Wheels Within Wheels

Editorial Reviews
Amazon.com
Wheels within Wheels fulfils at least one of the lost ambitions of the late Irish guitarist Rory Gallagher. On each of his electric albums, Gallagher featured a rootsy acoustic track and he'd hoped to release a complete album of unplugged performances. Collecting and tidying up a selection of outtakes and lost recordings from 1974 to 1994, his brother, Donal, reveals Gallagher's taste for blues, skiffle, and folk, and his love of collaborating with great musicians. The instrumental "Bratacha Dubha" features folk heroes Martin Carthy and Maire Ni Chathasaigh, while Bert Jansch turns up in "She Moves Through the Fair." The Dubliners, Bela Fleck, and the late Lonnie Donegan also put in appearances. Of course, given Rory's prodigious abilities, the playing is exceptionally fine, but there's a rare warmth here. Donal has succeeded in capturing the respectful, dignified, and wild qualities of a gifted musician. Gallagher fans will be delighted. --Dominic Wills

Tracks:

Balm in Gilead
Chassidic Chant
Quiet Flows The Don: From Border To Border
Quiet Flows The Don: Oh, How Proud Our Quiet Don
Elijah, Op. 70: The Lord God Of Abraham
The Purest Kind Of Guy
Joe Hill
The Peat-Bog Soldiers
The Four Insurgent Generals
Native Land
Song Of The Plains
Cradle Song
Within Four Walls
By An' By
Sometimes I Feel Like A Motherless Child
John Henry
Water Boy
My Curly Headed Baby
Mah Lindy Lou
Wagon Wheels
The House I Live In
Showboat: I Still Suits Me
Sylvia
Showboat: Ol' Man River
Porgy And Bess: It Ain't Necessarily So

Amazon.com

There was nothing like the Robeson sound, ever. To describe his deep, rich, perfectly equalized instrument is futile. Go instead to "Balm in Gilead," the opening track, and see if you can listen to the last pianissimo phrase without falling to pieces. Robeson was at his best when the music was slow and the words contained spiritual or social messages. Faster, lighter fare like Kern's "I Still Suits Me" or Gershwin's "It Ain't Necessarily So" find the serious-minded singer out of his element, lacking irony and swing. "Old Man River," though, gets a simple, dignified treatment. It's Songs of Free Men, though, that will just keep Robeson's artistry rolling along, especially in Sony's astonishing transfers. --Jed Distler

Customer Reviews:

Robeson on wax.......2007-06-19

I found this album in a thrift store last week, for a couple of dollars. It's the original pressing on four 78 RPM records, in a gatefold format. It's in pristine condition. I really bought it for the incredible cover art, although I hope to be able to listen to it in this format at some point.

The voice, the sound quality and the interpretation.......2004-09-24

Put this on your stereo and if it is good enough the depth and richness of Robeson's voice will make your fillings rattle and your chest rumble. The power of his voice is awesome. This CD is superbly recorded with no audible noise at normal listening levels.

A Voice from the 40s, often dated, often moving.......2002-09-01

"Red diaper babies" have greeted this disc with nostalgic joy, and it captures a time and an aesthetic and a political belief with precision. Anyone interested in the emotional life of the pro-Soviet left of the 1940s should buy this disc. It's something like Henry Wallace set to music. There is much more to Robeson than that, however, and Sony has given us Robeson whole: there are songs by American masters of the musical, there are labor songs, religious songs, as well as the kind of faux-folk songs which the butcher supreme Josef Stalin encouraged and which were not taken seriously inside the USSR (except at gunpoint!!) but which were taken up by dupes around the world. This is Robeson at his least savory - willing propagandist for a vile mass murderer. Songs such as "Native Land" (fittingly, Robeson is referring to the Soviet Union) and the Red Army song are the equivalent of the "Horst Wessel Song", anthems of murder, and it is difficult to listen to the worst of them without retching. On the other hand, Robeson's commitment to American folk culture was real. "Balm in Gilead" is deeply beautiful; "John Henry" is heroic; "By an' By" is both resigned yet hopeful. "Joe Hill" captures an era in labor history. Anyone interested in American popular song should hear these. Turning to Broadway, his "Old Man River" is very fine, though Robeson changed the lyrics for political reasons and Leonard Warren has done the song better. I disagree with the editorial reviewer: "I Still Suits Me" is wonderfully playful and shows Robeson using his gorgeously rich voice to tease and poke fun. However, Marc Blitzstein's "Purest Kind of a Guy" is beyond saving - another example of Robeson recording an unworthy song by a political fellow-traveller. Ugh. But for every miss there are two hits. Robeson performs Mendelssohn's Elijah with nobility, and sings his favorite song, "Water Boy", with joyous pride: "There ain't no hammer that's on these mountains that rings like mine, boys, that rings like mine."
No one need have any fears about the mono sound quality. The orchestra in the second half of the program is at times a little dwarfed by Robeson's voice, but it generally sounds clean and colorful, and the great artist's voice rings like no other.

