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Hi Barry,
best Christmas wishes from Co Antrim.
That's 3 from Ireland in a row.
Hopefully we'll see you this coming year.
Good luck for 2012
Stephen Ferris
Ireland
Robbie Magee
Ireland
Happy holidays Barry, best wishes for the New Year and on a selfish note, I would love to see you live in 2012 and while I have your attention some new recordings would be great as well! I hope that's not asking to much or should I talk to Santa bout this! lol
Caroline Cluskey
N. Ireland
Thanks for the newsletter Barry. It's great how you keep us up to date. I love reading it. Wishing you every happiness in the holidays and success in the New Year.
Steve Collins
Maryland, USA
Happy Thanksgiving Barry. Thank you for your wonderful music all through the years. Long may you spread happiness through your wonderful abilities to play and sing and to touch all our hearts with your creativity.
Chris
Co. Carlow, Ireland
It's been a good year Barry. Still loving the Albatross cd. Who'd have thought it, a new Albatross cd in the year 2011. What are the plans for 2012? How about a gig down this way? I promise I'll get all the lads out and we'll have a great night's craic. What do ya say!
Martin Mc phillips
Cavan Ireland
Hi
When will we see Albatross playing back in Ireland /cavan.
it would be good to see ye again
When will we see Albatross playing back in Ireland /cavan.
it would be good to see ye again
Kees Eikenboom
Holland
It was some kind of wonderful. Never did I think I would see Albatross play live again in Zeeland. I don't know what to say. How do I start. I am an Albatross fan for many, many years now. I see you every time you play in Zeeland (Goes, Middelburg, Zierikee...) and I always enjoy very much your powerful blues rock. I listen to your music on record (and CD) and I think when I hear you will play again in Goes that it might not be so good as the old days. I see this many times with bands who come back together to play. I could not be more wrong. It was fantastic. it was wonderful. It was some kind of wonderful. It was the same power as before but it was also more (I don't know the word, sure and solid and grown up...do you know what I mean) and because of this new (is confidence the right word) the concert had a new magical power. I also liked very much the second guitar player. He really formed part of the band. So thank you very much from an old rocker to Barry, Rudy and Cedric and the new guitar player and of course I do have one question. Will you play in Zeeland? I hope so!!!
Bep
Vinkeveen, Holland
Hi Barry, Rudy,Cedric and Ralph,
Thank you for the fantastic concert in Vroomshoop...! It was amazing to experience your combined skills...more room to move than in Dongen(and you certainly used it....)beautiful lighting on the scenes, and a good atmosphere in the venue, it all came perfectly together and I am very happy today !
Thank you for the fantastic concert in Vroomshoop...! It was amazing to experience your combined skills...more room to move than in Dongen(and you certainly used it....)beautiful lighting on the scenes, and a good atmosphere in the venue, it all came perfectly together and I am very happy today !
Stephen Ferris
Ireland
Hi Barry & all.
I'm late getting a post here about the Albatross Reunion Show Album. For a long while it was on steady both in the car and at home.
Funny story is before it came I was on the phone with Noel my brother. We were both expecting the CD. Noel says, "here, any word of Barry's cd yet?" As he spoke the red post van pulled up and the cd came through the letterbax. "hold on", says I, "I'll stick it on".
I put it on and went straight to track 5 - Long Grey Mare, I loved seeing you do that one...
"That sound brill", says Noel, "which is it, Trouble?".
It was Trouble. What's going on here?, I thought. It took my a while to realise I'd set the CD into the player on top your Beyond the Tears Album which was in the player.
What a laugh, we'd blamed you for messing up the track list somehow.
Anyway thanks for the Album. Prisoners gets more that it's fair share of plays.
Thanks too to Rudy, Cedric & Bas.
See you on stage somewhere soon.
Stephen
I'm late getting a post here about the Albatross Reunion Show Album. For a long while it was on steady both in the car and at home.
Funny story is before it came I was on the phone with Noel my brother. We were both expecting the CD. Noel says, "here, any word of Barry's cd yet?" As he spoke the red post van pulled up and the cd came through the letterbax. "hold on", says I, "I'll stick it on".
I put it on and went straight to track 5 - Long Grey Mare, I loved seeing you do that one...
"That sound brill", says Noel, "which is it, Trouble?".
