Tommy Makem

[sufitom]

The Irish folk singer Tommy Makem died on August 1, 2007. Probably not known to many people these days he was part of the folk group "The Clancy Brothers and Tommy Makem." Growing up in my Irish Catholic neighborhood we spent many hours listening to their songs of Irish rebellion and drinking. Maybe his best known song was "Four Green Fields" a

Comments

[ex_anastasi575]

Beautiful! Made me weep :)

As for Tommy Makem, God grant him memory eternal.

[mimima]

I heard a story on him this afternoon on NPR. May his Memory be Eternal.

[desoto_hia873]

I searched LJ for people who had Tommy Makem listed as one of their interests and found your post.

I've always loved The Dutchman.

I saw Tommy perform in a stadium full of semi-inebriated revellers at an Irish festival in the early 90s. He was the last act of the night, and I was worried that the hecklers would turn on him next. He came onto the stage, dressed like a janitor, with nothing but a stool to sit on and a really old banjo, and had the bawdy crowd silenced before the end of his first song. No one even spoke while he was singing. I've never seen anything like it before or since.

I've a fine, felt hat
And a strong pair of brogues
I have rosin in my pocket for my bow
O my fiddle strings are new
And I've learned a tune or two
So I'm well prepared to ramble and must go.

Rest ye well, Tommy.

[asakiyume]

Those are great poems and must be great songs. Sounds like he was quite a singer--and it's cool that someone found your LJ by searching on his name as an entry--I love stories like that.

I was on vacation but am back now. I'm slowly looking at LJs and getting caught up.