Dermot O'Brien and his Clubmen (1962-1972)

Photo Gallery - Band Lineups - Discography - Audio samples - Where Are They Now?

The Story

Dermot O'Brien, Ireland's "Merry Ploughboy," is one of the few stars to have done it all, from Ceili band to Showband and finally, success as a solo cabaret star which continued until his death in May, 2007. Dermot's showband success can be traced back top his teen years when at age 14, he was learning piano at the local school in Ardee, Co. Louth. On leaving school he joined the Emerald Ceili Band out of Slane, Co. Meath in 1951 He also got a job with the County Council as a clerk and spent his spare time learning to play the accordion. In 1953 he joined the Vincent Lowe Trio, who were "big time" in those days. The trio was Vincent Lowe (piano), Dermot (accordion) and Gabriel McGuigan (drums). Vincent and Gabriel were from the Newry area and Dermot stayed with them for two years before getting the itch to start his own band.

In 1955, Dermot put together the St. Malachy's Ceili Band. He named the group after his piano teacher, Sister Malachy in the local convent. The band did very well as Dermot's reputation as one of the country's finest accordion players continued to grow. They also did two tours of the United States during this time. At the same time, Dermot was playing football for his native County Louth and during the 60's ended up playing in the All Ireland final at Croke Park...every footballers dream.

In 1959, the winds of change were blowing across the Irish entertainment scene and Dermot could see that the Ceili bands would have limited appeal in the new landscape. He started the Clubmen in 1959, initially as a semi-pro outfit but in 1962 the band turned professional. In 1961 Dermot gave up football for music.

The band's popularity grew along with the Showband era. In the mid sixties, Dermot finally got around to making his first record, Johnny Cash's I Walk The Line in 1966. The record did very well, and made it to number three in the Irish Charts. However, the story goes that band's manager, George O'Reilly suggested that Dermot's follow up should be The Merry Ploughboy, a song which would define his career for a generation. The record shot up the Irish Charts and reached Number One and stayed on the charts for 10 weeks. After the success of Ploughboy, the band went from playing to crowds of hundreds to over a thousand a night.

In 1967, after the success of Ploughboy, the Clubmen became one of the first Irish bands to undertake a concert tour of Britain. Previously, Irish outfits were limited to appearing in the Irish halls. In April, 1968, Dermot and the Clubmen went their separate ways, as did so many bands at the time. The band left behind their country and western roots as Dermot's backing band and went in a new pop direction. The band included five of the original Clubmen: Timmy Regan (guitar and lead vocals), Eamonn Campbell (guitar), Johnny Barton (drums), Denis O'Loughlin (sax) and Willie Healy (trumpet). The band was rounded out by two new members: Jim Newman on bass and Kenny Doyle on keyboards.

In a blurb in the Insider column of Spotlight on July 13, 1968, it was revealed that the Clubmen were changing their name to the Tigermen. As an aside, In December 1970, the Tigermen were absorbed into the new band, Jubilee, which was a ten piece big band.

In 1969, Dermot had his own show on RTE radio called The Styles of O'Brien on Friday's at 7:15 p.m. At the same time, his Clubmen featured some pretty heavy hitters including Sonny Knowles (formerly of the Pacific) and the late Mike Nolan on trumpet.

The Clubmen toured the USA, did stints in Germany and of course numerous tours in England, Scotland and Wales. In March, 1970, an article in Spotlight reported that Dermot had purchased a site in Killarney, Co. Kerry and would be moving out of Dublin. Said Dermot, "I find Dublin too crowded for my liking...If I want, for instance, to bring my wife and children to the country or the sea, it takes about two hours to fight through traffic, and then when you get to the beach around Dublin or Wicklow, it's overcrowded."

In late 1970, Dermot became ill and had to leave the road. He was hospitalized for three months, until March, 1971 and he had to disband the Clubmen. When he was well enough to tour, he put together a new version of the band and hit the road again, albeit with a scaled back schedule...doctor's orders.

With a less hectic touring schedule, Dermot was able to devote more time to songwriting and production and gained a reputation as one of the country's best. He wrote and produced songs for Larry Cunningham, Mike Murphy and, of course, himself. A cover story article in Spotlight magazine on July 6, 1972 claimed he was "having his busiest summer in years, playing his box (accordion) in tents throughout the country."

Yet, a change was in the air, by the end of the year, Dermot had disbanded the Clubmen and moved into the less hectic world of cabaret where he remained until is death in 2007. With his Dermot O'Brien Trio, the hit singles kept coming and he continued to write and produce for many artists over the years.

More to come....

