The Irish Rovers
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| The Irish Rovers | |
|---|---|
| Also known as | The Rovers |
| Origin | Toronto, Ontario, Canada, (Northern Ireland) |
| Genres | Irish, folk, folk rock |
| Years active | 1963–present |
| Labels | Rover Records Potato Records Varése Sarabande Attic Records Brunswick Records MCA Records Festival Records Coral Records CBS Records Universal Records Epic Records Decca Records |
| Website | Official site |
| Members | |
| George Millar Wilcil McDowell John Reynolds Sean O'Driscoll Ian Millar Fred Graham |
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| Past members | |
| Jimmy Ferguson Will Millar Joe Millar Paul Lawton Wallace Hood |
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The Irish Rovers is a Canadian Irish folk group created in 1963 and named after the traditional song "The Irish Rover". The group is best known for their international television series, and renditions of traditional Irish drinking songs, as well as early hits, Shel Silverstein's "The Unicorn", "Wasn't That A Party", "The Orange and the Green", "Whiskey on a Sunday", "Lily The Pink", and "The Black Velvet Band" which became a popular pub tune.
The primary voices heard in the group's early songs were Will Millar (tenor), Jimmy Ferguson (baritone), George Millar and Joe Millar, and in the last twenty years, also John Reynolds and Ian Millar.
All of the band members are from Ireland. Founding member George Millar and his cousin Ian are both from Ballymena, long-time group member Wilcil McDowell is from Larne, Sean O'Driscoll from Cork, with John Reynolds and percussionist Fred Graham both from Belfast rounding out the lineup.[1]
The Irish Rovers have represented Canada in five World Expos, and throughout the years, have performed in venues ranging from small Irish pubs to Carnegie Hall and Madison Square Garden. In 2010, the band celebrated their 45 years by producing a CD and a DVD/television special filmed entirely in Northern Ireland.
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[edit] History
The story of the Irish Rovers starts in 1963 in Canada, where the 16-year old George Millar and 23-year old Jim Ferguson, both new immigrants from Northern Ireland, met in Toronto at an Irish function. They sang together until dawn, and the Irish Rovers were launched. According to a Calgary Herald article in 1971, George and Jimmy formed the first Irish Rovers for an amateur variety show in Toronto and won. George’s cousin, Joe Millar, who played button-key accordion and harmonica, and also sang traditional ballads, emigrated to Canada and was recruited as he stepped off the plane. According to a newspaper in the Millars' home town in Ireland, "The folk singing 'boom' in the United States and Canada proved profitable for three young Ballymena men who form the nucleus of a popular, Toronto-based group who call themselves 'The Irish Rovers'.” George's musician father Bob, who was also button key accordian player, became the band's first manager. George, Jimmy and Joe were joined by Vic Marcus and Doug Henderson. For the next several months Bob Millar guided the new band which started their career playing folk song festivals, clubs, hootenanys, The Port o' Call, and Toronto's Royal Alexandra Hotel.[2]
Will, had been performing professionally in Toronto for four years through the music scene on Yonge street and did very well with a Calypso group. He formed an Irish folk trio in Calgary along with another Ulster man, Derek Swinson, calling themselves The Irish Rovers. Will's trio in Calgary, after a year of college concerts, disbanded.
George, Jimmy and Joe left Toronto for Calgary to stay with brother Will who was now working solo, singing folk songs in local Calgary folk clubs and at Phil's Pancake House which led to a daily childrens' TV show, "Just 4 Fun".
George was reluctant to return to the Toronto school and Jimmy to his job at a factory in Toronto. So Will promised his mother that he would enroll George in a local Calgary high school and find work for Jimmie at a local Calgary slaughter house. Jimmy's job would last but a few hours.
So the party started and George soon quit school. Will's home became alive with Irish folk songs and it wasn't long before they were the toast of the Calgary Scene.
The Irish Rovers became regulars at the Depression, a folk club that also contributed to the start of Joni Mitchell's career. Will introduced the group to his manager Les Weinstein; Les saw the possibilities for the group and helped fund the boys' trip to audition at the folk clubs in California. He arranged their first television appearances and would become their full time manager.
The Rovers traveled to California in Will's old Jaguar car hoping to perform in the folk clubs there. His car broke down in northern California, where fate started to take a hand in their career. Almost out of money, the car stopped dead at an Italian restaurant on the northern Californian coast. The restaurant just happened to be owned by two Irish immigrants. The boys were given room and board and there they made friends who led them to a booking agent who helped them secure an appearance at The Purple Onion in San Francisco. The group was soon booked at many other folk clubs across California.
In 1966, at the time the Rovers signed a recording contract with Decca Records, they invited All-Ireland Champion Wilcil McDowell to join them. This formed the well-known lineup. In 1967 The Irish Rovers released their global hit single The Unicorn a song that Will had been singing on his TV show while still doing solo work. This song followed in 1968 with the Irish tunes "The Orange and the Green" and "Whiskey on a Sunday".
