| Brian's CD Reviews |
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| Here are details of a selection of Brian's albums, solo and with a variety of musical partners. |
Click on a track to listen to a sample from each album
This text will be replaced by the flash music player.
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| TO ANSWER THE PEACOCK UK : Greentrax Records 1999 |
Scotland yesterday, today and tomorrow -it'll
always fascinate me, and my response to it will
never be simple... |
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| Brian's fans will know him as a multi-instrumentalist (alongside his established reputation as a songwriter). But in his new album 'To Answer The Peacock', Brian concentrated on what is probably known as his first instrument, the fiddle. New tunes with evocative titles (See Track List) |
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To Answer
The Peacock The Fallen Angel Set Quodlibet Peace And Plenty Czarlie Is My Darling/These Boots Were Made For Walkinshaw Bill Malley's Schottische/The Balnain Ball The Wooden Sisters St Christopher And The Magpie The Colrhanna Set Gordy's Wedding/Wrapped Up Tidy The Stolen Strad Set Lady Livingstone The Condolences Set Chapter 1, To Answer The Peacock |
| NO GODS UK : Greentrax Records 1995 |
A heartfelt album in which injustices are addressed and the precious few heroes of the title track remembered in tune and song. | |
| "A
mature album from a master musician and a great writer
revealing yet more of the depth of the McNeill
talent." Living Tradition Magazine. |
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No Gods and Precious Few Heroes Miss Michison Regrets Any Mick'll Do The Drover's Road/Breton Wedding March Trains And My Grandfather The Heroes' Reels Montrose Inside The Whale/ Princess Augusta Fighter Alison Hargreaves/Veillon's/ Young Master Haigh Steady As She Goes Bring Back The Wolf |
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THE BACK O' THE NORTH WIND UK : Greentrax Records 1991 Germany : FMS Records 1991 |
Like so many Scots, the emigration experience has been important to my family, and it has always fascinated me. I knew that eventually I would have to explore it artistically... | |
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"...a
songwriter who can pack a man's lifetime into a few
bustling verses and an ear-tugging chorus and give you
the feeling that he has said all that needs to be said..." The Scotsman, 21st September 1991. |
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The Back O' The North Wind Strong Women Rule Us All With Their Tears The Rock And The Tide Destitution Road Muir And The Master Builder The Atlantic Reels The Best O' The Barley Ewen And The Gold Drive The Golden Spike/Lang Johnny Moir Steel Man The Bridal Boat |
| UNSTRUNG HERO UK :Temple Records1995 USA: Flying Fish Records 1995 |
More than anything else, I wanted to distil my own music from the various traditions I'd dipped into -and then I wanted to be my own band, to disprove the notion that being a multi-instrumentalist means having to compromise... | |
| "I
just wish I could play the guitar as well as Brian
McNeill, let alone the fiddle, bass, drums, xylophone,
concertina, hurdy-gurdy...." Folk Roots, July 1985. |
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Lift Your Glass To
The Landlady/Peter Calver's Favourite/The Steeple Reel The Butterfly Chain Angela Morrison's Pavane/The White Dress/The Foggy Banks Of Haines The Boys That Broke The Ground/Ortiguera The Tall Ships In Their Prime The Ivory Reel/Miss Susan Fedderson/The Quill Belle-Ile/Crookhill The Laverock Sang The Heron Molly's Roses/Hamish Henderson's Refusal Blue Jay And a Cardinal Bothkennar Down The Road To Galloway/Catherine Jane's Polka |
| MONKSGATE France: Escalibur Records 1978 Germany: FMS Records 1992 UK: Greentrax Records 1993 |
A snapshot of the instrumental traditions that influenced me in the late seventies -Scotland, Ireland, Wales and Northumbria.. | |
| "...a
quietly passionate celebration of tradition without
boundaries... ...A rare balance of integrity and personality..." Q Magazine, September 1993. |
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Queen
Of Sluts/Willie Is A Bonny Lad The Flowers Of The Thorn The Oyster Girl/The Centenary/Shane's Fancy Master Crowley's Reel/Bobby Casey's Reel The Duke Of Fife's Welcome To Deeside/Belladrum House /The Witch Of The Wave Rowley Burn/Roxburgh Castle Planxty Charles Coote/Planxty Hugh O'Donnell The Bag of Potatoes/The Little Pig Lamenting the Empty Trough/Brian O'Laimhin Monksgate The Hag at The Spinning Wheel The Eclipse/The Mathematician Modest Miss France/The Marchioness of Huntly/Miss Shepherd/Pretty Peg |
| THE BUSKER
AND
THE DEVIL'S ONLY DAUGHTER UK: Temple Records 1990 USA: Flying Fish Records Germany: FMS Records 1990 |
I couldn't write a book about a street musician without giving him some music of his own... | |
| "...plays
with a skill and an ease which would make anyone who has
ever held a fiddle weep..." Stornoway Gazette, 6th November 1991.
