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Biography
About|the Irish folk band|the book by James Joyce|DublinersRefimprove|date=March 2010Lead too short|date=May 2011Infobox musical artist | name = The Dubliners| image = TheDubliners2005.jpg| caption = The Dubliners circa 2005. From left to right: Eamonn Campbell , John Sheahan , Barney McKenna , Seán Cannon and Patsy Watchorn .| image_size =| background = group_or_band| origin = Dublin , Republic of Ireland|Ireland | genre = Folk music of Ireland|Irish folk | years_active = 1962–present| label = Columbia Records|Columbia , Epic Records|Epic , Legacy Records|Legacy , Major Minor , EMI , Transatlantic Records|Transatlantic , Polydor , CHYME , Lunar Records|Lunar , Harmac , Baycourt , Celtic Collections | associated_acts =| website =| current_members = John Sheahan Seán Cannon Eamonn Campbell Patsy Watchorn | past_members = Barney McKenna LukeKelly Ronnie Drew Ciaran Bourke|Ciarán Bourke Bobby Lynch Jim McCann (musician)|Jim McCann Paddy Reilly The Dubliners are an Republic of Ireland|Irish Folk music of Ireland|folk band founded in 1962. First led by LukeKelly and later by Ronnie Drew , they brought Irish folk music to a worldwide audience and made traditional Irish songs globally popular. They are one of Ireland's longest surviving musical acts and are considered as one of the most influential Irish bands of the 20th century.
Formation and history
The Dubliners, initially known as "The Ronnie Drew Ballad Group", formed in 1962 and made a name for themselves playing regularly in O'Donoghue's Pub in Dublin . The change of name came about because of Drew's unhappiness with it, together with the fact that Kelly was reading Dubliners by James Joyce at the time. http://itsthedubliners.com/dubs_01.htm Itsthedubliners.com Founding members were Ronnie Drew , LukeKelly , Ciaran Bourke|Ciarán Bourke and Barney McKenna . http://www.thedubliners.org/history.html Thedubliners.org
Ronnie Drew, Barney McKenna and Thomas Whelan had originally teamed up for a fundraising concert The Dubliners Songbook, Heathside Music/Wise Publications 1974, Introduction by Eric Winter pp4 and then went on to work in a revue with the Irish comedian John Molloy at the Gaiety Theatre in Dublin. They used to sing songs between acts.
Before joining the Dubliners full time, LukeKelly had spent some time playing at English folk clubs such as the Jug o'Punch in Birmingham, run by the folk singer Ian Campbell.
The group played at the Edinburgh Festival in 1963 and that led to them being featured on a BBC programme called Hootenanny. The extra exposure helped them to win a contract with Transatlantic Records, with whom they recorded their first album, called simply The Dubliners. They also recorded their first single featuring Rocky Road to Dublin and The Wild Rover.
Barney McKenna was a renowned tenor banjo and mandolin player. In The Dubliners' stage shows he sang sea shanties and love songs to minimal instrumental accompaniment. He died, unexpectedly, on 5 April 2012 after collapsing in the kitchen of his home in Howth, Co. Dublin. He was buried at St Loman’s Cemetery in Trim, County Meath, on 9 April 2012. As Bourke, Drew, and Kelly had all died previously, McKenna was the last surviving original member of the band prior to his death.
Drew spent some time in Spain in his younger years where he learned to play Flamenco guitar , and he accompanied his songs on a Spanish guitar . Drew left the band in 1974 to spend more time with his family, and was replaced by Jim McCann. He returned to The Dubliners five years later, but left the group again in 1995. Ronnie Drew died at St Vincent's Private Hospital in Dublin on 16 August 2008 after a long illness.CBC News, http://www.cbc.ca/arts/music/story/2008/08/16/drew-dubliners.html Dubliners singer Ronnie Drew dies , 16 August 2008. Retrieved on 13 March 2010. Paddy Reilly ''took Drew's place'' in 1995. Some of Drew's most significant contributions to the band are the hit single " Seven Drunken Nights ", his rendition of " Finnegan's Wake ", and " McAlpine's Fusiliers ".
