The Music Makers
It’s only in the last number of years that I realize how deep down into the soil of Ireland my roots really go. I had such a tremendous amount to draw on, and didn’t realize it.”
-Tommy Makem
The image is indelible — five Irishmen, clad in Aran sweaters, chests out, singing songs of Irish humor, history, and freedom. The Clancy Brothers, along with Tommy Makem, blazed a trail for Irish folk music in America in the 1960s. America is the richer for it.
Brothers Paddy and Tom Clancy emigrated to Canada in the late forties, eventually finding work in the States as house painters, singing on the side. By 1959, they were joined by youngest brother Liam, and Makem, the son of Keady, Co. Armagh singer Sara Makem.
New York became home to the group, where they found a vibrant folk scene in Greenwich Village. Any given night could find them trading songs with the likes of Peter, Paul &Mary or Pete Seeger. They were invited to play at the prestigious Newport Folk Festival alongside Judy Collins and Joan Baez; that led to a national television audience on The Ed Sullivan Show. When they appeared on the show in 1961, there was pandemonium. Over 80 million viewers tuned in, sales of Aran sweaters rocketed overnight, and the latest singing sensation was born. Irish music in America has never been the same since.
What did their television debut mean in real terms? “We could play anywhere we wanted,” explained Makem to Irish America magazine in 1986. “We played Carnegie Hall for twelve or fourteen years, twice a year, and always sold out. Very few acts could claim that.” Makem and the Clancys also inspired a number of other up-and-coming singers, including no less than Bob Dylan and Barbra Streisand.
The Clancys and Makem toured with a vengeance and topped charts throughout the sixties. A Clancy Brothers show was legendary for its exuberance. Whoops, hollers, and foot-stomping punctuated the affair, and rare was the audience that didn’t sing along. Songs like “The Wild Rover,” “The Parting Glass,” “Isn’t It Grand, Boys,” and “The Mermaid” delighted audiences worldwide.
By the end of the sixties, the original Clancy Brothers lineup disbanded amicably. Tommy Makem left to pursue a solo career, and was often joined by Liam. Various Clancy sons and nephews joined with their fathers and uncles to perform under the Clancy moniker.
Tom Clancy died of cancer in 1990; Paddy died in 1998 following a long illness. Makem still lives in New Hampshire, where he originally landed over 40 years ago. The first annual Tommy Makem International School of Song is planned for next June in the Ring of Gullion area of South Armagh.
No less than Bob Dylan invited the surviving Clancy Brothers and Makem to sing at his 30th anniversary concert in 1992. Their songs of joy, straggle, and hope made America take notice of Ireland — if you looked closely, you could even see Lady Liberty tapping her toe…
Editor’s Note: This article was originally published in the November 1999 issue of Irish America. ⬥
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