Prodigal Sons is an album by the Irish group The Dubliners

The Dubliners

The Dubliners are an Irish folk band founded in 1962.-Formation and history:The Dubliners, initially known as "The Ronnie Drew Ballad Group", formed in 1962 and made a name for themselves playing regularly in O'Donoghue's Pub in Dublin...

. Produced by Bill Whelan

Bill Whelan

Bill Whelan, is an Irish composer and musician. He is best known for composing a piece for the interval of the 1994 Eurovision Song Contest. The end result, Riverdance, was a seven-minute display of traditional Irish dancing that became a full-length stage production and spawned a worldwide craze...

, who later became famous for Riverdance

Riverdance

Riverdance is a theatrical show consisting of traditional Irish stepdancing, notable for its rapid leg movements while body and arms are kept largely stationary. It originated as an interval performance during the 1994 Eurovision Song Contest, a moment that is still considered a significant...

, this album featured cellist Nigel Warren-Green as guest musician. Although Luke Kelly

Luke Kelly

Luke Kelly was an Irish singer and folk musician from Dublin, Ireland, notable as a founding member of the band The Dubliners.-Early life:...

 recorded his famous versions of "Raglan Road

Raglan Road

Raglan Road can refer to:*"On Raglan Road," an Irish song based on a poem by Patrick Kavanagh*Raglan Road , a street in Dublin that gave the poem its name...

" and "Song for Ireland" during these sessions, neither track featured on this album, although Seán Cannon's version of "Song for Ireland" did. The two Kelly recordings would first appear on the compilation album

Compilation album

A compilation album is an album featuring tracks from one or more performers, often culled from a variety of sources The tracks are usually collected according to a common characteristic, such as popularity, genre, source or subject matter...

, Luke's Legacy after his death. The album took its name from John Sheahan

John Sheahan

John Sheahan is a notable Irish violinist, folk musician, composer and member of the folk band The Dubliners. Sheahan was born in Dublin and lives in Mulhuddart, County Dublin, though his family are natives of Glin, County Limerick...

's composition, "The Prodigal Son". The album

Album

An album is a collection of recordings, released as a single package on gramophone record, cassette, compact disc, or via digital distribution. The word derives from the Latin word for list .Vinyl LP records have two sides, each comprising one half of the album...

 featured both contemporary and traditional

Traditional music

Traditional music is the term increasingly used for folk music that is not contemporary folk music. More on this is at the terminology section of the World music article...

 songs as well as instrumental

Instrumental

An instrumental is a musical composition or recording without lyrics or singing, although it might include some non-articulate vocal input; the music is primarily or exclusively produced by musical instruments....

 pieces.

Track listing

Side One:

1. "Building Up and Tearing England Down" (Dominic Behan)
2. "Jigs - My Darling Asleep/Paddy in London/An Tathair Jack Walsh"
3. "The Newry Highwayman
   The Newry Highwayman
   "The Newry Highwayman" is a traditional Irish folk song about a criminal's life, deeds, and death. It is also found in England, Scotland, the USA and Canada. The earliest known broadside is from about 1830 . Some versions mention "Mansfield" and this is sometimes taken to be William Murray, first...
   
   "
4. "When Margaret Was Eleven" (Pete St. John)
5. "Prodigal Son" (John Sheahan)

Side Two:

1. "The Waterford Boys"
2. "Reels - The Humours of Scariff/The Flannel Jacket"
3. "Now I'm Easy" (Eric Bogle)
4. "The Hen's March to the Midden"
5. "Song for Ireland" (Phil Colclough)
6. "Second World Song" (David McDonagh)

All tracks Trad. Arr. The Dubliners unless otherwise stated

Personnel

• Ronnie Drew
  Ronnie Drew
  Joseph Ronald "Ronnie" Drew was an Irish singer and folk musician who achieved international fame during a fifty-year career recording with The Dubliners. He was born in Dun Laoghaire, County Dublin...
  
   - guitar, vocals
• Barney McKenna
  Barney McKenna
  Bernard Noël "Barney" McKenna or Banjo Barney as he is known amongst his fellow musicians, is an Irish musician who plays the tenor banjo, mandolin, and melodeon. He is most renowned as a banjo player...
  
   - banjo, mandolin, vocals
• John Sheahan
  John Sheahan
  John Sheahan is a notable Irish violinist, folk musician, composer and member of the folk band The Dubliners. Sheahan was born in Dublin and lives in Mulhuddart, County Dublin, though his family are natives of Glin, County Limerick...
  
   - fiddle, tin whistle, vocals
• Seán Cannon
  Seán Cannon
  Séan Cannon is an Irish musician. Since 1982 he has been lead vocal and guitarist for the Dubliners.-Early life:Seán Cannon was born in Galway, Ireland. He travelled around Europe at an early age, rambling in England, Germany, Switzerland and Spain. It was during these trips that Cannon learned to...
  
   - guitar, vocals
• Eamonn Campbell
  Eamonn Campbell
  Eamonn Campbell in Drogheda, County Louth, Ireland, has been a member of The Dubliners since 1987. He was also in the Dubliners when they recorded their 25th anniversary show on The Late Late Show hosted by Gay Byrne. He is known as a guitarist and has a very rough voice very similar to the former...
  
   - guitar
• Des Moore - guitar
• Nigel Warren-Green - cello
• Bill Whelan
  Bill Whelan
  Bill Whelan, is an Irish composer and musician. He is best known for composing a piece for the interval of the 1994 Eurovision Song Contest. The end result, Riverdance, was a seven-minute display of traditional Irish dancing that became a full-length stage production and spawned a worldwide craze...
  
  - keyboards, producer
• Philip Begley - engineer
• Fergus Bourke - photographer
• Dara O Lochlainn - sleeve design