The Fureys

Last updated

The Fureys
Finbar & Eddie Furey.jpg
Finbar & Eddie Furey, Musikhalle, Hamburg, in October 1974
Background information
Also known asThe Fureys and Davey Arthur, The Furey Brothers, The Furey Family
Origin Dublin, Ireland
Genres Folk music
Years active1974–present
Members Eddie Furey
George Furey
Adam Kelly
Camillus Hiney
Tony Murray
Past members Finbar Furey
Paul Furey (deceased)
Dominic Leech
Website The Fureys.com

The Fureys are an Irish folk band originally formed in 1974. The group consisted initially of four brothers who grew up in Ballyfermot, Dublin.

Contents

Brothers Eddie, Finbar, Paul and George Furey are of Irish Traveller heritage. [1] Two of the band's singles have been number one hits in Ireland, and two of their albums charted in the United Kingdom. In collaborations with Davey Arthur, they have also been credited as The Fureys and Davey Arthur.

History

Background

Prior to the band's formation, two of the brothers toured as a duo, known simply by their names as Eddie and Finbar Furey. [2] For a while in 1969–1970, the duo performed with The Clancy Brothers and appeared on two of the Irish folk group's albums. [2] The second of these albums contained two songs composed by the Fureys, "Flowers in the Valley" and "Jennifer Gentle". In the meanwhile, their youngest brother Paul Furey had, together with Davey Arthur and Brendan Leeson, formed a band called The Buskers. [2] Eddie and Finbar and the Buskers appeared together in Germany at the "Irish Folk Festival" in 1974, where they performed as The Furey Brothers. The Buskers, now with the addition of George Furey, appeared there again a year later as The Furey Family, when they were joined by their father Ted, a renowned traditional fiddler, who was 73 at that time. Ted Furey had recorded a solo fiddle album Toss the Feathers released by the Outlet label in 1967. [3]

Band

Finbar, Eddie, and Paul Furey formed a folk group called Tam Linn in 1976 with Davey Arthur. [2] When their brother George joined them later that year, the band changed its name to The Furey Brothers and Davey Arthur. [2] They eventually simplified their name to The Fureys and Davey Arthur (and just The Fureys when Arthur did not perform with them). [2]

The band started out playing traditional Irish folk music, but quickly changed their sound, leaving the folk music behind, and turned to mainstream easy-listening songs and ballads.

In 1981, The Fureys released their most successful single "When You Were Sweet Sixteen", which became a worldwide hit, reaching No. 14 on the UK Singles Chart, [4] No. 1 on the Irish Singles Chart and No. 9 on the Australian Singles Chart. [5] "The Green Fields of France" (a title commonly but incorrectly given to Eric Bogle's "No Man's Land") also gave them an Irish No. 1, remaining in the single charts for twenty-eight weeks. They also had two Top 40 British albums called Golden Days and At the End of the Day. [2]

Other notable songs include "Gallipoli", "The Red Rose Cafe", and "Steal Away". As of October 24, 2019 the band was still recording and touring. In 2018, the band celebrated their 40th anniversary.

Finbar left the band to begin his own solo career in 1996, with Eddie, George, and Davey Arthur continuing some touring in Ireland, the UK and the European continent. Paul Furey died suddenly in June 2002. [6]

All four of the brothers married and had children. Finbar's son, Martin Furey, is a folk singer and musician with The High Kings. George's son Anthony is the singer with the Young Folk. Eddie's daughter Sarah-Jane is a streamer in the video gaming industry.[ citation needed ]

Discography

Ted Furey and Brendan Byrne

Eddie and Finbar Furey

The Clancy Brothers (with Finbar and Eddie Furey)

Finbar Furey

Ted Furey

The Buskers

The Fureys and Bob Stewart

The Furey Family

The Fureys and Davey Arthur

The Fureys

Related Research Articles

Christie are an English soft rock band that formed at the end of the 1960s. They are best remembered for their UK chart-topping hit single "Yellow River", released in 1970, which hit number one in 26 countries that year.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">The Clancy Brothers</span> Irish folk band

The Clancy Brothers were an influential Irish folk music group that developed initially as a part of the American folk music revival. Most popular during the 1960s, they were famed for their Aran jumpers and are widely credited with popularising Irish traditional music in the United States and revitalising it in Ireland, contributing to an Irish folk boom with groups like the Dubliners and the Wolfe Tones.

The Fivepenny Piece were a five-piece band, originally formed in 1967 in the area of East Lancashire around Ashton-under-Lyne and nearby Stalybridge in Tameside. The band met and performed on Wednesday nights at Ashton's Broadoak Hotel, which gave them their original name The Wednesday Folk.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gallagher and Lyle</span> Scottish musical duo

Gallagher and Lyle were a Scottish musical duo, comprising singer-songwriters Benny Gallagher and Graham Lyle. Their style consisted mainly in pop, soft and folk rock oriented songs.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Slik</span> Scottish pop group

Slik were a Scottish pop group of the mid-1970s, most notable for their UK number 1 hit "Forever and Ever" in 1976. Initially glam rock, the band later changed their style to soft rock/bubblegum. It was the first band with whom singer and guitarist Midge Ure began to experience musical success, before joining new wave band Ultravox.

