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August 03, 2007

Obituaries of Tommy Makem


Democrat file photo by Mark Avery Tommy Makem in a recent
performance at the Rochester Opera House on Saturday night.

News about Ireland & the Irish

FO 08/02/07 Music Icon Tommy Makem Dies
EX 08/03/07 Folk Hero Beloved Home And Abroad
BT 08/03/07 Obituary: Tommy Makem: A Musician With Many Guises
IT 08/03/07 Folk Music Legend Tommy Makem Dies In US
BB 08/02/07 Veteran Folk Singer Makem Dies

*********************

http://www.fosters.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070802/FOSTERS01/108020415

Thursday, August 2, 2007

Music Icon Tommy Makem Dies

By Thomas R. Kressler
Democrat Staff Writer
tkressler@fosters.com

Democrat file photo Tommy Makem performs at the Rochester Opera
House in this Foster's Daily Democrat file photo. Makem, a Dover
resident, died Wednesday at the age of 74. Makem's music and
storytelling were known across the globe. The songwriter earned
the moniker, "The Godfather of Irish Music."

DOVER — Tommy Makem, legendary Irish musician and one of Dover's
most beloved residents, died Wednesday night following a gallant
struggle with lung cancer. He was 74.

Though he is known throughout the world as the "Godfather of
Irish Music," to his family and those who knew him well, Makem
was also a wise and generous man who will be missed dearly.

"Just about everyone who's ever met him said he was the kindest
man they ever met and they were right," said his son, Conor, this
morning. "He was always generous and he never looked for any kind
of repayment."

On an international level, Makem is perhaps best known for his
work with celebrated Irish band The Clancy Brothers And Tommy
Makem, who saw wide success in the 1960s. The group released
dozens of albums and performed all over the world, including at
famous venues like New York's Carnegie Hall and London's Royal
Albert Hall.

Bolstered by live television performances on every major network,
including a spot on the Ed Sullivan Show in 1961, The Clancy
Brothers and Tommy Makem are often credited with popularizing
traditional Irish Music in the United States.

"Tommy was a man of high integrity, honesty, and, at the end,
courage," wrote friend and longtime musical partner Liam Clancy
on his website Wednesday. "His death has left a void that cannot
be filled. A great entertainer has left us."

Democrat file photo by Mike Ross/Chief photographer Irish folk
legend Tommy Makem shares stories about his life and music from
the comforts of his Dover home..

Even while ill, Makem, who was diagnosed with cancer last May,
kept an astoundingly positive attitude. He continued to perform,
alone or with his sons' group the Makem and Spain Brothers, in a
string of shows last year that included opening night of the
Cocheco Arts Festival summer music series, a concert at the
Rochester Opera House in November, and a short run of Christmas
shows in Canada in December.

Makem performed at the Statehouse this year for Gov. John Lynch's
inaugural celebration and had shows lined up through October.

"It was known that he was not well, yet he played with typical
passion and wit, evoking tears of joy and sadness from those
assembled," Lynch said today. "With a strong voice and even
stronger spirit, Tommy inspired millions."

Becoming a world-famous musician was something of an accident for
Makem. When he came to the United States in 1955, Makem was
hoping to become an actor, but turned to music a few years later
around the time the folk revival hit. Makem and the Clancy
Brothers were getting more offers to sing than they were to act,
so the four decided to try performing music and see what
happened.

"We said we'd try it for six months, and it turned into close to
50 years," Makem told Foster's in an interview last year.

In 1969, Makem parted ways with the Clancy Brothers to pursue a
solo career. He was reunited with Liam Clancy in 1975 and the two
performed together until 1988. Makem had performed solo since
then, beguiling audiences with his deep baritone voice, masterful
banjo playing, tin whistle, poetry, and storytelling. Songs like
Four Green Fields, Gentle Annie, and Red is the Rose are among
some of his best known.

While Makem, along with the Clancy Brothers, saw great success in
the United States, he remains iconic overseas, particularly in
his native Ireland.

His accolades include three honorary doctorate degrees, a
lifetime achievement award from The World Folk Music Association,
and his face on a commemorative stamp celebrating Irish music
issued last year by the Irish government. Just last month, an
ailing Makem received an honorary doctoral degree from the
University of Ulster, in Belfast, and was able to visit his
native County Armagh.

Though in poor health, Makem was determined to get to Ireland.

"He's one of the strongest-willed persons I ever met," Conor
said.

