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Post by Moe on Jun 5, 2008 10:29:03 GMT -5
It seems appropriate to have a thread for Clannad, even though Enya is no longer with them.
But Clannad was a kind of "proving ground" for Enya, and did bring her to the attention of Nikcy Ryan, and the rest, as they say, is history.
We all know the split was not harmonious, but we shall not dwell on that; bygones are bygones.
What I am curious about is this: if you have the Clannad albums on which Enya appears, do you think she made a difference to the "Clannad sound"?
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Post by Treecat on Jun 5, 2008 11:01:18 GMT -5
I have Crann Ull and Fuaim. She's not credited on CU, but appears doing backing vocals on a song or two. Her influence: zip. I imagine they took her out for lunch afterward, and maybe bought her a nice teddy bear. Hey, she *was* .. what .. 17 at the time?
Fuaim: Lead vocal on"An tÚll and Buaireadh An Phósta, backs Moya on Horo. Influence--I really don't hear that great an influence on the album. I think Clannad was moving toward the sound it would eventually develop in the mid-late 80's, even without Enya. Perhaps her keyboard influence was more noticeable in concert, but keyboards don't play that great a part on Fuaim. Also, Ciaran is credited on the album with playing keyboards, as well as Enya.
I don't think that Enya had the opportunity to be the influence on Clannad that Nicky might have wished her to be when she joined the group.
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Post by eternity on Jun 8, 2008 15:12:26 GMT -5
I think that the influence of Nicky Ryan is more visible (or audible) than that of Enya in Clannad style at that time. But is nice to hear Enya's early voice at Fuaim "An túll" (it is not a solo Enya song?), Horo etc. and the duet (almost indistinguible) in Buaireadh an Phósta. In Crann Úll, I never saw anywhere that Enya was singing (but I think that in "Strange Day in the Countryside" - I can't remember the exact gaelic name now, the main vocal is from Enya). Recently I bought the Celtic Folk Festival CD, with those 2 Clannad tracks from the Enya time, the Horo etc. is really great, and Dulamán I think only on the synths. To compare, it is a great idea to play the "An Túll" version on the recent Clannad Live in Concert, without Enya singing, extrem well produced, but missing her vocals. What a good idea to have this Clannad thread! For those who are looking the first years of Clannad, I recently discover the "Treasures from RTE" DVD that contains a live performing of the group (without Enya) in 1976. But it was nice to look at the audience to see if she was there...
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Post by Treecat on Jun 8, 2008 16:06:28 GMT -5
Hi Eternity. These are the songs I hear Enya sing on Crann Ull: Gathering Mushrooms (backing/choruses with Maire), and Crann Ull itself. It's possible she's singing the lead vocal on Crann Ull, but more likely backs Maire. The problem with identifying Enya and Maire in these early albums is that their voices are so much alike. BTW, the Celtic Folk Festival versions of Horo is, to me, much better than the album version. Enya's keyboard work stands out more, and her lead vocal on one verse, and the other verse where she backs Maire, is much stronger. I definitely hear Enya singing on Dulaman on the CFF recording. There are two female voices on that version.
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Post by eternity on Jun 8, 2008 16:19:44 GMT -5
Hi Eternity. These are the songs I hear Enya sing on Crann Ull: Gathering Mushrooms (backing/choruses with Maire), and Crann Ull itself. It's possible she's singing the lead vocal on Crann Ull, but more likely backs Maire. The problem with identifying Enya and Maire in these early albums is that their voices are so much alike. BTW, the Celtic Folk Festival versions of Horo is, to me, much better than the album version. Enya's keyboard work stands out more, and her lead vocal on one verse, and the other verse where she backs Maire, is much stronger. I definitely hear Enya singing on Dulaman on the CFF recording. There are two female voices on that version. Tks, Treecat, I will hear them better. It was a long long time that I can't hear them - too much work to do - and I try to not disturb my neightbours with loud sounds (they do it all the time with me, however).
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Post by Treecat on Jun 8, 2008 16:28:24 GMT -5
I sympathize with you, Eternity. I hate dealing with noisy neighbors. I've listened to Crann Ull a lot, trying to figure out where Enya is. That's the best I've managed to do, and sometimes I'll listen to the album again and change my mind. "Oh.. Crann Ull.. that's definitely Enya on a lead vocal there." "Nope, it's Maire, and Enya's singing backup." round and round and round. At least Fuaim is easier because the liner notes specify which songs Enya sings lead on, and you can listen to the other songs and figure out where she's doing backup. On Horo, her lead is after her keyboard solo, btw. Then she and Maire sing a verse together. I've been to two concerts that Moya performed at, and have seen her and Sinead Madden employ the same arrangement of Horo--Sinead does Enya's vocal, and then sings with Moya on the next verse. The first time I saw Moya sing Horo, and heard Sinead sing "Enya's verse" and then do the verse with Moya, I literally cried out "I KNEW IT I KNEW IT!!!" I don't know why, but several people sitting nearby .. stared at me.
