Makem was born and raised in Keady, County Armagh (the "Hub of the Universe" as Makem always said), in Northern Ireland. His mother, Sarah Makem, was an important source of traditional Irish music, who was visited and recorded by, among others, Diane Guggenheim Hamilton, Jean Ritchie, Peter Kennedy and Sean O'Boyle. His father, Peter Makem, was a fiddler who also played the bass drum in a local pipe band named "Oliver Plunkett", after a martyr of the Cromwell age. His brother and sister were folk musicians also. Young Tommy Makem, from the age of 8, was member of the St. Patrick's church choir for 15 years where he sang Gregorian chant and motets. He didn't learn to read music but he made it in his "own way".
He started to work at 14 as a clerk in a garage and later he worked for a while as a barman at Mone's Bar, a local pub and as a local correspondent for The Armagh Observer.
He emigrated to the United States in 1955, carrying his few possessions and a set of bagpipes (from his time in a pipe band). Arriving in Dover, New Hampshire, he worked at Kidder Press, where in 1956 his hand was accidentally crushed by a press.[4] With his arm in a sling, he left Dover for New York to pursue an acting career.
The Clancys and Makem were signed to Columbia Records in 1961. The same year, at the Newport Folk Festival, Makem and Joan Baez were named the most promising newcomers on the American folk scene. During the 1960s, The Clancy Brothers and Tommy Makem performed sellout concerts at such venues as Carnegie Hall, and made television appearances on shows like The Ed Sullivan Show and The Tonight Show. The group performed for President Kennedy. They also played in smaller venues such as the Gate of Horn in Chicago. They appeared jointly in the UK Albums Chart in April 1966, when Isn't It Grand Boys reached number 22.
Makem left the group in 1969 to pursue a solo career. In 1975, he and Liam Clancy were both booked to play a folk festival in Cleveland, Ohio, and were persuaded to do a set together. Thereafter they often performed as Makem and Clancy, recording several albums together. At a concert in 1977, Tommy noticed an audience member having a good time and exclaimed, "What have you been smoking? Good whatever you have, pass it around to the rest of them we'll all get goin'!" He once again went solo in 1988. Throughout the 70's and 80's Makem performed both solo and with Liam Clancy on The Irish Rovers various television shows, which were filming both in Canada and Ireland.
In the 1980-90s, Makem was a principal in a well-known Irish music venue in New York City, "Tommy Makem's Irish Pavilion." This East 57th Street club was a prominent and well-loved performance spot for a wide range of musicians. Among the performers and visitors were Paddy Reilly, Joe Burke, and Ronnie Gilbert. Makem was a regular performer, often solo and often as part of Makem & Clancy, particularly in the late fall and holiday season. The club was also used for warm-up performances in the weeks before the 1984 reunion concert of The Clancy Brothers and Tommy Makem at Lincoln Center. In addition, the after-party for Bob Dylan's legendary 30th Anniversary Concert Celebration at Madison Square Garden in 1992 was held at the Irish Pavilion.
In 1997 he wrote a book, Tommy Makem's Secret Ireland, and in 1999 premiered his own one-man theatre show, Invasions and Legacies, in New York. His career includes various other acting, video, composition, and writing credits. He also established the Tommy Makem International Festival of Song in South Armagh in 2000.
Makem was married to Mary Shanahan, a native of Chicago, for 37 years, and had four children - daughter Katie Makem-Boucher, and sons Shane, Conor and Rory. They also had two grandchildren, Molly (Dickerman) Makem and Robert Boucher. Mary died in 2001.
Makem's three sons (who perform as "The Makem Brothers") and nephews Tom & Jimmy Sweeney continue the family folk music tradition.
Makem died in Dover, New Hampshire on August 1, 2007, following a lengthy battle with lung cancer. He continued to record and perform until very close to the end. Paying tribute to him after his death, Liam Clancy said, "He was my brother in every way" He is buried next to his wife at New Saint Mary Cemetery in Dover.
Makem was a prolific composer/songwriter. His performances were always full of his compositions, many of which became standards in the repertoire. Some, notably "Four Green Fields", became so well known that they were sometimes described as anonymous folk songs. During the fall of the Iron Curtain, Makem often proudly told the story that his song "The Winds Are Singing Freedom" had become a sort of folk anthem among Eastern Europeans seeing a new future opening before them.
Makem's best-known songs include "Four Green Fields", "Gentle Annie", "The Rambles of Spring", "The Winds Are Singing Freedom", "The Town of Ballybay", "Winds of the Morning", "Mary Mack", and "Farewell to Carlingford". Even though many people mistakenly believe that Makem wrote "Red is the Rose", it is a traditional Irish folk song.
Makem had a gripping stage presence – the result of years of public performance, a charismatic personality, and a bard's voice. An army of friends and fans attended his frequent concerts, many recognizing each other at far-flung venues. Performances frequently included the following familiar elements:
Original Makem compositions; the first set often began with "The Rambles of Spring"
The standard repertoire of folk and Irish music, both well-known and little-known (but never "Danny Boy", "When Irish Eyes are Smiling", "Toorah Loorah Looral", or other forbidden requests)
Oddball songs, such as "Bridie Murphy and the Kamikaze Pilot" (Colm Gallagher) or "William Bloat" (Raymond Calvert)
Poetic recitations, often as introductions to songs; a frequent source was William Butler Yeats. (Thus "Gentle Annie" usually began with "When You Are Old and Grey", and Four Green Fields usually began with Seamus Heaney's "Requiem for the Croppies".)
