Last Night's Fun was originally released in 1995, and it was Chris Sherburn and Denny Bartley's debut effort. I missed this album first time around, and after just one listen I was left pondering how I have coped without listening to this album regularly over the last 11 years. The album sounds refreshing, original and pure, retaining a rawness that is often only captured in live performance.

Sherburn is a phenomenal talent on the concertina, superbly accompanied by Bartley's rhythmic guitar playing. However, for me at least, it is Bartley's stunning voice that is the absolute jewel in the crown of this album, sharing similar intonation to John Spillane or the Waterboy's Mike Scott. I was completely overwhelmed by Bartley's naturally expressive vocal style that fits so well on those songs where he is required to fulfill the role of storyteller. I challenge anybody not to be utterly moved by his remarkable voice, which is steeped in the soul of his native Ireland.

There are also some impressive musicians accompanying Sherburn and Bartley on Last Night's Fun, notably Kate Rusby and John McCusker, who would have been mere fledgling artists at the time of recording.

Many of the tunes and songs on Last Night's Fun were already familiar to me, and it was instantly obvious that Sherburn and Bartley are immensely gifted when it comes to arranging material and injecting it with their own, unique sound. Ewan MacColl's "Moving On Song" is given a whole new vibrancy with Bartley's perfect vocals sounding almost like they are being delivered by the travellers themselves, and Sherburn's menacing concertina interludes adding a certain urgency.

Bill Staines' song "The Roseville Fair" is stripped of the jauntiness that Nanci Griffith applied when covering it on her Once in a Very Blue Moon album; it reveals itself to be a charming ballad with Bartley's vocals delving much deeper to unearth the genuine, tender emotions contained within the reminiscing lyrics. Rusby's delicate harmony vocals add further to the beauty of this love song.

Sherburn demonstrates his agility with the concertina on a number of tracks. Comparing the fiery set of reels "The Silver Spire/Return to Milltown/Castle Kelly" to the more sedate "Mairtin Byrne's Waltz" highlights Sherburn's virtuosity in applying his proficiency to these two very disparate styles.

Probably the most poignant song on the album, if not the most poignant song ever written, is the mournful "Kilkelly." The song tells the distressing story of an Irish family torn apart by emigration, at a time when emigration meant leaving behind a family you may never see again. What really drives home the heartbreaking nature of these lyrics is the fact that they were composed around actual letters sent from father to son, starting with the initial hope of the son's emigration in search of a better life, through to the death of his parents and the eventual acceptance that he is unlikely to return home. "Kilkelly" provides the perfect showcase for Bartley's plaintive vocals, and adept storytelling.

This album has been a complete revelation to me and it is remarkable how so much can be achieved with relatively little, when these remarkable musical personalities combine with a fine selection of material.

by Mike Wilson
Rambles.NET
26 August 2006