Country Pride Gallery (1974-1975)
Photo Gallery -
Band Lineups -
Discography
- Audio samples -
Where Are They Now?
The Story
The story of Country Pride actually starts with the band
Tracy and the Grassroots. Formed in
1971 the Grassroots had done well on the circuit until
September 1, 1973, when, in the
Donegal News, brilliant showband journalist, Donal K. O'Boyle
reported that Tracy was leaving the Grassroots to be replaced by
Mattie Fox, who had previously fronted the
Blue Boys. This occurred amid reports that her health and not
been good for several months and that the "wear
and tear" of the road was taking its toll on her making the shorter
hours and traveling on the cabaret circuit more suitable for her.
In the end, three new members (at
least) would join the band including Ollie Kennedy (bass from the
Blue Boys), Charlie Arkins (fiddler from the band Poteen who would
soon join the Cottons) and Mattie on vocals. They also had a new
manager in Denis Ryan who had previously managed Dermot O'Brien.
Despite Tracy leaving the band, her name would continue to appear on
adverts for dances until early 1974.
In June, 1974, the band
released its first single featuring Mattie, who had enjoyed a top 5
hit with "Does
My Ring Hurt Your Finger" while fronting the
Blue Boys. It was
"Country Bumpkin." Around this time Margo was still
fronting the Country Folk but this would be short lived as in
July, 1974,
the singer was involved in a
serious car accident and was off the road for a while.
The initial report in the Evening Herald newspaper said she
had "minor injuries" but over the next few
months it would be described as a "serious accident" and Margo would
be in hospital for over a month.
Near the end of the year after
leaving the Country Folk,
Margo was looking to form a band and teamed up with Mattie and the
Grassroots, renaming the band, Country
Pride. The new band made their debut in Termon, Co. Donegal on Christmas Night, 1974.
The original lineup included: Margo O'Donnell (vocals), Mattie Fox
(vocals), Alan Roache (guitar), Ollie Kennedy (bass), Brendan
Bradley (drums), Joe Murray (keyboards-formerly of the Country
Folk), Charlie Arkins (ex Cotton Mill Boys - fiddle) and Sean Hussey
(guitar). The band was being managed by Denis Ryan of the Release
Organisation.
The was immediate a huge success
as Margo fan bass had grown incredibly over the previous three years
with the Country Folk and the "Girl
from Donegal" was still drawing the punters across the country. In
September, 1975 the Evening Herald ran a story about how well Mattie
and Margo were doing together. However, the bright future outlined
in the article was not to be.
For about a year the band did very
well but in late 1975, they disappeared from the scene. On October
17th, the front page story on the Evening Herald announced
Margo was retiring from the showband circuit "under doctor's orders"
to focus on cabaret work. The band's management said their
parted company because of "health reasons."
Articles across the country
lamented Margo's retirement but were equally optimistic about the
future of Country Pride with Mattie Fox back in front on his own.
For a month or two the band was being advertised as
"Mattie Fox and Country Pride," but as
often happened in the showband world, the truth was far different
from the hype. On Dec 13th, Tom Gilmore published an interview with
Mattie Fox after seeing the band on December 11th. Less than four
weeks later, he published a blurb (see both below) that Mattie had
left the band two days later to form Misty, a cabaret group,
along with Joe Murray and Country Pride was dead.
More to come.....
click on thumbnails for full image
