Planxty
Planxty[1] were an Irish folk music band formed in January 1972,[1]: 99–100 consisting initially of Christy Moore (vocals, acoustic guitar, bodhrán), Andy Irvine (vocals, mandolin, mandola, bouzouki, hurdy-gurdy, harmonica), Dónal Lunny (bouzouki, guitars, bodhrán, keyboards), and Liam O'Flynn (uilleann pipes, tin whistle).
[1]: 3–17 Before the formation of Planxty, Lunny had been playing in a duet with Andy Irvine after the latter's return from Eastern Europe[1]: 83–84 and they had also launched their own folk club, downstairs at Slattery's, called The Mugs Gig.
[1]: 93–94 All members were familiar with one another's work to varying degrees but were first brought together during the summer of 1971 to record Moore's second solo album, Prosperous, at his sister's house, in the village of the same name.
[1]: 112 A rough quality recording of the song "Raggle Taggle Gypsy" from this concert was included on the 2004 retrospective, Christy Moore – The Box Set: 1964–2004, complete with the audience's reaction.
Tired of constant touring and wishing to explore other musical avenues, Lunny left Planxty at the start of September 1973, playing his last gig with the band at the Edinburgh Festival.
This line-up, with contributions from Lunny, would record Planxty's third album, Cold Blow and the Rainy Night[1]: 189–202 in Sarm Studios, Whitechapel in London during August 1974.
[1]: 256–257 Beginning rehearsals at Molloy's home on Tuesday, 19 September 1978,[1]: 259 the line-up went on a mammoth European tour the following year, from 15 April to 11 June 1979, during which the band played forty-seven concerts in fifty-eight days, in the UK, Germany, Switzerland, Belgium, France and Ireland.
The six-member lineup of Moore, Irvine, Lunny, O’Flynn, Hill, and Linnane were joined by Molloy and keyboardist Bill Whelan, to record the band's fifth album, The Woman I Loved So Well, at Windmill Lane Studios for two sessions: 23–29 April and 16–19 May.
[1]: 301 Nevertheless, the band (with Whelan and Casey still on board) recorded one final album at Windmill Lane Studios for the WEA label in late October and early November 1982, Words & Music,[1]: 301–304 which also featured contributions from fiddler James Kelly and Moving Hearts bass guitarist Eoghan O’Neill.
[1]: 304 Irvine, O’Flynn, and Whelan decided to continue as Planxty, retaining fiddler James Kelly and recruiting Arty McGlynn of County Tyrone on guitar, plus Galway’s Dolores Keane on vocals and a plethora of traditional instruments.
[1]: 314–315 In late 2002, broadcaster and journalist Leagues O'Toole was working as presenter and researcher for the RTÉ television show No Disco and persuaded the programme editor, Rory Cobbe, to develop a one-off documentary about Planxty.
[1]: 316 Pleased with the results and the experience of playing together again, the original Planxty quartet agreed to the longed-for reunion (dubbed "The Third Coming"[1]: xii ) and performed together again, on and off, for a period of just over a year.
In late 2004 and early 2005,[1]: 322–326 another round of concerts took place at the following venues: Planxty remained a four-piece throughout this period, with Moore occasionally playing keyboards.
[citation needed] Leagues O'Toole documented the history and development of the group in the biography The Humours of Planxty, which was published by Hodder Headline in 2006.
[11] When O'Flynn resigned from LAPD, Irvine, Lunny and Glackin were joined by Michael McGoldrick and John Doyle to form a new group named Usher's Island (a reference to the Dublin quay).
Regardless of its origin, the moniker, which replaced the provisional "CLAD" (Christy – Liam – Andy – Dónal), turned out to be a good fit, as O'Carolan's music would play an important part in the band's repertoire.
A formative influence on Planxty, and in particular on Moore, was the singing of Irish Traveller John "Jacko" Reilly who hailed from Boyle, County Roscommon.
Moore later dipped into Reilly's songbook again for an updated version of the lengthy ballad "Lord Baker," which was featured on Planxty's 1983 album Words & Music.
Reilly died in 1969 at the age of 44, shortly after being found beneath his coats in the top room of his dwelling in Boyle by Tom Munnelly, who had originally collected his songs for archiving.