Luke Kelly was more of a balladeer than Drew, and he played chords on the five-string banjo . Kelly sang many defining versions of traditional songs like " The Black Velvet Band ", " Whiskey in the Jar ", "Home Boys Home"; but also Phil Coulter 's " The Town I Loved So Well ", Ewan MacColl 's " Dirty Old Town ", "The Wild Rover", and " On Raglan Road|Raglan Road ", written by the famous Irish poet Patrick Kavanagh . Kavanagh met Kelly in a pub, and asked him to sing the song.Citation needed|date=March 2010 In 1980, LukeKelly was diagnosed with a brain tumour . http://www.independent.co.uk/news/obituaries/ronnie-drew-lead-singer-of-the-dubliners-900669.html Independent.co.uk Occasionally Kelly was too ill to sing though he was sometimes able to join the band for a few songs. While on tour in Germany he collapsed on stage. When Kelly was too ill to play, he was replaced by Seán Cannon .Citation needed|date=March 2010 He continued to tour with the band until two months before his death. Kelly died on January 30, 1984.citation | title = LukeKelly Dies at Age of 44 | quote = LukeKelly of the Dubliners died last night in the Richmond Hospital in Dublin. He was 44, and since 1980 had undergone two major operations following a brain tumour. | newspaper = The Irish Times | date = January 31, 1980 | page = Page 7 | accessdate = 13 March 2010 One of the last concerts in which he took part was recorded and released: Live in Carré , recorded in Amsterdam, Netherlands, released in 1983. In November 2004, the Dublin city council voted unanimously to erect a bronze statue of Luke Kelly. http://www.rte.ie/news/2004/1102/kellyl.html RTE.ieKelly is buried in Glasnevin Cemetery in Dublin.
Ciarán Bourke was a singer, but he also played the guitar, tin whistle and harmonica. He sang many songs in Irish (" Peigín Leitir Móir|Peggy Lettermore ", "Preab san Ól"). In 1974 he collapsed on stage after suffering a brain hemorrhage. A second hemorrhage left him paralyzed on his left side.citation | author = Mary Hardy | title = The Dubliners Scrapbook | quote = The night of 5 April 1974 was little short of catastrophic. ... There the doctors diagnosed a brain aneurysm. | publisher = Wise, 1978 | year = 1978 | page = 96 | url = http://books.google.com/books? id=q5wvGwAACAAJ& dq=The+Dubliners+Scrapbook& cd=1 | accessdate = March 13, 2010 | ISBN = 0-86001-530-0, 9780860015307 Bourke died in 1988.citation | author = Associated Press | title = CIARAN BOURKE, 48 A FOUNDER OF BAND DUBLINERS | quote = CIARAN BOURKE, a ballad singer, guitarist and tin-whistle playing founding member of the Dubliners folk group, died yesterday. He was 48. | publisher = Boston Globe (pre-1997 Fulltext) - Boston, Mass. | date = May 11, 1988 | url = http://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/boston/access/59625005.html? FMT=ABS& FMTS=ABS& type=current& date=May+11%2C+1988& author=Associated+Press& pub=Boston+Globe+%28pre-1997+Fulltext%29& edition=& startpage=73& desc=CIARAN+BOURKE%2C+48+A+FOUNDER+OF+BAND+DUBLINERS | accessdate = March 13, 2010 The band did not officially replace him until his death. Citation needed|date=March 2010 John Sheahan and Bobby Lynch joined the band in 1964. They had been playing during the interval at concerts, and usually stayed on for the second half of the show.cite web|url= http://voices.yahoo.com/the-dubliners-bobby-lynch-dubliner-forever-3730354.html? cat=33 |title=The Dubliners' Bobby Lynch: A Dubliner Forever - Yahoo& #33; Voices |publisher=voices.yahoo.com |date=2009-07-10 |accessdate=2012-05-10 When LukeKelly moved to England in 1964, Lynch was taken on as his temporary replacement. When Kelly returned in 1965, Lynch left the band and Sheahan stayed. According to Sheahan, he was never (and still has not been) ever officially asked to join the band.Citation needed|date=March 2010 Sheahan is the only member to have had a musical education.Citation needed|date=March 2010 Lynch committed suicide in Dublin in 1982.cite web|author=Nick Guida |url= http://itsthedubliners.com/bl_01.htm |title=The Dubliners: Bob Lynch - From the Land of Carolan |publisher=Itsthedubliners.com |date= |accessdate=2012-05-10
In 1996 Ronnie Drew quit the band, and Paddy Reilly came on to replace him. Reilly, a long time friend of the group, toured with them before on several occasions; he was already a successful solo artist in Ireland, scoring hits with " The Fields of Athenry " and " The Town I Loved So Well ".