Robeson at his best.......2000-05-12

It's hard to believe that most of these recordings pre-date the advent of magnetic tape: the CD transfer is superlative. The songs and performance are beyond reproach. Notable is the imaginative packaging in miniature 'record album' format, complete with the original cover art, and a replica of the original Columbia record label applied to the CD.

In response to a previous question: Robeson's performance of Danny Boy (Londonderry Air) can be found on the Vanguard LP entitled "Robeson" (VRS-9037).

some of the greatest songs of the last century.......2000-05-05

In the 1940s, before rabid McCarthyism and racism had taken its toll on him, Robeson made these wonderful recordings of spirituals, classics and pop tunes. Accompanied by the solo piano of the incomparable Lawrence Brown, or by an orchestra, the songs ring out with pride, dignity, skill and unmatched integrity. The shameful treatment that Robeson was subject to from American authorities certainly seem grotesquely absurd to a modern listener. The wonderful version of "The House I Live In" included on this cd should forever kill off any suspicion that Robeson did not love his country deeply. This album ought to be heard by millions of people, world wide. Robeson's voice is nothing less than a glorious high point in 20th century music, and it's hard to think of any recording capturing it to greater advantage.

Average customer rating:

great
FINALLY GOT IT!
Miss the Minstrel!
Miss the Minstrel!
Motts Within Motts

Wheels Within Wheels
Rory Gallagher
Manufacturer: Buddha
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Alternative Rock | Styles | Music

Delta Blues | Blues | Styles | Music

General | Blues | Styles | Music

British Folk | Traditional British & Celtic Folk | Folk | Styles | Music

Irish Folk | Traditional British & Celtic Folk | Folk | Styles | Music

Blues Rock | Rock | Styles | Music

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Similar Items:

Live at Montreux/The Definitive Collection
Tattoo
Blueprint
The BBC Sessions
Rory Gallagher

ASIN: B00008BXK4
Release Date: 2003-03-18

Tracks:

Wheels Within Wheels
Flight to Paradise (with Juan Martin)
As the Crow Flies
Lonesome Highway
Bratacha Dubha (with Martin Carthy)
She Moved Thro' the Fair/Ann Cran Ull (with Bert Jansch)
Barley & Grape Rag (with Ronnie Drew and the Dubliners)
The Cuckoo (with Roland Van Campenhout)
Amazing Grace (with Bela Fleck)
Walkin' Blues (with Bela Fleck and Mark Feltham)
Blue Moon of Kentucky (with Bela Fleck and Mark Feltham)
Deep Elm Blues (with Roland Van Campenhout)
Goin' to My Hometown (with Lonnie Donegan)
Lonesome Highway Refraining

Amazon.com

Wheels within Wheels fulfils at least one of the lost ambitions of the late Irish guitarist Rory Gallagher. On each of his electric albums, Gallagher featured a rootsy acoustic track and he'd hoped to release a complete album of unplugged performances. Collecting and tidying up a selection of outtakes and lost recordings from 1974 to 1994, his brother, Donal, reveals Gallagher's taste for blues, skiffle, and folk, and his love of collaborating with great musicians. The instrumental "Bratacha Dubha" features folk heroes Martin Carthy and Maire Ni Chathasaigh, while Bert Jansch turns up in "She Moves Through the Fair." The Dubliners, Bela Fleck, and the late Lonnie Donegan also put in appearances. Of course, given Rory's prodigious abilities, the playing is exceptionally fine, but there's a rare warmth here. Donal has succeeded in capturing the respectful, dignified, and wild qualities of a gifted musician. Gallagher fans will be delighted. --Dominic Wills

Customer Reviews:

great.......2007-01-27

very happy with this CD. I would also like some of his older stuff too.

