Virginians Feature (1969-78)
Photo Gallery -
Band Lineups -
Discography
- Audio samples -
Where Are They Now?
The Story
In the summer of 1969 Des and Johnny Kelly (of the
Capitol) were looking to take advantage of the
country boom sweeping Ireland. The success of bands like the
Smokey
Mountain Ramblers and Cotton Mill Boys prompted them to form a new
kind of country band, The Virginians. The band was launched in July
with a fanfare of publicity and featured Basil Henriques (also often
spelled Henrick, Henricks and Hendricks), who came from England
after working in studios like Abbey Road in the sixties. Basil was
also a part of the Waikiki Islanders, a band that had been on the
road since 1937. He was joined by fiddler Charlie Arkins, giving the band a distinctive sound
compared to most of the other country outfits on the road around at
the time. The original lineup
of the band included Mike Feeney (vocals), Jimmy Murray, (guitar),
John Boyle (bass), Mick Nash (drums), Hughie Ward (keyboards), Basil
Henriques (steel) and Charlie Arkins (fiddle).
A few months later, around
December, the band released its first single,
Absence Makes
The Heart Grow Fonder featuring Mike on vocals and was also
written by Mike. The record proved a great success and made the Irish
charts, topping out an number 12. The band was playing five and six
nights a week, and with an original hit single under their belt, it
seemed things could only keep improving.
One thing to point out before going forward is that the rush to
provide "authentic" country music to the Irish public was often met
with indifference. Despite the attempts to showcase bluegrass and traditional
country sounds, the real
winner in the "country" race would be "country and Irish,"
the uniquely Irish form of country embraced by singers like Big Tom,
Larry Cunningham and Margo, to name but a few. These artists flourished while bands who tried
to play country in the bluegrass tradition either died or had to
reinvent themselves.
Almost immediately, the band was
in trouble. Corkman Ray Sullivan replaced John Boyle on bass in
November, 1969. A few months later in March, 1970 Mullingar drummer
Tony Newman (RIP) replaced Mick Nash and singer Bobby King was
brought into the band replacing Hughie Ward. Bobby would only stay a
couple of months.
In May, the band released its
second single on Des Kelly's own new label,. Ruby Records, Who
Cares, (also written by Mike Feeney). The B-side was an
instrumental called Tumwater Breakdown which attracted a lot
of attention as it featured Jimmy, Basil and Charlie dueling it out.
Despite this, the record did not sell well. However, this was only a small setback
for the band.
In June, 1970, everything changed
for the Virginians. Basil and Charlie left the band (Charlie would
eventually play with the aforementioned Cotton Mill Boys, while
Basil would end up playing with...everybody). Ballymote, Co. Sligo
born singer Dermot Henry was the new lead vocalist. Dermot had been
studying for his BA degree at University College Dublin (UCD) before
being bitten by the showbiz bug. He would debut with the band in
Kingscourt on June 7, 1970. Dermot replaced Bobby King, who left and
initially, Mike Feeney was still with the band, but he would soon
leave as well.
The story of how Dermot was
discovered has it that manager, Des Kelly, ran a talent competition
in the Old Sheiling Hotel in Dublin. Dermot was a student at UCD
when he decided to enter the competition. Said Dermot later of the
experience "I used to sing in my room at home but I always made sure
nobody could hear me." Although Dermot didn't win the competition,
Des and brother Johnny loved his voice and asked him to join the
Virginians. The rest as they say, is history.
By the end of summer, of the
original lineup, only Jimmy Murray was still with the band. The new
lineup included Dermot (vocals), Jimmy Murray ( guitar), Laurence
Lavery (bass), Tony Newman (drums), Paul Tobin (keyboards), Pascal
Haverty (sax) and Frankie Hughes (trumpet). Gone were the fiddles
and steel and back were the standard showband sax and trumpets. Said
manager, Des in a 1971 Spotlight interview, "In the days of
steel guitar and fiddle, there was a terrible monotony about the
sound. We wanted variety, but couldn't get it with that kind of
instrumentation. We had to change and we are glad that we did."
The new lineup took a few months
to gel together, while also changing direction drastically from
bluegrass to country and Irish. Their next single, released in
September, 1970 was My Lovely Irish Rose, and it broke
into the Irish Top Ten peaking at number 8. With Charlie and
Basil gone, the band's bluegrass origins were a distant memory and
Dermot's "boy next door" charm set the Virginians on a course of
"country and Irish" music which was all the rage at the
time (and still is
today).
The hit single and the addition of
Dermot put the band on a new and more successful course. The band's next single, If
Those Lips Could Only Speak, became a huge hit, hitting the
Number 1 spot and staying in the Irish Charts for 21 weeks, making it one
of the biggest selling Irish singles of 1970. Dermot and the band were firmly
established as one of the country's biggest new acts. More lineup
changes were to occur, in December, 1970, Tony Newman left the band
and was replaced by Jerry Fahey on drums.
