What exactly is this book
supposed to be? An objective no-holds barred look at the ‘60s
beat-scene in Ireland or simply a vehicle to document the
pathetic musical snobbery that dominated the Irish music-scene
during that decade? The more I read through this 224-page book
by Daragh O’Halloran (published by Brehon Press), the more I
realise, sadly, that the author walked in with his eyes closed
and questioned almost nothing. Paragraphs and quotes from
magazines such as ‘Spotlight’ and ‘Hitsville’ are quoted
verbatim as fact when even the most naïve music fan is aware
that they were little more than propaganda-sheets for bands and
groups with healthy budgets. Quotes from Pat Egan and B.P.
Fallon are treated with reverence when truly, they were only two
non-musicians who used the pages of those magazines to publicise
their own friends’ bands.
It was far more important to
be ‘cool’ than to be a brilliant musician. B.P. saw to that. You
had to be ‘cosmic’ and have a ‘vibe’ and if you had, you had it
made. There’s an ongoing ‘sneer’ throughout the book about
showbands with words like ‘agricultural’, ‘ageing’ and
‘haircuts’ liberally used. The true facts about showbands were
that the vast majority of their members came from terraces or
estates in small rural towns where unemployment was rife. They
saved some money, bought an instrument and set out to make a
decent living doing what musicians want to do - play music.
There was very little ‘agricultural’ or ‘ageing’ about showbands
in the early ‘60s. Just because B.P. or Pat said so doesn’t mean
that it was fact.
The pervading theme that
runs throughout this book is that it was much ‘cooler’ to be in
a beat-group (or a 4 or 5 piece 'covers-band) than to don a suit
and be part of an outfit known as a 'showband'. Yet, The Black
Eagles are described as ‘one of many groups at the time
doing covers of Small Faces, Yardbirds and (Rolling) Stones
material’. Drummer Dave Pennefether was criticised by Paul Brady
as ‘taking the King’s shilling’ when he left the beat-scene to
join Earl Gill’s band. Thankfully Paul, we haven’t had ‘the
King’s shilling’ in our country for many a long year! Why was
Brady not asked how his joining of The Johnstons (a folk/ballad
group) differed so much to Pennefether joining Earl Gill's Band
- having been quoted on page 205 "I didn't really have an awful
lot of time for the ballads. Why are all these people singing
all this shit from 200 years ago? It was all a bit fake to me".
Paul Ashford speaks some sense when he recalls Philip Lynott
calling him a ‘breadhead’ when he joined The Miami – but as
Ashford says, ‘I was a musician and I wanted to play’. Slightly
ironic that I just happened to see a clip of the same Phil
Lynott on BBC last night singing a classic beat-song – ‘Jingle
Bells’!
A former member of
Rootzgroop is quoted as saying that he ‘hated showbands’. That’s
an incredibly sweeping, all-encompassing statement. He goes on
to say ‘we looked down our noses at them, we thought they were
crap’. I seriously wonder which showbands or how many different
showbands he actually heard – live? The Freshmen? Crap? The
Plattermen? Crap? Johnny Quigley, Dave Glover, The Skyrockets
(with Henry McCullough)? Crap? Derrick and The Sounds (with two
members of Taste in the line-up)? Crap? The Jokers with one of
Europe's top drummers, Tommy McMenamin laying down the beat?
Crap? The Witnesses with Colm Wilkinson out front? Crap? That
particular musician's blanket put-down of showbands should have
been questioned and analysed.
Two phrases in the book
clearly illustrate the angle from which the author approaches
his subject. In reference to The Dreams’ first single, he states
that it was written for them by "safe, middle-aged favourites,
The Tremeloes". In fact, Alan Blakely who wrote ‘I Will See You
There’ was 26 in 1968 – hardly middle-aged! Yet, in 1970,
Granny’s Intentions’ album ‘Honest Injun’ “showcase the talents
of youthful singer Johnny Duhan”. In 1970, Johnny Duhan was only
a couple of years younger than the ‘safe, middle-aged’ Alan
Blakely!
The author should have
embedded a few facts in his head before he started talking to
people, some of whom have coloured and biased memories of a
bygone era. There were two kinds of bands in ‘60s Ireland and
no, I don’t mean beat-groups and showbands – I mean charts
cover-bands and bands who mixed originals with lesser-known
album tracks and songs from obscure blues and soul artistes.
