MtheGM said
> A master of the sort of enhancing accompaniment I wrote about a couple back has always been Paul Brady. Just played on YouTube his masterly 1977 version of Arthur McBride [not a Child ballad, I know, but nonetheless a long song with a strong narrative]. Paul's elaborate but perfectly judged and matched accompaniment, to my mind, fully enhances and brings out every overtone and nuance of this fine song. <

If the performance in question is the one mentioned on the "Lyr Req: Arthur McBride by Paul Brady" thread, viz this one , then for once I have to disagree with Mike.

The clip on YouTube starts with 40 seconds of instrumental, then the singing starts in the middle of the ballad. Either the beginning of that performance is missing, in which case there was at least a 40 second interruption in the story, or the first few verses were left out and this was a 40 second introduction. Either way the ballad would be much better without it IMHO.

I would prefer to hear the instrumental on its own, as a piece of music, and the ballad with either a much sparser accompaniment or none at all.

Richard