Tommy

It didn’t take Tommy Makem long to learn that he had made his mark as a folk artist singing songs steeped in the tradition of Ireland. Upon leaving The Clancy Brothers band in 1969 to start a solo career, Makem had no trouble selling out Madison Square Garden’s Felt Forum and mounting three consecutive worldwide tours on his own. It took him many more years to learn that he was a success as a parent, too. Here’s how the bard himself explained the revelation: “The party after the Bob Dylan tribute concert at Madison Square Garden (in 1992) was at Tommy Makem’s Irish Pavilion. Clapton was there, George Harrison was there. What’s his name from the Rolling Stones? Ronnie Wood was there. Dylan was there. It was a big night for my boys. They went and met all these big names. And they met a lot of them backstage at Madison Square Garden. They came down from Manchester (N.H.) and the next day took the train back and stopped in Poughkeepsie. They got out of the train to get a car they left there, and who was standing on the platform but Pete Seeger? The boys went over and introduced themselves, and he knew them, and they had a nice conversation with Pete. When they got home they raced into the house and said, ‘Ma! You’ll never guess who we met. Pete Seeger!’ When they said Pete Seeger, I thought all was not lost. I knew they were all right.” Makem to this day is likely to downplay his own accomplishments (did he mention that he, too, played alongside Clapton, Harrison, Wood and all the others celebrating Dylan’s 30th anniversary in the music business?) and sing the praises of his sons’ Makem Brothers Band, a next generation folk act that dad obviously takes great pride in watching grow and develop. Of course, it should come as no surprise to Makem how a parent can influence a child’s musical direction. Makem credits his own mother for teaching him the great old traditional songs of Ireland that he used to launch a folk-music career in this country shortly after arriving in New York City in the mid-’50s to pursue an acting career. While a few good acting jobs came his way, Makem found his real success teaming with his friend and fellow singer Paddy Clancy plus two of his brothers to take part in a blossoming folk-music scene in New York.“I learned songs by osmosis. I had hundreds of songs in my head,” Makem said. “I came here to be an actor in New York City, but at that time The Weavers, Harry Belafonte and The Kingston Trio were so popular. Here I was with the three Clancy brothers, and we knew we had good folk songs that the people in the United States wouldn’t know.” The Clancy Brothers and Makem first released “Irish Songs of Rebellion” in 1956, and the pub Makem and Paddy Clancy ran in Greenwich Village drew many folkie aspirants, a young Dylan being one of them. The Clancys and Makem made a splash at The Newport Folk Festival and later appeared on Ed Sullivan’s TV show, which like the Beatles a few years later, did wonders for their careers. Makem also wrote songs that became signatures of the ’60s folk boom, including “Four Green Fields,” “The Rambles of Spring,” “The Winds Are Singing Freedom” and “Farewell to Carlingford.” Though he resides in New Hampshire, Makem spends a great deal of time traveling to folk and Celtic music festivals. He makes sure to return to his native Ireland three times a year, sometimes to lead tours of the country, sometimes to perform concerts, and sometimes just to engage in a little “craic,” native tongue for friendly chatting. Though he left his homeland some 50 years ago, Makem said he is always welcomed back, and his music is equally well-received. “People are so delighted to hear their own music,” Makem said. “Over there, they are surrounded by bad rock ’n’ roll and even worse country music. They come to see me to hear some of their own stuff.” Makem keeps his performances rooted in the style he first developed, but is willing to extend the folk definition to any sort of music “that says something with some significance to it.” To make his point that folk is a music that comes from many places, Makem quoted the definition of a folk song he learned from Leadbelly: “I never heard a horse singing one.”