Formed while the members were working in America, the initial impetus was to record an album of Irish rebel songs (released as "The Rising of the Moon") as one of the first releases in 1956 of new folk label, Tradition Records. Paddy Clancy's harmonica provided the only musical accompaniment for this debut album.
Little thought was given at that point to continuing as a singing group. The four were all were busy establishing careers (in the theatre) for themselves, in addition to their work at Tradition Records. With the album being a local success, requests were often demanded for the brothers and Makem to sing some of their songs at parties and informal pub settings. Slowly, the singing gigs began to outweigh the acting gigs and by 1959, serious thought was given to a new album. Liam had developed some guitar skills, Tommy's hand, which hasd been injured, had healed enough that he was again able to play tin whistle and Uilleann pipes, and the times spent singing together had improved their style. No longer were they the rough, mostly unaccompanied group of actors singing for an album to jump-start a record label; they were becoming a professional singing group.
The Clancy Brothers were an influential Irish folk music singing group. Most popular in the 1960s, they were famed for their woolly Aran jumpers and are widely credited with popularizing Irish traditional music in the United States. The brothers were Patrick "Paddy" Clancy, Tom Clancy, Bobby Clancy and Liam Clancy. Paddy, Tom, Bob, and Liam are best known for their work with Tommy Makem, recording dozens of albums together as The Clancy Brothers and Tommy Makem. They were a primary influence on a young Bob Dylan and on many other emerging artists.
The release of their second album, this one of Irish drinking songs called "Come Fill Your Glass with Us", solidified their new careers as singers. The album was a success, and they made many appearances on the pub circuit in New York, Chicago, and Boston. It was at their first official gig after "Come Fill Your Glass With Us" that the group finally found a name for themselves. The nightclub owner asked for a name to put on the marquee, but they had not decided on one yet. Unable to agree on a name (which included suggestions like "The Beggermen", "The Tinkers", and even "The Chieftains") the owner decided for them, simply billing them as "The Clancy Brothers and Tommy Makem". The name stuck. They decided to try singing full-time for six months. If their singing was successful, they would continue with it; if not, then they would return to acting. The Clancy brothers and Tommy Makem proved successful as a singing group and in early 1961, they attracted the attention of scouts from The Ed Sullivan Show.
The Clancy Brothers' mother read news of the terrible ice and snow storms in New York City so she sent Aran sweaters for her sons and Tommy Makem to keep them warm. Paddy and Liam Clancy stated they wore the sweaters for the first time in the Blue Angel club. When Marty Erlichman, their manager, saw the sweaters, he was beside himself! "That's it!" he exclaimed. I've been looking for a special costume for the group. It was also the night that Barbra Streisand sang in the Blue Angel for the first time. The sweaters became the Clancy Brothers and Tommy Makem's trademark. When back in their hometown, the band purchased their Aran jumpers from Babington, on the main street. Babington had a local woman by the name of Betty McGillivray née Duggan knit the jumpers and supply the shop on regular occasions.
On 12 March 1961, the Clancy Brothers and Tommy Makem performed for 16 minutes in front of a televised audience of 80 million people on The Ed Sullivan Show. As Pearl Bailey did not show that night, the Clancy Brothers & Tommy Makem were given her time. The televised performance instantly attracted the attention of John Hammond of Columbia Records. The group was offered a five-year contract with an advance of $100,000, a huge sum in 1961. For their first album with Columbia, they enlisted Pete Seeger as backup banjo player for the live album A Spontaneous Performance Recording It included songs that would soon become classics, such as "Brennan on the Moor," "Jug of Punch," "Reilly's Daughter," "Finnegan's Wake," "Haul Away Joe," "Roddy McCorley," "Portlairge" and "Moonshiner." The album was nominated for a Grammy Award in 1961.
By the end of 1961, they had released two more albums, one final one with Tradition Records, and another with Columbia, Hearty and Hellish: A Live Nightclub Performance, and they were playing Carnegie Hall. Additionally, they were making appearances on major radio and television talk-shows in America.
1962 proved to be an even better year. Ciarán MacMathuna, a popular radio personality in Ireland, was visiting America when he heard of the group. He collected the few albums they had out at the time, brought them back home to Ireland and played them on his radio show. The broadcasts skyrocketed the Clancy Brothers and Tommy Makem to fame in Ireland, where they were still unknown. In Ireland, songs like "Roddy McCorley," "Kevin Barry" and "Brennan on the Moor" were slow, depressing songs full of melancholy, but the Clancy Brothers and Tommy Makem had transformed those songs (the disgruntled purists in Ireland said "commercialized") and made them lively. For generations the songs had been a reminder of the troubles in Ireland and therefore they weren't anything anybody sang proudly. The Clancy Brothers changed all that, and the transformed songs reinvigorated Ireland's pride in her music. The Clancy Brothers and Tommy Makem were brought over for a sold-out tour of Ireland in late 1962. Popularity in England and other parts of Europe soon followed, as well as Australia and Canada. By 1963, appearing on major talk-shows in America, Canada, England, Australia and Ireland, as well as their own TV specials, the Clancy Brothers and Tommy Makem were "the most famous four Irishmen in the world" as said by Ireland's Late Late Show host, Gay Byrne, in a retrospective interview in 1984. In 1964, one third of all the albums sold in Ireland were Clancy Brothers and Tommy Makem records.
The 1960s continued to be a successful decade with the release of approximately two albums per year, all of which sold millions of copies. They continued to peak with television appearances in front of President John F. Kennedy in 1963.