Many of the cover-bands were known as showbands and they played
in a nationwide circuit of ballrooms, marquees and dance-halls
but there were also scores of smaller cover-bands who played in
Tennis Clubs and local halls.
Let’s not forget, the word ‘showband’ was nothing more than a
tag. The vast majority of working showbands in the ‘60s were not
ignorant hayseeds who thought Dublin began and ended in Croke
Park. Yes, they wore suits, usually very smart, tailored suits
but so did The Beatles in the early days. The Wheels are
pictured on page 113 wearing suits as are The Beau Brummels on
page 146 (oh but of course they were ‘cool’ people!). Wearing
casual clothes onstage didn’t automatically instill blinding
talent in a musician. Neither did filling ones mouth with
tomato-ketchup and spitting it over the crowd or having your
photo taken with a noose around your neck. That particular photo
of The Uptown Band is more immature and irresponsible than
avant-garde and mould-breaking.
Some of the former beat-group musicians who were interviewed for
this book obviously believe the myth that there was a massive
city/country, beat-group/showband divide. But many of them were
members of groups that were little more than small showbands
themselves! I have heard beat-groups who played a complete
programme of covers or ‘interpretations’ of other bands’ work
and I have also been in band (a so-called ‘showband’) which
belted out Otis Redding, Wilson Pickett, James Brown, Eddie
Floyd and Arthur Conley soul numbers with punchy brass
arrangements. Can the smaller band feel ‘superior’ because they
are based in a city and don’t wear suits? Showbands were often
based in rural towns and had no choice but to travel because
their towns, unlike Dublin and Belfast, simply didn’t have
enough venues.
There are references to unscrupulous showband managers buying
boot-loads of singles and dumping them ‘in the Bog of Allen’ (of
course it had to be a bog) in order to get their records into
the charts. Terrible behaviour altogether! But when Strangers'
manager Jimmy Dunne bought a cart-load of Strangers’ singles for
every jukebox in the country – it was funny and innovative!
The same managers are strongly criticised for ‘stealing’
musicians from beat-groups to form new showbands or to fill
positions in others. If the beat-groups had got their own houses
in order, joining a showband (and ‘lowering’ oneself to play
dreaded ‘covers’) would not have been a financial necessity. Yet
when Granny’s Intentions were disintegrating and brought in
first Greg Donaghey, later Noel Bridgeman and Pete Cummins, it
was seen as progress.
‘Tell Her’ by The Movement is eulogised as being ‘one of the
beat-scene’s most coruscating and spirited singles’ – hold on
Daragh, it was a cover! So were ‘Run Baby Run’ (The Bye-Laws),
‘Look Out, Here Comes Tomorrow’ (The Strangers), ‘Do You Wanna
Dance?’ (The Vampires), ‘So Sad’ (The Greenbeats), ‘Lovely
Loretta’ (The Others), ‘Walk Like A Man’ (Some People) and
‘River Deep, Mountain High’ (Purple Pussycat) and others. Danny
Hughes supposedly recorded 'Hi Ho Silver Lining' but whose voice
was it? No, it was the voice of a high-profile beat-group
drummer!
But ... ‘Holiday Girl’ (The Newmen), ‘A Knock On The Door’ (The
Airchords), ‘Just To See You Smile’ (The Freshmen), ‘Love And
The Country’ (The Riviera), ‘Baby I’m Your Man’ (Miami &
Dreams), ‘I’d Still Believe In You Baby’ (Stage 2), ‘When I Look
Around Me’ (The Times) were all originals written by members of
those bands – showbands!
The point I’m trying to make here is that it was NOT a black and
white divide. There were good and bad beat-groups just as there
were good and bad showbands. I’ve listened to enough ‘crap’ over
the years about how all the cool people were in groups and all
the buffs were in showbands – it’s simply not true and it’s very
disappointing that the author has allowed himself to be led in
this way by people whose collective sneering at showbands should
have mellowed over the past 40 years.