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Post by eternity on Jun 8, 2008 16:42:35 GMT -5
The first time I saw Moya sing Horo, and heard Sinead sing "Enya's verse" and then do the verse with Moya, I literally cried out "I KNEW IT I KNEW IT!!!" I don't know why, but several people sitting nearby .. stared at me. LOL! I would understood ;D
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eclipse
Member
Forever learning.
Posts: 196
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Post by eclipse on Jun 8, 2008 22:11:55 GMT -5
I think she did some nice work with them, but I don't think it hurt their sound when she left.
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Post by draoicht on Jun 9, 2008 8:12:05 GMT -5
TreeCat,
Does Enya sing lead vocal on Buaireadh an Phósta? Are you sure?? I always thought it was Máire. I must go listen again.
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Post by Treecat on Jun 9, 2008 8:31:33 GMT -5
TreeCat, Does Enya sing lead vocal on Buaireadh an Phósta? Are you sure?? I always thought it was Máire. I must go listen again. That's what's written in the liner notes of the album. I'll recheck it just to make sure. I believe I've also seen a Clannad article/interview that mentions Enya singing lead on Phósta. That'll be harder to check, but I'll look. Re: Fuaim, and slightly off topic, I wish they'd ditched Pat O'Farrell on electric guitar. He's not that good and his additions to the album are most annoying.
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Post by silmaril on Jun 9, 2008 8:38:08 GMT -5
I've been to two concerts that Moya performed at, and have seen her and Sinead Madden employ the same arrangement of Horo--Sinead does Enya's vocal, and then sings with Moya on the next verse. The first time I saw Moya sing Horo, and heard Sinead sing "Enya's verse" and then do the verse with Moya, I literally cried out "I KNEW IT I KNEW IT!!!" I don't know why, but several people sitting nearby .. stared at me. When Moya performed at a venue here in NYC on December last year, I also heard Sinead sing "Enya's verse"! I was ecstatic!
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Post by Treecat on Jun 9, 2008 10:59:41 GMT -5
one of my bandmates was sitting near me at the concert we saw here in December. She saw me do a "YES!" at Horo and knew what was going on. I'd blathered on to everyone the previous year about how the Enya vocal on Horo was confirmed when I saw Moya and Sinead perform it that first time. My husband was only concerned because I carried a Minolta A2 to both concerts, and it's not a camera you can hide when you're using it. The venue had relaxed rules about cameras and I had no trouble. Of course, I was careful not to use a flash. Got some great photos out of those concerts!
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Post by RichardF on May 8, 2019 3:45:24 GMT -5
Old thread I know. Maire, in her biography, says that Eithne was paid and treated as a session musician,m rather than as a member of the band Eithne mentioned in the Nighthwaks interview thast she was treated as 'little sister' and not taken seriously. I also got the impression that Maire was just the singer and didn't have much early input into the music. However Maire also said that when Eithne left, they then had to search round desperately for a keyboard player for a tour, so Eithne must have had some effect. More intresting than Clannad is to listen to Christy Moore's album 'Ordinary Man' . It was recorded at Aigle Studio in Artane, with Nicky as engineer. I think it was the last, possibly the only, album apart from Enya they recorded there. Nicky is on backing vocals on 1 song. Eithne does backing vocals on 3 songs, and on the album is credited as Eithne ni Brohain(wikipedia differs). Her vocals don't seem that striking nor unique. However there are a couple of musical interludes that have a very strong 'Enyaesque' feel to them
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Post by Moe on May 8, 2019 7:55:34 GMT -5
Old thread I know. Maire, in her biography, says that Eithne was paid and treated as a session musician,m rather than as a member of the band Eithne mentioned in the Nighthwaks interview thast she was treated as 'little sister' and not taken seriously. I also got the impression that Maire was just the singer and didn't have much early input into the music. However Maire also said that when Eithne left, they then had to search round desperately for a keyboard player for a tour, so Eithne must have had some effect. More intresting than Clannad is to listen to Christy Moore's album 'Ordinary Man' . It was recorded at Aigle Studio in Artane, with Nicky as engineer. I think it was the last, possibly the only, album apart from Enya they recorded there. Nicky is on backing vocals on 1 song. Eithne does backing vocals on 3 songs, and on the album is credited as Eithne ni Brohain(wikipedia differs). Her vocals don't seem that striking nor unique. However there are a couple of musical interludes that have a very strong 'Enyaesque' feel to them Thanks for this, I did not know about the Christy Moore recording (my bad)!
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Post by RichardF on May 9, 2019 0:16:38 GMT -5
There's no bad about it. These forums are to spread information, we all learn. I've learnt loads here, and the big up for me was being told about the Maire concert, which I would otherwise missed. Technically the Christy Moore album was when I first heard Enya, just at the time I didn't realise.
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