Chords for TV3 Tommy Makem Interview

And you're very welcome back.
Now the King of Irish Folk is returning to tour the [N] country, but on his own this time, starting on the 1st of May, up at his native Armagh.
This living legend was once a member of the world famous Clancy Brothers, then went on to even more success as one half of Macomb and Clancy.
He's credited with having expanded the boundaries of Irish Folk culture, and he's here with us now.
Tommy Macomb, welcome back to Ireland AM.
Thank you very much.
Good to have you with us.
We could probably do two, two and a half hours comfortably chatting about your life story in itself and some of the things that have happened along the way.
So let's start off with maybe going back to one of the big moments in the early days, that Ed Sullivan show, because you discovered a remarkable cure for the nosebleed.
Should have been in the medical books.
Well, it was all the pressure of course.
We were doing, the first time we did the Sullivan show, we did it two or three times, but the first time we did it, _ we _ were standing in the wings waiting for the show to start.
And this floor manager was hanging around.
Liam got a nosebleed, Liam Clancy, and we had the white sweaters on and to keep the blood from dripping on his sweater, he leaned out over the guitar and let the blood all on the floor. _
_ And there was a minute to go and the floor manager came around and he said, you better be good lads.
There's 80 million people watching you.
_ _ His nosebleed stopped immediately.
Pure panic.
_ Great stuff indeed.
You initially went out there to pursue a career in acting, isn't that right?
Yes, I did.
And I had been offered, I did a lot of amateur theatricals in Ireland.
_ And I was offered a place at the Old Vic by Sir Hugh Hunt, who was a director there.
But I began to think there are an awful lot of very good actors in Ireland and England and America is much bigger and maybe there'd be more space for a fellow there.
So I headed out to America and I did a lot of _ off-Broadway _ plays and _ _ _ _ Summerstock.
I remember doing the first year I did Summerstock, _ I did 11 plays in 12 weeks. _
You'd be performing at night, the play was on this week and during the day you'd rehearse, learn your lines and rehearse your blocking and everything for the next week.
So I did 11 plays in 12 weeks.
There's discipline to be learned.
Oh, absolutely.
It was wonderful.
You then went on the Newport Folk Festival and you were singled out for high praise there along with one other young lady at that point back in 1961.
Do you remember her name?
Yeah, of course.
Joan Baez.
Yeah, I mean that was serious company.
Did you at that stage think that coming from Ireland that you would make such a huge impact bringing our culture right across the world?
No, I was very surprised because I came from a musical family.
My mother was a well-known source of folk music.
Collectors came from all over the world to collect from her. _ _ _ _
But the whole folk music boom was just getting started.
And here, not only myself but the three Clancy brothers, we had this vast repertoire of songs that we had all learned from the oral tradition.
A lot of our friends, American folk singers, learned a lot of their songs from records and from books.
But we had it from, _ I learned them at my mother's knee, other low joints. _
_ _ But we had this great repertoire.
No idea that it would be so popular.
It surprised us, the hell out of us.
Yeah, I mean you went on to Carnegie Hall, the Royal Albert Hall.
You named the venue.
You were probably filling it even then.
And even at that stage then, you hadn't yet linked up with the young Clancy at [Ab] that point.
That didn't happen until 1975.
Oh, that was late.
No, we had performed together as the quartet.
Yeah.
Then I left the quartet in_
1969, was it?
1969.
And then Liam and I met up.
_ We were both booked separately to a music [E] festival in Cleveland, Ohio, _ _ along the banks of the Cuyahoga River.
_ At a place called Pickle Bill's.
And there was a stage outside and a stage inside.
Liam was doing a show outside.
I was doing one inside.
And then we'd cross over and I'd go outside.
So, we met in the hallway and we stopped to have a bit of a yarn.
And we decided to do a couple of songs together.
_ So, we went out, I think outside, and _ we got up on stage and we hadn't sung a note and we got a five-minute ovation.
_ _ So, _ we sang a few songs.
And then we decided maybe we should put a few of these together.
And we did.
And _ my wife, actually, my late wife, _ _ booked us into a place called the Raven Gallery in Detroit.
It was a beautiful_
It was a coffee shop.
They didn't have a liquor license or anything.
But it was a theater, _ a small theater with a balcony and wonderful lighting and sound.
And we put a whole lot of _ _ new material [Eb] together, songs and poetry.
As a matter of fact, we did a scene from Juno and the Peacock as part of our concert.
_ And then we went on and carried on.
You have this wonderful knack of having a career and then going away and coming back and reinventing and having another career.
I mean, you've been a restauranteur as well.
I mean, you had a restaurant up in New York City up until 1998, I think, with Airboats, is it?
Oh, yeah, in 1998.
It was the Irish Pavilion.
But I had been, of course, singing all the time anyway, doing concerts and things.
And I used to go into the Irish Pavilion and sing a bit.
_ _ _ _ And inevitably, there would be people over from Ireland visiting.
And they'd be staying in Fitzpatrick's Hotel, which was just around the corner.
That's right, yeah.
_ And they inevitably would stay.
They would come over to have a drink before they went out on the town in New York.
[A] But then the music would start.
And they wouldn't go home.
And they'd be leaving the place at two o'clock in the morning. _ _ _ _
And inevitably, _ every one of them came to me and said, why can't we have music like this in Ireland?
_ And I said, there's no reason except that people are consumed with _ imported stuff.
Yeah, we've lost a lot.
Don't realise the magnificence of what they have themselves.
Yeah, over the last few years, thankfully, some of the areas in town are starting to concentrate on Irish music,
particularly say in Dublin City, Chef O'Neill's [Eb] in town, or Chief O'Neill's.
They have a full traditional centre.
And it's great.
It's bringing music back.
Punter's are going out to see live music again.
People are going out and enjoying [F] it.
You have a short tour coming up now as well, haven't you?
I have, yeah.
I'm doing 12 concerts in 13 days.
And all in lovely, small theatres.
You know, 300, 400 seaters all over the place.
I'm starting off in Armagh City myself.
But I'm going to be all over the place.
I'm going to be in Newbridge Thursday night next.
And I'm going to be in Athlone the following night.
And then I'm up to _ _ [Eb] Monaghan, I think.
Yeah, Monaghan.
[F] And down to Waterford.
_ _ Then up to Mullingar.
_ _ All over the place.
Belfast.
I tell you, you're a remarkable man.
I don't know why you haven't decided to just go fishing.
I mean, you've had a wonderful career.
It's great that you keep getting out there year in, year out.
And keep entertaining folk up and down the country and across the world.
Well, what would I do?
I mean, I'd be sitting home twiddling my thumbs and [D] watching the idiot box.
You [E] know. _
And I have such great fun.
I enjoy it.
Somebody asked me one time, are you going to retire?
I said, not at all.
I retire every night.
And then I get up in the morning and think, gee, you're a lucky man.
And I've always thought that I was a very lucky person.
I was able to make a living doing what I love to do.
On that note, what a better note.
Not a better note to quit it on.
Thank you very much and good luck with the tour.
My pleasure.
And we are back with more Ireland AM