Hello Fellow Whistlers...
I just wanted to pass along the news that the legendary singer and song writer, Tommy Makem passed away this evening after a long battle with cancer.
As many of you can attest, he was an icon in many ways and also one of us as he too loved to play the whistle.
Just thought I'd pass on the info...
Keep Whistling,
Joanie Madden
Sad news from Joanie Madden
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ctladies
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brewerpaul
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anniemcu
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So sorry to hear that. May his soul find peace and joy in friends to play with on the other side, and may his memory help many play better than ever on this one.
anniemcu
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"You are what you do, not what you claim to believe." -Gene A. Statler
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"Olé to you, none-the-less!" - Elizabeth Gilbert
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http://www.sassafrassgrove.com
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"You are what you do, not what you claim to believe." -Gene A. Statler
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"Olé to you, none-the-less!" - Elizabeth Gilbert
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http://www.sassafrassgrove.com
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rebl_rn
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Oh this is so sad. I always looked forward to seeing him every year at Milwaukee Irish Fest. It won't be the same without him. 
Wash your hands. Cough and sneeze in your sleeve. Stay home if you are sick. Stay informed. http://www.cdc.gov/swineflu for more info.
I remember him from Gurdy's Folk City in NY in the late 50s.
Knew him a bit.
A lovely fella with a wonderful voice. Sad news, indeed.
From Wikipedia
Tommy Makem (November 4, 1932 - August 1, 2007) was an internationally celebrated folk musician, artist, poet and storyteller from Ireland, most known as a member of The Clancy Brothers and Tommy Makem. He played the banjo and tin whistle and sang in a baritone. He was sometimes known as "The Bard of Armagh" (taken from a traditional song of the same name) and "The Godfather of Irish Music".
He was born and raised in Keady, County Armagh, Northern Ireland. His mother, Sarah Makem, was also a successful folk singer, as well as an important source of traditional Irish music, who was visited and recorded by, among others, Diane Guggenheim Hamilton, Jean Ritchie, Peter Kennedy and Sean O'Boyle. After moving to the United States in 1955, he teamed up with the Clancy Brothers, who were signed to Columbia Records in 1961. The same year, at the Newport Folk Festival, Makem and Joan Baez were named the most promising newcomers on the American folk scene. During the 1960s, the Clancy Brothers with Tommy Makem performed sellout concerts at such venues as Carnegie Hall and made television appearances on shows like The Ed Sullivan Show and The Tonight Show. Makem left the group in 1969 to pursue a solo career. In 1975, he and Liam Clancy were both booked to play a folk festival in Cleveland, Ohio, and were persuaded to do a set together. Thereafter they performed as Makem and Clancy, recording several albums together. He once again went solo in 1988.
Makem's best-known songs include "Four Green Fields", "Gentle Annie", "Red is the Rose", "The Rambles of Spring", "The Winds Are Singing Freedom", and "Farewell to Carlingford," and "The Bard of Armagh." Makem died in Dover, New Hampshire but continued to record and perform until very close to the end. His sons Shane, Conor and Rory ("The Makem Brothers") and nephew Tom Sweeney continue the family folk music tradition.
Knew him a bit.
A lovely fella with a wonderful voice. Sad news, indeed.
From Wikipedia
Tommy Makem (November 4, 1932 - August 1, 2007) was an internationally celebrated folk musician, artist, poet and storyteller from Ireland, most known as a member of The Clancy Brothers and Tommy Makem. He played the banjo and tin whistle and sang in a baritone. He was sometimes known as "The Bard of Armagh" (taken from a traditional song of the same name) and "The Godfather of Irish Music".
He was born and raised in Keady, County Armagh, Northern Ireland. His mother, Sarah Makem, was also a successful folk singer, as well as an important source of traditional Irish music, who was visited and recorded by, among others, Diane Guggenheim Hamilton, Jean Ritchie, Peter Kennedy and Sean O'Boyle. After moving to the United States in 1955, he teamed up with the Clancy Brothers, who were signed to Columbia Records in 1961. The same year, at the Newport Folk Festival, Makem and Joan Baez were named the most promising newcomers on the American folk scene. During the 1960s, the Clancy Brothers with Tommy Makem performed sellout concerts at such venues as Carnegie Hall and made television appearances on shows like The Ed Sullivan Show and The Tonight Show. Makem left the group in 1969 to pursue a solo career. In 1975, he and Liam Clancy were both booked to play a folk festival in Cleveland, Ohio, and were persuaded to do a set together. Thereafter they performed as Makem and Clancy, recording several albums together. He once again went solo in 1988.