There are paragraphs, even pages on groups like The Viscounts,
The Caravelles (Greenbeats), The Strangers, Bluesville, The
Action, The Chosen Few, The Kingbees, The Creatures, The
Chessmen, Granny's Intentions, The Movement, The People, Eire
Apparent (hardly beat!), The News, Sweeney's Men (a folk group -
they have no place here apart from the link with The People),
Skid Row, Rootzgroop, The Orange Machine, The Bye-Laws and a
section on Northern Beat including Them, The Wheels, The Mad
Lads, The Method, Andwella's Dream, Taste and Granny's
Intentions.
Musicians and 'heads' such as John Keogh (sometimes I wonder
about John's memory!), Shay Healy (hardly a leading light in the
beat-scene), Ted Carroll, Brush Shiels, Jonathan Ryan, Terry
Brady, Alan Dee, Kevin Dunne, Jimmy Dunne, Ronan Collins, Len
Guest, Maxie McEvoy, Deke O'Brien, Ian Whitcomb, Jerry Dennon,
Peter Adler, Mick Molloy, Sam Smyth (always plenty to say but
was he actually involved at all?), Ian McGarry, Ditch Cassidy,
Paul Ashford, Tony Boland, Bobby Kelly, Jay Malone and others
are quoted at length. A comprehensive and impressive line-up you
might say - until you read on and find that many of their
contributions came from old interviews published many years ago
in magazines like Spotlight and books and papers by Ian
Whitcomb, Jerry Smith, Johnny Rogan, Mark Prendergast, Vince
Power and others.
Another point which strikes me about this book is the number of
significant groups which are not included. A cursory nod (or not
even that in some cases) to Sugarshack (Brian Downey), Chapter
5, The Difference (Paul Keogh), The Deep Set, Grassband, The
Gentry, The Intruders, Jangle Dangle, Reform, The Wild Breed,
The Pickford Set, Heatwave, The Others, Some People, Beat-Route,
The Mousetrap, Zebedee, The Urge, Strange Brew, The Fugitives,
Dead Centre, Stop Press, Love Street, Demon Duck, Ned Spoon,
Magazine, Judge Joe & The Jury - there are just too many left
out.
When writing a book to fill a gaping niche like this one, it's
not enough to write a thesis. It's not enough to go to the
National Library and copy quotes and paragraphs written many
years ago. It's not enough to listen to some 40-year old
memories and opinions and not even question them. Though the
author did speak at length with many of those involved, there
are many others out there who experienced this era and whose
memories and views could have been featured.
In my opinion, Part Five which covers the experiences of John
Byrne and Declan Mulligan in America could have been left out.
Brehon Books appointed an editor, Nicola Keenan, for this book
but apart from proof-reading, what exactly did she do? To
include those pages at the expense of some of the groups and
personalities mentioned earlier was in my opinion, a poor call.
Now to the layout, the photographs and the cover. To be honest,
the whole book looks a bit like the annual report from a
financial institution. Layout is incredibly unimaginative when
compared to the book's British counterpart, 'Beatboom' (Dave
McAleer - Hamlyn 1994 - ISBN 0-600-58009 -1). That particular
book uses only spot colour throughout but because of it's
excellent design and layout, is far more attractive to leaf
through). I realise that full colour printing is more expensive
than mono (the difference is not nearly as much as it was in the
'70s or '80s) but a colourful era like the '60s to be documented
totally in black and white is just boring. Most of the photos
have over-riding grey tint, something that can be fixed in a few
seconds in an application such as Adobe Photoshop. I love the
cover photo (The Creatures onstage at The Five Club) but surely
they could have stretched their budget a little and included a
colour section? One other rather annoying fact is the absence of
an index, almost obligatory in a non-fiction book.
And finally, a couple of clangers. Page 13: "The Royal Showband
(featuring Brendan Bowyer) was the first to take the plunge in
1962, releasing 'Come Down The Mountain Katy (sic) Daly'". It
was Katie Daly and it was the late Tom Dunphy.
Page 123: “Rory (Gallagher) took Eric D’Amery (drums) and Norman
Kitteringham (bass) away from the others and formed The Taste”.
It was Norman D’Amery and Eric Kitteringham.
Page 128: “Richie McCracken and John Wilson were previously
members of a Northern Ireland power-trio called Cheese”. That is
true but it would have been fitting to mention that prior to
Cheese, they were both members of a showband, Derrick & The
Sounds where McCracken played lead guitar, not bass.
It is said that if you can
remember the '60s, you weren't there. The author wasn't.
Francis Kennedy (December 2006).
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