Obit: Tommy Makem has Passed Away (1932-2007)

Subject: Tommy is bad off
From: kendall
Date: 24 Jul 07 - 05:30 PM

It is with a heavy heart that I tell you about Tommy Makem.
As you know, he has been battling lung cancer, and it has now spread to his liver.
I don't know if he would like to have me put his address here or not, so I'm not going to, but have a good thought for this outstanding performer.

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Thread #103544   Message #2112665
Posted By: Joe Offer
27-Jul-07 - 11:26 AM
Thread Name: Tommy [Makem] is bad off
Subject: RE: Tommy [Makem] is bad off


It's my understanding that the family has been overwhelmed with calls and mail. They have asked that Tommy's address be removed from this thread. If you would like to convey any messages to Tommy, you can post at the discussion forum at http://www.makem.com/ - you have to register to post. The thread on Tommy's illness is here (click).
-Joe-

---

From the family:

If anyone wants to write him a postcard or letter, you can address it to PO Box 336, Dover NH 03821-0336. He'll get anything addressed to him there.

Subject: RE: Tommy is bad off
From: Cluin
Date: 24 Jul 07 - 05:30 PM

Damn!

Subject: RE: Tommy is bad off
From: Rapparee
Date: 24 Jul 07 - 05:32 PM

Aw, shit. Kendall, if you see him, tell him hello and thanks for everything from an old fan of his.

Subject: RE: Tommy is bad off
From: GUEST,meself
Date: 24 Jul 07 - 05:33 PM

This is sad news ...

Subject: RE: Tommy is bad off
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 24 Jul 07 - 05:33 PM

If you're in touch I hope you'll convey good wishes from Mudcat. Would he fancy a shawl, do you think?

Subject: RE: Tommy is bad off
From: Sorcha
Date: 24 Jul 07 - 06:00 PM

Yes, from me too. Another big fan. I do remember the 'flap' when a different Tommy Makem died......shit shit shit.

Subject: RE: Tommy is bad off
From: SINSULL
Date: 24 Jul 07 - 06:09 PM

A wonderful performer, a wonderful man. I will keep him in my thoughts and prayers.
Mary

Subject: RE: Tommy is bad off
From: artbrooks
Date: 24 Jul 07 - 06:09 PM

That's too bad-we've enjoyed his music for a long time.

Subject: RE: Tommy is bad off
From: jeffp
Date: 24 Jul 07 - 06:32 PM

I am very sad to hear this. Tommy has been a pivotal figure in the resurgence of Irish music and is a wonderful songwriter as well.

Subject: RE: Tommy is bad off
From: Rabbi-Sol
Date: 24 Jul 07 - 07:40 PM

It is through Tommy and the Clancy Bros. that I developed my extreme love for Irish music.
                                                   SOL

Subject: RE: Tommy is bad off
From: Leadfingers
Date: 24 Jul 07 - 07:42 PM

The first man I ever heard play a whistle ! Bugger !

Subject: RE: Tommy is bad off
From: gnu
Date: 24 Jul 07 - 07:47 PM

My music "hero". Plain and simple. Tears... just tears. God bless his soul.

Subject: RE: Tommy is bad off
From: curmudgeon
Date: 24 Jul 07 - 08:00 PM

You can send greetings, prayers, good wishes, etc.    here.

Subject: RE: Tommy is bad off
From: Stewart
Date: 24 Jul 07 - 08:03 PM

That's very sad. The Clancy Brother and Tommy Makem were my first introduction to Irish music in the 60s and I have most of their LPs.
One of my favorite songs that I sing now along with my fiddle is his "Rambles of Spring":

I've a fine, felt hat
And a strong pair of brogues
I have rosin in my pocket for my bow
O my fiddle strings are new
And I've learned a tune or two
So, I'm well prepared to ramble and must go.

I'll keep him in my thoughts. A great musician, songwriter, and a wonderful person. We will miss him.

