Sweeney's Men ‎- Sweeney's Men (1968) UK 1st Pressing - LP/FLAC In 24bit/96kHz

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Sweeney's Men ‎- Sweeney's Men (1968) UK 1st Pressing - LP/FLAC In 24bit/96kHz

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Sweeney's Men ‎- Sweeney's Men (1968) UK 1st Pressing - LP/FLAC In 24bit/96kHz

Close

×

Sweeney's Men ‎- Sweeney's Men (1968) UK 1st Pressing - LP/FLAC In 24bit/96kHz

Close

×

Sweeney's Men ‎- Sweeney's Men (1968) UK 1st Pressing - LP/FLAC In 24bit/96kHz

Close

Formed in Galway in 1966 by Joe Dolan from Galway (not the cabaret singer), better known as Galway Joe Dolan, Andy Irvine from London and Johnny Moynihan from Dublin. Irvine and Moynihan were traditional music enthusiasts who knew each other from the folk scene in Dublin and travels to Fleadh Ceoil around the country during 1963-65. Dolan had played guitar with second division showband the Swingtime Aces. In January 1965 Irvine and Dolan formed the short-lived ballad group The Liffeysiders with Dolan's friend Kevin O'Carroll. Moynihan wasn't impressed and they soon split anyway. This left it open for Irvine, Dolan and Moynihan to form Sweeney's Men. Des Kelly became their manager and got them a deal with Pye. Kelly also managed the Capitol Showband which is how various Sweeneys guested on three Capitol singles released during 1966. Sweeney's Men recorded two singles for Pye which were chart hits in Ireland, riding the tail of the ballad boom. "Old Maid In A Garret" peaked at #6 in May 1967 and the band appeared on TV screens across the country. Paul Brady (then with The Johnstons) stood in for a few gigs for Joe Dolan when the latter left for Israel and the 6 Day War (5 June 1967). Brady turned down an offer to join permanently. Dolan's permanent replacement was Terry Woods, who'd been playing in a duo with his girlfriend Gay Corcoran since circa 1963. Terry joined in June 1967. This second lineup recorded the second Pye single "Waxie's Dargle" in November 1967. 

In early 1968 Transatlantic Records signed both The Johnstons and Sweeney's Men, who'd both scored major hits for Pye in Ireland. The Sweeneys already had enough material for their debut LP. This they recorded at Livingstone Studios in Barnet in just 36 hours, in May 1968. The band also recorded it's first session for the BBC radio in the same month, for the show My Kind Of Folk. Presumably these recordings have not survived. 

The self-titled debut was issued on Transatlantic in August 1968. It contained just one band original, Terry Woods "My Dearest Dear". The rest of the album was familiar folk material, some old ballads, some of more recent vintage, but done like it had never been done before. It was impressively arranged, capturing what has been described as the "dustbowl celtic hillbilly magic" of the groups mixture of Irish and American folk influences. It would prove to be very influential in Ireland but actually sold quite poorly. Original mono copies in good condition are very difficult to locate but are well worth tracking down.

irishrock.org

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