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Accompanied by Dave Gold (Musical Director/Keyboards} Paul Bennett (Woodwinds) Mike Barker (Guitar) Martyn David (Percussion) John Richards (Double bass) Please refrain from smoking in the auditorium Programme designed by Jubilee Graphics. Produced, published and distributed by Brockum International Ltd., 55, St. Thomas Street, Oxford. Advertising Brockum International and Phil Mead.
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9est wishes to 0'
from The ITV company on-air every weekend from 7 pm Friday until close-down|Sunday
See, hear, and enjoy more of Mary O'Hara on Television, in her own programme, from London Weekend Television at 8.15 pm this Easter Sunday on ITV
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rven those, thoroughly jaded with the so called overnight success procedures of the music business, were stunned by the meteoric rise to fame of Mary O'Hara. The elements and trials that make up this talented lady's life could not have been invented by even the most imaginative of women's novelists. Trials indeed which give her songs an emotional depth that few can equal. Although her career started many years ago, her reentry into the spotlight and her first introduction to many was brought about by an appearance on Russell Harty 's T V show, where she managed to transfix thousands of viewers accustomed to slick showbiz routines, with her disarming simplicity and unaffected manner For this is the key to Mary's enormous appeal; her honesty — on the Russell Harty show, she chatted, sang and played the harp with a warmth that ev£n the cold stare of the cameras could not dilute. The road that took Mary O'Hara to success was not an easy one. She was born in Sligo, in the West of Ireland, the youngest of four children. She started playing the harp when she was 16 and made her first broadcast while still at school.
In January 1956 she appeared on the BBC TV series "Quite Contrary " and the reaction was so great, she was booked for two return performances and on April 3rd she was given a series of her own. With a recording contract and personal appearances she was set for a brilliant career It was in the 5Q's, before Dylan, Baez and the 60's folk boom that she was received as a star, a "singer without peer" and by the age of 20 she had already won her reputation as an exponent of Celtic songs. Her mastery of the harp, combined with the rare purity of her voice ensured that her reputation and prowess were spreading far beyond Ireland and she subsequently toured Canada, Australia and America, where she guested on the Ed Sullivan show. It was at this point in time that she met a man who was to change her life. This man was Richard Selig, a handsome gifted poet, a talented American Rhodes scholar studying in Oxford. The two were destined to fall in love and after meeting in Dublin they became inseparable. Richard finished his studies in Oxford while Mary continued to carry out her countless engagements at home and abroad and when he completed his final continued
exams, they married — only to find that their happiness was to be short lived. A routine medical check on Richard revealed a fatal illness. After moving to America they continued to live life to the full. Richard lived fifteen months, but even this short time together was to inspire Mary with a confidence that would never leave her She was prepared for his death, as he was, and her strong faith allied to her love for Richard, strengthened and deepened their relationship in a way that his death could not break. Mary fulfilled her professional commitments but she knew that her destiny lay in a different direction. Her commitment to her relationship with Richard made her take one of the most difficult decisions anyone has taken — to relinquish the joys of the world for life in a Benedictine monastery. After twelve years her health broke down and she realised she would have to return to her former world and her former career She accepted this situation with as much grace as when she entered the Order She talks now of returning to the outside world with just as much fervour as when she left it. Mary does not regret a minute of the time she spent as a contemplative nun, the passing years of duty and prayer gave her an inner peace that formed the basis of much of her present strength. Russell Harty has told many times the story of how he came to see Mary during the rehearsal and was astonished by the reception that was accorded her by the spellbound technicians. He insisted she sing two songs on the show instead of the statutory one, and the rest in history. "There was a natural or more precisely unnatural attention to this woman. After rehearsal, the entire studio put down cables and lights and cheered that evening she stormed her way into the heads and hearts of everyone" The London Weekend TV switchboard was swamped with calls from viewers pleading a repeat performance. The avalanche of mail contained similar requests, praise, thanks, compliments, congratulations. Mary O'Hara had
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reached out and won her audience; she gave back a small portion of her faith and dedication and managed to overcome the coldness of the medium to capture a special place in their hearts. And so, Russell Harty took the unprecedented step of inviting her back the following week — an invitation unheard of in the history of the programme. Since then of course she has gone from strength to strength. At the beginning of November, Mary was a guest on Pete Murray's Radio 2 show "Open House" and this appearance give listeners a chance to choose her next single from the two songs she performed. The show was inundated with votes resulting in "Forty-five Years" being released on Chrysalis Records. The 'B' side is "Among Silence", the last prose-poem written by her late husband, Richard Selig, which she has set to music. On 5th November, at London's Royal Festival Hall, a capacity audience of 3,000 people bore testimony to the fact that Mary O'Hara had arrived. The critics were ecstatic — "From the first crystalline notes of her opening item, a Gaelic round, to the final encore, she sang with a purity of tone, a sustained precision of pitch and a total absorption such as I have rarely heard in folk or popular music she sang nothing in fact that she did not adorn, to which she did not add grace." Maurice Rosenbaum — Daily Telegraph "We seem here to have the re-emergence of a very special singer possessing poise, grace and a compelling vocal strength." Ray Coleman, Melody Maker
