The Dubliners were an Irish folk band founded in Dublin in 1962 as The Ronnie Drew Ballad Group, named after its founding member; they subsequently renamed themselves The Dubliners. The line-up saw many changes in personnel over their fifty-year career, but the group's success was centred on lead singers Luke Kelly and Ronnie Drew. The band garnered international success with their lively Irish folk songs, traditional street ballads and instrumentals. The band were regulars on the folk scenes in both Dublin and London in the early 1960s. They were signed to the Major Minor label in 1965 after backing from Dominic Behan who was paid by the label to work with the group and help them to build a better act fit for larger concert hall venues. The Dubliners worked with Behan regularly between 1965 and 1966; Behan wrote numerous songs for this act including the song McAlpine's Fusiliers created specifically to showcase Ronnie Drew's gravel voice. They went on to receive extensive airplay on Radio Caroline, which was part-owned by Phil Solomon CEO of Major Minor, and eventually appeared on Top of the Pops in 1967 with hits "Seven Drunken Nights" and "The Black Velvet Band". Often performing political songs considered controversial at the time, they drew criticism from some folk purists. Ireland's national broadcaster RTÉ placed an unofficial ban on their music from 1967 to 1971. During this time the band's popularity began to spread across mainland Europe and they appeared on The Ed Sullivan Show in the United States. The group's success remained steady right through the 1970s and a number of collaborations with The Pogues in 1987 saw them enter the UK Singles Chart on another two occasions.
Joseph Ronald Drew was an Irish singer, folk musician and actor who had a fifty-year career recording with The Dubliners.
Ciarán Bourke was an Irish musician and one of the original founding members of the Irish folk band The Dubliners.
"The Rare Old Mountain Dew" is an Irish folk song dating from 1882.
A Drop of the Hard Stuff is the debut studio album of the Irish folk group The Dubliners. It was originally released in 1967 on Major Minor Records. When it was reissued, it was renamed Seven Drunken Nights after the first track became a hit single. The album reached number 5 in the UK album chart, and stayed in the charts for 41 weeks. The album cover provides biographical sketches of the band line-up: Ronnie Drew, Luke Kelly, Barney McKenna, Ciarán Bourke and John Sheahan. "Limerick Rake" is sung unaccompanied. Most of the songs concern rogues and drinking. "Weila Waile" is a tragic murder ballad, sung with a certain jollity.
The Dubliners is the debut album by the Irish folk band The Dubliners. A studio recording in front of a small invited audience, It was produced by Nathan Joseph and released by Transatlantic Records in 1964. The line-up consisted of Ronnie Drew, Barney McKenna, Luke Kelly and Ciarán Bourke.
Double Dubliners is The Dubliners' ninth studio album, and features all five members of the classical line-up. It is also known as Alive and Well, the title it was released under on the Polydor label. A standout track here is a recitation by Ronnie Drew of Pádraig Pearse's poem "The Rebel". Other notable tracks here are "The Sun Is Burning" and "The Night Visiting Song", both sung by Luke Kelly. In December 1983, "The Night Visiting Song" would become the final song to be performed by Luke Kelly with The Dubliners on Irish television.
Now is a studio album by The Dubliners released in 1975. Following the departure of both Ciarán Bourke and Ronnie Drew in 1974, singer/guitarist Jim McCann joined Barney McKenna, Luke Kelly and John Sheahan as a member of The Dubliners to record this album, which Sheahan himself produced. The slight shift in personnel produced a more mellow sound. Arguably, McCann's greatest contribution to the album is the ballad "Carrickfergus", which became one of his most popular and requested songs. It also features a wonderful rendition of the English ballad, "The Unquiet Grave", performed by Luke Kelly.
Prodigal Sons is a studio album by the Irish folk group The Dubliners. Produced by Bill Whelan, who later became famous for Riverdance, this album featured cellist Nigel Warren-Green as guest musician. Although Luke Kelly recorded his famous versions of "Raglan Road" and "Song for Ireland" during these sessions, neither track featured on this album, although Seán Cannon's version of "Song for Ireland" did. The two Kelly recordings would first appear on the compilation album, Luke's Legacy after his death. The album took its name from John Sheahan's composition, "The Prodigal Son". The album featured both contemporary and traditional songs as well as instrumental pieces.
