I wrote on some other thread long ago of the impact the Bros. made on my high school buddies when they guested on the Danny Thomas Show (a sitcom)in 1962. They were also on the flagship variety show of the era, _The Ed Sullivan Show_, more famous for giving Elvis his first TV appearance.

I'll bet that ninety per cent of today's Irish "traditional standards" were first recorded by the Clancy Bros. and Tommy Makem.

Their renditions of songs like "Brennan on the Moor" and "O'Donnell Aboo," for example, were unlike anything most people had ever heard. Sure, Burl Ives and others had recorded "Brennan" and a few more, but the Clancy performances were louder, heartier, more exuberant. The Aran sweaters were a novelty too in an era when singers typically wore jackets and ties.

By today's standards their musicianship, though adequate, was less than stellar (though Makem's whistling was a stand-out - another sound never before heard on American airwaves). Even so, in a period of crooners, slick C & W, laid-back jazz, and rhythm-oriented rock 'n' roll, the Clancy Bros. and Tommy Makem created their own inimitable niche. They spawned both the Dubliners and the Irish Rovers.

I rarely listen to them now, because I want to remember the music in the more innocent context of the few years when I heard it for the first time.