|
CHAPTER 4 CONTINUED...
That first 18 months with Planxty was a wonderful time. We quickly became big news in Ireland. We were surely one of the first acoustic bands to employ a Soundman—and we had the best in Nicky Ryan.
I had a hurdy-gurdy made for me which was also an Irish first and we travelled through Ireland, Scotland, England and Wales in a big white Transit van, equipped with aeroplane seats.
We bought a fine PA and for the first time in our lives, began to make something like real money. I was the treasurer—I still am. I remember handing Christy a wad of notes and he looked at me in amazement,
"More money"?
Des came into my house one day, chortling and rubbing his hands.
"We’ve got a recording contract. Guess how much it’s for?!"
I couldn’t.
"£30,000", he shrieked.I think we were all pretty amazed that such a sum of money existed—and was to be ours.
It was quickly revealed that this sum was for six albums to be recorded over three years. £5,000 per album, out of which we had to pay all the recording costs. We never saw more than a few hundred quid in three years and in the event, recorded only three of the projected six albums.
In our innocence, we thought we had signed with Polydor—a big recording company in those days—but we soon found out that we hadn’t. We had signed with the Coulter-Martin production company, which was to lease the albums to Polydor under its own contract.
Nobody really looked at the Royalty percentage, which was low. I suppose at that time we didn’t care much about the money, we were a youngish band and we were on a roll. In my later years, it has served as a salutory lesson and was the beginning of my disaffection with record companies and the music ’business’ in general.
Suffice it to say that the Planxty recordings made in those first three years have sold a few million LPs, CDs and Cassettes and that the Band has never received more than a pittance in royalties. We made the music and "they" made the money …
But…we were not thinking like that then! We toured all over Ireland, England and Scotland, playing good music, enjoying our newfound popularity. Life was one big buzz and we were having a ball.
We worked hard those first eighteen months. Our first album was recorded in London in September 1972 with Phil Coulter in the producer’s chair. I think it would be true to say that he had a pretty easy week. We had arranged the music, played it in over the summer and knew exactly what we wanted. The album came out just before Christmas and was a smash hit.
We embarked on a long Polydor promotional tour of Britain with a Jazz Rock band called Iguana that Polydor was also trying to promote. It was a hard grind for expenses.
By the time June 1973 came, we were ready for our next album which was to be recorded in Kent. This one was much harder: we were already beginning to realise how difficult it is to be on the road continuously and find and rehearse new material.
We played the Cambridge Folk Festival that year. Liam was sick and couldn’t travel but Donal, Christy and I felt fairly confident without him and played one of our concerts with Rene Werneer, the fiddle player from Alan Stivell’s band who knew a lot of our material.
We played some great concerts in England, opening for Steeleye Span. I remember one of these in the Free Trade Hall in Manchester. Christy, Nicky and I were upstairs in the dressing room after our set, when we heard a breathless Donal running up the stairs, unable to control himself .He burst into the room, screaming with laughter:
"Liam’s on the stage, dancing with Maddy"
We ran down and watched the usually reserved Liam cavorting about the stage with Maddy Pryor. He winked at us as he waltzed by. It was a great moment!
We toured Germany and Brittany and were then hit by a bombshell.
Donal announced that he was leaving to start a band with Shaun Davey and James Morris. We were thunderstruck but had to accept the situation.
We had a meeting in my flat in Donnybrook and decided to ask Johnny Moynihan if he would take Donal’s place. Donal had agreed to stay on till October.
The last gig I remember Donal playing was in Edinburgh and it was one of the best ever. I believe that was with Steeleye as well.
We took some time off for rehearsal and quickly realised that the band would have a very different sound with Johnny. Donal was a much more robust player. Johnny was a very lyrical musician but his music was never based on chords. I suppose you could say that Johnny tried to maintain elements of the Irish Tradition in his bouzouki playing. Whatever the band gained from having another singer and tin whistle player it lost a lot of its engine room when Donal left.
We were still working as hard as ever and we didn’t get round to rehearsing the material for the third album till the summer of 1974. We used to drive out to Rush on the north coast of County Dublin and rehearse in Johnny’s father’s summer house there.
I felt that we needed to bring Donal back for the recording and he was amenable.
We recorded the third album Cold Blow and the Rainy Night in London, during a very warm August, with Phil Coulter producing as usual.
It was a fairly trying time. I think everyone was getting a bit tired of the whole thing. Still a few great tracks were recorded. Johnny’s P stands for Paddy will always be a favourite of mine and though I had a heavy cold , singing it, I love the sound of the flute organ we had hired on The Green Fields of Canada. Donal had had to go home by this time and Phil Coulter played it, although I don’t think he’s credited in the notes.
Shortly after this, Christy handed in his notice.
Site maintained by Chivalry Music
Page last updated: 03 January 2008