Please recommend Celtic songs with simple, beautiful vocal harmonies

January 13, 2015 12:17 PM

I think the Wailin Jennys' version of the traditional Irish song "The Parting Glass" is very beautiful, and one of the things I like best about it is the simple three part harmony with no instrumental accompaniment. Can you recommend similar songs? They don't have to be strictly Celtic or traditional but should have that feel. I'd prefer it if there were no instrumental backup. (For comparison: fiddle accompaniment aside, I don't like this version of "Danny Boy" by Celtic Woman because I find it overwrought.)
posted by hurdy gurdy girl to Media & Arts (23 answers total)

I like this song, Ellas Mari by Navan.
posted by wrabbit at 12:20 PM on January 13, 2015

Another Train by the Poozies, maybe?
posted by ArbitraryAndCapricious at 12:21 PM on January 13, 2015 [1 favorite]

Thats called close harmony, often referred to in Ireland as singing in parts, and very common there. It is hard to find studio recordings that are totally acapella, that's more common live, imho. You might check out Mary Black/ EmmyLou Harris, who did an album together in this style. If you look on YouTube it'll give you a lot of similar recordings.

Celtic Woman is an abomination, btw.
posted by fshgrl at 12:53 PM on January 13, 2015 [2 favorites]

May I suggest the song entitled May I Suggest, as performed by Red Molly? Also "Dear Someone" and numerous other songs they sing when they're not also playing instruments.
posted by jeffjon at 1:07 PM on January 13, 2015

Bantry Girls' Lament? Not strictly acapella and perhaps gets too tinwhistley for you.
posted by interplanetjanet at 1:07 PM on January 13, 2015 [1 favorite]

There is some instrumental backing but you might like Clannad's Theme From Harry's Game. It's in Irish though. For the harmonies you could try some songs by Cór Thaobh a' Leithid. Also in Irish (not sure if this is getting too traditional!)

Also check out Rising Appalachia Across the Blue Ridge Mountains. There is a strong link between Irish traditional music and Appalachian music because of emigration.

It is hard to find harmonies in unaccompanied songs, as they are usually sung solo. (Sean-nós singing). Btw if you're looking into Mary Black you could also check out the Black Family.
posted by billiebee at 1:13 PM on January 13, 2015 [1 favorite]

Not all-female (not that you said it had to be), but Gillian Welch and David Rawlings sing a great a capella 'Wind and Rain' that is very much in this style.
posted by BlackPebble at 1:18 PM on January 13, 2015 [4 favorites]

And this is a little wider off-the-mark, with full instrumentation on autoharp, guitar, banjo, and bass, but Alison Krauss & Robert Plant's 'Your Long Journey' is somewhere in the same bloodline. It's a cover of a tune by Rosa Lee and Doc Watson but the Krauss/Plant one somehow feels a little more on the Celtic side of the Celtic/Appalachian line.
posted by BlackPebble at 1:34 PM on January 13, 2015

You want the Voice Squad. They sing in this close style. Navan do this kind of three part singing too, as mentioned above (they are on Spotify, if you have an account). Si Van also do this kind of stuff.
posted by LN at 1:39 PM on January 13, 2015 [6 favorites]

Here's a list of Irish vocal harmony music from a website called Primarily a Capella that might be helpful.
posted by CheeseLouise at 1:44 PM on January 13, 2015 [1 favorite]

How about Steeleye Span?
posted by interplanetjanet at 1:44 PM on January 13, 2015 [2 favorites]

Whoops, the Si Van link is wrong. It should be this.
posted by LN at 1:44 PM on January 13, 2015

Hunt down something by Finest Kind if you can. Lots of lovely acapella 3-part harmonies, such as their requiem for the east coast fisheries, and their version of John Barleycorn, with the words changed to describe what their voices are doing.
You might also like the Toronto Islands trio, Kith&Kin, here singing Thousands or More, which is, speaking of vocal harmonies, normally thought of as a Copper Family tune.
But this style was really revived a couple of decades ago by the English group, the Watersons. A couple of great tunes of theirs are the 30-foot Trailer (a bit of unobtrusive guitar), and the Good Old Way.
posted by Sing Fool Sing at 2:06 PM on January 13, 2015 [7 favorites]

I stumbled on the Transatlantic Sessions with Aly Bain and Jerry Douglas quite by accident last month. There are many albums in the series; the link is to just one of them. They explore the connections between traditional Celtic music and American bluegrass and the results are just lovely. There's several Irish music performances on each album. I highly recommend you browse through and see what you like.
posted by orrnyereg at 2:51 PM on January 13, 2015 [2 favorites]

Response by poster: Oh what wonderful suggestions you all have made! I am slowly making my way through them. Thank you. Please do feel free to add more!
posted by hurdy gurdy girl at 3:04 PM on January 13, 2015

Someone asked a question a while ago mentioning that same Wailin Jennys song - What's your favorite old song to sing? - might be some ideas there. I recommended The Unthanks there and I'll recommend them again here!
posted by mskyle at 3:05 PM on January 13, 2015

Grey Funnel Line by the Silly Sisters (aka Maddy Prior and June Tabor)

When I was no but sweet sixteen by June Tabor and the Oysterband
posted by Pallas Athena at 3:41 PM on January 13, 2015 [2 favorites]

This is the Mary Black/ EmmyLou Harris/ Dolores Keane collaboration I was thinking of. It's from a tv show and it looks like there are several albums worth of material online. Warning: some of it is horribly twee folk arrangements.

Some singers, like EmmyLou Harris, Simon and Garfunkel, Steve Earle and Allison Krause do a lot of these kinds of collaborations with trad musicians so you might find crossover music you like.
posted by fshgrl at 6:42 PM on January 13, 2015

Foreign Lander! By Red Molly or GQ, take your pick.
posted by sigmagalator at 9:17 PM on January 13, 2015 [1 favorite]

The trio known as Mountain Man has some acoustic stuff out there:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=khhb_ey3Lmk

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8QYP3ZxtZ44

Googling will find you moar. For the record, even their accompanied stuff is very minimal, i.e. guitar only.
posted by aheckler at 10:32 AM on January 14, 2015 [1 favorite]

Not Celtic, but your link somehow reminds me of some of the a capella stuff by the Argentine folk trio Aymama. This one is unison until close harmony breaks out at 0:40.
posted by dr. boludo at 1:37 PM on January 14, 2015 [1 favorite]

Not Celtic but reminds me of Down to the River to Pray, a US slave song sung by Alison Krauss in the movie O Brother, Where Art Thou? which has the same feel.
posted by Zaire at 12:14 AM on January 15, 2015

Even though Rising Appalachia is an... Appalachian folk duo, it was their version of Maid of Culmore which caught my ear in a cafe a while ago, and it's still one my favorite tracks by one of my favorite artists.

(Off to listen to everything else here now. I hope someone Spotifies it!)
posted by mendel at 5:21 PM on January 19, 2015 [1 favorite]