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The tracks on The Best of the Chieftains are drawn from The Chieftains 7, The Chieftains 8, and Boil the Breakfast Early--three of the band's recordings from the late 1970s. This was the period when former Bothy Band and Planxty flautist Matt Molloy and vocalist/bodhran player Kevin Cunniffe joined up and finally fulfilled Paddy Maloney's vision of what the band should sound like. It also marks the last time the Chieftains recorded pure, unadulterated traditional Irish music. Not long after making these albums, the band set off on a new career that has included numerous movie and TV soundtracks, collaborations with pop stars of various stripes, and guest appearances with symphony orchestras. Although some purists decry the band's later attempts at crossover, the near perfection of tracks such as the exquisitely performed suite of dance tunes "Chase Around the Windmill" show that the Chieftains had taken the old tunes about as far as they could go. The group may have gone on to make better-selling records, but they never topped the traditional grace and charm of the songs on The Best of the Chieftains. --Michael Simmons