The Clancy Brothers and Tommy Makem

Subject: RE: The Clancy Brothers and Tommy Makem
From: artbrooks
Date: 24 Sep 06 - 04:28 PM

Tommy Makem's schedule   

Liam Clancy's schedule

Subject: RE: The Clancy Brothers and Tommy Makem
From: John on the Sunset Coast
Date: 24 Sep 06 - 04:07 PM

Are Liam Clancy and Tommy Makem still performing, either together or separately? I was always partial to Tom Clancy, his recitations of Yeats poems, and his theatrical work. I saw him as the father in the Los Angeles production of A Moon for the Misbegotten in the 1970s revival of that play. He was a most versatle performer.

Subject: RE: The Clancy Brothers and Tommy Makem
From: GUEST,Mike Miller
Date: 24 Sep 06 - 03:26 PM

I have been using my CD review column to lobby for more trad. I treat singer/songwriters the way Hamen treated his bookkeeper, but I have never dissed an artist who showed respect for musical tradition, even as he/they spruced it up for general entertainment. The trad interpreters have been legion and benificial. Without the Weavers, there would have been no folk revival in the fifties, just as the Kingston Trio was responsible for the 60's Hootenany craze.
I would have been unaware of Joe Heany if I hadn't heard The Clancy Brothers and The Dubliners.
Time is the great leveler. Today, The Weavers are revered but, the fact remains that very few field recordings were arranged and accompanied by Gordon Jenkins. We can accept their slick, for the era, charts because their love and reverence for the songs and the cultures were obvious. I have become more accepting over the years. I have no trouble with the pop version of Wimoweh but I, still, question the folkiness of Ralph Marterie's "Skokian" and Guy Mitchel's "One Of The Roving Kind".

                      Mike

Subject: RE: The Clancy Brothers and Tommy Makem
From: Effsee
Date: 24 Sep 06 - 03:22 PM

The Clancy Brother's Re-union Concert 1991, DVD or CD, is widely available from various sources on the net, Amazon etc. It's a cracking Concert.

Subject: RE: The Clancy Brothers and Tommy Makem
From: Scrump
Date: 24 Sep 06 - 02:51 PM

I agree with others that the Clancys and Tommy Makem were important artists for introducing many of us to Irish music in the early 1960s. At that time I didn't know much about Irish music or artists but I enjoyed their style of music and they were one of a handful of artists who inspired me to delve deeper into Irish and other folk music. Later on I realised that they had changed some of the songs to perhaps make them more commercial, but that doesn't alter the fact that they had a huge influence (I assume I was just one of many). I admit I don't listen to them any more though - maybe I should.

Subject: RE: The Clancy Brothers and Tommy Makem
From: GUEST,Rev
Date: 24 Sep 06 - 02:16 PM

I'm sure I did say something of that sort about Pete Seeger, Jim, but that was probably over a decade ago, so I'm going to chalk that up to youth. I think, if I can remember where I was coming from back then, my main complaint about Seeger was that his arrangements often lacked "cajones," or that he made everything sound like a children's song. When I was in my 20's I wanted my folk music to have that raw, gritty energy that I heard on the Smithsonian Anthology of Folk Music, and Seeger, to my ears, sounded a bit too refined and polite, and maybe because I was raised on his music I found it too much like "kiddie music" (I also felt that way about Peter, Paul and Mary). I was also bought in to the whole story of Seeger trying to stop Dylan's electric performance at Newport, and rejected Seeger's purism. Funny how Seeger's purism collided with later generations of purists with a very different concept of authenticity. I don't diss Pete anymore. I generally choose not to use his arrangements, but I agree that he is a figure of immense significance in the history of music and humanity in general. I am particularly fond of what he did with the Almanac Singers, and I really admire his political activism.

Sorry for the thread drift... As for the Clancys, I still see their albums in record stores in the U.S. frequently. I always felt that they were in a different category than some of the other "commercial" folk artists of that era. They always seemed more "authentic" than a lot of the acts, and they certainly had "cajones." I also love their renditions of chanteys. They're kind of corny but always so much fun. I saw Tommy Makem play a couple of years ago at the Mystic chantey fest, and he can still bring the goods. I am also partial to the Clancys' recordings with Louis Killen, which also show up in U.S. record stores from time to time. I agree that we all owe a great debt of gratitude to the Clancys (and to Seeger) for bringing "folk" music back into the popular mainstream in the 50's and 60's.

