Further Down The Old Plank Road

“It’s an album so nice they made it twice,” says the booklet text of The Chieftains’ latest album. After years of flitting from one collaboration to the next, the group has opted to follow their last CD, Down The Old Plank Road: The Nashville Sessions, with more of the same. You can’t blame them, really: this journo for one remembers writing at the time that the 2002 album was by far the most successful of their cross-genre experiments.
Further Down The Old Plank Road gets off to a bad start with a frankly painful rendition of ‘The Raggle Taggle Gypsy’ by Sara Watkins and Christopher Thile of the young bluegrass band Nickel Creek. Generally, things go better when the Irish players tackle American material rather than the other way round – one of the stronger tracks, for example, is the old-time classic ‘Shady Grove’, featuring the singing and mandolin playing of Tim O’Brien, and another is the Appalachian ballad ‘Three Little Babes’ with Patty Loveless on vocals – although Emmylou Harris’ version of ‘Lambs In The Greenfield’ is a notable exception to the rule.
The best thing about the current recording is that the late Derek Bell – who sadly passed away just as its predecessor was released – is very much a presence here, featuring on all but three tracks. Indeed, a close perusal of the credits reveals that much of this “new” CD was laid down quite some time back.
It’s hard to keep fresh after 41 albums in 41 years, and Bell’s delightful presence and flawless musicianship will be sorely missed. Perhaps when they come to make Album No. 42, the Chieftains might consider looking back to their roots, rather than outward to other artists and genres, for the inspiration that seems to have eluded them this time round.