Jokes, often silly, made funnier through repetition:
"If your nose is running and your feet smell, you're upside down."
Rarely: monologues, such as Marriott Edgar's "The Lion and Albert"
Exhortations, nearly always successful, for the audience to join in the singing
He received many awards and honours, including three honorary doctorates: one from the University of New Hampshire in 1998, one from the University of Limerick in 2001, and one from the University of Ulster in 2007; as well as the World Folk Music Association's Lifetime Achievement Award in 1999. With the Clancy Brothers he was listed among the top 100 Irish-Americans of the 20th century in 1999.[10]
A bridge over the Cocheco River on Washington Street in Makem's long-time home of Dover, New Hampshire, was named the Tommy and Mary Makem Memorial Bridge in 2010.
The Moonshiner
Tommy Makem Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
And I've spent all me money on whiskey and beer
I'll go to some hollow and I'll set up my still
And I'll make you a gallon for a ten shilling bill
[Chorus:]
I'm a rambler, I'm a gambler,
And if you don't like me
You can leave me alone
I'll eat when I'm hungry
And I'll drink when I'm dry
And if moonshine don't kill me
I'll live till I die
I'll go to some hollow in this country
Ten gallons of wash and I'll go on a spree
No woman to follow and the world is all mine
I love none so well as I love the moonshine
Moonshine dear moonshine oh how I love thee
You killed my poor father but dare you kill me
Bless all moonshiners and bless all moonshine
For their breath smells as sweet as the dew on the vine
In Tommy Makem's song "The Moonshiner," the singer is self-proclaimed moonshiner who has been making and selling illegal liquor for several years. He confesses to spending all his earnings on whiskey and beer, and he sets up his still in secret places, like the woods or the hollow, where he can evade authorities and avoid competition from other bootleggers. He offers the listener a deal: for a ten-shilling bill, he can produce a gallon of moonshine. The chorus reveals the singer's free-spirited nature, as he calls himself a rambler, a gambler, and someone who doesn't care if he's not liked. He says he'll eat and drink when he wants, and his only fear is not being killed by his illegal activity.
The song's melody is upbeat and cheerful, but the lyrics' themes are darker and bittersweet. The singer acknowledges the risks of his occupation: he could be caught by the law or killed by his competitors or the product he makes. He brags about the superiority of his moonshine and his love for it, but he also asks for blessings on all moonshiners, indicating a sense of community among his peers.
Line by Line Meaning
I've been a moonshiner for many a year
I have spent a lot of time making and selling illegal whiskey.
And I've spent all me money on whiskey and beer
I have spent all my earnings on drinking and making whiskey.
I'll go to some hollow and I'll set up my still
I will find a secluded area to set up my illegal whiskey still.
And I'll make you a gallon for a ten shilling bill
I will sell you a gallon of my homemade whiskey for ten shillings.
I'm a rambler, I'm a gambler,
I am always on the move and taking risks.
I'm a long way from home
I am far from my place of origin.
And if you don't like me
If you do not approve of my actions.
You can leave me alone
You can choose not to associate with me.
I'll eat when I'm hungry
I will eat only when I feel the need to nourish myself.
And I'll drink when I'm dry
I will drink whenever I feel the need to quench my thirst.
And if moonshine don't kill me
If drinking this illegal whiskey does not lead to my death.
I'll live till I die
I will continue to live my life until my natural death.
I'll go to some hollow in this country
I will travel to a remote location in this country.
Ten gallons of wash and I'll go on a spree
I will use ten gallons of this illegal whiskey to go on a drinking binge.
No woman to follow and the world is all mine
No one to hold me accountable for my actions and I am free to do as I please.
I love none so well as I love the moonshine
I have a fondness for this illegal whiskey above all else.
Moonshine dear moonshine oh how I love thee
Expressing my love for this illegal whiskey.
You killed my poor father but dare you kill me
This illegal whiskey caused the death of my father, but I continue to drink it anyway.
Bless all moonshiners and bless all moonshine
May good fortune come to all who make and sell illegal whiskey.
For their breath smells as sweet as the dew on the vine
Despite the illegality of their profession, the smell of their product is pleasant.
Lyrics © Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Written by: TRADITIONAL, J BAIRD, PD TRADITIONAL
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
@ramonacobb5009
I remember my dad drinking a beer and blasting this. Such memories 🥰
@MrReilly067
This track is my all-time favorite Clancys song here,it brings me back so many memories when we played this on St.Pat's Day...
@wmbrown6
This LP was one of those I grew up on . . . thus having an affinity to ethnic, folk and country music going back to my youth.
@TheLbeeler
Brings back some great memories!
@Garrettk41
This is the most up-tempo version of the song I know. Makem didn't sing it this quickly when he recorded it solo. And he and Liam didn't go so fast when performing it with Schoone Fare at the Milwaukee Irish Fest either.
@veronica6325
When the teen agers next door started playing The Beatles really loud on their patio (1962 or 63) my dad moved our "hifi" outside and played this LP REALLY LOUD back at them. Then the other neighbors called the cops. Only time the LAPD came to our house, or anyone's house in our neighborhood. Happy childhood memories
@Japanican269
First heard this on someone's radio in Winnipeg. I've loved it ever since.
@mw10259
ME FATHER HAD THIS ALBUM , LISTENED TO IT TILL ME EARS BLED
@gutteruth
I almost got kicked out of preschool for singing and teaching these songs to my classmates haha
@teresaradloff6254
Horse wit y no name