S. in Seattle

Subject: RE: Tommy is bad off
From: curmudgeon
Date: 24 Jul 07 - 08:05 PM

I hadn't noticed that you need to be a "member" to post there; go      here to do that - Tom

Subject: RE: Tommy Makem is bad off
From: Emma B
Date: 24 Jul 07 - 08:05 PM

I only opened this thread 'cos someone drew my attention to this sad news.

I'm sure Tommy Makem has hundreds of fans out there who will be as sad as I am to hear this, he was an early influence for many.   Could some kind elf put his surname in the thread title please?

Subject: RE: Tommy is bad off
From: Hollowfox
Date: 24 Jul 07 - 08:07 PM

I wish I could do more, but I can and will send prayers and good thoughts, and of course, the $#@!-reduction candle.

Subject: RE: Tommy is bad off
From: Maryrrf
Date: 24 Jul 07 - 08:33 PM

I am so sorry to hear this. Tommy has been a musical inspiration to many.

Subject: RE: Tommy is bad off
From: Bee
Date: 24 Jul 07 - 08:34 PM

Sad news. I remember him first from a Canadian television 'pub' show in the sixties.

Subject: RE: Tommy [Makem] is bad off
From: kendall
Date: 24 Jul 07 - 09:42 PM

I am all but unable to talk on the phone, so I won't call. My friend Gordon Bok went to see him, and Gordon said he smiled when Gordon relayed my best wishes to him.
He was in the hospital, but he was so distressed that they let him go home. There he got so uncomfortable that they put him back where he could be cared for properly.

This is a mega bummer for me.Too many people whom I hold dear are checking out.

Subject: RE: Tommy [Makem] is bad off
From: Mrrzy
Date: 24 Jul 07 - 09:46 PM

Poor Tommy. Sad to read.

Subject: RE: Tommy [Makem] is bad off
From: Rapparee
Date: 24 Jul 07 - 09:46 PM

Kendall, I know exactly how you feel. Would it be possible to print off this thread and have someone take it to him?

Subject: RE: Tommy [Makem] is bad off
From: Gulliver
Date: 24 Jul 07 - 09:52 PM

Really great guy-an inspiration-sorry to hear this...

Subject: RE: Tommy [Makem] is bad off
From: Big Mick
Date: 24 Jul 07 - 10:10 PM

I have a number of fond memories of this wonderful man. I remember a Festival we were at, and the green room, with Tommy and Liam Tiernan and I, was a blast. I walked in, and was in awe of this great performer, by the end he had put me at such ease that we were all having a wonderful time.

And we perform his Rambles of Spring as well. It is a peach of a song.

All the best, Tommy.

Mick

Subject: RE: Tommy [Makem] is bad off
From: Beer
Date: 24 Jul 07 - 10:14 PM

Kendall.
My thoughts are with you also. A few years back I said to Mum that a lot of my friends had been passing away. Her reply was "Well Adrien, a time will come when you may be the only one left". She went on to explain that all of her friends had moved on.
Damn it is sad news as it was when we lost a few months back Dermot O'Reilly of Ryan's Fancy.
Beer (adrien)

Subject: RE: Tommy [Makem] is bad off
From: GUEST,meself
Date: 24 Jul 07 - 11:00 PM

As the old man is wont to say, "The ranks are thinning" ...

Subject: RE: Tommy [Makem] is bad off
From: Deckman
Date: 24 Jul 07 - 11:20 PM

I think I'll sing some verses of "The Parting Glass" tonight! Bob

Subject: RE: Tommy [Makem] is bad off
From: Celtaddict
Date: 24 Jul 07 - 11:39 PM

Thank you, Kendall, for keeping us posted.
We hold the Godfather of Irish music in our hearts.

