Tír na nÓg (band)
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Tír na nÓg was an Irish band of the early 1970s, consisting of Leo O'Kelly and Sonny Condell. Their music mainly consisted of their own compositions, based on strong Celtic roots and typically featuring intricate acoustic guitar playing and close harmony singing. They toured the folk clubs of England; played live on John Peel's radio show; toured internationally as a support act for several rock bands; and made three studio albums.
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[edit] Formation of the band
Sonny Condell came from Newtownmountkennedy, a remote place in the Wicklow Hills. His early musical influences were mainly classical music.
Leo O'Kelly, came from Carlow. He was influenced by heavy rock, including Jimi Hendrix, The Velvet Underground and The Doors. Before the formation of Tir na Nog he played in several bands starting with local Carlow beat group THE WORD before joining The Tropical Showband and Emmett Spiceland, with whom he toured.
O'Kelly and Condell met in Dublin in 1969 and discovered a shared ambition to be singer/songwriters. They started playing together, taking the name Tír na nÓg from Celtic mythology, and writing a song of the same name, which recounts the legend of Tír na nÓg. They travelled to London and began touring the folk clubs, as well as rapidly securing a recording deal with Chrysalis Records.
[edit] 1971–1974: performing and recording
Tír na nÓg made three albums between 1971 and 1974. The first was called "Tír na nÓg" and was produced by Bill Leader. It achieved Melody Maker Album of The Month on its release in 1971. It featured mainly their own songs, strongly rooted in the Celtic tradition, but also influenced by eastern music. Condell and O'Kelly played acoustic guitars and occasional bongos and other percussion instruments. Their guitar work was intricate and complex, leading to their being compared to bands such as The Incredible String Band and Pentangle. However, their style was quite distinctive. Often, they would use different open tunings for their two guitars.
Their second album "A Tear and a Smile" was released in 1972. This featured similar material to the first album. However, with their third album "Strong in the Sun" (released in 1974), produced by Procol Harum organist Matthew Fisher who also played keyboards on the album, they introduced more electric instruments and drums. From Alan Robinson's 2004 liner notes to BGO's reissue of this and the previous album on one CD: "..Certainly, of the three original Tir Na Nog albums, 'Strong In The Sun' is by far the most conventional, most mainstream, although that's not to say that Fisher had ironed out all of the band's entertainingly whimsical rough edges. Fisher gave a bit of a more clearly-defined shape and a greater depth to their sound, neatly framing the duo's contrasting vocal styles." Robinson also remarked that this high quality album didn't "reverse the duo's sales fortunes" and that it opened with "that rarest of things," a Nick Drake cover, "Free Ride."
As well as the folk club circuit, Tir Na Nog also toured internationally, as a support act for various rock bands, including Jethro Tull, The Who and Emerson, Lake and Palmer.
The radio presenter, John Peel, promoted their music and they performed a number of live sessions for the BBC.
[edit] Later years
After the break up of Tír na nÓg in 1974, they both returned to Ireland to pursue solo careers. Condell recorded a solo album called "Camouflage" and went on to form the band Scullion with Philip King, Greg Boland and Jimmy O'Brien Moran. O'Kelly pursued a career as a producer and has also released solo albums.
Tír na nÓg reformed in 1985 and have toured sporadically since then. Two more albums have been produced: one was of their live performance in Birmingham, in 1995, and the other from the original John Peel BBC radio sessions.
