Black 47 - Bittersweet Sixteen

Compare Prices at 6 stores

$10.00 to $17.98

User Rating:

Not Yet Rated

Track List: Bittersweet Sixteen

Click on or song title to hear an audio clip. Windows Media player is required.

More Black 47 CDs and Albums

Album Details: Bittersweet Sixteen

Release Date:: 03/21/2006
Label:: Gadfly
UPC:: 076605229221

Pro Reviews: Bittersweet Sixteen

EXPERT RATING:

From AMG Reviews

Black 47 and Gadfly Records were faced with a challenge in compiling a retrospective on the band, since, over the first 16 years of its existence, in addition to its selfreleased and Gadfly discs, made recordings for three other companies two of them subsidiaries of major labels from which they could not be licensed. The solution, of course, was to use other versions of some of those songs, and "to the rescue," as annotator and bandleader Larry Kirwan puts it, came disc jockey Vin Scelsa, "who provided a long lost live studio recording considered by many stronger than our actual CD performances." That made available six songs originally heard on outofprint majorlabel albums like Home of the Brave and Green Suede Shoes. Then there are four tracks drawn from the Gadfly records; an early version of the song "Home of the Brave"; a previously unreleased early mix of "Funky Ceili"; and four previously unrecorded songs a cover of Buffalo Springfield's "For What It's Worth," the Kirwan original "Southside Chicago Waltz," a cover of Brendan Behan's "Patriot Game," and an a cappella rendition of union organizer Joe Hill's poem, "Joe Hill's Last Will." Kirwan provides his own assessment of the result: "The selection is in no sense definitive," he admits, "but provides a serviceable introduction for a novice, with enough unreleased tunes, hard to find covers and current live segues to catch the attention of a veteran." This is fair enough, but it's also worth noting that the contractual restrictions have skewed things somewhat. Since the band has never had any hits, any choice of their best or even most representative material is necessarily subjective, but most "veterans" would find it odd for a Black 47 compilation not to include "Rockin' the Bronx" and "James Connolly" (which appear on the selfreleased Black 47 debut album, reissued by Gadfly), "Maria's Wedding" and "Fire of Freedom" (from the Fire of Freedom album released by SBK/EMI, and apparently not rerecorded by Scelsa, though there is a performance of "Fire of Freedom" on Gadfly's On Fire live album), and "I Got Laid on James Joyce's Grave" (from the Shanachie Records album Trouble in the Land, which goes completely ignored). So, Bittersweet Sixteen must be thought of more as a rarities collection than a bestof, which actually may mean it will please veterans while, as Kirwan notes, being only serviceable for novices, for whom Live in New York City or On Fire might make a better introduction. (Although it consists of archival material, Bittersweet Sixteen is not classified as a compilation by the All Music Guide because most of the recordings have not been released previously.)

- William Ruhlmann, All Music Guide

Related Artists

Similar Artists

Roots & Influences

Followers

Damien Dempsey

Black 47 Biography

Black 47 (a name deriving from the year 1847, the blackest year of the Irish potato famine) is a New York-based band made up of Irish expatriates and led by songwriter/playwright Larry Kirwan. In addition to Kirwan (vocals, guitar), the band consists...Full Black 47 Biography

Compare New Prices: Bittersweet Sixteen

Compare New Prices
Store	Price / Notes
	$17.98	Calculate Total Price Price + Tax + Shipping = Total Price Enter ZIP Code:	Go to Store
Amazon.com Marketplace	$10.00		Go to Store
ModernRock.com	$12.26		Go to Store

compare (6) new prices from $10.00 to $17.98

Compare Used and Refurb Prices: Bittersweet Sixteen

Compare Used and Refurb Prices
Store	Price / Notes
	$9.39	Calculate Total Price Price + Tax + Shipping = Total Price Enter ZIP Code:	Go to Store

compare (1) used prices from $9.39 to $9.39