Sleeve Notes: (
from the Original “Rafters” release)
Lots of you will remember Tommy Makem from his ten years with the
Clancy Brothers. Before that he was acting professionally, so it was a long
apprenticeship. Now it is really over and in the last two years Tommy Makem,
solo star, has taken his rightful place in the front line of Irish International
Entertainers.
Platitudes over, let me tell you a few truths about Tommy Makem.
He is an odd sort of Irishman. Doesn't drink! It's getting the rest of us a
bad name but he just continues to look at the world through clear eyes
every morning.
Compounding his insolence, he sings drinking songs whilst
stone cold sober. Mind you his nature is such that it makes
little difference. Listening to this L.P. you will hear the
warmth in his voice, the fire in his blood and the simulated
tones of a delighted drinker approaching the pint of no
return.
An evening in the company of Tommy, is an evening of songs,
stories, anecdotes and good humour. Lately he has taken to
putting some of his vast store of personal observations into
song form and already he has created a lot of interest in his
songs.
Happy to sing at the drop of a hat, we got the biggest fedora
we could and persuaded him to come to The Harp and Bard in
Norwood, Massachusetts. There we gave him his head and he
surrounded himself with friends and musicians and took off on
an evening of song and story.
That evening is this L.P. We had twenty-two black eyes, four
broken necks, two nervous breakdowns and a few shattered egos,
before we could finally decide what to leave in. Tommy visits
me in the hospital every day and we talk about how I got him
to leave in "Come By the Hills" and "The Liar.”
Really, I think you'll enjoy this record. The people who
filled the Harp and Bard enjoyed it, Tommy enjoyed it. Two
dogs walked four miles just to sit outside the door and howl
the choruses.
Tommy Makem is musical measles, highly infectious and highly
contagious. The only cure is a darkened room, plenty fluid and
lots of warmth. They have all those in the Harp and Bard.
This record is some combination. If you don't enjoy it I don't
want to be personal, but I think you are a grouch.
SHAY HEALY
