The pride of Dublin, singer Mary Black cut her teeth in two highly regarded bands, General Humbert, and an early edition of De Denaan, while also recording a criss-crossing set of her own solo albums. She broke through as a globally-known artist in the late 1980s, and has been a commanding figure in Irish popular music for several decades. Here's a quick look at her work...
General Humbert "General Humbert" (Dolphin Records, 1975) (LP)
An early album featuring Irish singer Mary Black...
General Humbert "II" (Gael-Linn Records, 1978) (LP)
Mary Black "Mary Black" (Gift Horse Records, 1982) (LP)
Mary Black "Collected" (Gift Horse, 1984)
De Danann "Anthem" (1985)
Mary Black "Without The Fanfare" (Gift Horse Records, 1985)
Mary Black "By The Time It Gets Dark" (Gift Horse Records, 1987)
Mary Black "No Frontiers" (Gift Horse Records, 1989)
Mary Black "Babes In The Wood" (Gift Horse Records, 1991)
Mary Black "The Holy Ground" (Gift Horse Records, 1993)
Mary Black "Circus" (Curb Records, 1995)
Mary Black "Shine" (Curb Records, 1997)
Mary Black "Speaking With The Angel" (Atlantic Records, 1999)
Mary Black "Full Tide" (Curb Records, 2005)
Mary Black "The Best Of Mary Black" (1990)
Mary Black "The Collection" (1992)
Mary Black "Looking Back" (Curb Records, 1995)
Mary Black "Song For Ireland" (Blix Street Records, 1999)
The first half of this disc is great; the second half is a bit iffy. There's a fine selection of some of Black's more traditionally-oriented material, and Black's voice is quite nice, especially when it's divorced from more ornate, fusion-y production. These stripped-down acoustic performances highlight her simple strengths -- there may be other singers that move me more, but listening to this disc I finally "get" where her attraction lies. One of the highlights on this disc is an a capella group vocal with the Black Family, on "Colcannon," which sounds like a smoothed-out version of the Watersons sound. Then in the second half, she drifts into drippier terrain, although the earlier stuff, from the 1980s, is pretty nice. This may be the best single-disc introduction to her work.
Mary Black "The Best Of Mary Black, v.2: 1991-2001 & Hidden Harvest" (Curb Records, 2001)
Mary Black "Twenty Five Years, Twenty Five Songs" (2008)
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