Their popularity is the result of several factors. There was already an American folk revival beginning in the United States, and men such as Ewan MacColl popularizing old songs on the other side of the Atlantic. But it was the Clancys' boisterous performances that set them apart, taking placid classics and giving them a boost of energy and spirit (not that they took this approach with all their songs; they would still sing the true mournful ballads with due reverence).
But by the late 1960s, rock music had taken full swing, and the ballad and folk boom was waning. To keep the band at the top, Teo Macero began producing their records for Columbia. Macero introduced new instrumentation to their music, including Louis Killen coming in to play concertina on backup, particularly on their 1968 album of sea songs, Sing of the Sea. But their last three albums for Columbia Record in 1969 and 1970 are considered by many to be overproduced, with a multitude of string instruments and synthesizers added to the simpler traditional Clancy mix of guitar, banjo, tin whistle and harmonica.
In 1969, the group recorded a song for a two-minute-long TV ad for Gulf Oil: "Bringin' Home the Oil". They adapted a traditional Scottish tune they had recorded, "The Gallant Forty Twa," with new words about large-capacity supertankers. The song and commercial featured the then-largest supertanker in the world, the Universe Ireland, which operated with sister ships Universe Kuwait, Universe Japan and Universe Portugal, all mentioned in the song and which operated from the seaport at Bantry Bay.
1969 marked the amicable departure of Tommy Makem from the group. Giving them a year's notice, Makem left in April 1969 to pursue a solo career armed with such recent compositions as "Four Green Fields", debuted on 1968's Clancy Brothers album, Home Boys Home.
The "other brother", Bobby Clancy, filled Tommy Makem's vacancy and the band became The Clancy Brothers.
Farewell to Carlingford
The Clancy Brothers And Tommy Makem Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
And could wander wild and free
There was always a longing in my mind
To follow the call of the sea
[Chorus]
So, I'll sing farewell to Carlingford
And farewell to Greenore
Until I return once more
Until I return once more
On all of the stormy seven seas
I have sailed before the mast
And on every voyage I ever made
I swore it would be my last
[Chorus]
Now, I had a girl called Mary Doyle
And she lived in Greenore
And the foremost thought was in her mind
Was to keep me safe on shore
[Chorus]
Now, the landsman's life is all his own
He can go or he can stay
But when the sea gets in your blood
When she calls, you must obey
[Chorus]
The Clancy Brothers And Tommy Makem's "Farewell to Carlingford" speaks to the longing of a sea-faring soul. The song's narrator recounts his youthful immortality, when he could wander freely and the sea beckoned him. He sings a farewell to Carlingford and Greenore with the promise to come back soon. The sailor has sailed on all seven seas, and he was certain that every voyage would be his last. But the siren's call of the sea was too strong to resist, and he always found himself back on the waves.
The song's narrator remembers Mary Doyle, the girl who loved him in Greenore, and how her foremost thought was to keep him safe on shore. The landsman's life is one he can choose to live, but the sea-call is an undeniable force that draws the singer back again and again. The song's chorus is a powerful statement of loyalty and longing, reminding us that even though the sea-farer is leaving, he will always be thinking of those he left behind.
Line by Line Meaning
When I was young and in my prime
In my youth, when I was at the pinnacle of strength and vitality
And could wander wild and free
With the ability to roam around without constraint or limitation
There was always a longing in my mind
I always had an inexplicable desire in my thoughts
To follow the call of the sea
To answer the beckoning of the ocean's waters
So, I'll sing farewell to Carlingford
Therefore, I will sing a goodbye song to Carlingford
And farewell to Greenore
And say goodbye likewise to Greenore
And I'll think of you both day and night
And I'll constantly remember both places
Until I return once more
Until I come back again in the future
On all of the stormy seven seas
After traversing through the tumultuous seven oceans
I have sailed before the mast
I sailed as a crew member in the ship's lower deck
And on every voyage I ever made
Throughout every journey I have ever been on
I swore it would be my last
I vowed it was going to be my final voyage
Now, I had a girl called Mary Doyle
I previously had a sweetheart named Mary Doyle
And she lived in Greenore
Who resided in Greenore
And the foremost thought was in her mind
And her primary concern was
Was to keep me safe on shore
Ensuring my safety on land
Now, the landsman's life is all his own
Now, an ordinary person's existence belongs solely to themselves
He can go or he can stay
They have the liberty to leave or to stay
But when the sea gets in your blood
However, when the love of the ocean deeply ingrains in you
When she calls, you must obey
When it calls out to you, you have to submit to its allure
Until I return once more
Until I come back again in the future
Lyrics © O/B/O APRA AMCOS
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
Anne Vogle
Memorys of my father singing this come flooding back.oh my eyes...damn the tears
Pat Weber
This has always been one of my very favorite Clancy/ Makem albums!- too bad it had not been re released. Love hearing it again thanks for posting these
3Pitous
loved this song always
Greg Wyatt
Words and music by Tommy Makem
jiggermast
May God bless all you fine lads up there in heaven, say hello to Bob from Cumbria please, he's my dad.
He'll tell ya what a fan I am.
virginianoel
I've been trying to buy this album since my sister threw her copy away fifteen years ago without letting me know. Does anyone know how to get hold of a copy?
Douglas Shane
Try Amazon, Google, etc. Good luck!
bro
@Douglas Shane a bit late don’t you think? Haha
Brandon Edwards
Try discogs
John Ronald
Love the Scottish accents (?) of the singers...