Spontaneous Performance

AMG Review of Spontaneous Performance

Matt Fink
All Music Guide

Backed by Pete Seeger on banjo and Bruce Langhorne on guitar, the Clancy Brothers' first Columbia recording finds them riding at the height of their popularity and singing to an intimate crowd of 200 friends and fans in an impromptu performance in a large Columbia studio. As usual, they provide all the whooping and hollering that you'd expect to find in tracks like "The Moonshiner," "Finnegan's Wake," and "Haul Away Joe." What isn't expected is how the audience joins in on many of the tracks and contributes a spine-tingling choir-like effect. The spontaneous outburst of handclapping that takes over "Port Lairge" is one of the clearest examples of the Clancy charm winning over a crowd as is likely to be found. All in all, A Spontaneous Performance Recording speaks volumes for the power of a Clancy Brothers live show and certainly is deserving of a reissue.