Subject: RE: The Clancy Brothers and Tommy Makem
From: Northerner
Date: 24 Sep 06 - 01:49 PM

I saw the Clancy's in concert in about the mid sixties, with my parents. They were hugely enjoyable. They were one of my first introductions to Irish music. Maybe I'll even get round to buying one of their CDs someday. Not saying I'd want to listen to them a lot now but they were good at the time.

Subject: RE: The Clancy Brothers and Tommy Makem
From: GUEST,DonMeixner
Date: 24 Sep 06 - 12:54 PM

When I was in high school in the late 60's I was frequently invited to parties but told to leave my records at home. I was one of a select few in central New York who appreciated the Corries and The Clancy's.

They were certainly the intoduction I had to not just Scots and Irish folk music but a broader range of music in general. I already liked and enjoyed the Kingston Trio and The Chad Mitchell Trio. Because of the second folk revival they were what was available to 90% of the US at the time. Bluegrass was a regional style as was "Southern Mountain Folk". Because of Top Forty radio we were a nation of people geared to vocal music and not to instrumentals. "Telstar" and "More" being about the only instrumentals I recall as being popular and played on the radio. I was probably 22 before I knew a Reel was a dance as well as fishing impliment.

The Clancy's were the first Irish band I heard followed almost immediately by The Corries. Because of these bands I developed a taste for more "authentic" folk music. (I dare anyone to define authentic.) And not just more folk from the British Isles. I ate up folk music from every English speaking nation.

And if The Clancy's rewrote a few songs to make them relevent I don't mind. Scots dialect is fine if its meaning is understandble so if The Corries Englished up a few tunes thats fine too. Their job was to communicate in an understandable manner.

The Clancy's and The Corries need no defense at all. They were too influential in their time to be dismissed. Their music may be, if this is possible with trad music, dated now. But watch any of their videos if you want to learn what stage craft is. Knowing how to perform is half the battle.

Ask just about any performing folk act who is working today. You can't follow the trail of influence too far back before The Clancys and The Corries begin to show up.

Don

Subject: RE: The Clancy Brothers and Tommy Makem
From: Big Mick
Date: 24 Sep 06 - 11:05 AM

I get tired of the purists. Half the time they are just windbags who have no knowledge of what real trad is. For example: those that decry the instrumentation of today. They complain that the guitar, bouzouki, and bodhran aren't traditional instruments. I ask them what is trad? 50 to 60 years ago trad bands would have played a piano, fiddle and flute. A hundred years before that it would have been something different. The tradition in Irish Music is that it will evolve and change. Same can be said for the singers. Were it not for the Clancy's and Makem, it is very possible that the Irish revival would not have occurred, and it certainly wouldn't have had the vibrancy which has led to 40 years of exploration and evolution. These are the things which keep a tradition from becoming a hide bound relic of the past. There are many others now whom I listen to more than these lads, but the debt which we owe them is not to be diminished. Ours is a living tradition, as it has always been. The Irish have lived, died, and chronicled their traditions and history in their music since the beginning. Thanks to these lads, we continue to do so.

Mick

Subject: RE: The Clancy Brothers and Tommy Makem
From: Maryrrf
Date: 24 Sep 06 - 10:45 AM

Hmm...Osito (I think I was confusing the French "Os" which is bones and the Spanish "hueso". So you are Little John Bear. Nice nickname.

Subject: RE: The Clancy Brothers and Tommy Makem
From: artbrooks
Date: 24 Sep 06 - 09:01 AM

Little John Bear: try Amazon.com. Many/most of their vinyl albums have been reissued as CDs and are available. Just check the content carefully; one of the things they (and their various producers) were known for was putting the same cuts of the same songs on multiple albums (and they were not the only offenders by any means). Especially, anything called Greatest Hits and Best Of should be approached very carefully. BTW, Amazon ships free if you spend $25, and there is an Amazon portal here at Mudcat so, if you go there from here, our glorious leader gets a small cut...which helps keep this place up and running.

