There has been so many extended lives of the seminal Irish folk self titled album ANDY IRVINE PAUL BRADY that you would think an appetite might run dry. Forty six years after it was first released may seam like an unusual anniversary, but 2022 sees another surfacing with a couple of new facets set to rejuvenate its standing in the folk world of a country inherently proud of it archive revivalists.
Aided by a raft of technical adjustments to the sound quality, this album now gets a timely vinyl release and for those preferring a slightly more economical copy, a CD version is available. The good news is that a 12,000 word essay commissioned for the re-release has been included in both versions. This thick booklet written by Gareth Dunlop takes a deep dive into the life an album that still looms large in the extensive careers of its two main architects.
The essay begins with the background to the album's recording in the record breaking summer of 1976 (at least in the temperature and sunshine stakes) and follows through to the legacy. It transpires that the album received a lukewarm reception from the music press at the time. One then the sole domain of the print media from a written perspective. This new incarnation enters a different world with digital exchanges at the forefront, thus giving the release extra legs to power on as a must have-must hear collection for any seasoned fans of the folk genre, especially those of the Emerald Isle.
Brady and Irvine mainly traded in the currency of traditional song for this record, although an Irvine original did get an airing. What appears to have powered this record forward over the years is consensual analysis of the skill the pair and the team around them applied to the re-working and interpreting of songs seeking a tweak to keep their flame flickering.
Folk music is essentially a bridge between the past and the future. Every inch of this record aches of the past, yet there is so much to extract from the approach of Brady and Irvine that is has become a template as to how future generations can adopt a similar method for song renewal. It is a purpose like this that gives relevance and vitality to another timely re-issue.