Farewell to Nova Scotia (album) explained

Farewell to Nova Scotia
Type:studio
Artist:The Battlefield Band
Cover:Farewell to Nova Scotia (album).jpg
Released:1976
Genre:Celtic
Length:49:14
Label:Arfolk SB 349 Escalibur BUR 806
Next Title:Battlefield Band
Next Year:1977

Farewell to Nova Scotia is Battlefield Band's debut (studio) album. It was first released on LP in 1976 on the Breton label Arfolk as Scottish Folk and on the Escalibur label as Volume I - Farewell to Nova Scotia.[1] [2] The album is named after the title song "Farewell to Nova Scotia".

History

High on the wing of success at Lorient festival 1975, the band entered a Breton recording studio and released this rare album featuring for the first and last time Ricky Starrs.

Volume I - Farewell to Nova Scotia is predating their first Topic album (released on LP in 1977 as Battlefield Band) and is followed by Volume II - Wae's me for Prince Charlie released on LP in 1978 on the Escalibur label as their second and last studio album on this label.

The three studio albums that follow on the Topic label - Battlefield Band (1977), At The Front (1978) and Stand Easy (1979) - would be pretty much in the same vein.

Battlefield Band is a trio made up of the founder members Alan Reid, Brian McNeill and string player Ricky Starrs. Alan Reid on vocals does the singing in much of the songs. Most of the music (7 songs, 5 instrumentals) is Scottish, but there is still Irish, Canadian, English and Australian influences here. Ricky Starrs would later be replaced by singer/bouzouki player Jamie McMenamy and whistle player John Gahagan, making Battlefield Band a quartet...

Track listing

Side A : 24:31

  1. "Richemond / Le Reel du Pendu" (trad.) 2.37
  2. "Farewell to Nova Scotia" (trad.) 4.23
  3. "Denis Murphy's Slide" (trad.) 2.38
  4. "The Bonny Whaling Laddie" (trad.) 5.21
  5. "The Bonny Wee Lassie Who Never Said No" (trad.) 3.19
  6. "Pipe Tunes Medley" (trad.) 6.13

Side B : 24:43

  1. "The Rybuck Shearer / Drops of Brandy" (trad.) 4.48
  2. "The Fourposter Bed / Staten Island / Colonel Rodney" (trad.) 3.14
  3. "The Back O'Benachie" (trad.) 5.14
  4. "Revie's Reel / Mary McMahon" (trad.) 2.56
  5. "The Forfar Sodger" (trad.) 2.46
  6. "Paddy's Green Shamrock Shore" (trad.) 5.45

All the tracks: "Traditional - Arrangements by Battlefield Band"

Personnel

Battlefield Band

fiddle, vocals

keyboards, vocals

Credits

Notes and References

  1. http://time-has-told-me.blogspot.fr/search?q=battlefield+band BlogSpot "Time Has Told Me" / Post ""Battlefield Band" 1977" on Tuesday, January 09, 2007 & Post "Battlefield Band "Farewell to Nova Scotia" 1976" on Monday, February 11, 2008
  2. https://www.amazon.co.uk/Farewell-To-Nova-Scotia-Vinyl/dp/B00BJ5W4UO Amazon / Farewell To Nova Scotia (Vinyl LP)