The Tooth, The Whole Tooth, and Nothing but The Tooth

The whales tooth, the whole tooth, and nothing but the tooth

BY FRED REA

In 1961 four Irishman clad in fisherman’s sweaters appeared on the Ed Sullivan Show in the USA singing a brand of Irish music that had never been heard in that form before. From that point on the career of The Clancy Brothers and Tommy Makem became an industry. The years that followed were hectic ones for them with concerts all over America, Ireland and the world. Following the success of the Clancy’s, in 1968 Tommy Makem began a solo career would sell out concerts. Liam Clancy went solo in 1972, while still doing shows with The Clancy Brothers. As a duo, Tommy and Liam found themselves by accident while singing at the same folk festival in Ohio in 1975. They decided to do perform together, and the result was electric. The audiences applauded for five minutes before a the next song could be sung. Makem and Clancy were born. Now back together again, and touring, these two fine entertainers appeared all over North America and Ireland. Both were well qualified. Tommy and Liam came from families steeped in the folk traditions of Ireland. Each spent early years involved in folk music, theatre and research. Liam and Tommy were more than just folksingers and when they combined their talents it was something special after years apart. When they performed, it much more than just another Irish music concert. In 1976 Makem and Clancy toured Australia and performed at the Perth Concert to a sell out audience. At the time I was a member of a local Irish band The Quarefellas and we were lucky enough to be the support act. Those of you who attended that night would remember Liam’s unforgettable rendition of the Eric Bogle song The Band Played Waltzing Matilda. During the singing by Liam, Tommy was back-stage directing the lighting to create the moods of the lyrics, amazing! It was unforgettable night and without doubt the highlight of my time with The Quarefellas. Following the Perth concert, Tommy asked me where he might find a shark’s tooth for one of his

Tommy Makem & Liam Clancy

The Quarefellas: Anita Webb, Fred Rea, Alan Ferguson and Mick McAuley RIP

sons. All I could offer him was a whale’s tooth I had bought at the Albany Whaling Station the year before, 1975, when honeymooning with Lilly. (In 1978, the Albany Whaling Station, the last shore based whaling station in Australia closed and 178 years of whaling in Albany waters came to an end). Tommy appreciated my offer and I drove to my home and collected the tooth. I handed it over to Tommy and he showed his appreciation by signing a program. Not sure where the whale’s tooth is now but for me it carries a wonderful memory of sharing the stage and meeting two fine men who played a major

role in defining how the world heard Irish popular music over the last half century. Ar dheis Dé go raibh a anam. The Canberra Times said in a concert review: “There is something about their music that puts a lilt into the voice, a terrible thirst in the throat and a glint in the eye. One cannot walk away from a concert; one has to reel. The sense of fun and the richness of Makem & Clancy will always be welcome here... even if it only turns the English Irish for a few hours of their otherwise dreary lives. They carry the soul of Ireland everywhere they go. It is an infectious spirit. That they are also marvellous professional entertainers is a mere bonus”. Makem known as the “Bard of Armagh”, was an Irish nationalist passed away in 2007. Although he had no extremist sympathies, his best-known composition, Four Green Fields, written before the outbreak of the Troubles, told sorrowfully of Ireland’s four provinces, one of them, his native Ulster, “trapped in bondage/ In strangers’ hands”. Liam Clancy acted on Broadway alongside Dirk Bogarde, Walter Matthau and Robert Redford, but in the evenings joined his brothers and Makem singing at the White Horse Tavern in Greenwich Village. Liam died in 2009, also aged 74 in the Bon Secours Hospital in Cork. Makem and Clancy were nationally and internationally renowned folk singers and an example of an absolutely dedicated artistic craftsmen. This generous and life-giving personalities enriched all our lives with memorable songs and was part of the fabric of Ireland’s proud traditional music culture.

WHALING MUSIC AND THE SOUND OF THE SEA

As well as being prolific performers The Clancy Brothers and Tommmy Makem also owned a profitable music label. Tradition Records specialised in folk music and was a very successful enterprise that existed from 1955 to 1966. Paddy Clancy was president and director of the music company while Liam Clancy created its maple leaf logo. Paddy stepped back from the running of the label in 1961 and five years later they sold on the Tradition catalogue to another music pubilsher. One of the first records Tradition produced was ‘Whaling And Sailing Songs From the Days of Moby Dick’ by Paul Clayton, in 1965. Born in the historic whaling port of New Bedford, Massachusetts where his ancestors were whaling captains and seafarers Clayton became very interested in the traditional songs his grandfather – who fitted out whaling ships – sang. “For many years it was thought that whalers did little singing, but this is hardly true as some of my research in whaling songs has shown,” Clayton said in the sleeve notes for the album. “The whaler probably had more opportunity for singing forecastle songs than did the merchantman. In this recording will be found the forecastle songs, both happy and sentimental, with which the whalers whiled away their free time, as well as the shanties to which they worked: shortdrag shanties which were used for hauling jobs that

took only a few good pulls, halyard shanties for prolonged jobs such as hoisting the yards, swaying a heavy object aloft and so on, and capstan shanties, more elaborate, often more beautiful, for hoisting the anchor, warping ship, or for use in pumping the boat. For this recording, I have tried to assemble songs and shanties dating hark to the middle of the 19th century when Melville’s novel first appeared and preserved the history of whaling in that day better than any other account could. This is, therefore, an album, of sailing and whaling songs from the days of Moby Dick.” ☘

60 | THE IRISH SCENE