Derroll Adams was an American folk musician.

Rare Bird were an English progressive rock band, formed in 1969. They released five studio albums between 1969 and 1974. In the UK, the organ-based single track "Sympathy" reached number 27 in February 1970, selling an estimated one million globally.

Medicine Head were a British blues rock band – initially a duo – active in the 1970s. Their biggest single success was in 1973 with "One and One Is One", which reached number 3 on the UK Singles Chart. The group recorded six original albums, the first three of which were released by John Peel's Dandelion label.

George Bruno Money is an English vocalist, keyboardist and bandleader. He is best known for his playing of the Hammond organ and association with his Big Roll Band. Inspired by Jerry Lee Lewis and Ray Charles, he was drawn to rock and roll music and became a leading light in the vibrant music scene of Bournemouth and Soho during the 1960s. He took his stage name 'Zoot' from Zoot Sims after seeing him in concert.

McGuinness Flint was a rock band formed in 1970 by Tom McGuinness, a bassist and guitarist with Manfred Mann, and Hughie Flint, former drummer with John Mayall; plus vocalist and keyboard player Dennis Coulson, and multi-instrumentalists and singer-songwriters Benny Gallagher and Graham Lyle.

Wet Willie is an American rock band from Mobile, Alabama. Their best-known song, "Keep On Smilin'", reached No. 10 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 chart in August 1974. Several other of the group's songs also appeared on the singles charts in the 1970s, which utilized their soulful brand of Southern rock.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">When You and I Were Young, Maggie</span>

"When You and I Were Young, Maggie" is a folk song, popular song, and standard written by George W. Johnson and James Austin Butterfield.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">The High Kings</span> Irish folk music group

The High Kings is an Irish folk group formed in Dublin in 2008. The band consists of Finbarr Clancy, Brian Dunphy, Darren Holden, and Paul O'Brien. As of 2023, the group had released five studio albums, four live albums, two live DVDs, and one greatest hits album. Their first three studio albums appeared at number three or higher on the Billboard world music chart, the first two went platinum in Ireland, and all of their albums charted in Ireland.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Werner Lämmerhirt</span> Musical artist

Werner Lämmerhirt was one of the most important German singer-songwriters and guitarists in the contemporary folk music style. He sang and wrote in both German and English, in a recording career that spanned more than three decades.

Davey Pat Arthur is an Irish folk singer. Originally from Donegal, Arthur moved to Scotland at the age of two. He started to play music at the age of eight, and returned to Ireland aged 18. Known for playing the banjo, mandolin and guitar, he was originally a solo artist before joining with the Furey Brothers in 1978. Touring and performing as The Fureys and Davey Arthur, the group had several number one singles in Ireland in the 1970s and 1980s, and a top 20 hit in the UK singles chart in 1981. Arthur left the Fureys in 1992, pursuing a solo career and undertook a number of solo tours. He later rejoined some of the original lineup of the Fureys and Davey Arthur for a number of tours and albums. Living in County Kerry for some years, as of early 2019 Arthur had not returned to touring with the Fureys.

The Ian Campbell Folk Group were one of the most popular and respected folk groups of the British folk revival of the 1960s. The group made many appearances on radio, television, and at national and international venues and festivals. They performed a mixture of British traditional folk music and new material, including compositions by Campbell. Much of their popularity flowed from the variety of their performance which included a mixture of solos, group vocals and instrumentals.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Finbar Furey</span> Irish musician

Finbar Furey is a multi-instrumental Irish folk musician, best known for the band he formed with his brothers, The Fureys. The Fureys were formed in Ballyfermot, Dublin, where they grew up.

"Nobody's Child" is a song written by Cy Coben and Mel Foree and first recorded by Hank Snow in 1949. Many other versions of this song exist.

Vic Coppersmith-Heaven is an English sound engineer and record producer, best known for his production work with the Jam.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Stefan Grossman discography</span>

Stefan Grossman is an American acoustic fingerstyle guitarist and singer. His discography consists of 22 studio albums, 2 live albums, 12 compilations, 22 videos, and 14 collaborations with other artists. In addition, his production, compositions and guitar work have been featured on a number of albums by other artists.

References

  1. O'Callaghan, Miriam (18 March 2010). "Miriam Meets......Finbar and Martin Furey" (podcast). Raidió Teilifís Éireann. pp. 11:40 – 11:50. Retrieved 29 December 2012. [M O'C]..and they [parents] were originally Travellers? [FF] Oh yeah...that's our background, yeah...
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Colin Larkin, ed. (1992). The Guinness Encyclopedia of Popular Music (First ed.). Guinness Publishing. pp. 930/1. ISBN   0-85112-939-0.
  3. OCLC record 31905018 viewed on 27 July 2010.
  4. Roberts, David (2006). British Hit Singles & Albums (19th ed.). London: Guinness World Records Limited. p. 217. ISBN   1-904994-10-5.
  5. Steffen Hung. "Forum - One Hit Wonders (General: Music/Charts related)". Australian-charts.com. Retrieved 14 May 2012.
  6. "Fureys & Davey Arthur for Ballinasloe show". Galway City Tribune . 1 July 2011. Retrieved 29 December 2012.