This was her first solo concert appearance. With a fine balance of traditional songs and contemporary work she demonstrated her art. With unsurpassed vocal delivery she turned out a classic performance worthy of the praise accorded to it by her critics. All the material Mary chose to perform demonstrated her effortless control; her skilfull poignant harp playing, the clear purity of her voice. She wove a web through enchanting renditions of "The Bonnie Boy", "Kitty of Coleraine" and "Morning Has Broken"; she delighted the audience with her settings of "The Clown", "The Snail" and Sydney Carter's "Lord of The Dance"; she moved them with the sensitivity displayed in "Among Silence" Moving on to more contemporary work she added a new freshness to established songs such as Leo Sayer's hit "When I Need You" and Paul Simon's "Bridge Over Troubled Water"; weaving lightly backwards and forwards, covering old, new and borrowed songs, but always with that special flavour and unique interpretation. The gossamer thread bound them together with an audience entranced, but not wanting to break the spell; the magic was complete. Her performance had such a profound effect on her audience that many felt moved to write to the various newspapers with their comments -- including such superlatives as — "The most inspiring evening I have experienced for a long time" "A marvellous experience" "Within seconds, she had her huge audience spellbound" In a world where so much musical talent seems to be measured by the degree of outrage perpetrated upon its consumers; where gimicks and sensationalism take over from ability and artistry, someone with the breadth of vision and maturity of performance of Mary O'Hara continued
comes as a breath of fresh air To achieve the perfect marriage of emotion and techniques is a skill dreamed of by all performers. Mary has the skill, but she has something more — she radiates a depth of feeling that touches not only the heart of the listener, but the spirit. It is interesting to note that the LP record culled from her outstanding Royal Festival Hall performance contains many contemporary songs as well as the traditional Gaelic songs one expects from Mary. Her treatment of such songs that had become contemporary standards such as ''Bridge Over Troubled Water", "When I Need You" and "Tapestry" are noted for their subtle yet well stated arrangements and the feeling with which Mary manages to inject them. A singer like Mary whose very purity of tone can be a liability when tackling contemporary material, could be expected to shy away from the problems inherent in such material, but when she has a feeling for a song, and one must remember that since her return she had not had much chance to catch up with trends in contemporary music, that feeling is sufficient to guide her. in her interpretation. In every performance she gives, the songs she chooses to perform are balanced, weighed and meticulously presented in a way that leaves no doubt that the singer is using the song as a medium to speak to her audience — to give back
some measure of the joy that they are giving her. The very fact that the song has become a standard means thatv one singer's interpretation has become lodged in the minds of the public and it takes a great deal of nerve and talent to be able to dislodge that image from the minds of an audience and imbue the song with a new sense, and give it the stamp of another performer. Special mention must be given to the arrangements on this album which are at all times excellent. Anyone who has not seen Mary O'Hara in concert might be forgiven for thinking that her choice of material would be restricted to the more sombre or conservative, but her treatment of Sydney Carter's "Lord of the Dance" is in a word, delightful. It is immediately obvious that she feels a rapport with the sentiments expressed in the song. The considered philosophy, reassuring yet uplifting, based on Christian principles without any doctrinaire dictates shines through. Mary O'Hara's story is a poignant one but a lesson in devotion and above all faith. Her music isjoyful, hopeful and alive — a spirit of love, a spirit that tells of the breaking down of boundaries between people and a spirit that rejoices in the goodwill of mankind. That a single voice can evoke such feeling and such love in others is not only uplifting, but a lesson to us all.
Kays Irish Music Centres
161 ARLINGTON ROAD CAMDEN TOWN NWI 65 CRICKLEWOOD BROADWAY LONDON NW2 4 KILBURN HIGH ROAD MAIDA VALE NW6
three shops which specialise in Irish Folk Music, folk music in general, country and western. We stock an interesting selection of sheet music, books, instruments, records, cassettes and cartridges, all of which can be supplied through our INTERNATIONAL MAIL ORDER SERVICE. Call in to one of our shops, if you can. If not, send to 161 Arlington Road, London NWI, or phone 01-485 4880 for our MAIL ORDER CATALOGUE.
MARY O'H AR A r
At the Royal Festival Hall MARY O'H AR A At the Royal FestivalHall.
SIDE TWO FORTY-FIVE YEARS UNA BHAN (Fair Una) SCARLET RIBBONS (Ruban Rouges) SONG FOR A WINTER'S NIGHT WHEN I NEED YOU LORD OF THE DANCE
SIDE ONE MORNING HAS BROKEN TAPESTRY A HEBRIDEAN MILKING SONG AMONG SILENCE BRING ME A SHAWL FROM GALWAY BRIDGE OVER TROUBLED WATER
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