Anarchy & Rapture

(1997)

This was our last actual album and our only foray into serious 16-track recording, recorded almost entirely at Cookie Marenco's OTR Studios in Burlingame, with the inestimable Generosa Litton presiding at the recording console. (Triad was recorded there and at Tiki Town in San Rafael and at Trident Studios in Pacheco. By contrast, all our other records came out of Elton's house, recorded on 8-track cassette. Seriously.) The band was:

Leigh Ann: fiddle, vocals
Elton: guitar, vocals
R Pickett: bass, vocals
Brian Hill: guitar
Billie Mandel: flute, vocals, saxophone
Larry the O: drums

Also lending their talents on this record: Michael Bluestein, keyboards; and Ricky Carter, percussion.

Brian and Larry also sang backing tracks on Carlow, and Brian played banjo for Whiskey. Everyone sang on Parting Glass ... and since all of us except Leigh Ann are rather weak singers, hoo boy was that a challenge. Parts of this recording took a lot longer than others to get right.

You can download the recordings! Right-click on the track name, select "Save Target As..." (IE) or "Save Link As..." (Firefox).

1	Black Eye, Yellow Eye 128 kb, 4.4 Mb lyrics	Leigh Ann's song describing her journey through the American Southwest: the Grand Canyon and a reservation. Seriously. Keys: Michael Bluestein. Percussion: Ricky Carter.
2	She Moved Through the Fair 128 kb, 4.5 Mb lyrics	A bit of an Irish ghost story — at least in this version. (A longer version of the song shows it to be a love lost through courting too slow.) We don't do what you'd call a "haunting" version.
3	The Sound of Mull 128 kb, 5.1 Mb	Two Scottish tunes: a reel, The Sound of Mull, and a jig, Return to the Stewartry. The jig was written by Ian Lowthian. The odd-metered bit in the middle is us playing The Sound of Mull in 7/8.
4	The Foggy Dew 128 kb, 5.1 Mb lyrics	This song was written about the Irish 1916 revolution, when Ireland finally became (mostly) independent of England. We used its backstory, dead people in World War I, to perform it as an anti-war ballad.
5	Awakening 128 kb, 2.3 Mb lyrics	This is, as far as I know, the only song Billie ever wrote. It was certainly her first.
6	"The Reel Set" 128 kb, 4.7 Mb	A collection of Irish reels: Joe Cooley's reel, The Musical Priest, The Silver Spear, The Mason's Apron
7	The Blacksmith 128 kb, 3.8 Mb lyrics	English traditional. Elton once had the bizarre idea that we should put a different version of this on every Annwn album. Thankfully, that didn't happen ... but this African-inspired version is a pretty good one.
8	Follow Me Up to Carlow 128 kb, 4.2 Mb lyrics	Originally written as a reel, this is the story of an Irish uprising in the 1590s. As much as Foggy Dew is anti-war, our reading of this song is just plain vicious. Friends of ours used to band together at shows and sing "Burn That Saxon Village Down" before and after we performed this.
9	Triad	David Crosby's song of brotherly love. Too scandalous for The Hollies, this became a hit for the Jefferson Airplane. Percussion: Ricky Carter.
10	The Parting Glass 128 kb, 4.8 Mb lyrics	This traditional Irish drinking song is the closing song at many an Irish pub. We learnt it off the Clancy Brothers. Keys: Michael Bluestein
11	Whiskey, You're the Devil 128 kb, 4.7 Mb	This, believe it or not, is also traditional Irish. It must be: the Clancys claimed they learnt it in their mother's pub. Our version is (ahem) not traditional. This may also be the only recorded instance of Brian playing the banjo.

Black Eye, Yellow Eye 128 kb, 4.4 Mb
lyrics

Leigh Ann's song describing her journey through the American Southwest: the Grand Canyon and a reservation. Seriously. Keys: Michael Bluestein. Percussion: Ricky Carter.

She Moved Through the Fair 128 kb, 4.5 Mb
lyrics

A bit of an Irish ghost story — at least in this version. (A longer version of the song shows it to be a love lost through courting too slow.) We don't do what you'd call a "haunting" version.

The Sound of Mull 128 kb, 5.1 Mb

Two Scottish tunes: a reel, The Sound of Mull, and a jig, Return to the Stewartry. The jig was written by Ian Lowthian. The odd-metered bit in the middle is us playing The Sound of Mull in 7/8.

The Foggy Dew 128 kb, 5.1 Mb
lyrics

This song was written about the Irish 1916 revolution, when Ireland finally became (mostly) independent of England. We used its backstory, dead people in World War I, to perform it as an anti-war ballad.

Awakening 128 kb, 2.3 Mb
lyrics

This is, as far as I know, the only song Billie ever wrote. It was certainly her first.

"The Reel Set" 128 kb, 4.7 Mb

A collection of Irish reels: Joe Cooley's reel, The Musical Priest, The Silver Spear, The Mason's Apron

The Blacksmith 128 kb, 3.8 Mb
lyrics

English traditional. Elton once had the bizarre idea that we should put a different version of this on every Annwn album. Thankfully, that didn't happen ... but this African-inspired version is a pretty good one.

Follow Me Up to Carlow 128 kb, 4.2 Mb
lyrics

Originally written as a reel, this is the story of an Irish uprising in the 1590s. As much as Foggy Dew is anti-war, our reading of this song is just plain vicious. Friends of ours used to band together at shows and sing "Burn That Saxon Village Down" before and after we performed this.

Triad

David Crosby's song of brotherly love. Too scandalous for The Hollies, this became a hit for the Jefferson Airplane. Percussion: Ricky Carter.

The Parting Glass 128 kb, 4.8 Mb
lyrics

This traditional Irish drinking song is the closing song at many an Irish pub. We learnt it off the Clancy Brothers. Keys: Michael Bluestein

Whiskey, You're the Devil 128 kb, 4.7 Mb

This, believe it or not, is also traditional Irish. It must be: the Clancys claimed they learnt it in their mother's pub. Our version is (ahem) not traditional. This may also be the only recorded instance of Brian playing the banjo.