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The Sidewalk Reels High Handenhold Lady Glasgow The Golden Ox/The Silver Waltz The Devil's Only Daughter The Busker The Pavement Jigs Miss Hamilton Greenland's Icy Waters The Owl Waltz McNeill's Favourite |
| LIVE &
KICKING A High Hold Production for FMS Records 2000 (FMS 2089) |
McNeill & MacKintosh...... Sometimes the least likely combinations are the ones which work the best. A Brian and Iain stage show is about virtuosity and dynamism, integrity and warmth. It's a forum for ideals that need to be firmly restated and points that need to be gently pushed home. |
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| "The Quiet Man Of Scottish Folk Music"
and "The Fiery Fiddler" Together in a classic tour and now live album Please Welcome Brian McNeill and Iain MacKintosh |
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Disk One The Dallas-Domestic-Fort-Worth -Nothin'-Texas-High-Heel-Terminal -Two-Step / Smoky Mokes. If I Had A Boat. Beautiful Dreamer / Travellers Moon. Generations Of Change. The Bonny Wee Lass Who Never Said No. What You Do With What You've Got. The Hag At The Spinning Wheel / The Hook Of Holland. Roses From The Wrong Man. The Boy's Lament To His Dragon / The Flower Of Denmark's Winter / Kenmure's On An' Awa' The Wind And Rain. The Sea Maiden / Lord Franklin / The Recruited Collier. |
Disk Two The Farm Auction. Holyrood House. The Best O' The Barley. The Lacemaker / Yankee Dollar / The Trip To Marblehead. I Wouldn't Change A Thing. Any Mick'll Do. Spanish Fandango. The King Of Rome. My Home / The Balkan Hills / The Entertainer. Oor Hamlet / The Mason's Apron. The Rowan Tree. |
| STAGE BY STAGE UK: Greentrax Records 1995 |
...Working with Iain MacKintosh is a labour of love; not everybody gets to work with one of their heroes. | |
| "Magnificent
interpretations of great songs dredged from traditional
and contemporary sources, backed by a plethora of
instruments played by two men who can truly say they have
paid their dues." Oban Times. |
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The
Plainstanes/The Glasgow Magistrate The Wind and Rain The Sea Maiden/The Balkan Hills The Bonny Wee Lassie Who Never Said No Holyrood House Generations Of Change The Dallas-Domestic-Fort-Worth- Nothin'-Texas-High-Heel-Terminal- Two-Step/Smoky Mokes Beautiful Dreamer/Traveller's Moon Summer Of Love The Recruited Collier/The Tank/Cronin's/The Fisherman's Lilt What Do You Do With What You've Got The Black Swan/Roslin Castle You Can't Take It With You When You Go |
| HORSES FOR COURSES Germany: FMS Records 1993 UK : Greentrax Records 1994 |
Anyone who writes and performs from traditional roots has to go back to them from time to time -and I couldn't have asked for better company than Tom McDonagh for the trip... | |
| "...it
is at heart all that is fun and enjoyable about Celtic
traditional music..." Dirty Linen, August 1994. |
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Horses For
Courses/ Sunday On The Jar The Dark Island Johnny Gallagher/Jimmy Ward's Jig The Snows Of France And Holland Miss Grant's Jig/Danzig Willie/Sonny's Mazurka Tripping Down The Stairs/The Convenience Reel/Bleaton Gardens The Clergyman's Lamentation/The Last Adder Mary and The Soldier/The Alma The Burning Of The Piper's Hut/The Three Chimneys/Bonny Kate Blackwaterside Mrs. Crotty's Reel/The Shoemaker's Daughter/Return To Camden Town |