Memories
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here were hundreds of them. Irish bands of every size, description and musical genre travelling the roads and borheens of Ireland. They travelled the length and breadth of the country from the 1950's through the mid 1980's. Although "officially" the term showband was coined in the late fifties and was used to describe bands that played a wide variety of music and usually included a "show" during the night, the term was gradually applied to all the bands that played in the 1960's. As the Irish music scene splintered in the late sixties into pop, country
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he story of the Smokey Mountain Ramblers started when Jerzy Kryzanowski (better known in Ireland as George Kaye) came to Ireland to busk, having spent time around the folk clubs of England. Instead, he found himself doing the pub scene and formed the Mitchell County Ramblers with Clive Collins. It was late 1967 and George had decided it might be time to go home when he was approached by Galway's Des Kelly of the famous Capitol Showband. Des saw the trend of country music coming to the showband scene before anyone else had a chance to react. George went home for a holiday at Christmas and returned to join a new type of band. Naming them the Smokey Mountain Ramblers, Des wanted something totally different, not like Big Tom or Larry Cunningham (both of whom were more "country n' Irish").
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bands, the term was dropped but we still find it the best overall description of the bands of the "ballroom" era. In the early days, they travelled in whatever they could find...bread vans, hearses, and even cars (roof racks and all). In later years, many (if not most) of them travelled in converted Ford Transit vans (like the one pictured right) that were normally used for delivery services. After a couple of windows were popped into the centre panels, a row or two of old airplane seats were installed and the band was ready to travel "in style." Although style was a matter of
The original lineup of the band included: George Kaye on fiddle, Dave Kearney (RIP) on guitar and Martin Johnson (RIP) on bass (both formerly of The Movement), Paul Kenny (RIP-drums, he had played with the System Showband previously), and John Cook (guitar and dobro, touted as the owner of the "only dobro in Ireland" at the time). The band hit the road in early 1968 and soon released their first single, "Ballad of Amelia Earhart." Although the band garnered a lot of attention, their strong bluegrass influence did not catch on with dancers who were used to hearing the "country and Irish" music of Big Tom and Larry Cunningham. Early on, John Cook, who worked with Aer Lingus (although he had studied hotel management) in his day job, found life on the road too demanding and decided to leave and was replaced by Lennie Power on
opinion...if you're stuck in the back of a van on a cold and rainy winter's night, it may seem like "a long way to Tipperary," but it's even further to Castletownbere, Co. Cork! It will be impossible to list all the bands that played the dance halls, ballrooms, marquees, parochial halls, community centres, hotels, and town halls across Ireland but each month we are planning to feature a band from the west with the help of Gerry Gallagher and www.irish-showbands.com . Apart from a few who enjoy near mythical status (such as the Royal Showband and a
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guitar. As the band's single, Amelia Earhart was winding down, Des decided the band needed a vocal front man and to fill out the band's sound to more of a traditional showband lineup. In the October 19th, 1968 issue of Spotlight, a small article announced Pat Ely was joining the band as its new lead singer. Pat had previously been with Carrick-OnShannon's Savoy Swing 7 and was being compared to Jim Reeves in publicity promotions for the Swing 7 (this continued with the early Smokeys). In fact, Pat, Tommy Higgins (keyboards) and Bernie Fallon (drums) had all been with the Savoy Swing 7, who had recently dropped the Savoy off the name and had become simply the Swing Seven who were being managed by Eamonn Hughes. Paul Kenny (RIP-drums) went to the Cotton Mills Boys. Things were not going well for the
handful of others), most bands came together, played for a few years and then either reinvented themselves, changed their name, or just disappeared, their members either returning to civilian life, or scattering to two or three new bands. For such a small country, it is difficult to comprehend the
sheer number of bands that the country produced. Almost as hard to imagine, is the number of dance halls that once dotted the countryside, many out in the "middle of nowhere." Pick up next months issue for another blast from the blast from the showband era...
All editorial and photographs are kindly supplied by Gerry Gallagher from www.irish-shownbands.com Over the years Gerry has built up what can only be describe as the definitive guide to the showband era. I would like to thank Gerry for allowing us to reproduce the articles and photos in Mature Living. If you would like to know more about your favourite band or who was number one in a particular year visit www.irish-showbands.com
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Swing 7 when Des Kelly contacted the boys looking for musicians to round out the Smokeys. Shortly after the band expended to a seven piece they embarked on a month long tour of the US Military bases across Europe in March, 1969. At the same time, they released a new single which featured Pat entitled, The Little Folk. Pat's addition to the band paid off with immediate success the record made it to number 13 in the Irish charts. In April, the band appeared alongside American star Hank Locklin at the Danny Pearse Tribute Concert in Dublin. The country boom was in full swing and the Smokeys were one of the first bands to climb to the top of the new genre. In November 1969, the band had a scare when George Kaye collapsed on stage in Donegal. He was off the road and hospitalized for several weeks in Dublin, but thank-
fully was not seriously ill. During 1970, the band continued to consolidate its position as one of the top five country bands in Ireland, appearing on the cover of Spotlight magazine. The band also released its first album, The Smokeys, the same year. In August 1970, the Smokeys were hit by its first serious lineup change when founding member George Kaye decided to return to England and left the band after about 2 1/2 years on the road. In a recent email, George reported that his reason for leaving the band was "burnout, we had played 64 gigs in a row and that did it for me." In an article in Spotlight, co-manager Johnny Kelly reported that George