THE CELTIC CONNECTION « MARCH 1994
With Travelling in their Blood, The Fureys Sing the World-Over
Page 5
By CELESTE SINCLAIR
VANCOUVER — Ireland's high kings of folk music, The Furey Brothers, are on tour again across North America.
Finbar, Eddie, Paul and George have been called the Beatles of Irish folk music by the Irish Voice. They are something of an international based folk group, travelling the world over to entertain audiences with their musical ability and humour.
Travel is, of course, a natural ingredient for the Furey family
of her what she thought of the Contraceptive Bill, to which she replied, "What are you talking about — them rubbery things that the men do be using? You never muzzle a good dog, Father/never muzzle a good dog."
Their father, Ted, was a famous traditional fiddle player from a travelling family from Galway. "They put him in school inDublin and they settled around Chapelizod," Finbar said. Though settled, wanderlust was in Ted's blood and he travelled character. Growing up as the ac[°™*>'hHe country working on jfc first generation of travelling £a/?™HnpHft*>8^lteens; At ^ • peoplf (gypsies) to live in fixe! ^t Nora then 14 ' homesinBallyfermot,apoorand met ™ora'tnen 14-tough suburb of Dublin, the "Women didn't have much of a Fureys had little to sustain them break then and so took the first other than the legacy of musical chance that came along," recalls gifts passed along by their par- Finbar. "My father was a handsome, wild man, playing a five-string banjo — singin' and playin' like anyone's Dusiness. So she jumped on him and as the fella says, it was c'mere to me, I want to talk to you!"
ents.
Their mother, Nora, was an accomplished banjo and accordion player. It is not by accident that their famous song Sweet Sixteen begins with a banjo introduction.
In an interview in the Sunday Tribune, Finbar spoke about his mother saying "she had a strong dislike for young rookie priests and left strict instructions that her funeral was to be carried out t>y a priest of 60 or over — a "professional."
A Cork woman from a travelling family, she had a razor-sharp wit and mischievous ability to shock the living daylights out of the clergy.
Finbar recalls a priest enquiring
They were married three days later, "and it was a case of 'good luck now, I'll see ya', and he disappeared for seven years." He headed off to Spain to fight in the civil war and tnen drove an ambulance around London during the blitz. Finbar recalls that his father's sole regret was that he didn't have enough money to educate his family properly.
So, with little formal education and not much chance of employment in a depressed economy, the Furey Brothers made the most
"We met a lot of resistance from the traditionalists. People are always afraid of what they don't understand..."
of what they had, which was an exceptional talent for music. From their humble roots in Balleyfermot, the Furies have reached international stature, earning fans from prime ministers to rock stars, not to mention their audiences world-wide.
Finbar and Eddie were the first
of the family to get started with their music careers. Finbar, whose wizardry on the uillean pipes won him three all-Ireland piping championships and a world title by the time he was 18, winning the title of "Prince of Pipers."
He says, "I would sit for hours on end practising my pipes on my own, one day Eddie picked up a guitar and backed me. It was a completely new sound, very exciting and complely fresh.
"I had just won the Oireachtas and the all-Ireland for the third time and they wanted to hear me play at the Pipers Club.
"I insisted on taking Eddie with me on guitar. We met a lot of resistance from the traditionalists. People are always afraid of what they don't understand..."
They began to make a name for themselves playing in O'Donoghue's, a world-famous pub on Baggott Street in Dublin. From there, they began touring Ireland, Scotland, England and Germany.
During this period, they met the Clancy Brothers, who invited them to join them on their U.S. tour as an opening act in 1969. It was then that Finbar and Eddie first played Carnegie Hall.
When they returned to Ireland after this tour, they teemed up with Paul on accordion and George on guitar and Davey Arthur to become known as The Fureys and Davey Arthur. It was this group that revolutionized
Irish traditional music by introducing a contemporary sound.
With over 20 years of performing and travelling, the Furey Brothers have a long list of achievements, including 47 albums. They have an international reputation of making music that comes from the heart, whilst paying little attention to discipline or form. It if feels good, Finbar will sing it.
Their evocative sounds are captured in some of their finest recordings such as The Red Rose Cafe and The Grand Affair, both set in Amsterdam. You almost feel as though someone has taken you by the hand and led you down the back streets of Amsterdam and opened the doors to let you see inside.
The deeply moving Green Fields of France brought further acclaim to the Fureys as well as Steal Away, a song about emigration and The Old Man, a tribute to their father. Their greatest success came when Sweet Sixteen shot up the British charts.
Now, with a new album The Winds of Change which was released in the U.S. in 1993, the Fureys are back on the road. Don't miss this opportunity to see the Fureys live when they come to your city.
•
The Furey Brothers will appear at the Jack Singer Concert Hall in Calgary on March 28 and the Commodore Ballroom in Vancouver on March 29. For tickets call (403) 270-6700 in Calgary and (604) 280-4444 in Vancouver.
JOHN McDERMOTT
old friends
JOHN McDERMOTT'S much anticipated release "Old Friends" is a follow up to his platinum debut album "Danny Boy". When the time came to create a second recording, JOHN drew on the many letters he had received from his audience, young and old, who encouraged him to contimue to bring to life many songs believed to be forgotten.
'Old Friends" is partly a study into JOHN's heritage, peppered with a few contemporary songs JOHN simply wanted to sing.
Included in this latest collection are four songs closelly associated with John McCormack, the great Irish tenor, SHE MOVED THRO' THE BUR, BARD OF ARMAGH, THE MEETING OF THE WATERS, AND MOTHER MACHREE.
Also included are songs by Christy Moore, Tim Dennehy, Phil Coulter and such treasured traditional songs as "Ye Banks and Braes of Bonnie Doon, Amazing Grace, The Sky Boat Song, Amazing Grace, Dark Loch Nagar, My Love is Like A Red Red Rose, Massacre of Glencoe and The Parting Glass.
TRACKS
Ye Banks And Braes Of Bonnie Doon One Last Cold Kiss She Moved Thro' The Fair The Bard Of Armagh The Meeting Of The Waters The Old Man Mother Machree Amazing Grace
Farewell Prlpcaat
The Skye Boat Song
Lachin Y Gair (Dark Loch Nagar)
My Love is Like A Red Red Rose
Massacre Of Glencoe
The Dutchman
The Parting Glass
"JohnMc'Dermott's sinaina touches the heart,
° ° Maclean's
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