50 Winters Away

'Slip of the young.. Celtic rockers look back half a century to their legendary album

- BY ERICA CARTER

CELTIC rockers Horslips are marking a whopping 50 years since the release of their iconic album Drive The Cold Winter Away.

Jim Lockhart, Eamon Carr, Barry Devlin and Charles O'Connor have come together for an interview as a group for the first time in years - as they chatted to RSVP Country about the highlights of their careers, why this album meant so much and the missing piece of this anniversary milestone after losing their guitarist and good friend Johnny Fean in 2023.

The band have said it's hugely nostalgic to look back at the album and the making of it 50 years down the road.

"I was listening back to the remasters for the vinyl, and it's really strange to be back in that kind of soundscape again," said Jim.

"It was done in an eight-track studio in Baggott Street and we did it fairly quickly. It was very much no frills at all.

"There's a great kind of charm to it, a naive charm. Every time I go back to it, which is rarely enough because you don't spend that much time listening to your own stuff, it always catches you. This one has a real sweetness about it."

Barry added: "Recording it was fantastic fun, it really was."