Horslips

In the middle of the 1970s, Horslips looked ready to emerge as Ireland’s equivalent to Steeleye Span. At the same time, prospects existed for them to become successors to Jethro Tull, albeit a stronger hard-rock unit, or perhaps to Genesis, or even to Yes during its more folk-oriented passages. Although those trajectories never fully developed, Horslips issued six excellent albums in the course of their career and earned distinction as Ireland’s leading folk-rock and progressive ensemble.

The quintet originated in Dublin during 1970, performing a style of folk-infused rock that found its closest counterpart in the earliest recordings of Fairport Convention, a group then only two or three years old. Whereas Fairport blended British and American folk and folk-rock sources without restriction, Horslips drew exclusively upon Irish traditions and retained the ability to deliver unadorned folk pieces when required, yet remained willing to amplify their sound into forceful, art-rock territory on appropriate material.

At various points Barry Devlin on bass and vocals, John Fean on lead guitar and vocals, Eamonn Carr on drums and vocals, Charles O’Connor on violin, mandolin and vocals, and Jim Lockhart on flute, tin whistle, keyboards and vocals could evoke the atmospheres of either Genesis or Jethro Tull while possessing stronger original compositions than Tull offered after its debut. Fean in particular handled both delicate folk-inflected passages and assertive electric lines with equal facility, holding his own alongside players such as Martin Barre or Steve Howe. In contrast to Tull, which after its first album became largely a platform for Ian Anderson’s flamboyant flute work and elaborate, ironic, scatological lyrics, Horslips until its later years allowed each member ample space to contribute, avoiding dominance by any single individual. Three years of intensive Dublin performances refined their ensemble precision before they established the OATS label to issue their 1973 debut, Happy to Meet, Sorry to Part.

That opening release, combining traditional Irish instruments with a hard art-rock approach reminiscent of the Genesis heard on Nursery Cryme and Foxtrot, outsold numerous established Irish acts and secured a distribution agreement with RCA along with tours across England and Continental Europe. Their second album, The Tain, a 1973 concept work drawn from Irish mythological sources, extended their reach to audiences across the Atlantic. The third record, Dancehall Sweethearts, arrived in 1974 and brought the band to the United States and Canada; it was followed by The Unfortunate Cup of Tea in 1975. Both later sets leaned toward a contemporary rock orientation and proved less compelling than the initial pair, prompting the members to return to Ireland and reassess their direction.

They reclaimed their origins with the all-acoustic Christmas collection To Drive the Cold Winter Away, issued in 1976. The album repositioned them within the decade’s folk-rock movement, earning favorable comparisons to English electric-folk groups such as Steeleye Span, with whom they toured, and Fairport Convention. Although never overtly political, their status as an Irish electric folk-rock act connected them with younger Irish-American listeners during a period of heightened ethnic awareness spurred by renewed conflict in Northern Ireland. In the United States they remained a cult attraction, never approaching the popularity of the Chieftains despite Atlantic’s release of their mid-1970s albums; nevertheless the following exceeded what they might have achieved in the late 1960s.

In England and Ireland, however, Horslips achieved substantial commercial success, sufficient to justify a double live album that documented their repertoire of the period. Their subsequent studio release, The Book of Invasions, appeared in 1977 on Dick James’ DJM label, which had also acquired their earlier catalog in Britain. Subtitled “A Celtic Symphony,” the record drew once more on Irish mythology, recounting the Tuatha Dé Danann’s conquest of pre-Christian Ireland. It reached number 39 on the British charts, their sole entry there, and attracted committed listeners in American progressive and folk-rock circles. The run of releases could not be maintained. Aliens, addressing Irish immigrant experiences in America, offered less invention and received diminished critical and audience response. The Irish odds-and-sods compilation Tracks from the Vaults served mainly to fill time.

The Man Who Built America signaled a decisive shift, with Barry Devlin and Jim Lockhart assuming primary control while Carr and Fean, whose approach remained more folk-oriented, receded in favor of a broader mainstream-rock direction. Additional guitarists Gus Guest and Declan Sinnott appeared on the album, which adopted a more American character and departed further from Irish folk foundations than any previous work; the title track, in particular, suggested the style of John Cougar Mellencamp or Bruce Springsteen, with Lockhart’s flute substituting for Clarence Clemons’ saxophone and featuring prominent swirling keyboards rather than the approach heard on “The High Reel.”

By this stage Horslips were competing in an entirely different musical sphere, and little of the original configuration remained. Short Stories/Tall Tales closed their sequence of studio albums in 1980 and was followed by one further concert recording drawn from their final performances, the hard-rocking Belfast Gigs. Carr and Fean subsequently collaborated in the R&B-oriented Zen Alligator before reuniting with Charles O’Connor in the folk group Host, and Fean also recorded with Nikki Sudden and Simon Carmody. Fean died on April 28, 2023, at the age of 71. Two retrospective collections later appeared in Ireland and England. Ownership of the catalog through OATS facilitated compact-disc reissues.