Subject: RE: The Clancy Brothers and Tommy Makem
From: Maryrrf
Date: 24 Sep 06 - 08:58 AM

I love to listen to the Clancy Brothers and Tommy Makem (and, dare I say it - The Corries too!). I can also appreciate other, more "pure" folk music but it really depends on what I'm in the mood for. Both of these groups sang with such gusto that to me it would be difficult not to enjoy their singing. And they were in large part responsible for the revival of interest in traditional Irish and Scots songs. Yes, they are sometimes a little rough around the edges but many a long drive for me has been made into a fun occasion by popping one of their CD's into my car stereo.   And when I perform in pubs, as I do occasionally, I very often play their arrangements of songs. They're crowd pleasers, and there's nothing wrong with that. Nice to find an Irishman who doesn't "dis" them. By the way, welcome to Mudcat. I am guessing from your name that your name is John and you play the bones????

Subject: RE: The Clancy Brothers and Tommy Makem
From: number 6
Date: 24 Sep 06 - 08:53 AM

Years ago I used to knock the Kingston Trio .. Aghast ( I was very young and thought they were too mainstream) ... until I woke up and realized their contribution and inspiration to 'folk' music.

I think we maybe sailing into stormy waters with this thread.

sIx

Subject: RE: The Clancy Brothers and Tommy Makem
From: Dave Hanson
Date: 24 Sep 06 - 08:45 AM

I used to be one of the Clancy Brothers ' knockers ' but not now due to the thousands of people they turned on to folk music.

eric

Subject: RE: The Clancy Brothers and Tommy Makem
From: number 6
Date: 24 Sep 06 - 08:34 AM

"They were I think more popular in the US than in the UK anyway"

Wouldn't this be due to the fact they were "American" (1950's onward) and basically found fame there have something to do with this?

sIx

Subject: RE: The Clancy Brothers and Tommy Makem
From: Leadfingers
Date: 24 Sep 06 - 08:20 AM

A lot of the groups who were responsible for getting 'Folk' to a mass market have had 'bad press' from purist folkies over the years - The
Clancys , the Spinners , even the Weavers have been accused of diluting the music , while ignoring the thousands of people who would never have got involved in Folk at all without them !

Subject: RE: The Clancy Brothers and Tommy Makem
From: GUEST,Jim
Date: 24 Sep 06 - 08:07 AM

I love(ed) the Clancy Bro.s, but don't much listen to them anymore. Like Pete Seeger, they were "gateway" artists for me. By that, I mean that they were the artists that I listened to when I was transitioning from pop/rock to traditional music. These days, I'm much more likely to listen to local artists or "collected" songs from Lomax, et al. I recall from those days trying to listen to collected songs, and being unable to appreciate them because they weren't as polished as the commercial music I was used to. The Clancys, Pete & the Weavers presented the material in a form palatable to my mass-market conditioned ear. Later, I was able to appreciate the "hardcore" roots, which I hadn't before.

I have heard Rev (you there, Rev?) saying that he "blames" Pete Seeger for the dillution (I forget his exact formulation) of folk music, and I understand where he's comming from, but I have to disagree. Without Pete and similar artists, people like me would never have come to any kind of appreciation of the music.

So here's to the Clancys and Tommy Makem; God love 'em.

Subject: RE: The Clancy Brothers and Tommy Makem
From: John MacKenzie
Date: 24 Sep 06 - 07:26 AM

Don't see them much in the UK stores, but still available in the US last time I looked. They were I think more popular in the US than in the UK anyway!
Giok

Subject: The Clancy Brothers and Tommy Makem
From: ositojuanito
Date: 24 Sep 06 - 07:14 AM

One of my first loves from the sixties was a group a very famous group of brothers and one other from Ireland called of course The Clancy Brothers and Tommy Makem. I was a big fan I bought all the albums and went to the shows. There is a story that in one particular year in America they outsold The Beatles in album sales. Bob Dylan was a big fan, and as usual a big thief, (stolen melodies on request). Today in the 21st century as I wander around the music stores there is little or nothing by the Clancys available. I find this very surprising and not a little irritating as they made some very good albums. Of course they were criticised for being commercial, they tended to rewrite songs whenever they felt the need for it, but all in all, they brought Folk and particularly Irish Folk to a world market and I respect them for that.