Having an international artist of such acclaim in Dover was not
overlooked. Makem was a familiar face at local events and
festivals and has been honored numerous times over the years by
local organizations. This past St. Patrick's Day, Makem was
honored in front of Dover City Hall by the Ancient Order of
Hibernians. He also headlined the short-lived but well-loved
Seacoast Irish Festival three years in a row.

Makem's roots in Dover date back many years, when the first Irish
immigrants, skilled in weaving and textiles, arrived in the
Garrison City to find work in the mills. A strong network of
relatives greeted Makem when he arrived in the U.S. and provided
him with a place to stay while he saved money in anticipation of
a move to New York City.

"I had more cousins and aunts and uncles in Dover than I had in
Ireland," he told Foster's in an interview last year.

Makem's ancestors were the same people who helped build St.
Mary's Church, which became the first Catholic parish in New
Hampshire when it was established more than 175 years ago. In
honor of the church's anniversary in 2005, Makem composed a "Mass
for the Immigrants", one of his most touching pieces that
continues to be performed by local choirs.

"He had a great faith," said Rev. Fritz Cerullo, of St. Mary
Church. "Not just in God, though that's important, but he had
faith in himself and in other people."

In March, a BBC Northern Ireland film crew came to Dover to film
a documentary focusing on Makem's life in the United States. The
film explored close ties between Makem's hometown of Keady,
located in the County Armagh, and Dover.

They filmed the St. Thomas Aquinas choir performing Makem's "Mass
for the Immigrants" inside St. Mary Church, while Makem, gaunt
from his struggle with cancer, sat alone in the pews and moved
his head rhythmically with the words. Makem had just gotten over
a bout with pneumonia, but shrugged the illness off.

"You fight every day," he said at the time, downplaying his
failing health. "There's no let-up."

Arrangements have not yet been made but the service will be held
sometime next week, Conor said, adding that will allow people
from overseas time to travel to New Hampshire.

The Associated Press contributed to this report

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http://www.examiner.ie/story/?jp=MHIDSNEYKF&cat=Ireland&rss=rss2

03 August 2007

Folk Hero Beloved Home And Abroad

IT WAS in 1967, as the beginnings of the Troubles were brewing in
the North that Tommy Makem penned his trademark song Four Green
Fields.

And in the days before his passing, as British Army operations
came to an end four decades later, many would say that the
prophesy of the song's closing line had come true: "My fourth
green field will bloom once again, said she."

Born in November 1932, the same year as Johnny Cash, Tommy Makem
was to become a folk legend of equal significance in the US as at
home in Ireland.

The son of legendary singer Sarah Makem, he grew up to the sounds
of her collected traditional songs in Keady, Co Armagh, where he
was a member of the local pipe band and drama society.

He met with Liam Clancy from Co Waterford on a visit to New York
to see the 1956 St Patrick's Day Parade.

The pair had met some years earlier when Clancy travelled to
Armagh with Diane Hamilton who was collecting songs from Sarah
Makem and other local singers.

While both he and Clancy began working together as actors in New
York, their combination of songs and ballads — with Tommy playing
banjo and tin whistles — from their respective counties made them
a star attraction during the folk revival rising in the US at the
time.

It was during this phase that a young Bob Dylan was making his
first trips to the folk clubs of New York's Greenwich Village and
was inspired by their ballad singing and playing.

The pair joined with Liam's brothers, Tommy and Paddy, marking
the start of a collaboration which would last more than a decade,
boosted by their appearance in front of 80 million viewers on the
Ed Sullivan show — the US equivalent of the Late Late Show — in
1961. An absence by another guest gave the quartet a chance to
perform more numbers than planned, and their legendary status was
born.

It was during this period that Makem's songwriting calibre came
to the fore, with Four Green Fields becoming a regular element of
their set in later years.

He went solo in 1969 but an appearance on Liam Clancy's
successful Canadian TV show in 1973 put them in mind to work
together again.

In preparing a new album, the pair recorded The Band Played
Waltzin' Matilda and its chart-topping success back in Ireland in
1976 prompted the beginning of their touring as a duo.

They crossed the Atlantic dozens of times in that period to
perform at home and finally went their separate ways, musically
at least, in 1988.

While Tommy was in ill health in recent years, he continued to
perform and was listed to play concerts up to the end of this
year.

His illness did not prevent him from travelling and he arrived to
collect an honorary doctorate from University of Ulster in
Belfast just a month ago.

During what would turn out to be his last visit, he took the
opportunity to see his native Keady and south Armagh one final
time before returning to New Hampshire, where he passed away on
Wednesday night.