FINALLY GOT IT!.......2004-07-15

When you first get turned on to Rory Gallegher-you are hooked.Too late-you are hooked!I was first introduced to him on a late night concert show in the early 1970s(In Concert or Don Kirshners Rock Concert-I forget).When I heard the licks coming from this worn Gibson by this long hair in a flannel shirt I-was hooked.Life long fan and avid collector of his music ever since.When the later years rushed upon us, I felt that I would get a chance to see him live in some small venue.Then he died--so sad(he was a drinker and his liver was shot).He was also a player,writer,vocalist, and known worldwide for his style and rock background(or groundbreaking).His brother Donal was his manager and confidant,a web site developed for fans like me,and talk of an unplugged album was stirring.I was excited in anticipating this release.This was early 2001-released in 03,and purchased 04.Acoustic Irish music is very similar to Appalachain folk.You get some of that and it is great.The solo of "As the Crow Flies" on the national steel is classic(Irish Tour 74 anyone?)The live jam at the Montreaux festival with Bela Fleck doing "Amazing Grace-Walking Blues-Blue Moon of Kentucky" medely is a rare treat.The best tune is from the bandback in 1975 called "Lonesome Highway".Where this tune has hidden is a mystery to me(Would have been a MONSTER HIT with some airplay).A nice revision at the end of the CD for good measure puts an exclamation point to one of the finest collections of songs I have ever heard from an artist I really want to hear more music from. Donal-Wheels Within Wheels Vol 2?

Miss the Minstrel!.......2003-06-02

This man would have made a magnificent travelling minstrel during the Middle Ages! The song selection by his brother Donal (bless your heart)shows the wide range of talent our Rory could display and the ease with which he could sit in with a vast array of seemingly divergent talent and still shine through with his own proficiency. I mean, my God, he had not even met some of these people. Donal, please dig deep for any scraps you might have left. The hunger for this man's work is still out there and needs to be fed. Buy this CD. It is not just a bunch of retreads and half-finished songs but a real treat. He was truly the best!!!

Miss the Minstrel!.......2003-06-02

Motts Within Motts.......2003-05-28

Long before the whole fashion of doing un-plugged concerts, Rory Gallagher has always been doing acoustic sets in the middle of his electric concerts, giving all Rory Gallagher shows more depth, quality, and variety than your average run of the mill rock 'n' roll concert. In many ways Rory Gallagher had the image of your regular rock 'n' roll star without all the showy trimmings. You never saw Rory Gallagher in a limousine, let alone the idea of him wearing stage clothes. The thought of him having a hairdresser or likewise is positively laughable. But in many ways he was way ahead of his time and a great innovator within rock 'n' roll.

Sadly Rory Gallagher died in 1995 due to complications during a second liver transplant. (As well as being one of the world's finest guitarists, he was according to legend one of the nicest people in the world, too. However, he liked to enjoying himself, helped along with the odd drink.)

So naturally you would of thought that this would of been the end of quality products from the man, as most posthumous releases tend to be scrapping of the barrel type efforts. But fortunately for us the fan, the Rory Gallagher estate has been left in the very capable hands of his brother and long time manager Donal Gallagher. He has successfully released all of Rory's back catalogue, re-mastered with extra bonus tracks, plus a double C.D.'s worth of live material taken from the B.B.C. archives, which contain some of the finest Rory Gallagher live material this dog has ever heard. Yes, I do have 'Live in Europe', ' Stage-Struck', and 'The Irish Tour'.

Now in 2003 we get an all new collection of songs put together by Donal Gallagher (4 completely different versions of tracks Rory Gallagher had recorded before, and 10 new ones to his repertoire, recorded between 1975 and 1994.) At first I was skeptical of this collection, but on the demands of Pattaya's leading Irish musician Declan Casey, I slipped the disc into my player and was immediately enthralled.

It is the perfect combination of old and new songs, all of varied pace, favoring Rory Gallagher's acoustic side. In fact 'Lonesome Highway' is the only song to include anything from the famous old Gallagher battered Stratocaster. The roll call of the famous friend with whom Rory collaborated is also very impressive.

The album opens up with Rory Gallagher in 1977 with the beautiful but melancholic title track 'Wheels Within Wheels', a fine start to any set of songs. Then in complete contrast we have a song from a short tour Rory did with three of his idols (and he was probably theirs). Under the title of 'Guitarists Night' the lineup was David Linley, Richard Thompson, Juan Murtin and Rory. During the performance they would mix and match the four guitarists' styles. This is a number that Rory started doing on stage with Juan and is some of the most tantalizing flamenco guitar that you are ever likely to have the privilege to listen to.

Since the release of 'Irish Tour' in 1074 the Tony Joe White, 'As Crow Flies', had been a firm favorite in any Gallagher set. For the first time I hear here the studio acoustic version, and a very fine rendition it is, too.

'Lonesome Highway' is the only track on the album featuring the Rory Gallagher Band recorded back in 1975. It's a little gem and could of fitted into any of Rory's studio albums. The playing of Lou Martin, Ro De'Ath and especially bassist Gerry McAvoy show just how much they were in sync with their leader.