It was Trouble. What's going on here?, I thought. It took my a while to realise I'd set the CD into the player on top your Beyond the Tears Album which was in the player.
What a laugh, we'd blamed you for messing up the track list somehow.
Anyway thanks for the Album. Prisoners gets more that it's fair share of plays.
Thanks too to Rudy, Cedric & Bas.
See you on stage somewhere soon.
Stephen
Chris
Co. Carlow, Ireland
Nice interview with the lads Barry. They sound like they know what they're doing but they had good material to work with too. Have you given any thought to that double bill with Horslips? I tell ya, it'll work. They're back out on the road so the cobwebs have been blown off them by now and they'll be ready to rock full on by the time the details are worked out. Don't let me down now, we're counting on you! lol
P.L. Miller
U.S.
Received the Albatross Reunion CD last week, and I have to say, it's the best I've heard in quite some time. Great songlist - hard to pick a favorite, but I keep coming back to "Fine, Fine, Fine" and "Caroline" right now, though I'm also very partial to "Bullfrog." Cheers to you for a fantastic job of capturing the sound on a GREAT show. All the attention to detail on the mixing was worth it; the CD sounds like you're actually there, hearing it live - not an easy feat when trying to capture the essence of such excellent musicians & Barry's incredible vocals in a live performance setting. Absolutely amazing. You should be very proud!
Bootsy (Shell)
Winnipeg, MB Canada
Albatross CD-Part one (2000 char limit!!)
well The CD is Fine,fine,fine. Even Caroline and Nadine will Move It On Over to the top of their playlist. !!! LOL
The CD is well worth the wait. A great rockin' experience from beginning to end. It would have been amazing to be there while it was recorded. How big was the club Barry? And the recording itself was very well done. All the instruments come through with great clarity. Its crisp and clean sound wise, and yet the music when filtered through your inner muse comes across dirty and bluesy and full of honest feeling.
You can hear everything from high harmonica to the ballsy bass. Man I love Rudys playing. He KNOWS how to play in a 3 piece...Its not that easy. He takes a back seat and plays to the groove with Cedric on drums when needed, and yet has all these little fills...and when the time is right he wails away. Well done guys. I would also like to mention how good the harp playing is. Bas Kleine is incredible. As an aside...I just heard a live POISON show from San Fran where Brett Michaels does a harmonica solo. Its hilarious...he does it in all seriousness but all he really does is play 2 notes over and over and over by sucking and blowing at the same reed on the harmonica. Comparing Bas and the afore mentioned Mr Michaels is like a beginner playing the guitar for the first time as compared with , say, Barrys playing. Unreal
Oh yeah...some guy named Barry is also in the band. I am sure we all know how adequate he is on guitar and vocals!! LOL .......
As usual Barrys playing is amazing, and to be able to sing THAT good while playing those amazing riffs is well.......soul touching at the least. Barry is able to speak to my inner being through both his instruments (vocals and guitar) Barrys vocal phrasing on a song everyone has heard a zillion times before (some kind of wonderful) is SO much better than what we all know from the Grand Funk
version.
well The CD is Fine,fine,fine. Even Caroline and Nadine will Move It On Over to the top of their playlist. !!! LOL
The CD is well worth the wait. A great rockin' experience from beginning to end. It would have been amazing to be there while it was recorded. How big was the club Barry? And the recording itself was very well done. All the instruments come through with great clarity. Its crisp and clean sound wise, and yet the music when filtered through your inner muse comes across dirty and bluesy and full of honest feeling.
You can hear everything from high harmonica to the ballsy bass. Man I love Rudys playing. He KNOWS how to play in a 3 piece...Its not that easy. He takes a back seat and plays to the groove with Cedric on drums when needed, and yet has all these little fills...and when the time is right he wails away. Well done guys. I would also like to mention how good the harp playing is. Bas Kleine is incredible. As an aside...I just heard a live POISON show from San Fran where Brett Michaels does a harmonica solo. Its hilarious...he does it in all seriousness but all he really does is play 2 notes over and over and over by sucking and blowing at the same reed on the harmonica. Comparing Bas and the afore mentioned Mr Michaels is like a beginner playing the guitar for the first time as compared with , say, Barrys playing. Unreal
Oh yeah...some guy named Barry is also in the band. I am sure we all know how adequate he is on guitar and vocals!! LOL .......