Photo Gallery

click on thumbnails for full image


Dermot O'Brien and the Clubmen (LR)	Dermot O'Brien and His Clubmen (KS)	Dermot O'Brien and the Clubmen (LR)	Dermot O'Brien's Clubmen (JB)	Clubmen - 1966 (LR)

Cover Story - 1972	Dermot O'Brien (LR)	Clubmen - 1966	Dermot O'Brien and the Clubmen (LR)	Dermot O'Brien and the Clubmen (LR)

Dermot O'Brien and the Clubmen (LR)	Dermot O'Brien (KS)	Clubmen	Dermot O'Brien - 1967	Dermot O'Brien - 1969

Clubmen - 1969	Dermot O'Brien - 1969	Dermot O'Brien	Dermot O'Brien - 1968	Coming Soon

Coming Soon	Coming Soon	Coming Soon	Coming Soon	Coming Soon

Lineup Changes

Years	Vocals/Trbn	Guitar	Guitar/Banjo	Bass	Drums	Sax	Trumpet
1962	Dermot O'Brien	Paddy Farrell	Billy O'Neill	Reggie Lloyd	Johnny Barton	Denis O'Loughlin	Willie Healy
1965	Dermot O'Brien	Paddy Farrell	Eamonn Campbell	Reggie Lloyd	Johnny Barton	Denis O'Loughlin	Willie Healy
1966	Dermot O'Brien	Timmy Regan	Eamonn Campbell	John Moore	Johnny Barton	Denis O'Loughlin	Willie Healy
1968		Timmy Regan	Eamonn Campbell	Jim Newman	Johnny Barton	Denis O'Loughlin	Willie Healy
In 1968, the Clubmen split with Dermot and eventually changed their name to the Tigermen
1968	Dermot O'Brien	Benny Kindillon	Donal O'Dowda	Fergus Gibson	Frank Darcy	Sonny Knowles	Mike Nolan
1970?	Dermot O'Brien	Paddy Farrell	Eamonn Campbell	Derek McCormack	Johnny Barton	Denis O'Loughlin	Willie Healy

Discography

Singles:

I Walk The Line - #3 Irish Charts
Envoy Records - August, 1966
The Merry Ploughboy - #1 Irish Charts
Envoy Records - ENV.016 - September, 1966
Home Boys Home - #13 Irish Charts
Envoy Records - December, 1966
Galway Shawl - #13 Irish Charts
Release Records - June, 1971
Old Claddagh Ring - #7 Irish Charts
Release Records - October, 1971
Mother Malone - #17 Irish Charts
Release Records - April, 1972
4 Great Irish Hits EP - #4 Irish Charts
Release Records - July, 1972
Rocks of Bawn - #14 Irish Charts
Release Records - October, 1972
Mary Ann Regrets
Release Records - August, 1973
Spancil Hill - #3 Irish Charts
Release Records - May, 1974
Green Fields Round Ferbane - #11 Irish Charts
Release Records - RL.756 - March, 1975
The Boys of Killybegs - #8 Irish Charts
Release Records - RL.779 - August, 1975
Sailing Home
Release Records - RL.813 - 1976
Skibbereen - #5 Irish Charts
Release Records - September, 1976
Tribute To O'Carolan
Unknown Records - October, 1979
Neansai
Gael Linn Records - October, 1980

Albums:

O'Brien's Cross-Road Ceili
Release Records - BRL.4014 -
The Laughing Accordion
Release Records - BRL.4020 -
The Merry Ploughboy
Release Records - BRL.4021 -
The Accordion Sounds of Dermot O'Brien
Release Records - BRL.4022 -
Dance - With Dermot O'Brien
Release Records - BRL.4024 -
The Enchanting World of Country Music
Release Records - DRL 2002 -
Dermot O'Brien Himself
Release Records - DRL 2003 -
Songs of Ireland
Release Records - BRL.4032 - August, 1973
Tribute To Scotland
Release Records - BRL.4049 - September, 1974
Songs of Ireland, Volume II
Release Records - BRL.4050 - September, 1974
Old Claddagh Ring
Harp Records - HPE.628 - January, 1980

Audio Clips

Coming Soon

Where Are They Now?

	Dermot O'Brien - RIP: Dermot sadly passed away in May, 2007.
	Paddy Farrell - RIP: Paddy sadly passed away.
	Billy O'Neill - RIP: Billy sadly passed away.
	Eamonn Campbell: Eamonn went on to become one of the top session guitarists in Ireland in the 70's and beyond. He also played with Dermot in cabaret before joining the Dubliners.
	Reggie Lloyd:
	Johnny Barton - RIP:Johnny sadly passed away.
	Denis O'Loughlin - RIP: Denis sadly passed away.
	Willie Healy:
	Timmy Regan:
	John Moore:
	Donal O'Dowda - RIP: Donal sadly passed away
	Derek McCormack - RIP: Derek sadly passed away
	Mike Nolan - RIP: Mike sadly passed away
	Sonny Knowles:

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