In the late 60s and early 70s, the The Irish Rovers made guest appearances on the long running TV western The Virginian. They also appeared on variety TV programs, including The Pig And Whistle, The Beachcombers, and The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour.
In 1968, they were named “Folk Group of the Year” by the predecessor of the JUNO Awards, and in 1969 they received a Grammy Award nomination, "Folk Performance of the Year". The Irish Rovers next starred in the CBC-produced television series, The Irish Rovers Show for 7 years, winning an ACTRA Award for Best Variety Performance. Most of their material was traditional Irish songs, with brothers Will and George Millar co-writing the majority of their original compositions. It was this show that pioneered green screen technology, which they used for comedic leprechaun segments that featured Will, George and Jimmy. Special effects technicians from L.A. regularly visited the set to learn the new tool. Between Irish folk songs and comedy skits, they hosted a multitude of guest stars including Johnny Cash, Carl Perkins, Bobby Darin, Glen Campbell, Anne Murray, and their friends The Clancy Brothers. The Rovers taped visits to Northern and Southern Ireland, Scotland, England, New Zealand, P.E.I., Newfoundland, New Brunswick, Banff and even Alert-at the tip of Ellesmere Island-the farthest, northerly inhabited base in the world. [3]The CBC also sent them to Ireland for a musical tour of their homeland. They then continued with another television series on the Global Television Network in conjunction with Ulster Television in Ireland.
Although the majority of their music focuses on the band's Irish roots, in the 1980s, The Irish Rovers put their own spin on an unknown novelty Christmas song written by Randy Brooks. The Irish Rover' release of Grandma Got Run Over By A Reindeer rose to the top 20 in Canada within a week of its release as a single. It was also released on albums in 1982 and 1999. Exposure of the Rovers' on their numerous television programs no doubt also added to the popularity of their music. In 1980 their crossover hit recording of Tom Paxton's Wasn't That A Party, which was inspired by the boys' own after-show partying, put them at the top of the charts again. In 1981, the group starred in their second Canadian TV series: The Rovers Comedy House, a 7-part CBC series of comedy and boisterous Irish music. For most of the 1980s the band was known as The Rovers and followed up hits with songs such as "Chattanoogie Shoe Shine Boy", and "No More Bread and Butter."
From 1984 to 1986, The Rovers hosted their third Canadian musical-variety TV series, Party With The Rovers. The show, which was set in a traditional pub, produced some legendary music sessions with The Irish Rovers performing with Liam Clancy, Tommy Makem, John Allan Cameron, Kenny Rogers, Lonnie Donegan, Andy Gibb, Rita Coolidge, Ronnie Prophet, and many others. The series was produced for Global Television in conjunction with Ulster Television in Ireland, and was syndicated around the world.
Band members became Canadian after Canada’s Prime Minister, Pierre Elliott Trudeau asked them to do so, in order to officially represent Canada around the world. By 1989 they had recorded 25 albums and had represented Canada at no fewer than five world Expos: Montreal (1967), Osaka, Japan (1970), Okinawa, Japan (1976), Vancouver (1986), and Brisbane, Australia (1988). In recognition of their quarter century of contributions of Canadian music to the International music world, they were awarded Canada's top music honor, the Performing Rights Organization's (PROCAN) Harold Moon Award. With their double album 25th Anniversary Collection in 1989, which featured the backing of The Chieftains and songs written by, amongst others, Randy Bachman, Bryan Adams and Jim Vallance, the band was, once again, officially known as The Irish Rovers, but many fans still refer to them as The Rovers.
Will Millar left the group in 1994 and has become successful as an artist. Founding member Jimmy Ferguson died in 1997, and Joe Millar retired from the band in 2005.
The present line-up of George Millar, John Reynolds, Wilcil McDowell, Ian Millar, Sean O'Driscoll and Fred Graham continues to tour Canada, the United States, Australia and New Zealand. Founding member George Millar continues as a songwriter for the band, which has released 10 albums since 1995, including "Celtic Collection", "Come Fill Up Your Glasses", "Down by the Lagan Side", "Still Rovin' After All These Years" and their Greatest Hits albums, "40 Years a-Rovin'", and "The Irish Rovers' Gems". Their Irish homeland continues to be the primary subject of their music as in, "Erin's Green Isle", "I'll Return", "Dear Little Shamrock Shore", "Dunluce Castle", "Home to Bantry Bay", "The Dublin Pub Crawl" and "Gracehill Fair". Recently, their recording of "Drunken Sailor" has gained much attention on YouTube.
In 2010, The Irish Rovers marked their 45th anniversary with the release of the CD, “Gracehill Fair” (Vancouver Island Music Award - Song of the Year), a tour, and the filming of a DVD/television special, "Home In Ireland". Locations for the special included Dunluce Castle, Carnlough Harbour, Portglenone and various spots along the northeast coast of Northern Ireland.
