Celtic Music: Silly Wizard

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One of Scotland's Top Traditional Bands of the '70s and '80s

Silly Wizard, at times a four- five- or six-piece group, performed a wide range of traditional music and some of their own compositions for seventeen years. They recorded nine albums and toured extensively in the UK, Europe, and the United States.

17 Great Years, 9 Great Albums

Silly Wizard started in Edinburgh in 1971 with Gordon Jones, Bob Thomas, and Johnny Cunningham. They didn't play too far from home early on because Johnny was still in school. Their first tour was in France in 1972, followed by touring around the UK with Maddy Taylor. The four recorded an album with Maddy, but then she left the group and the album was never released.

The original three members joined with Andy M. Stewart on vocals and banjo. Alasdair Donaldson, Neil Adams, and Freeland Barbour worked with the band for a while, then Martin Hadden on bass and Johnny Cunningham's brother Phil joined with his acccordion after they left. They toured and recorded as a six-piece band for a while. Bob Thomas left before the group recorded So Many Partings as a five-piece group.

Johnny Cunningham left to live in the States, and Dougie MacLean joined for a short while, including the time Wild and Beautiful was recorded. They were a four-piece band for a while, then Johnny, who often sat in when the group was near his home, rejoined. Their ninth and final album, A Glint of Silver was recorded in 1986 and their final show was at one of Bill and Andy Spence's Old Songs events in Vooheesville, NY in April 1988.

Andy M. Stewart has gone on to a successful solo career, while Johnny also played solo and sometimes with Phil. Phil Cunningham has performed with many musicians, including releasing some albums with Shetland Islands fiddler Aly Bain, formerly with Boys of the Lough. Johnny died of a heart attack in December 2003.

Members of Silly Wizard performed with Phil Cunningham and Friends at the Celtic Connections festival in Glasgow in 2007 (photo, above right). An album of digitally remastered live recordings from the 1980s, Live Again, has been in the works, but no release date has been set.

Silly Wizard on Amazon

1978-1985

The group's first album, Silly Wizard and two albums recorded at a single concert in Boston, Massachusetts, Golden, Golden and Silly Wizard Live in America are not listed as available from Amazon.

The CDs in this group were released in 1990. All are available as MP3 downloads. MP3 downloads, where indicated, are available in the United States only.

If you wish to order from Amazon.co.uk, please click on the appropriate text link in each CD's description. Clicking on the graphic or title of the CD links you to Amazon's US site.
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More Silly Wizard on Amazon

These two albums were released on CD in 1993 and are available from third party partners from Amazon. No MP3 downloads are available from Amazon.
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Video: Silly Wizard's Phil & Johnny Cunningham

These guys have got some of the fastest fingers in the business, and they have a grand time giving them a workout on whistle, fiddle, and accordion.
Phil and Johnny Cunningham
by joshrichardson222 | video info

211 ratings | 55,354 views
curated content from YouTube

Silly Wizard Links

Silly Wizard history and info by Gordon Jones
Gordon Jones, a founding member of Silly Wizard, provides a history of the group and links to websites for other members.
Other Celtic music lenses by MobyD
A lens to help you find similar lenses I've made.

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