As usual Barrys playing is amazing, and to be able to sing THAT good while playing those amazing riffs is well.......soul touching at the least. Barry is able to speak to my inner being through both his instruments (vocals and guitar) Barrys vocal phrasing on a song everyone has heard a zillion times before (some kind of wonderful) is SO much better than what we all know from the Grand Funk
version.
bootsy (Shell)
Winnipeg, MB Canada
Albatross reunuion PART 2
And then there is the guitar playing...amazing enough as regular playing...then it reaches a whole new level when the slide playing kicks in. Wow.....Barrys slide playing is EVERY bit as good...and better IMHO...than that of Rory Gallagher. Some may call it sacrilege, but I call it honest praise. There are moments when the slide reaches for an expected great phrase...and then plays something even better. I can sure hear the Rory influence, and then the McCabe touch just adds to its brilliance. I can't say enough about how GOOD Barry is.
and I haven't even mentioned the tunes yet.....the first four are great rocking fun tunes that are done exceptionally well. The band sounds nice and tight...in a loose feel way...if that makes any sense. As soon as Long Grey Mare kicked in ( a song I have never heard before!) and I heard that funky bass line I thought...bass solo coming! I was right....NICE ONE Mr Rambin' Rudy. And for the drummers out there...drum solo as well. I love the way Cedric and Rudy play together. They are the glue that keeps Barry honest!! LOL
Then comes the rockin' Keep A Knockin' followed by a fantastic Honest I
Do....Just LISTEN to those vocals...I dare you not to feel something.
And then there is the guitar playing...amazing enough as regular playing...then it reaches a whole new level when the slide playing kicks in. Wow.....Barrys slide playing is EVERY bit as good...and better IMHO...than that of Rory Gallagher. Some may call it sacrilege, but I call it honest praise. There are moments when the slide reaches for an expected great phrase...and then plays something even better. I can sure hear the Rory influence, and then the McCabe touch just adds to its brilliance. I can't say enough about how GOOD Barry is.
and I haven't even mentioned the tunes yet.....the first four are great rocking fun tunes that are done exceptionally well. The band sounds nice and tight...in a loose feel way...if that makes any sense. As soon as Long Grey Mare kicked in ( a song I have never heard before!) and I heard that funky bass line I thought...bass solo coming! I was right....NICE ONE Mr Rambin' Rudy. And for the drummers out there...drum solo as well. I love the way Cedric and Rudy play together. They are the glue that keeps Barry honest!! LOL
Then comes the rockin' Keep A Knockin' followed by a fantastic Honest I
Do....Just LISTEN to those vocals...I dare you not to feel something.
bootsy (Shell)
Winnipeg, MB Canada
Albatross reunion PART 3
Then for me...the Quintain of Ultimate Pleasure are the last 5 jams. You can not say anything bad about ANY of those last 5 tunes. I was going to pick Talk To Your Daughter and Prisoners Of Conscience as my favorite 2...then looked at and heard Full Moon On Main Street...Wonderful... and the amazing Bullfrog Blues and just can't pick between them. I think that since Prisoners is an original I will pick it as my favorite..if I have to have a favorite...but Talk to your Daughter...Full Moon On Main Street...Wonderful...and Bullfrog Blues are amazing tunes and a great way to end a fantastic album.
Again...this album is well worth the wait...as is anything Barry McCabe related. If you have read through this stream of consciousness review (grammar and spelling errors included) I urge you to find out how to get this CD...if you even can as it is a limited production I believe.
Well done to all involved from Barry Rudy Cedric and Bas to Ralph and Mark for the production.
A ten out of ten..."It hits the Spot dead on"
-b- Shell
Then for me...the Quintain of Ultimate Pleasure are the last 5 jams. You can not say anything bad about ANY of those last 5 tunes. I was going to pick Talk To Your Daughter and Prisoners Of Conscience as my favorite 2...then looked at and heard Full Moon On Main Street...Wonderful... and the amazing Bullfrog Blues and just can't pick between them. I think that since Prisoners is an original I will pick it as my favorite..if I have to have a favorite...but Talk to your Daughter...Full Moon On Main Street...Wonderful...and Bullfrog Blues are amazing tunes and a great way to end a fantastic album.
