It seems hard to believe nowadays that there was a time in Ireland, no less, when the thought of the commercial release a traditional music album was regarded as ridiculous. No self-respecting record company would consider issuing one. And then around four decades ago came Claddagh Records.

Similarly, if at that time someone would have said that a group of musicians could get together and earn a living, make a career even, from playing the music professionally on the international stage, they would have been locked up. But then came the Chieftains.

The rest, as they say, is history.

That history is now revisited in the form of a CD box set containing the first four Chieftains' albums -- and what a refreshing set this is. Even after all these years, although their sound has developed and the personnel has undergone changes, the quality of playing, the style and the entertainment value are still there. Paddy Moloney's dream had a firm foundation.

The seeds to the group were sown in the late '50s when a group of men came together under the leadership of Sean O'Riada to form Ceoltoiri Cualann (the Musicians of Cualann). Included were Moloney, Martin Fay, Sean Potts and Michael Tubridy who, along with David Fallon, became The Chieftains (album released 1964).

Today we take Irish music for granted, but this is possibly the first album available internationally in the genre. There are just over 40 minutes of playing time, a standard length for vinyl albums, which sets a pattern the Chieftains have basically developed over the years: opening with a long set stringing together tunes of different tempos and presenting different lead musicians, followed by a selection of individual tunes and medleys, and ending with another long set.

Moloney and Potts open this album with a whistle duet, which flows into Tubridy's flute and the bodhran of Fallon on the following jig, who are then joined by Moloney on pipes and Potts. Tubridy resumes center stage with an air on concertina, accompanied by the fiddle of Fay and Fallon once more. The track ends with the band playing a smart reel behind Moloney's pipes.

Now the introductions have been made and the hooley has begun. The remainder of the album takes you on a delightful journey through hornpipes, airs and slipjigs (quaintly also called hop jigs.)

Five years passed before the follow up was available (inspiringly called The Chieftains 2, and incidentally creating a pattern that laid the seeds to a minor mystery some eight years later). David Fallon had retired, being somewhat older than the rest of the band, and was replaced by bones and bodhran player, Peadar Mercier. And Sean Keane also joined the roster, adding another fiddle to the arsenal.

Already, one can hear the future on the opening track. At this time, Irish music tended to be played in unison. Yet, the duets demonstrate the band beginning to stretch accepted tenets with occasional forays into harmony and counterpoint. And plucked fiddle strings foreshadow the later addition of harp to the sound.

The world had rediscovered the delights of Turlough O'Carolan, partly thanks to the Chieftains who include a distinctive version of "Seoirse Brabston." Fay and Keane strike an instant affinity as they play in unison, octaves apart. Flute and whistle join forces for another verse, while Moloney's pipes weave their spell before the whole band marches along in step.

Always expanding the possibilities in sound, "An Paistin Fionn" features concertina against droning fiddles, recreating a pipes' effect. Whistles again harmonize. "The Foxhunt" is an aural picture -- you can almost see the horses as they charge across the landscape, the hounds yelping, horns blowing. The Chieftains are never afraid of experimentation, as this Moloney arrangement of various reels and jigs shows. (The fade out indicates the fox survived the onslaught! Whew!)

The Chieftains have had a long association with motion pictures. "An Mhaighdean Mhara," a slow air featured on this album, was chosen by Stanley Kubrick for his 1976 film Barry Lyndon, possibly the start of that relationship.

There was only a two year wait for The Chieftains 3. It represents another fine selection of tunes, performed by the same lineup as the previous album, but with one difference.

Voice has long been part of tradition even in the instrumental music of Ireland. There was a time when it was probably more convenient and certainly safer not to wander the roads carrying a harp or a set of pipes under your jacket. The use of the voice as an instrument for dancing was a necessity and the art of lilting evolved. Pat Kilduff was one of the best exponents and his inclusion again shows how Moloney has constantly attempted to widen the boundaries of the style in the public's perception.

O'Carolan is visited on a couple of occasions, including the first recorded rendering of what has virtually become the Chieftains' signature tune -- "Mrs Poer" or "Carolan's Concerto." Each time the band revisits this piece, they manage to find something new in their interpretation -- demonstrating not just the beauty of the music but also the inventive artistry of the musicians.

The interlude shortens as only one year lies between this album and the next -- The Chieftains 4. But an important change takes place. The group expands to seven members with the introduction of Derek Bell on harp, a momentous development bearing in mind the influence Bell is to have in the future.

With the exception of Martin Fay, who I believe originally came from the pit orchestra at the Abbey Theater, the players all learned as traditional musicians. Bell was something of a child prodigy, classically trained (piano, oboe and composition at the Royal College of Music), part of the "legitimate" musical world (harp with the BBC Northern Ireland Orchestra) and already established as a performer in film. (He's the "balalaikas" in Doctor Zhivago, for example.)

Although the Chieftains were already regarded as the leaders and most respectable of the traditional Irish revivalists, with a vast repertoire and inventive arrangements, Bell added even more -- almost single-handedly saving the harp from soprano-with-fairy-chords oblivion, came close to doing the same with the tiompan, and adding his knowledge and skills with arrangements and scores. He also later introduced new dimensions with piano, oboe and cor anglais.

Back to The Chieftains 4. The album opens with a new twist. "Drowsy Maggie" is used as a link tune between a number of solo performances. Then, Keane shows his prowess as a master fiddler on a dynamic "Bucks of Oranmore." O'Carolan is once more interpreted the way only the Chieftains know how. And Moloney arranges another tone picture, this time describing "The Battle of Aughrim."

The album also offers first versions of "Carrickfergus," "Mna na hEireann" and "The Morning Dew," tunes which have featured strongly throughout the band's career. And once again, the climax is a disparate medley; tunes and rhythms that shouldn't work together, but do so brilliantly: a slide, a completely contrasting set dance, and back to a couple of slides. Wonderful!

Finally, the first four albums by this band are available on CD -- original artwork, original notes, all in one box. The influence of the Chieftains becomes apparent here. They were playing the tunes back then that we play now in sessions. They led the way with the introduction of elements such as harmony and mixed sets. While many thought that traditional Irish meant the Aran knit sweaters of the Clancy Brothers or the rollicking barroom sounds of the Dubliners, this collection of musicians revived the tunes we were about to lose.

Also included are notes on the foundation of Claddagh Records and the formation of the Chieftains, written by Michael O'Sullivan with Garech Browne, well worth reading and featuring a delightful photo of the group's second lineup.

Claddagh/Atlantic have also issued a companion CD, The Chieftains Collection, subtitled "The Very Best of the Claddagh Years." Personally, I feel it's better to save up and buy the box set, even though the compilation has a couple of tracks from The Chieftains 5. It would be better to wait for the next box set.