The title pays homage to Tommy Makem and the Clancy Brothers, who appear on the album, which also draws upon the talents of all their fathers and many of the leading Irish musicians today. Folk giants Pete Seeger and Arlo Guthrie also make guest appearances. With so many artists involved, the album broadly explores the landscape of Irish traditional music: joyful dance tunes, sad ballads, protest and comic songs, often in nearly unrepeatable combinations, like '60s icons Arlo and Liam Clancy singing a duet.
As well as any book or documentary film, The Girls Won't Leave the Boys Alone explores the emotion of what it meant to leave the Irish nation for these American shores. Cherish the Ladies pulls this off marvelously, melding all this talent into a cohesive, thoroughly engaging album. What gets lost in the process at times, however, is Cherish the Ladies themselves. At times you want the six of them just to cut loose with their ethereal singing, sizzling playing, and powerhouse rhythms and forget about all these guests. But, by gathering this musical assemblage on these particular tunes, Cherish the Ladies has created a landmark statement of Irish music in America that bridges at least two generations.
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