*********************

http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/local-national/article2831662.ece

Obituary: Tommy Makem: A Musician With Many Guises

Friday, August 03, 2007
By Matthew McCreary

In the distinguished arena of Irish folk and traditional music
Tommy Makem was a truly exceptional figure.

In the course of a long career he became known in many guises, as
a celebrated folk musician, an actor, a poet and a storyteller.

In a field where talent and passion eclipse the empty demands of
ambition and the attractions of the showbiz lifestyle, Tommy was
known by many of his contemporaries as a man of high integrity
and honesty, whose fight against lung cancer typified his
determination and strength of character.

For over four decades he opened up new audiences around the
world, establishing Irish traditional music as a force to be
reckoned with on an international stage.

Born and raised in Keady, Co Armagh, Tommy was exposed to the
music which would shape his life from an early age as his mother,
Sarah Makem, was herself a distinguished folk musician.

Tommy's move to the United States in the 1950s was the catalyst
for a career which would last for many years.

He teamed up with the Clancy Brothers and in 1961 he was named
among the most promising newcomers on the American folk scene
alongside the now-legendary musician Joan Baez.

Along with the Clancy Brothers, Tommy played to massive crowds in
such iconic venues as New York's Carnegie Hall and London's Royal
Albert Hall.

A solo career then beckoned, and from 1969 he went on to grace
the stages of Madison Square Garden in New York and Sydney Opera
House.

His career also embraced television work, and he completed series
for Scottish Television, the BBC and Ulster Television, among
others.

In 1975 the magical combination of Clancy and Makem was reunited
after Tommy and Liam Clancy were each booked to play a festival
in Cleveland Ohio, at which they were persuaded to do a set
together. The partnership was to last another 13 successful
years.

Tommy's success was also brought home to his native Co Armagh
with the first Tommy Makem International Festival of Song in
2000.

The hugely successful event attracted support from around the
world.

Tommy's achievements were also recognised with honorary
doctorates from some of the world's top universities, most
recently last month from the University of Ulster.

His busy career was the mark of a lifetime's achievement, and
even Tommy himself did not consider winding down as the years
went on.

His website recounts an occasion when he was asked if he had any
plans to retire, to which he replied: "Yes, of course. I retire
every night and in the morning when I awake I realise just how
lucky and privileged I am to be able to continue doing the things
I love to do."

*********************

http://www.ireland.com/newspaper/ireland/2007/0803/1185230460473.html

Folk Music Legend Tommy Makem Dies In US

Siobhán Long
Fri, Aug 03, 2007

The funeral of folk singer Tommy Makem will take place in Dover,
New Hampshire, next Thursday. Tributes to the singer and musician
were led yesterday by President McAleese after his death
following a long battle with cancer at the age of 74.

He was a distinctive voice within the Clancy Brothers and Tommy
Makem and continued afterwards as a solo performer.

Long before the term "multi-media" entered common parlance, Makem
had established a career that embraced singing, acting and
storytelling.

Makem was born in Keady, Co Armagh, on November 4th, 1932, into a
musical dynasty. He was the son of singer Sarah Makem, whose
unparalleled song repertoire blossomed in the linen mills of
Keady.

Like his mother Sarah, Tommy's father, Peter, was a much-admired
fiddle player. He left school at the age of 14, and his innate
affinity for the interleaving of lyric and music, along with his
unique baritone voice, helped define Tommy Makem as a stage
performer following his move to the United States in 1955.

Having originally met in Keady before his departure for the US,
Makem encountered Liam Clancy while recuperating after an
industrial accident while working in a printing works in New
Hampshire. A shared love of theatre led to the two budding actors
playing the roles of priests in an off-Broadway production of
Shadow and Substance.

Unimpressed by the penurious existence they endured as thespians,
the pair decided to explore careers in music in earnest. Makem
was the quintessential Northern, flinty, straight-talker: the
perfect yin to Clancy's colourfully effusive yang. His thin,
spare frame was defined by his theatrical sideburns and his
bluff, blunt style was frequently punctuated by witty asides.

Makem joined forces with the Clancy Brothers in 1956. Their 1961
appearance on the Ed Sullivan Show led to a signing by Columbia
Records where they secured an unprecedented advance of $100,000.

In 1969, Makem departed the group to pursue a solo career. Makem
was an accomplished musician and a distinguished singer. A
widely-admired five-string banjo and tinwhistle player, he
brought a robust Northern song canon to the Clancy Brothers'
repertoire: songs such as I'll Tell Me Ma and The Boys of the
County Armagh, as well as one of his own compositions, the iconic
Four Green Fields.

