Shortly before his 2007 death -- to asbestosis, believed to be a product of his time working building sites as a youth -- Kerryman
Christie Hennessy assembled a plethora of artists whom his music had inspired to record what would be his final album.
The Two of Us was not envisioned as a duets album, but that's what it would come to encapsulate, growing from a charity song he had written with brothers
Christy Moore, who had made
Hennessy's own "Don't Forget Your Shovel" a hit, and
Luka Bloom in mind, entitled "When Will We Learn." The familial theme continues throughout the album. "Getting Over You," another new composition, is a duet with
Hennessy's daughter Hermione Ross (Ross being the family's given surname), and son Tim Ross handled the bulk of the production with longtime collaborator
John Themis. Sisters
Frances Black and
Mary Black are also featured,
Frances reprising the role she played in making "All the Lies That You Told Me" a mid-'90s hit, while
Mary Black adds her harmonies to "If You Were to Fall." Ever the gentle singer,
Hennessy's voice recalls the smoothest of
Cat Stevens' tones, while
Finbar Furey is another reference point, the latter adding his unique whistle style to "Oh Jealous Heart," a duet with roaring tenor
Tommy Fleming. In itself,
The Two of Us is an intriguing concept -- a legacy of great songs that have lent themselves so well to interpretation by other artists, reinterpreted one final time. And for that reason,
The Two of Us cannot be termed anything but a success. ~ Dave Donnelly