Dermot and the band continued to
go from strength to strength and in early 1971 he released his first
album, Dermot Henry Sings. The record reflected the country
and Irish mix the band had become associated with and included his
hit singles as well as Irish favourites like The Wild Rapparee
and the Old Bog Road, plus country songs like Chet Atkins'
The Fugitive and Games People Play. In March, 1971, Pascal Haverty would leave to join Billy
Brown's new Superband. He was replaced by John Connelly. In April he
released, What's The Reason Daddy which made it to number 8
in the Irish charts and gave Dermot his third top ten hit in a row. The
same month, Dermot appeared on his first cover of Spotlight.
The
new single, a sentimental story of a blind boy (sung by Michael
Landers) asking his father why he can't see was not without its
detractors. An article in Spotlight by Donall Corvin (which
accompanied Dermot's appearance on the magazine's cover) complained
that "Dermot's latest release is the ultimate in the trend toward
sloppy sentimentality in songs about mothers, graves, cripples,
orphans and and mentally handicapped children..." At the same time,
people were buying up and promoters wanted to book the band while
they were hot.
For his part, Dermot refused to
admit the band was milking this sentimentality. "We didn't set put
to milk the sick scene. This was just another one in a batch of
songs my grandmother gave me." Dermot had also credited his granny
with giving him the song, If Those Lips Could Only Speak,
previously.
In August, Dermot released
Ballyhoe. Reporters joked that the new record was not about dead
grandmothers or blind children and this was a good thing. Instead it
was about a townland near Kingscourt, Co. Cavan and a fairy ring (or
fort). The song was another massive seller and went to number three
in the charts. Dermot was now one of the most successful singers in
showband history with his first four records all making the top ten.
Near the end of the year, word was
that Dermot had been invited to tour in Australia where the Irish
community were loving his sentimental records about home. We are not
sure whether this ever happened, but will try to find out. There
were claims that If Those Lips Could Only Speak might reach
50,000 in sales in Australia and Dermot did receive a silver record
for 50,000 in sales in Ireland. What is certain that his next
record, Daddy What If (released in November, 1971) was
another massive seller and reached number 8 in the charts...five in
a row.
In early 1972, Dermot released
When the Sunset Turns the Ocean Blue to Gold. It would be
noteworthy mostly for the fact it was Dermot's first non-charting
record. Of course this would not last long. In June, he released
The Gypsy (on the Columbia label). An instant success, the
record steadily rose in the charts until it hit number one. Dermot
now had two number one hits, and five of his first six offerings
reached the top ten. He also put out his second album, Dermot
Henry Today. In a September, 1972 interview, his manager (now
listed as Johnny Kelly) stated that, "The days of the Mammy songs
are finished. Dermot has progressed and let's hope he can develop
even further."
The record seemed to signal a
change of direction for Dermot and the band. Dermot himself, was
quoted as saying it was "the first record of mine I really liked."
He went on, "I have had previous hit records but most of them were
songs I recorded because I thought they would be hits. The Gypsy is
the type of song I like to sing." In the same interview, Dermot
spoke about the growing cabaret scene in Ireland and his interest in
that scene. "By the time we have a cabaret circuit in Ireland, I'll
be ready to go into it," he reported. Around April, 1972,
drummer Jerry Fahey left the band to lead his own new band based in
Tuam called The Fleet. We are not sure who replaced him.
1973 saw Dermot have another hit
single, the Old Dungarvan Oak, which reached number five in
the charts. However, as far as we can tell, this was his last chart
record. We can't find out much about what happened that year, so we
assume the band continued to gig, but we think more was going on
behind the scenes. In July, 1974, it was rumoured the
band was going off the road after a change in personnel. This was
denied by Jim Hand, the band's manager (we not sure how or when that
happened).
However, late in 1974,
Dermot Henry left the Virginians to form a new band, The
Entertainers, with the Top Rank organisation. Run by the late Tony
Loughman, Top Rank has it's own label, Top Spin and managed quite a
few ballrooms as well. The Entertainers also featured female vocalist, Sharon.
This would not last too long as in May, 1975, Dermot had left that
band after only four months on the road.
An advert
in Spotlight in December 1974 announced the Virginians had a new
front man using the stage name Trampas. However, we are not sure if
this was the same band, or a new band using the name, as the manager
was listed as Jimmy Higgins of Galway, not Des Kelly Promotions, nor
Jim Hand. This version of the Virginians appeared to have stayed on
the road until at least 1978, although we can't find any reference
to Trampas after around May, 1977. We are not sure who the lead
singer was after this.
More to come.....if you can add to
the story,
please drop us an email.
click on thumbnails for full image
