Search - 3 Pints Gone :: Beaches of St Valery

3 Pints Gone--best of the bunch

Carolyn McKenzie | Wauwatosa, WI USA | 11/20/2004

(5 out of 5 stars)

"With their ear for harmony and a tip of the hat to history, Beaches of St. Valery is a marvelous collection of tunes sung by an incredibly talented trio. Kathleen Masino truly has the voice of an angel, and she shines throughout the CD, balanced by the masculine voice and humor of husband Bill and their third partner in crime, James. Barrett's Privateers is an especial favorite of mine, made for foot stomping and clapping along to. Not just for St. Patrick's Day, if you love Celtic music, especially traditional Celtic songs sung in English, you will LOVE this album and this group!!"

3 Pints Gone - strong stuff

S. Teeter | New Orleans, LA USA | 03/01/2009

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I totally agree with C. MacKenzie's remarks, but I have to add something. The footstomping numbers are great, yes, but the war ballads should be mentioned. "Green Fields of France" reflects on the grave of a 19 year old Scots soldier killed and buried in France in 1916. The album's title song, "The Beaches of St. Valery," is about the forced surrender of the British 51st Highland Division in 1940, Scotsmen again, whose battle orders left them trapped between Rommel's army and the English Channel.



These ballads reduce me to tears -- and I mean sobbing with my face in my hands -- not just by the tragedy and horror and waste and pity of war, which we seem ever powerless to stop. It's Bill Masino's singing, which is filled with bitterness and outrage and ANGER, all justified. He has an incredible voice, and he sings of, and for, men whose lives were callously spent by superiors they trusted. That is unforgiveable."