. every significant Scottish musicians in the 80"s and 90's was impacted by Silly Wizard. Most of the really important ones were either briefly associated or absolutely inspred by SW's accomplishments.

As you can tell from the customer reviews, all of the CDs were sterling efforts. This one though has all the bittersweet elements of a fond farewell. Like The Beatles, there had been a feeling that they had covered the waterfront and it was time to move on. A tour was launched and perhaps the best playing of their career was delivered. The humour on stage was more accurately captured on the Green Linnet video, but this is a remarkable document of a band who quit at the peak and left all of us forever wanting more.

If you have nay Scots blood in you at all, you will find yourself full of pride in these remarkable men. If you have an avocation for this music, it simply does not get any better at all. 5 stars is somehow far short of just how incredible this disc is. o dubhthaigh, Amazon




Niles J. Frantz, AllMusic

Generally considered the world's finest performers of traditional and contemporary Scottish music -- and with good reason. Silly Wizard's music is at once driving and sensitive, powerful and poignant, at times hypnotic, often humorous, with sensitive group interplay and virtuoso-level musicianship, particularly from brothers Phil (accordion, keyboards, whistles, guitar, vocals) and Johnny (fiddle) Cunningham. Their repertoire includes centuries-old instrumental dance music along with traditional and contemporary narrative ballads: tales of joy and woe, of men and women, of time and travel, of love and loss. Silly Wizard is not just another folk music group; they rank with the greatest creators and performers from any country from any time.

Several members of the group, particularly the Cunningham brothers and vocalist Andy Stewart, have made solo and duo recordings and have performed and recorded with other artists, primarily Scottish traditionalists. These recordings are also well worth investigating, but get the Silly Wizard stuff first.


Wikipedia

Silly Wizard was a Scottish folk band that began forming in Edinburgh in 1970. The founder members were two like-minded university students¡ªGordon Jones (guitar, bodhran, vocals, bouzouki, mandola) and Bob Thomas (guitar, mandolin, mandola, banjo, concertina). The as-yet-unnamed band was sometimes joined by thirteen-year-old schoolboy Johnny Cunningham (fiddle, viola, mandola, vocals), who began more extensive touring with the band in 1972.

Career

Thomas credited the name of the band to a flatmate who was writing a book of children's stories, and the group first performed as "Silly Wizard" in summer 1972. Chris Pritchard (vocals) replaced Bill Watkins (vocals, guitar) in 1972. From September 1972 until March 1974, the band organized the Saturday night bookings, and regularly performed at, the Triangle Folk Club in Edinburgh. In February 1973, vocalist Chris Pritchard left the band and was replaced by Madelaine Taylor (guitar, bodhran, vocals). In October 1973, the band was signed to Transatlantic Records XTRA label. An album was recorded but before it could be released, Madelaine Taylor left the band in December 1973. The master tapes were subsequently lost and the album has never been released.

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