Owsley Stanley Foundation Readies ‘The Chieftains Live In San Francisco 1973 & 1976’

The Owsley Stanley Foundation announced The Foxhunt, The Chieftains Live in San Francisco 1973 & 1976, due out on September 16 via Claddagh Records/UMe. The latest offering from the Bear’s Sonic Journals archival series includes a never-before-released 1973 concert from famed Irish group The Chieftains taped by legendary Grateful Dead sound engineer Owsley “Bear” Stanley as well as a bonus concert from 1976.

On October 1, 1973, The Chieftains performed at San Francisco’s Boarding House, opening up for beloved bluegrass supergroup Old & In The Way at the personal invitation of banjoist Jerry Garcia. The Owsley Stanley Foundation’s Hawk Semins explained how Jerry became involved with The Chieftains:

“Jerry Garcia, The Grateful Dead’s lead guitarist, was playing banjo in the rollicking bluegrass band Old & In The Way, and after Jerry appeared with The Chieftains on Tom “Big Daddy” Donahue’s radio show on KSAN, he wanted them to open for him. During the KSAN broadcast, Jerry explained the influence of Irish traditional music on American country and bluegrass music, saying that ‘the nature of the songs is like what the fathers of country and western music, American music, grew up singing.’

“Perhaps, Jerry was also resonating with his own heritage when he invited The Chieftains to open for Old & In The Way— after all, his grandfather William Clifford was Irish American. In any event, when Jerry brought these two bands together onstage, he was reuniting two musical traditions separated by an ocean and centuries of migration: bluegrass and its Irish progenitor.”

The Chieftains Live in San Francisco 1973 & 1976 features art from acclaimed Irish painter Conor Campbell as well as sleeve notes from members of the Owsley Stanley Foundation and bluegrass great Ricky Skaggs. The archival release also marks the last project of Chieftains co-founder Paddy Moloney, who sadly died on October 12, 2021. Along with Bear’s recording of the 1973 Chieftains show, the archival collection also contains a concert from May 5, 1976 at San Francisco’s Great American Music Hall.

Check out the tracklist below:

Disc One: The Boarding House, October 1, 1973

1. Drowsy Maggie
2. Band Introductions
3. Morgan Magan
4. Carrickfergus (Do Bhí Bean Uasal)
5. The Morning Dew
6. Lord Inchiquin
7. An Fhallaingín Mhuimhneach (The Munster Cloak)
8. The Foxhunt
9. Mná na hÉireann (The Women of Ireland)
10. Carolan’s Concerto
11. Kerry Slides
12. Opening Medley: Strike the Gay Harp/The March of the King of Laois/The Lady on the Island/The Sailor on the Rock
13. Lord Inchiquin
14. An Fhallaingín Mhuimhneach (The Munster Cloak)
15. Kerry Slides
16. Samhradh, Samhradh (Summertime, Summertime)
17. The Foxhunt
18. George Brabazon

Disc Two: Great American Music Hall, May 5th, 1976

1. Golden Gate Medley: Seán Chuilfhionn /Clare Reel/ Róisín Dubh/John O’Connor/Golden Gate Slides/Steam Packet Selections (reels)/Pretty Girls Reel
2. Timpán Reel
3. Marbhna Luimnigh (Limerick’s Lamentation)
4. O’Keefe’s Slide/Round the House and Mind the Dresser
5. Ceol Bhriotánach (Breton Music) (4 pieces)
6. Humours of Carolan: Planxty Maguire/Charles O’Conor/Carolan’s Farewell to Music/SíBeag, Sí Mhór (Small Fairy Mound, Big Fairy Mound)/Bumper Squire Jones/Planxty Johnston
7. Introduction to the Battle of Aughrim
8. Battle of Aughrim
9. The Morning Dew
10. Mná na hÉireann (The Women of Ireland)
11. Kerry Slides
12. Tabhair dom do Lámh (Give Me Your Hand)
13. Ríl Mhór Bhaile an Chalaidh (Great Reel of Baile an Chalaidh)