The Parting Glass
When I was growing up, my parents were not what you would call avid fans of popular music. Their collection of LPs probably assumed its final form somewhere around 1968 and remained largely static after that. To the best of my recollection it contained not a note recorded after the initial coming of the Beatles to the States as their tastes ran more towards the Kingston Trio than Jimmy Hendrix.
What this meant is that when my sister and I went hunting through the collection for a record to play, the pickings were slim, and anything that caught our interest was played ad infinitum. Fortunately, there was In Person At Carnegie Hall by the Clancy Brother and Tommy Makem, a record I suspect was standard issue for Irish-Americans in the 1960s. I do not exaggerate when I say I know that album backwards and forewords, word for word, note for note. Along with Meet the Beatles, In Person At Carnegie Hall was the sound track to my childhood. I still have a great, great fondness for the brothers Clancy and Mr. Makem; Carnegie Hall resides proudly on my iPod, where it continues to serve as a musical pick-me-up and antidote to any dark clouds.
Tommy Makem died yesterday, at the age 74. Requeiscat in pace Mr. Makem, and many thanks for the music.
ADDENDUM: Sheila also grew up listening to Tommy Makem.
RIP dear dear Tommy Makem…
Your voice basically WAS my childhood. I still listen to those old Clancy & Makem albums, and it’s always the oddest feeling, a mixture of present/past. Am I a child? Are these records playing on a battered turntable as……
Yup – it was the Carnegie Hall album that we listened to all the time too.
I am amazed, yet again, at the similiarities in our childhood experiences.
Well, not only are we of the same generation, we’re from the same ‘tribe’ from New England, a very tribal place.
Channel 56, Community Auditions, etc. I love my tribe.
Don’t forget: Creature Double Feature, Rex Trailer, Candlepins for Cash.
Bubblers. Frappes. Jimmies.
Coffee milk. Grinders. Quahogs.
Creature Double Feature, yes! I STILL miss that.
Captain Bob.
Dang. How could I have forgotten Captain Bob?
Willie Whistle (even though he was a clown and therefore, evil).
[...] I’ve written previously of the limited selection of LPs in my house growing up, and the fact that any LPs my sister and/or I liked were absolutely played to death. My sister favored Annie and Free To Be You And Me, while I tended towards the Clancy Brothers and my anthology of cowboy songs. [...]
[...] Dan and I had identical childhoods. Beautifully said, Dan. This entry was posted in Music, RIP and tagged Clancy Brothers, Ireland. Bookmark the permalink. ← “It all started with these big fat Puerto Rican lesbians living next door to me, when they got all high or something and tried to burn our apartment building down. “ Bergman and Antonioni → [...]