The Well Below The Valley
(23/100 Greatest Irish Albums)

As if to prove that the first official Planxty album was no fluke, the same firm of Moore, Lunny, Irvine and O’Flynn returned a year later with another superb collection. The title track, sung by Christy Moore, may have been the album’s finest moment, but it is studded with gems.
You could get jiggy with ‘Humours Of Ballyloughlin’, enjoy reels (‘The Dogs Among The Bushes/Jenny’s Wedding’) and hornpipes (‘Fisherman’s Lilt/Cronin’s Hornpipe’) and two versions of ‘As I Roved Out’ by Moore and Irvine – each one a cracker in its own right. Christy Moore was soon to move on, but with The Well Below The Valley, he’d secured Planxty’s place in the canon – a fact that is reflected in the enduring reputation their first two recordings enjoy.