Makem's best-known songs include "Four Green Fields", "Gentle Annie", "Red is the Rose", "The Rambles of Spring", "The Winds Are Singing Freedom", and "Farewell to Carlingford," and "The Bard of Armagh." Makem died in Dover, New Hampshire but continued to record and perform until very close to the end. His sons Shane, Conor and Rory ("The Makem Brothers") and nephew Tom Sweeney continue the family folk music tradition.
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s1m0n
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There's an interesting part of Martin Scorsese's Bob Dylan documentary in which Dylan talks of being fascinated at the way Tommy Makem''s singing could make you cry, singing sad and tender songs that never sounded wimpy.
And now there was no doubt that the trees were really moving - moving in and out through one another as if in a complicated country dance. ('And I suppose,' thought Lucy, 'when trees dance, it must be a very, very country dance indeed.')
C.S. Lewis
C.S. Lewis
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Alan
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Roger O'Keeffe
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He and the Clancy brothers deserve more credit and gratitude from all of us than they will probably ever get.
Traditional music is now so thriving and of such high quality that we can afford to look down our noses at the Arran pullovers and the "Fine gerril ya are" stuff. But I suspect many people don't realise how important the Clancy brothers and Tommy Makem were in popularising the more accessible end of the song and music tradition, and above all in making people in Ireland aware just how much esteem it enjoyed abroad, thereby opening up people's minds to a cultural heritage that was in danger of being largely forgotten and dying out through "modernisation".
If it hadn't been for Tommy Makem, I probably wouldn't have bought my first whistle as a young adult to take part in singsongs, and through that graduated to listening to The Chieftains, Planxty, Bothy Band etc. and ending up as a card-carrying member of the revival of the uilleann pipes.
May he enjoy the great session in the sky.
Traditional music is now so thriving and of such high quality that we can afford to look down our noses at the Arran pullovers and the "Fine gerril ya are" stuff. But I suspect many people don't realise how important the Clancy brothers and Tommy Makem were in popularising the more accessible end of the song and music tradition, and above all in making people in Ireland aware just how much esteem it enjoyed abroad, thereby opening up people's minds to a cultural heritage that was in danger of being largely forgotten and dying out through "modernisation".
If it hadn't been for Tommy Makem, I probably wouldn't have bought my first whistle as a young adult to take part in singsongs, and through that graduated to listening to The Chieftains, Planxty, Bothy Band etc. and ending up as a card-carrying member of the revival of the uilleann pipes.
May he enjoy the great session in the sky.
An Pluiméir Ceolmhar
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Innocent Bystander
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Flogging Jason
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I grew up listening to Tommy Makem (among many others) and his voice is the one I hear whenever I have an Irish song stuck in my head. He is also a source of inspiration for me when I sing as I often emulate alot of his style. The man is a legend and will be sorely missed.
I'll be toasting him this evening with a pint of Guiness and a shot of Bushmills.
I'll be toasting him this evening with a pint of Guiness and a shot of Bushmills.
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HampshireWhistler
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May he rest in peace.
To his memory, a digital toast if you will:
http://youtube.com/watch?v=OYSnGnCYFxg
and a few more rounds for the lot of em...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kdPQU5q2fyk&NR=1
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E5-kyEC7 ... ed&search=
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MDoJL1gO ... ed&search=
To his memory, a digital toast if you will:
http://youtube.com/watch?v=OYSnGnCYFxg
and a few more rounds for the lot of em...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kdPQU5q2fyk&NR=1
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E5-kyEC7 ... ed&search=
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MDoJL1gO ... ed&search=
"It is terrible to contemplate how few politicians are hanged." - G.K. Chesterton
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The Weekenders
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Worth re-quoting. I feel the same way when people disregard the singers as if they now know better.Roger O'Keeffe wrote:He and the Clancy brothers deserve more credit and gratitude from all of us than they will probably ever get.
Traditional music is now so thriving and of such high quality that we can afford to look down our noses at the Arran pullovers and the "Fine gerril ya are" stuff. But I suspect many people don't realise how important the Clancy brothers and Tommy Makem were in popularising the more accessible end of the song and music tradition, and above all in making people in Ireland aware just how much esteem it enjoyed abroad, thereby opening up people's minds to a cultural heritage that was in danger of being largely forgotten and dying out through "modernisation".
If it hadn't been for Tommy Makem, I probably wouldn't have bought my first whistle as a young adult to take part in singsongs, and through that graduated to listening to The Chieftains, Planxty, Bothy Band etc. and ending up as a card-carrying member of the revival of the uilleann pipes.
May he enjoy the great session in the sky.
Very wide shoulders that many of us stand upon. Respect them and his memory. RIP.
How do you prepare for the end of the world?