I
n Gaelic, it means “The Land of Youth”; sometimes also translated as “The Promised Land”, though this last translation seems a little too ‘in line’ with the prevalent catholic sentiment of modern Ireland, instead of favouring the original, certainly more heathen context into which the Gaelic traditional music should be seen.Tír-Na-Nóg is a duo formed in 1969 by Leo O’Kelly and Sonny Condell, both playing guitars and vocals, plus a variety of more or less unusual instruments, assisted by different guest musicians on each live or studio performance.
They had, in their (musically) forming years, quite different influences; Condell being mostly influenced by classical music, while for O’Kelly the main source of inspiration were Jimi Hendrix, The Velvet Underground and The Doors.
Despite these rather different backgrounds, they shared the aspiration of becoming singer-songwriters and a distinct predilection for the Celtic culture and myths.
The resulting music (all their own compositions) is distinctive and spellbinding, magically suspended between the intricate textures created by the two guitars (often adopting a different alternative tuning) and the vocal harmonies.
After a couple of years playing in practically every UK’s folk club and abroad as support act for (more or less famous) rock bands like Jethro Tull, Procol Harum, The Who, Emerson, Lake & Palmer and Chicago, they will release their first eponymous album: Tír-Na-Nóg (1972), supported by Barry Dransfield on fiddle and Annie Crozier on psaltery. A rare little gem.
In 1973 they release their second album: A tear and a smile, with Larry Steele (bass) and Barry De Souza (drums) as supporting musicians. Also this album will stand tall and it represents their musical maturity, with splendid episodes like “So freely” and “Goodbye my love” (both by O’Kelly, by the way).
Though both albums were warmly welcomed by the critics they will, sadly, not reach the hoped commercial success, unlike many other Irish (real or self-appointed) bands surfing on the waves of the Celtic Renaissance/Revival that will take place several years later.
Quite a pity for the duo Condell/O’Kelly, while for us listeners it doesn’t actually matter: their music was and remains solid, inspiring and worth listening to.
Their third Strong in the sun (1973) fails to go one step further and disappoints. The introduction of more (too many?) electric instruments is not convincing, feels quite out of place, the delicate harmony of the first two albums is broken and they will disband by 1974.
They will reform in 1984 and sporadically go on tour and that is all and well, but their history is and should be told just by their first two albums.
That’s it.