Live in Carré is a live album by The Dubliners. Recorded live in Amsterdam in October 1983, this album featured Luke Kelly's final recordings with The Dubliners.
Alive Alive-O is a double album by the Irish Folk Group The Dubliners which was recorded live throughout several Evenings in December 1996 in Germany at the end of their European tour. After the departure of Ronnie Drew, The Dubliners were joined by the famous Irish singer Paddy Reilly who lends his voice to several ballads on the album. John Sheahan's daughter Ceoladh guests with her father, duetting on fiddle with him on his composition, "Among Friends". The album is notable for some mixed German-English song introductions by Sean Cannon, causing widespread laughter among the audience.
Live from the Gaiety is a live album by The Dubliners. It was recorded during the Irish leg of their tour celebrating forty years on the road. The double album was recorded at the Gaiety Theatre in Dublin in June 2002. All surviving members took part. A companion double DVD of the concert in its entirety was also released.
Original Dubliners is an album by The Dubliners. The album charted at No.14 in the Irish Album Chart in its 2011 re-release. In December 2013 the album re-issued into the charts at No.39.
The double disc features EMI albums Seven Drunken Nights, Seven Deadly Sins, Whiskey On A Sunday and More of the Hard Stuff.
Guaranteed is Ronnie Drew's second solo album that was released in 1978 and produced by Pete St. John, who wrote many of the featured tracks. Eamonn Campbell featured both as musician and musical director and John Sheahan also played on the album. Guaranteed featured many songs that Drew would later record with The Dubliners, as well as tracks he had previously recorded. But there were other tracks featured which cannot be heard anywhere else. Ronnie Drew's spoken passages, extracts from Peter St. John's song "The Mero" and the instrumental "Dublin City Theme" link many of the tracks.
A Drop of The Dubliners is a compilation album by The Dubliners, released by Major Minor label as their contract with them ended. It consisted of tracks already available on the previous Major Minor releases, with the exception of the previously unavailable "Lock Up Your Daughters", a very rare track featuring a lead vocal shared by Ronnie Drew and Luke Kelly.
"Weela Weela Walya", also called "Weila Waile", "Wella Wallia" or "The River Saile", is an Irish schoolyard song that tells the story of an infanticide in a light-hearted way. It was popularised in the 1960s by Irish folk bands The Dubliners and The Clancy Brothers.
The Best of the Original Dubliners is an album by Irish band The Dubliners which charted at No. 69 in Ireland on 17 March 2005. This three CD compilation contains Irish folk songs recorded by Ronnie Drew, Luke Kelly, Barney McKenna, Ciarán Bourke, and John Sheahan between 1967 and 1972. It includes the Dubliner's number one hit, "Seven Drunken Nights", as well as many of their best known songs.
Bob Lynch was an Irish folk musician from Dublin. He first became notable as a member of The Dubliners from 1964 to 1965 until he left to pursue a solo career in North America.
The Dubliners 50th Anniversary Tour was a tour in 2012 by the Dubliners celebrating 50 years. The group was awarded a lifetime achievement award by BBC Radio 2 in February. However, in April, founding member and tenor banjo player Barney McKenna died. Banjo player Gerry O'Connor filled his place until the end of the tour. In November the group released the album 50 Years charting in the Irish Top 10. John Sheahan after 48 years decided he could no longer continue with the band due to the death of Barney McKenna. In December the group played its final concerts at Vicar Street and were joined on stage by Jim McCann. The band met with President Michael Higgins in the presidential palace in Dublin. The group appeared on BBC's Jools Holland Annual Hootenanny on New Year's Eve. With the exception of John Sheahan, the rest of the group continues touring as The Dublin Legends – Spirit of the Dubliners.
A Night Out with the Dubliners is a compilation of live recordings by the Irish folk band the Dubliners released in 1999 on compact disc in the UK, Ireland, Europe and Australia. Most of the material comes from the album Live recorded in 1974, with the remainder of the tracks coming from the albums Live in Carré (1983) and Hometown! (1972), and it contains Ciarán Bourke's last performances after he was left partly paralysed later in 1974 following a stroke that later caused his death.
