Gimme Three Steps: The Chieftains with Tom Jones and "The Tennessee Waltz"

The Chieftains bring us today's random tune, with a little help from Tom Jones. The Chieftains are an Irish ensemble, formed in 1962 in Dublin, who helped introduced the wider world to Irish music. They made a new and unique sound for themselves by playing their music primarily around the distinctive sound of uileann pipes. Besides releasing several critically acclaimed albums, they are just as well known for their collaborations with such artists as Van Morrison, The Rolling Stones, Madonna, Sinead O'Connor and Roger Daltry. Tom Jones is a Welsh singer, known for his robust baritone, who became famous with a string of hits in the 1960s and through his performances in Las Vegas. You can find this song, The Tennessee Waltz, on The Chieftains 1995 album The Long Black Veil. A popular country music song first recorded by Patti Page, the song is one of loss as the narrator introduces his or her sweetheart to someone else, who waltzes away with him or her.

Listen to songs like this and more on the KUNM Global Music Show every Monday night from 10 pm - 1 am Mountain Standard Time. Live streaming, program information and the two-week digital archive can be found at http://www.kunm.org.

Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Chieftains; https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tom_Jones_(singer)

Not a Sandwich: The Chieftains and Sting with "Mo Ghile Mear (Our Hero)"

Today's random tune pairs a legendary Irish band with a legendary English singer and bassist. Mo Ghile Mear (Our Hero) is performed by The Chieftains with Sting. The Chieftains, an Irish ensemble formed in Dublin in 1962, performs our random song for today, which is called The Wren in the Furze. The Chieftains developed their music primarily around the distinctive sound of the uileann pipes. They took their name from the title of a novel by Irish author John Montague. Besides releasing several critically acclaimed albums, they are just as well known for their collaborations with such artists as Van Morrison, The Rolling Stones, Madonna, Sinead O'Connor and Roger Daltry. They have released 44 albums. In this collaboration, they are paired with Sting, a onetime member of the English rock band The Police who has since had a flourishing solo career. Sting is known for incorporating jazz, reggae, classical, new age and worldbeat into his music, has won a variety of awards and is one of the best selling music artists of all time. You can find Mo Ghile Mear on the Chieftains album The Long Black Veil (1995).

Listen to songs like this and more on the KUNM Global Music Show every Monday night from 10 pm - 1 am Mountain Standard Time. Live streaming, program information and the two-week digital archive can be found at http://www.kunm.org.

Sources: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Chieftains; http://www.thechieftains.com/main/; https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sting_(musician)

Take In the Beautiful Air: The Chieftains with Sinead O'Connor and "He Moved Through the Fair"

Whatever you may think about Sinead O'Connor - she has a set of pipes. This beautiful song, title changed from the feminine to the masculine, is called He Moved Through the Fair. It is performed by O'Connor with The Chieftains. Sinead O'Connor is an Irish singer-songwriter who rose to fame in 1990 on the strength of her rendition of Prince's Nothing Compares 2 U. She has been known as much for her controversial statements, gestures, and opinions as she is known for the strength of her music. O'Connor began her career as lead singer for the band Ton Ton Macoute, which was inspired by world music but which thrived on O'Connor's stage presence and singing. She was soon signed to a recording contract, and put out her first album, The Lion and the Cobra, in 1987. It reached gold record status and earned a Grammy nomination for Best Female Rock Vocal Performance. She has since released nine more albums, the latest in 2014. The Chieftains are an Irish ensemble formed in Dublin in 1962 who developed their music primarily around the distinctive sound of the uileann pipes. They took their name from the title of a novel by Irish author John Montague. Besides releasing several critically acclaimed albums, they are just as well known for their collaborations with, including Sinead O'Connor, such artists as Van Morrison, The Rolling Stones, Madonna, and Roger Daltry. They have released 44 albums. He Moved Through the Fair can be found on The Chieftains' 1995 album The Long Black Veil, and is an air of some antiquity found in many versions throughout Ireland and Scotland. It has been recorded many times by a wide variety of artists such as Fairport Convention, Richard Thompson, Alan Stivell, Art Garfunkel, Mary Black and Josh Groban - a solo O'Connor version can be found on the soundtrack to the movie Michael Collins.