Hoedowners Story
(1962-1973)
Photo Gallery -
Band Lineups -
Discography
- Audio samples -
Where Are They Now?
The Story
Our thanks to Mel Dean, former member of the band for help compiling
this story.
Although Earl Gill got his start in the 50's playing with other
bands around Dublin, the Hoedowners started life as the resident
band in the Shelbourne Hotel in Dublin. In fact, as were many bands
of the day, they were actually more of an orchestra. During the
winter the band played in the hotel ballroom, but during the summer
they hit the road. In a 1969 Spotlight article Oliver Barry said
that Earl was originally a piano player, but had an accident that
severely injured some of his fingers and he turned his talents to
the trumpet. However, his early training made him one of Ireland's
most talented arrangers.
Around the same time in the early
sixties, Sean Dunphy was a carpenter by trade and sang part time
with a group called the Keymen. He went to England after serving in
the Irish Army where he continued to work by day as a carpenter and
sang by night in the Hibernian Ballroom in Fulham. When he heard
Earl Gill was looking for a vocalist, he sent a tape and was signed
immediately.
The original "road band" included
Mel Dean (guitar), Steve Pickering (guitar), Gerry Ryan (bass),
Vinnie Keane (drums), Earl Gill (trumpet), Claude Phibbs (sax),
Frank Mangan (trombone), Sean Dunphy and Amy Hayden (vocals). At the
time, the band was known as the Earl Gill Band. In the mid sixties,
RTE (then known as Telefis Eireann =TE) started a television show
called the Hoedown and Earl and the band were hired to provide
backing for the singers. They took on the name The Hoedowners for
the show and it stuck. Around the same time, they teamed up with
manager Oliver Barry, and set their sights on conquering the
ballroom circuit. At that time the band was known as Earl Gill and
his Hoedowners.
The band's next big break came in
early 1966, after changing to their new name, they released
Wonderful World of My Dreams and it went to number five in the
Irish Charts, starting a string of hit records which would become
legendary as there were very few weeks in the mid to late 60's that
there wasn't a Hoedowners record somewhere in the charts. In the
1960's and early seventies, the Hoedowners were one of the most
successful Irish recording artists with 14 singles hitting the Irish
charts between 1966 and 1973.
In 1967, Sean was selected to
represent Ireland in the Eurovision Song Contest. This was Ireland's
third attempt - Butch Moore and Dickie Rock had preceded Sean. The
song was If I Could Choose. Sean came in second behind
England's entry, Sandie Shaw's Puppet on A String. In
Ireland, the record reached number two in the Irish Charts and
provided the band's fourth hit single. The same year the band
released "Sunset" one of very few instrumental songs to be released
during the showband era.
In early 1968, Sean was
hospitalized in Birmingham with tonsillitis and missed several dates
in March. In mid-1968, Sean and the Hoedowners became the
first artists to release a single on the new Dolphin Records,
started by their then manager, Oliver Barry and Jim Hand, manager of
the Capitol. Sean and the boys also released the first album on the
new label, Ireland's Own Sean Dunphy. In December, 1968 the
band underwent a shuffle when several new members joined including
guitarist/vocalist Dave Carlisle from Newtownards.
In early 1969, Sean and the boys
had their first number one hit with The Lonely Woods of Upton.
In July, the band followed this up with the song,
When The Fields Were White With Daisies
which was arranged by Noel Kelehan and provided them with yet
another number one hit and they became one of the few Irish artists
ever to have a single in the top twenty for 12 months straight. A
chart survey published in Spotlight in January, 1970 showed that
Sean Dunphy was far and away the top recording artist in Ireland
based on the number of weeks and position in the charts for all of
1969, ahead of Joe Dolan and in third place, The Beatles. The only
other Irish acts in the top ten of the survey were the Real McCoy
and Dixies.
In
1971, the band went the "gimmick" route when they released
Poor Poor
Farmer as Darby O'Gill (Tim Pat), who was actually Earl Gill. The
single got to Number 3 in the Irish Charts and the band got plenty of press. The trend would
continue in 1972, when the band donned costumes as circus performers
and changed their name to the Ho-Down Circus. Joining the band
around this time (late 1972) was fiddler, Tony Kirby, and former
Gentry drummer, Shay Murphy. Each member of the band dressed as a
different character from a typical circus lineup. However, the
writing was on the wall for the Hoedowners.
An
article in Spotlight dated December 20th, 1973 described Sean as the
"former lead singer" with the Hoedowners, so we are assuming the band
split up in mid to late 1973. He went off to do a residency in
Canada (which seems to have been all the rage at the time), but was
due back in Ireland in early 1974 for cabaret dates around the
country. Also, around this time Earl Gill took over the
management of Hugo Duncan and the Tallmen.
