Mary Black
Country of origin:
Ireland
Type of music generally:
Traditional Celtic and contemporary folk
Status:
Most recent release, Full Tide (2005)
See also:
The Mary Black PageThe Ectophiles' Guide entries for The Black Family and her sister, Frances Black
Comparisons:
Frances Black, Joni Mitchell
Covers/own material:
Covers and own
General comments:
In the late '80s Mary Black toured with her brothers and sister Frances as The Black FamilyBeautiful voice. (sspan)
I love Irish singer Mary Black's music; I hated her album, Shine. (candre@enteract.com)
Comments about live performance:
Indeed, her singing is quite divine, so it only seems likely that somebody/thing is watching over her concerts! :-) (jbr@casetech.dk)
Recommended first album:
Babes in the Wood
Recordings:
- Mary Black (1983)
- Collected (1984)
- Without The Fanfare (1985)
- By The Time It Gets Dark (1987)
- No Frontiers (1989)
- The Best of Mary Black (compilation, 1990)
- Babes in the Wood (1991)
- The Collection (compilation, 1992)
- The Holy Ground (1993)
- Circus (1995)
- Looking Back (1995)
- Wonder Child (1996)
- Shine (1997)
- Song For Ireland (1998)
- Speaking With The Angel (1999)
- The Best of Mary Black 1991-2001 (compilation, 2001)
- Mary Black Live (live, 2003)
- Full Tide (2005)
Babes in the Wood
Release info:
1991—Grapevine (Ireland)—GRAPECD 008 (I believe this has also had a U.S. release)
Availability:
Wide
Ecto priority:
Must have, if you can tolerate folk at all. (jbr@casetech.dk)
Group members:
Mary Black—vocals
Guest artists:
Maire Bhreatnach—fiddle, synth
Noel Bridgeman—percussion
Pat Crowley—accordion, piano, backing vocals
Garwan Gallagher—double bass
Carl Geraghty—saxophone
Declan Sinnott—guitars, dobro, mandolin, backing vocals
Comments:
Great voice, a little sharp but very pleasant. Good lyrics and music, too, often very wistful. (jbr@casetech.dk)
Looking Back
Release info:
1995—Curb Records—D2-77718
Availability:
Wide
Ecto priority:
Recommended for fans
Group members:
Mary Black—vocals
Guest artists:
Declan Sinnott—electric & acoustic guitars, dobro, synthesizer, harmony & backing vocals
Dave Early—drums, percussion
Carl Geraghty—tenor saxophone, soprano saxophone, saxophone
Garvan Gallagher—bass, double bass, electric bass, harmonies
Frank Gallagher—synthesizer, tin whistle, fiddle
Pat Crowley—electric piano, keyboards, piano, accordion, harmony & backing vocals
Liam Bradley—harmony vocals (1, 7)
Noel Bridgeman—percussion, drums, accordion, harmonies
Donal Lunny—synthesizer, bouzouki
Caroline Lavelle—cello
Maire Bhreatnach—synthesizer
Noel Eccles—drums, percussion
Bill Shanley—guitar
Jim Tate—bass
Emmylou Harris—vocals (8)
Philip Begley—synthesizer
Eoghan O'Neill—bass
Produced by:
Declan Sinnott; track 8 produced by Mary Black, Eleanor McEvoy & Noel Eccles
Comments:
Pretty soft pop, very pleasant easy listening, but even the most affecting song here "Ellis Island" doesn't grab me and inspire to listen to the album again. (JoAnn Whetsell)
Shine
Release info:
1997—Curb Records—D2-77888
Availability:
Wide
Ecto priority:
Highly recommended
Group members:
Mary Black—vocals, backing vocals
Guest artists:
Jerry Marotta—drums, percussion
Garvan Gallagher—bass
Bill Shanley—guitars, electric high-strung guitar, electric and acoustic guitar, mandolin
Pat Crowley—Hammond organ, accordion, piano
Frank Gallagher—fiddle & whistle, keyboards
Larry Klein—bass, guitars, drums, percussion, keyboards
Michael Landau—electric guitar
Greg Leisz—acoustic guitar, lap steel guitar, pedal steel guitar, baritone guitar, Weisenborn guitar solo (6)
Jim Cox—Hammond organ
Paul Brady—vocals (7)
Amy Kanter—backing vocals (8)
Produced by:
Larry Klein
Comments:
Beautiful pop album with much better-than-average songs and lyrics and mild Celtic influence, all carried by Mary's beautiful, crystal clear voice. (JoAnn Whetsell)
Song for Ireland
Release info:
1998—Gifthorse Records—G2-10050
Availability:
Wide
Ecto priority:
Highly recommended
Group members:
Mary Black—vocals, bodhran
Guest artists:
Declan Sinnott—guitars, synthesizers, harmonies
Pat Crowley—piano, Rhodes piano, dx7 synth, accordion
Mandy Murphy—harmonies
Honor Hefernon—harmonies
Pat Armstrong—guitars, backing vocals
Máirtín O'Connor—accordion
Brendan O'Regan—bouzouki
Peter Browne—pipes
Kevin Glackin—fiddle
Martin Black—backing vocals (5), harmonies (6)
Frances Black, Shay Black, Michael Black (The Black Family)—harmonies (6)
Donal Lunny—synth, bouzouki
Caroline Lavelle—cello
Philip Begley—synthesizers
Noel Bridgeman—percussion, drums, accordion
Eoghan O'Neill—bass
Frank Gallagher—synth
Mairead Ni Mhaonaigh—additional vocals (10)
Produced by:
Declan Sinnott, P.J. Curtis, Philip Begley
Comments:
The unifying theme of Irish songs (in subject and style) makes this a very nice retrospective of Mary Black's work (mostly solo, but one track from (The Black Family) is included). Fans of traditional music will find this album a pleasure to hear. (JoAnn Whetsell)
Thanks to Jens P. Tagore Brage and JoAnn Whetsell for work on this entry.
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