[edit] Discography
[edit] Albums
| Year | Album | Chart Positions | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| CAN | CAN Country | US | US Country | US World | ||
| 1966 | The First of the Irish Rovers | — | — | — | — | — |
| 1967 | The Unicorn | — | — | 24 | — | — |
| 1968 | All Hung Up | — | — | 119 | — | — |
| 1969 | The Life of the Rover | — | — | — | — | — |
| Tales to Warm Your Mind | — | — | 182 | — | — | |
| 1971 | On the Shores of Americay | 73 | — | — | — | — |
| 1972 | The Best of the Irish Rovers | — | — | — | — | — |
| The Irish Rovers Live | — | — | — | — | — | |
| 1973 | Emigrate! Emigrate! | — | — | — | — | — |
| 1974 | Greatest Hits | — | — | — | — | — |
| 1976 | Children of the Unicorn | — | — | — | — | — |
| The Irish Rovers in Australia | — | — | — | — | — | |
| 1979 | Tall Ships and Salty Dogs | — | — | — | — | — |
| 1980 | The Rovers | 26 | 1 | — | — | — |
| Wasn't That a Party | — | — | 157 | 38 | — | |
| 1981 | No More Bread + Butter | — | — | — | — | — |
| 1982 | Party Album | — | — | — | — | — |
| Pain in My Past | — | — | — | — | — | |
| It Was a Night Like This | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1984 | Twentieth Anniversary | — | — | — | — | — |
| 1985 | Party with the Rovers | — | — | — | — | — |
| 1989 | Hardstuff | 67 | — | — | — | — |
| Silver Anniversary | — | — | — | — | — | |
| 1992 | The Boys Come Rolling Home | — | — | — | — | — |
| 1993 | Years May Come, Years May Go | — | — | — | — | — |
| 1994 | Celebrate! The First 30 Years | — | — | — | — | — |
| 1995 | Celtic Collection: The Next Thirty Years | — | — | — | — | — |
| 1996 | The Irish Rovers' Gems | — | — | — | — | — |
| 1998 | Come Fill Up Your Glasses | — | — | — | — | — |
| 1999 | Best Of The Irish Rovers | — | — | — | — | 14 |
| 1999 | Songs of Christmas | — | — | — | — | — |
| 2000 | Down by the Lagan Side | — | — | — | — | — |
| 2002 | Another Round | — | — | — | — | — |
| 2003 | Live in Concert | — | — | — | — | — |
| 2005 | 40 Years a-Rovin' | — | — | — | — | — |
| 2007 | Still Rovin' After All These Years | — | — | — | — | — |
| 2010 | Gracehill Fair | — | — | — | — | — |
| 2011 | Home In Ireland | — | — | — | — | 11 |
| 2011 | Merry Merry Time Of Year | — | — | — | — | — |
[edit] Singles
| Year | Single | Chart Positions | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| CAN | CAN AC | CAN Country | US | US AC | US Country | ||
| 1967 | "Orange & Green" | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| 1968 | "The Unicorn" | 31 | — | — | 7 | 2 | — |
| "Whiskey on a Sunday (The Puppet Song)" | 34 | — | — | 75 | — | — | |
| "The Biplane Evermore" | 50 | — | — | 91 | — | — | |
| 1969 | "Lily the Pink" | 38 | 7 | — | — | — | — |
| "Peter Knight" | 98 | — | — | — | — | — | |
| "Did She Mention My Name" | — | — | — | — | — | — | |
| 1970 | "Rhymes and Reasons" | 76 | 11 | — | — | — | — |
| "Years May Come, Years May Go" | 92 | 9 | — | — | — | — | |
| 1972 | "Lord of the Dance" | — | 26 | — | — | — | — |
| 1973 | "Morningtown Ride" | 83 | 58 | — | — | — | — |
| 1974 | "The Gypsy" | — | 30 | — | — | — | — |
| 1981 | "Wasn't That a Party" | 3 | 1 | 9 | 37 | — | 45 |
| 1981 | "Mexican Girl" | — | 6 | 43 | — | — | — |
| "Chattanoogie Shoe Shine Boy" | — | 10 | — | — | — | — | |
| 1982 | "Pain in My Past" | — | — | 39 | — | — | 77 |
| "People Who Read People Magazine" | — | — | — | — | — | — | |
| "Grandma Got Run Over by a Reindeer" | — | 20 | — | — | — | — | |
| 1985 | "Everybody's Making It Big but Me" | — | 10 | 38 | — | — | — |
| 1989 | "Other Side Of The Evening", "Finnegan's Wake" | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| 1989 | "All Sing Together", "Paddy On The Turnpike" | — | — | — | — | — | — |
[edit] References
- ^ "Irish Rovers back home in Northern Ireland to make DVD". Belfast Telegraph, 2010. Belfast Telegraph Northern Ireland. http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/entertainment/music/news/irish-rovers-back-home-in-northern-ireland-to-make-dvd-14947629.html.
- ^ 'Irish Rovers are Digging out those old Folk songs', By Ballymena Weekly Editor, Ballymena Weekly Telegraph - Aug. 20, 1964
- ^ "'They're Not Stars, They're Friends' by Jeani Read". TV Guide. February 25, 1978.