click on thumbnails
for full image
Discography (More to come)
Singles:
Wonderful World of My Dreams / I'm Gonna Change
- #5 Irish Charts
Pye Records - 7N.17056 - February, 1966
Showball Crazy / -
#2 Irish Charts
Pye Records - Unknown - June, 1966
4033 / Come To The Bower -
#17 Irish Charts
Pye Records - 7N.17266 - February, 1967
If I Could Choose / Yellow Bandana
- #2 Irish Charts
Ireland's Eurovision Entry
Pye Records - 7N.17291 - March, 1967
Talking Love / The Blizzard
- #13 Irish Charts
Pye Records - 7N.17345 - June, 1967
Sunset (Earl Gill) / If I Could Choose (Sean Dunphy)
Target Records - 7N.17420 - November, 1967
Two Loves / Gold and Silver
- #2 Irish Charts
Dolphin Records - DOS.1 - February, 1968
Christmas Polka / She's Mine -
#2 Irish Charts
Dolphin Records - DOS.21 - December, 1968
Lonely Woods of Upton / Yellow Haired Woman
- #1 Irish Charts
Dolphin Records - DOS.22 - January, 1969
When The Fields Were White With Daisies / What Am I Doing
Hangin' Round?-
#1 Irish Charts
Dolphin Records - DOS.36 - July, 1969
Old Fenian Gun / I'm Gonna Be A Country Boy Again
- #5 Irish Charts
Dolphin Records - DOS.58 - February, 1970
The Old Refrain /
- #19 Irish Charts
Dolphin Records - DOS.74 - November, 1970
Poor Poor Farmer / Hairy Eggs and Bacon - Released as Darby
O'Gill (Tim Pat) who was Earl Gill- #3 Irish Charts
Dolphin Records - DOS.78 - Maybe April, 1971
There's An Island In The Sun /
- #10 Irish Charts
Dolphin Records - DOS.93 - February, 1972
Michael Collins / Skibbereen
- #2 Irish Charts
Dolphin Records - DOS.96 - April, 1972
The Rose of Mooncoin /
Dolphin Records - DOS.108 - 1973
Pal of My Cradle Days / Love Has A Mind of It's Own
- #3 Irish Charts
Dolphin Records - DOS.110 - November, 1973
Christmas Polka / Angel // Christmas Is Coming / Santa Claus Is
Coming Tonight (Re-release)
Dolphin Records - DOS.160 - December, 1981
Albums:
Ireland's Own Sean
Dunphy
Dolphin Records - DOL.1001 - 1968
The Best Of Sean Dunphy & the Hoedowners
Dolphin Records - DOLB.7003 - 1970
Audio Clips
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Sean Dunphy - RIP:
Sean immigrated to Canada in 1973 and stayed there for many
years. He returned to Ireland near the end of his life and
continued his career after the demise of the showbands and
formed his own Sean Dunphy band. Today his son,
Brian, is part of the High Kings, the musical act. Sadly,
Sean passed away on May 17, 2011. |
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Earl Gill - RIP: Earl
continued to play in and around Dublin with various jazz
groups after retiring from the showband scene. He was a featured performer with David
Hull's "Do You Come Here Often Show" in 2008 where
I got to meet and chat with him in the Millennium Theatre in
Derry. Sadly, Earl passed away on the 4th of May, 2014 after
a short illness. Our sincere sympathies to his wife, Mavis
and children, Derek, Susan, Earl Jnr. and Robin. |
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Amy Hayden:
Unknown - if you have info please email us |
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Steve Pickering:
Unknown - if you have info please email us |
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Gerry Ryan - RIP:
Frank Mangan wrote us in 2022 to let us know that Gerry
sadly passed away on 7/6/22. He left the Hoedowners in 1966
to join the Caroline Showband. In 1984 he emigrated to the
United States where he worked as a carpenter for many years, |
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Tony Lynch-RIP:
Tony sadly passed away February 14, 2023 in Cork. |
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Vinnie Keane - RIP:
Vinnie sadly passed away October 31, 1997 of a heart attack.
(From his granddaughter Sinead) |
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Mel Dean: Me Dean
left the Hoedowners and joined the Caroline Showband which
emigrated to England in the late 60's. He settled in the
Manchester area where he is married and lectures at Salford
University. He still works as a composer/musician and runs
his own recording studio. Mel also worked as Tony Christie's
musical director for a number of years. |
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Claude Phibbs:
Unknown - if you have info please email us |
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Frank Mangan: Frank
contacted us in March, 2019 to tell us he left the
Hoedowners in September of 1968 to take a job in Dublin as
he wanted off the road. He would later form a trio which
became resident band in the Hitching Post in Leixlip. After
that he went semipro again and eventually formed a Dixieland
band which he called Breeze [later Frank Mangan & Friends].
He emigrated to the U.S. in 1982 when he was offered an
opportunity to do an Irish program in Irish Clubs, which
expanded into American Legions, weddings, anniversaries etc.
He then signed up for College and spent 20 plus years
working in the field of psychology [retiring in 2010] while
still keeping playing music and singing. He still sings and
plays for friends once in a while. |
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Pat Keohan: Pat wrote
to us in June, 2011 to say that after leaving the band he
spent several years playing as a backing musician to the
Wolfe Tones before becoming a taxi driver. He is retired now
and living in west Dublin with his wife Catherine. He has
three grown children |
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Noel Guthrie:
Unknown - if you have info please email us |
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Dave Carlisle: Dave
contacted us in February 2018 and told us he is living in
Tenerife and still plays every night. If you have
more info please email us |
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Eamonn Young:
Unknown - if you have info please email us |