Rory Gallagher had long admired Martin Carthy. The collaboration between the two of them, together with harpist Maire Ni Chathasaigh and Chris Newman, showed the respect was mutual. On this haunting instrumental 'Bratacha Dubha' the music's coming over as Irish-Elizabethan in texture and is perfectly placed in the middle of this collection. Next is a lovely short instrumental between Rory and Bert Jansch, which, although only just over two minutes long, is quite mesmerizing.

But you are snapped out of your revere by a blast of 'Barley and Grape', a collaboration between Rory and the Dubliners, which must represent the most fun a bunch of musicians can have in a studio. And if they had not been having a wee dram whilst they were recording this, they certainly were before, with the hilarious banter between Rory and Dubliners' vocalist Ronnie Drew. This is followed by two traditional arrangements by Rory collaborating with the doyen of European folk, Roland van Campenhout. They only leave you with the desire that the two of them had found the time to get together for a whole albums' worth of material.

The next three songs are the only live recording on this session and are the most surprising as well as the disc's central focus. When Rory Gallagher was playing at the Montreux Jazz Festival in 1994, who could of foreseen that when Bela Fleck walked out with his banjo to join Rory Gallagher that they would blend so well together? Especially as they had never spoken to each other before; the two just sitting down to play in front of this multitude of people. You only have to hear the crowd react to hear what they thought about it. In all it only lasts 10 minutes, but that's O.K. That's what the repeat button is for on your C.D. player. It is the ultimate `I am not worthy' moment.

'Goin' to my Hometown' was a firm live staple for Rory Gallagher, his tribute to the era of Skiffle. It is perhaps fitting the only studio version known recorded with Lonnie Donegan, and a rip roaring version it is, too. Lonnie Donegan sings the backup refrain with plenty of gusto. As Rory had now given up his no singles policy, it's a shame this was not released at the time of its recording. Its footstompin' rhythm would surely have gained Rory some commercial gain in the fickle Top 20. The songs close out with a very satisfying reflective blues.

A wonderful collection of the warmth and comradeship Rory Gallagher spreads - a joy to the ears. To get more of the electric energy created by Rory Gallagher it is worth getting one of his previous live albums, but this is an absolute must for any lover of good music.

Mott the Dog
edited by Ella Crew

Wheels Within Wheels
Average customer rating:
Wheels Within Wheels
Trilogia
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD
ASIN: B000P3KHZA

Product Description

Wheels within Wheels ~~~Trenziniho do Caipira ~~~ Marambaia ~~~ Sandalia ~~~ Serenade/Estudio Ouro Preto ~~~ Biriba e Bambu ~~~ Cascades ~~~ Finale

Average customer rating:

Wagon Wheels & Atom Bombs

Manufacturer: Aggregate Recordings
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

Pop Rock | Pop | Styles | Music
ASIN: B000CAJSKG
Release Date: 2003-08-12

Average customer rating:

Wheels Within Wheels
Rory Gallagher
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

Delta Blues | Blues | Styles | Music

General | Blues | Styles | Music

British Folk | Traditional British & Celtic Folk | Folk | Styles | Music

Irish Folk | Traditional British & Celtic Folk | Folk | Styles | Music

Blues Rock | Rock | Styles | Music

General | Rock | Styles | Music

Pop Rock | Pop | Styles | Music

Rock | Imports | Stores | Music
ASIN: B00008GAAM
Release Date: 2003-03-11

Tracks:

Wheels Within Wheels - Rory Gallagher
Flight to Paradise - Rory Gallagher, Juan Mart
As the Crow Flies - Rory Gallagher
Lonesome Highway - Rory Gallagher
Bratacha Dubha - Martin Carthy, , Rory Gallagher,
She Moved Thro' the Fair/Ann Cran Ull - Rory Gallagher, Bert Jansch
Barley and Grape Rag - Ronnie Drew, The Dubliners, Rory Gallagher
Cuckoo - Rory Gallagher, , Roland Van Campenhout
Amazing Grace - B Fleck, Rory Gallagher
Walkin' Blues - B Fleck, Rory Gallagher
Blue Moon of Kentucky - Mark Feltham, B Fleck, Rory Gallagher
Deep Elm Blues - Rory Gallagher, , Roland Van Campenhout
Goin' to My Hometown - Lonnie Donegan, Rory Gallagher, Gerry McAvoy, Ted McKenna
Lonesome Highway Refraining [Instrumental] - Rory Gallagher

Album Description

The long-awaited folk album from rock guitar legend Rory Gallagher, featuring collaborations with Lonnie Donegan, The Dubliners, Martin Carthy, Bela Fleck, Bert Jansch and more. 14 tracks. All material previously unreleased. Capo. 2003.

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