In 2005, Paddy Reilly moved to the United States , and Patsy Watchorn joined the group. Watchorn made a name for himself with The Dublin City Ramblers; like Kelly, he accompanies his songs on the five-string banjo.
The band toured Europe every year. A planned tour of Denmark two weeks after the death of McKenna on 5 April 2012 went ahead as planned. From the first show in Copenhagen on 18 April onwards he was replaced by the Irish banjo player Gerry O´Connor.
Reunions
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25th anniversary
In 1987, The Dubliners celebrated their 25th anniversary. They recorded a double CD, produced by Eamonn Campbell , long time friend and guest musician. He introduced them to The Pogues , and their collaboration resulted in a hit with " The Irish Rover ". It reached number 8 in the singles charts. In 1990 their final hit single was "Jack's Heroes/Whiskey in the Jar", again with The Pogues, which reached number 63. Campbell, who plays the guitar on stage, has been touring with the band ever since. Christy Moore , Paddy Reilly and Jim McCann (musician)|Jim McCann also featured on the CD; Moore sings a tribute to Luke Kelly, and McCann sings the song "I Loved the Ground She Walked Upon", written by Phil Coulter and Ralph McTell . The following year, to coincide with Dublin's millennial celebrations, Radio Telefís Éireann produced an hour long special on the band and the city's influence on their music, titled '' The Dubliner's Dublin .
40th anniversary
In 2002, they temporarily reunited with Ronnie Drew and Jim McCann, for their 40th anniversary tour. During this tour, they recorded their first DVD. They also made a string of appearances on Irish television throughout this time, including a memorable appearance with Phil Coulter and George Murphy on RTÉ 1.
After the tour, Jim McCann was diagnosed with throat cancer and, though he fully recovered, his voice was severely damaged, and he has not been able to sing since his illness. Despite this, he regularly acts as MC at folk gigs, notably at Dubliners reunion shows, and at the 2006 'Legends of Irish Folk' shows (where he also played guitar in the finale).
Popularity
Refimprove|date=March 2010The Dubliners became well known, not just in Ireland but also as pioneers for Irish folk in Europe and also (though less successful) in the United States. Their 1967 recordings of " Seven Drunken Nights " and " The Black Velvet Band " were released on the fledgling Major Minor Records|Major Minor label, and were heavily promoted on pirate radio station Radio Caroline . The result was that both records reached the top 20 in the UK pop charts. A third single, "Maids, When You're Young Never Wed an Old Man" reached number 43 in December 1967. It was their last UK hit single till they recorded with The Pogues in 1987.
In 1974, Ronnie Drew decided to quit the band, to spend more time with his family. He was replaced with Jim McCann (musician)|Jim McCann . Before joining the band McCann had a TV show in the early seventies called The McCann man . He is best known for his incarnations of " Carrickfergus (song)|Carrickfergus ", Tommy Makem|Makem's " Four Green Fields ", and " Lord of the Dance (hymn)|Lord of the Dance ". He stayed with the band until 1979 to start a solo career; then Ronnie Drew rejoined the band. First Ronnie went to Norway to record two songs in the Norwegian language with the Norwegian band Bergeners.
The Dubliners also gained popularity amongst famous musicians such as Bob Dylan , Roy Orbison , Jimi Hendrix and Pink Floyd's drummer Nick Mason , who were all self-proclaimed Dubliners fans.Citation needed|date=May 2010 In the 1960s, The Dubliners sang rebel songs such as "The Old Alarm Clock", "The Foggy Dew" and "Off to Dublin in the Green". However, the conflict in Northern Ireland from 1969 onwards led them to drop most of these from their repertoire. They have begun to perform songs such as these occasionally again only in recent years.
On 8 February 2012, The Dubliners received a "Lifetime Achievement Award" at the 2012 BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards .
Members
;Current members
John Sheahan - fiddle , mandolin, tin whistle, concertina (1964–present)