Subject: RE: Tommy [Makem] is bad off
From: Alice
Date: 24 Jul 07 - 11:49 PM

This is very sad news. His singing and whistle playing is a huge part of my
memories. Please pass on my best wishes.
Alice Flynn in Montana

Subject: RE: Tommy [Makem] is bad off
From: katlaughing
Date: 24 Jul 07 - 11:57 PM

Asked recently if he had any plans to retire, he replied "Yes, of course, I retire every night and in the morning when I awake I realise just how lucky and privileged I am to be able to continue doing the things I love to do."

The privilege is all ours and I ask that he awake another day, free of pain and distress, wherever that may be.

Thank you, Kendalldarlin'...here's a {{{{HUG}}}} for you.

In sorrow,

kat

Subject: RE: Tommy [Makem] is bad off
From: GUEST,DonMeixner
Date: 25 Jul 07 - 12:05 AM

What sad news. Since it is not in my power to wish him well I would wish him ease and comfort.

Don

Subject: RE: Tommy [Makem] is bad off
From: Ernest
Date: 25 Jul 07 - 02:21 AM

Sad news...always liked his music, always hoped to see and hear him sometime...

Best wishes
Ernest

Subject: RE: Tommy [Makem] is bad off
From: Johnhenry'shammer
Date: 25 Jul 07 - 02:30 AM

The Clancy Brothers and Tommy Makem have been a tradition at my house on St. Patrick's Day ever since I was born. It was only a few years ago that I realized that it was good music no matter what the day was. Here's to Tommy Makem!

Look at the coffin, with silver handles
Isn't it grand, boys, to be bloody well dead?
Let's not have a sniffle, let's have a bloody good cry
And always remember, the longer you live
The sooner you'll bloody well die.

Slainte!

Subject: RE: Tommy [Makem] is bad off
From: scouse
Date: 25 Jul 07 - 03:48 AM

My thoughts are with him Kendall.Sad,sad, sad.
As Aye,
Phil.

Subject: RE: Tommy [Makem] is bad off
From: JennyO
Date: 25 Jul 07 - 06:58 AM

When I first heard Tommy Makem recite "The Host Of The Air" my hair rose on my neck. His is the voice that first opened Irish folk music up to me.

" I feel that old Tyrant approaching,
That cruel and remorseless old foe,
And I lift up my glass in his honour,
Good health to old Rosin the Beau"

Here's to Tommy Makem.

Jack Halyard

Subject: RE: Tommy [Makem] is bad off
From: goatfell
Date: 25 Jul 07 - 07:13 AM

so sad

Subject: RE: Tommy [Makem] is bad off
From: kendall
Date: 25 Jul 07 - 07:29 AM

I feel so lucky to have shared the stage with this consumate performer. The audience loved our banter.
Damn. I still owe him dinner too.

Subject: RE: Tommy [Makem] is bad off
From: RoyH (Burl)
Date: 25 Jul 07 - 08:05 AM

Thoughts and prayers from an English singer who is a great Makem fan.

Subject: RE: Tommy [Makem] is bad off
From: Rapparee
Date: 25 Jul 07 - 09:16 AM

Kendall, remind him of the dinner you owe him. He can't leave until you pay the debt.]

Then don't buy him anything edible.

Well...it MIGHT work....

Subject: RE: Tommy [Makem] is bad off
From: Big Mick
Date: 25 Jul 07 - 09:47 AM

Another testament to Tommy is the legacy he will leave for us in his kids. I have had the pleasure of dealing with the boys on a number of occasions. They share their Da's, and their Grandmother's, love of the music. Given the tradition established in this family, we will never be without the wonderful music. But we will miss Tommy.....yeah ..... we sure will...

Mick

Subject: RE: Tommy [Makem] is bad off
From: John MacKenzie
Date: 25 Jul 07 - 10:20 AM

Easy and slow Tommy, easy and slow.
Giok

Subject: RE: Tommy [Makem] is bad off
From: Greg B
Date: 25 Jul 07 - 10:37 AM

I listened to his music from the age of six or seven, I think.

