Somewhere Down The Track With Mary Black

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For the past two decades Mary Black has been a beating pulse for
Irish songwriters and their music .
With ten platinum solo albums to her long list of credits Mary Black is
one of Irelands greatest recording stars .

Well loved and respected Mary Black has been responsible for giving new
life to old songs and promoting new material on a world stage as well
as in her native Irish home .

From her early childhood Mary sang gathered around the piano with all
of her family . The love for singing soon brought a fine edge to her
voice that in the end cut her out a professional singing career.
Her first self titled solo album was in 1983 and that went straight to
number 4 in the Irish Charts and won her the Irish Independent Arts
Award for music .

This first award that heralded the arrival of Mary Black would only be
the first of many awards that Mary has received as a female artist in
the Irish music scene .

After a successful vocal career working in the band De Dannan Mary' s
second solo album entitled Without The Fanfare was released in 1985
.
It was at this point in her career that Mary Black discovered some of
the finest modern day contemporary song writers in Ireland and she was
able to provide a vehicle for their material . Her ability to interpret
other peoples songs and translate that to a live audience was one of
her greatest talents . With the backing of some of Irelands finest
musicians she was able to convert concert after concert into huge
record sales .
Mary's angelic voice soared out into the market place and made its way
to the ears of those who listened and then touched the hearts and minds
of her growing fans .
It was no surprise to see songwriters queue up for the chance of
getting a song on a Mary Black album . Being include on her album meant
having success in the business .

In 1986 Mary received the best female artist award with the
National
Entertainment group and in 1987 a new album was released by Mary
entitled
"By The Time It Gets Dark" .
This album was a collection of works that showcased the talents of new
Irish songwriters like Jimmy Mc Carthy ,the late Noel Brazil ,Sandy
Denny ,and Richard Thompson .

Mary received the best female artist award in 1987, and 1988 .

In 1989 Mary launched the "No Frontiers" album which became one of
Irelands best selling albums and established her in Japan and , Europe
and America .

In 1991 "Babes In The Wood" was released and went straight to number
1.

Mary black was hot property now and her sell out shows at the Royal
Albert Hall won her accolades with the British press . On her first UK
tour Mary Black stamped herself as a class act with a capital C in the
reviews that appeared in The Guardian ,The Times and The Telegraph
.

In 1992 Mary again won the best female artist award and in 1993 she
received the best Irish Solo artist award .
The same year Mary was given the National Entertainment personality of
the year award .

1993 was when the "Holy Ground" album was released and it went platinum
the very same day .

In 1994 Mary received the Belfast Telegraph EMA Best Irish Solo artist
award and again was awarded the best female artist award and that same
year she won the award for the best Irish album with ," Holy Ground
"

In 1995 when "The Circus" album was released, it went straight in at
number 1 on the Irish music charts . It climbed to number 16 on the
British Music Charts and international record companies began to sit up
and take notice of Mark Black . Various recording stars and big names
like Van Morrison , Joan Baez , Joni Mitchell , Emy Lou Harris , Chaka
Khan , and Tina Turner wanted to work with Mary . Respect had come in a
major way .

Towards the end of the 20th century
TV programmes and documentaries about Irish music and the influence of
Irish music saw Mary Black play a role .

Mary Black toured the world extensively and brought with her a huge
clump of the Holy Ground .
She planted both feet on the world stage and had become recognised as a
huge force not only with the Irish music industry but also in the
contemporary music scene .

In 1997 Mary took a great step forward when she was working on the
"Shine" album . For the first time she had recorded without her long
time producer Declan Sinnott . This was a brave move by Mary and was
taken as a gamble into cracking the American music industry . The
"Shine" album was recorded in Los Angeles with her new producer Larry
Klein .
This album seemed to have a different feel about it . The songs and had
new direction and the production introduced Mary in a new light that
shone out like a beacon a new market place .

When "Speaking With The Angel" was released it gave Mary Black a
further success on a new recording path in a new century .

In the new millennium Mary Black emerged on the scene with an double
album that was called The best of Mary Black 1991-2001 .
There was a special collection of songs on this album called Hidden
Harvest . Live tracks on this album are accompanied by studio recording
tracks and the entire collection has a trademark of quality about it
.

The tracks on the album feature some of the worlds great song writing
talents and they also highlight Mary's Black's career so far with
tracks like Once In A very Blue Moon from the album "By The Time It
Gets Dark" .
Still Believing from the album "Babes In The Wood".
The Loving Time from the album " The Holy Ground ".
"I Will Be There from the "Shine album .
"Don't Say OK" from the album " Speaking With The Angel"
and the title tracks from the albums "Without The Fanfare "and The
Circus .
This album is a journey in song through the history of Mary Black as an
Irish artidt and again provides the world today the opportunity to
appreciate the works of modern day Irish songwriters as well as some
other global superstar songwriters well have been etched well into this
laser guided gem of an album .
Appearing on this album are songs written by Lennon and Mc Cartney
,
Bob Dylan, Burt Bacharach, Jimmy Mc Carthy, the late Noel Brazil ,Shane
Howard, and Paul Brady, and many more .

Looking back at Mary's career over the past twenty years one could
never measure the wealth of the songs she has sung , no one could count
how many careers she has helped , maybe in a time to come when the
seasons are no more and if ever this world should stop turning its then
I'm sure we would hear once again that angelic voice of Mary Black
still singing , "Turn Turn Turn "

Her voice will ever continue to be like a beacon of light on the Irish
music platform . The twenty first is still being illuminated by the
echoes of Mary Balck .

THE END

By Paul McCann