After a lengthy solo career from 1969 to 1988, Tommy Makem and
Liam Clancy reunited as a duo.

There followed a 13-year period of success, during which time
Makem and Clancy made famous Waltzing Matilda and Red is the
Rose.

Leading the tributes, President Mary McAleese said: "In life,
Tommy brought happiness and joy to hundreds of thousands of fans
the world over. Always the consummate musician, he was also a
superb ambassador for the country, and one of whom we will always
be proud."

Minister for Arts Séamus Brennan said: "Tommy was truly a music
legend in his own lifetime. Now, with his passing, he has left
behind a rich and enduring legacy of music, song and story to be
enjoyed and appreciated by this generation and generations to
come."

Liam Clancy recounted his long history with Makem with fondness.
"I learned from Tommy how to handle an audience. I can still see
him sitting on a high stool, stilling a packed, noisy hall by
tapping out the rhythms of a shoemaker and launching into The
Cobbler. There was a great spark between us."

Belfast film-maker David Hammond was a life-long friend. Of Makem
he said: "He was an inveterate performer. Wherever he was, he
created a stage and an audience. There was a frankness about
Tommy that was refreshing. There were no back doors to him."

Philip King, the film-maker and musician, admired the stand Makem
made for the centrality of song in the tradition. "He was a song
saver, a song receiver and a huge advocate for song. Like Frank
Harte, he was always generous with a song, and with his passing,
we are losing one of the last secure links with an oral tradition
that had not been interfered with by technology. Without doubt he
came from one of the most important musical families on these
islands," King said.

Three weeks ago Makem visited Belfast when he was awarded an
honorary doctorate by the University of Ulster. His Chicago-born
wife, Mary, died a number of years ago. He is survived by his
four children: Kate, Shane, Conor and Rory.

Tributes: what they said

"In life, Tommy brought happiness and joy to hundreds of
thousands of fans the world over. Always the consummate musician,
he was also a superb ambassador for the country, and one of whom
we will always be proud."

- President McAleese

"I learned from Tommy how to handle an audience. I can still see
him sitting on a high stool, stilling a packed, noisy hall by
tapping out the rhythms of a shoemaker and launching into The
Cobbler. There was a great spark between us."

- Liam Clancy

"He was a song saver, a song receiver and a huge advocate for
song. He was always generous with a song, and with his passing,
we are losing one of the last secure links with an oral tradition
that had not been interfered with by technology."

- Philip King
© 2007 The Irish Times

*********************

http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/1/hi/northern_ireland/6927564.stm

Veteran Folk Singer Makem Dies

The folk musician and singer Tommy Makem has died at his home in
New Hampshire in the United States.

He was 74 and had been suffering from lung cancer.

Mr Makem was born and raised in Keady in County Armagh and was
best known as a member of The Clancy Brothers and Tommy Makem.

He visited Armagh three weeks ago and also travelled to Belfast
where he was presented with an honorary doctorate at the
University of Ulster.

His nephew Peter Makem said his uncle "fought the disease to the
end".

Solo career

"I feel he wanted to see Keady and Derrynoose and Armagh for the
last time, to see around where he left 52 years previously," he
said.

After moving to the United States in the 1950s, Tommy Makem
teamed up with the Clancy Brothers but left the group in 1969 to
pursue a solo career.

He later joined Liam Clancy to become Makem and Clancy before
going solo again in 1988.

Tommy Makem was best known for songs such as The Green Fields of
France, Gentle Annie and Red is the Rose.

Liam Clancy said: "Tommy was a man of high integrity, honesty,
and his courage really shone through towards the end.

"Our paths diverged, of course, many times, but our friendship
never waned."

'Happiness'

Irish President Mary McAleese was among those who offered
condolences to the Makem family.

"In life, Tommy brought happiness and joy to hundreds of
thousands of fans the world over," she said.

"Always the consummate musician, he was also a superb ambassador
for the country, and one of whom we will always be proud," she
said.

Irish Arts Minister Seamus Brennan said the singer was "a legend
in his own lifetime".

"He was a multi-talented artist whose abilities went beyond
music, with other skills as a storyteller, actor, songwriter and
poet," he said.

"He has left behind a rich and enduring legacy of music, song and
story to be enjoyed and appreciated by this generation and
generations to come."

Story from BBC NEWS:
Published: 2007/08/02 13:00:04 GMT
© BBC MMVII


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