I first heard him on the very first evening of my very first trip
to New York City--- was wandering about, came across 'Tommy Makems
Irish Pavilion' and the sign said 'Tonight - Tommy Makem and Liam
Clancy.' Went right in and made a reservation. Thank god I'd remembered
to bring my tweed jacket!

I met Tommy in person several years later, playing 'host' at Mystic.
Absolutely the most unpretentious, unassuming, 'gentleman' of a
performer that I've ever encountered (other than maybe Pete
Seeger). 'Soft spoken' doesn't begin to describe it.

A true treasure.

Subject: RE: Tommy [Makem] is bad off
From: Kampervan
Date: 25 Jul 07 - 12:17 PM

Like millions of others I never met Tommy Maken but he had a huge influence on me and was instumental in me developing a lifelong love of folk music, and a very soft spot for for Irish music too.

(And as an Englishman that hasn't always been an easy path to tread.)

I hope, if there's any chance, that he recovers; if not then I hope that the alternative comes easy.

God bless, Tommy.

K/van

Subject: RE: Tommy [Makem] is bad off
From: GUEST,Art Thieme
Date: 25 Jul 07 - 01:15 PM

How very sad! What a grand voice. So very perfect for folk music.

I first heard Tommy Makem in 1959 - I think it was. I'd not heard him before. And I'd not even heard OF him before. I was there at Chicago's Eighth Street Theater to hear the only other man on the show that night---Bob Gibson.

This was when Bob was a star at Chicago's GATE OF HORN folk club/bar on Dearborn Street and Chicago Ave. It was a very rare concert setting by Mr. Gibson in a venue that wasn't alcohol drenched and taking place in the wee small hours of the morning. (I was 18 years old and too young for nightlife and drinking.)

But Tommy Makem came out on stage---sat down in a chair--didn't say a word, and mesmerized the audience doing his "With a ring ting of an ing ting of an ido..." --- the wonderful 'shoemaker's song' complete with all the mechanical pantomiming that went with the various steps one would go through while making an actual pair of shoes by hand in days of old. ----- It blew me away--showed me how folk songs really are time machines that could pick us up here and now, and drop us off in other times and places. ----- I've been a huge fan of Tommy's ever since.

There is no more I can say, Kendall. Just give him my best wishes--from an American folksinger and long time fan who never met him. I do hope this last journey is a relatively easy one.

Love,

Art Thieme

Subject: RE: Tommy [Makem] is bad off
From: katlaughing
Date: 25 Jul 07 - 02:22 PM

Art, I wish you could watch this. Thanks to your posting I found an early 70's video of Tommy singing the Cobbler on RTEOne at you tube. Thanks for mentioning it.

Subject: RE: Tommy [Makem] is bad off
From: GUEST
Date: 25 Jul 07 - 02:32 PM

May his God be with him.

Subject: RE: Tommy [Makem] is bad off
From: kendall
Date: 25 Jul 07 - 02:46 PM

kat, thank you so much for posting that. Maybe I'll be able to watch it someday.

Subject: RE: Tommy [Makem] is bad off
From: GUEST
Date: 25 Jul 07 - 03:24 PM

The man is my hero.
For once, I am at a complete loss for words.
He will be in my prayers tonight.
Jim

Subject: RE: Tommy [Makem] is bad off
From: katlaughing
Date: 25 Jul 07 - 03:39 PM

You are most welcome, Kendall. There are several others of him on youtube.

Subject: RE: Tommy [Makem] is bad off
From: kendall
Date: 25 Jul 07 - 03:39 PM

I'm going to stick my neck out and give you all that address so you can send Tommy a card.

[address removed at request of the family. -Joe Offer-]

Remember, he is weak and probably unable to respond, but I'm sure he will be pleased to hear from some of his fans.

I think I'll have a shot of Jameson's Irish whiskey and raise a glass to a great performer. Some time ago he called to ask how I was doing, and now I can't even return the concern.
Damn