Again...this album is well worth the wait...as is anything Barry McCabe related. If you have read through this stream of consciousness review (grammar and spelling errors included) I urge you to find out how to get this CD...if you even can as it is a limited production I believe.
Well done to all involved from Barry Rudy Cedric and Bas to Ralph and Mark for the production.
A ten out of ten..."It hits the Spot dead on"
-b- Shell
Ron Christensen
Marshalltown, Iowa, USA
Barry-
I got the Albatross Reunion CD a couple weeks ago....in a word its fantastic! Im hoping that there is going to be a tour...maybe even to the States?
I got the Albatross Reunion CD a couple weeks ago....in a word its fantastic! Im hoping that there is going to be a tour...maybe even to the States?
Jimmy Logan
Planet Albatross
I see I'm not the only happy camper here on planet Albatross. I'm not sure there is much I can add. I agree with everything everyone else has said so far. I've listened to the CD non-stop since I got it (it's that kind of CD) and I keep hearing new things all the time. The addition of the harmonica was an inspired choice. He can certainly play it, that's for sure. He reminds me a little of Rory harmonica player, same interaction and style.
Full Moon is mind blowing music. I've played in loud during the day, quiet in the evening (even with the lights out) and it takes me away every time. I find myself 'waking up' when it's finished and then I want to play it again. It's nearly hypnotic, especially the quiet part of the solo. It was worth buying the CD for that track alone.
Well I've rambled on for long enough. Well done to everyone involved in putting this masterpiece together and I can't wait for the next one or the tour (which ever comes first).
Full Moon is mind blowing music. I've played in loud during the day, quiet in the evening (even with the lights out) and it takes me away every time. I find myself 'waking up' when it's finished and then I want to play it again. It's nearly hypnotic, especially the quiet part of the solo. It was worth buying the CD for that track alone.
Well I've rambled on for long enough. Well done to everyone involved in putting this masterpiece together and I can't wait for the next one or the tour (which ever comes first).
Sonja
Austria
We like the Albatross Reunion Show CD!!!!!
Greetings from Austria
Sonja
Greetings from Austria
Sonja
Ingrid Stephenson
Provence, France
Hi Barry,
I was really excited to open your CD which arrived safely in Provence. Thank you very much, that was a great idea. It's already one of my favourites to listen to in the car.
Ingrid
I was really excited to open your CD which arrived safely in Provence. Thank you very much, that was a great idea. It's already one of my favourites to listen to in the car.
Ingrid
Patrick Fairchild
western australia
Thanks Barry,recieved the cds no problem down under.Having set my music machine to the appropriate level i have played "reunion" from start to finish and can say that it's all and more than i expected.Being a harp player and fan of this genre anyway i found the album extremly refreshing in every aspect.One day i will see you "live" but until then this masterpiece and my back catalouge will keep me going.my picks
1.full moon on main street-superb !
2.bullfrog blues-rory/dave hole/albatross,there all fantastic.!
3.move it on over-rocks.!
i will be playing this a lot and so should anyone who has a copy,cheers mate!!
1.full moon on main street-superb !
2.bullfrog blues-rory/dave hole/albatross,there all fantastic.!
3.move it on over-rocks.!
i will be playing this a lot and so should anyone who has a copy,cheers mate!!
Chris
Co. Carlow, Ireland
It's as simple as this. Horslips has Fean, Albatross has Mc Cabe. Horslips has Furniture, Albatross has Full Moon on Main St. F***ing amazing solos, the two of them!!!!!
Right, here's the deal...Albatross and Horslips, double-bill in the O2 and Fean plays the solo on Full Moon and Mc Cabe plays the solo on Furniture and then they both play on Shaking All Over. I can see it clearly in front of me, the best night in Irish rock history. You read it here first folks!!!
Seriously Mc Cabe, Full Moon gave me goosebumps and stopped me in my tracks. That's as good as it gets...can't you hear the guitar wail...
Right, here's the deal...Albatross and Horslips, double-bill in the O2 and Fean plays the solo on Full Moon and Mc Cabe plays the solo on Furniture and then they both play on Shaking All Over. I can see it clearly in front of me, the best night in Irish rock history. You read it here first folks!!!
Seriously Mc Cabe, Full Moon gave me goosebumps and stopped me in my tracks. That's as good as it gets...can't you hear the guitar wail...