A Summer Letter from Dublin
June
2004
Hello again to you all —
This is the
first “Letter from Dublin” since the one I posted last Christmas, 2003. I had intended that
one to be the last, as my disease appeared to be contained and there didn’t
seem to be any good reason for continuing the bulletins. However, quite a few
people have been e-mailing me personally and through the Dubliners fan websites
saying that they had enjoyed the occasional letter from my hometown. So as I
now have the luxury of access to a website dedicated to me (www.jimmccann.ie, courtesy of Ainm Records)
I thought I’d celebrate by giving those of you who are interested another bit
of an update.
First, as to my
own condition — I’m feeling extremely well physically, and my speaking voice is
much stronger than it was at this time last year. I’ve been to both my doctors
within the last seven weeks, and nothing new was found by either. My sense of
taste is coming back all the time and I’ve been putting back the lost weight
steadily. My hope now is that I don’t reach the same proportions I had before I
was ill! I’ve been quite enjoying being able to see my belt buckle without
using a mirror, and it’s so easy to pile on weight again. If that happens I’ll
have to have an auction for the new clothes I had to buy while I was
fashionably thin.
I’ve just been
watching with great enjoyment a TV programme, “Phil Coulter and Friends”, on
RTE, and the special guests tonight were the Dubliners. I had been asked to
join in as part of the programme, as it was a look back at the Dubliners’
career and history, and Ronnie Drew was also appearing
with the lads. But it was recorded a couple of weeks ago in Killarney, Co.
Kerry and at the time I didn’t feel confident of travelling all that way. It’s
a very long drive from Dublin to Killarney and back again. One of the hangovers from the
treatments is that I can still get really tired very unexpectedly, and I was a
bit worried about maybe trying to do too much as my first long distance driving
adventure since I was ill. Perhaps this
worry was also playing on my subconscious, but a couple of days before the
recording date I began to feel dizzy and light-headed, and I rang John Sheahan
to tell him that I didn’t think I should try travelling to Killarney. He
immediately agreed that it would be better for me to stay at home, and that it
was no problem. Of course I wanted to be a part of the get-together and it was
wonderful to be invited, but as my contribution would have been limited to
joining in the reminiscences and maybe playing the guitar on a couple of tunes
I didn’t feel that my absence would have any real effect on the programme. In
the event the show was very enjoyable, and at the end Phil Coulter was kind
enough to say to the camera, “We all send our love to Jim McCann, who is
watching at home”. And I was, enviously!
On the 8th
of May last The Dubliners held a concert in the Gaiety Theatre, Dublin to mark the
occasion of the 20th anniversary of Luke Kelly’s death, and all
proceeds were donated to the Luke Kelly Memorial Fund for Brain Cancer
Research. It was sold out and a great night was had by all. Ronnie Drew sang
with the lads and I took on the role of Master of Ceremonies by introducing the
evening. Other guests included Pete St. John, Patsy Watchorn and a young singer
called George Murphy, whose singing bears an uncanny resemblance to that of the
late Luke. It was such a success that we’re all doing it again for seven nights
at the end of October, also in the Gaiety and also with some special guest
stars.
Many of you may
either know or have heard of a man called Mick McCarthy, who since the early
1960s until a few years ago ran a legendary music pub in Tallaght on the
outskirts of south Dublin named The Embankment.
Practically every now-famous folk singer and musician of a certain age (i.e.
mine) has reason to be grateful to Mick McCarthy for giving him or her a platform to show what he or she could do in the early
days. The Dubliners did a weekly Monday night gig there for a long time, and it
was, with their Saturday nights in the Royal
in Howth one of their only two regular Dublin residencies.
The Dubliners, the Wolfe Tones, The Ludlows (my old group), Sweeney’s Men, the
Johnstons and countless other groups and solo artistes all featured regularly
in the Embankment. Mick McCarthy was the man responsible for persuading Paddy
Reilly to give up his day job and try his luck as a full-time singer, which as
we now know was a wise decision! On more than one occasion he helped me out by
putting me on the bill when I was in urgent need of some money, and I wasn’t
the only one by any means. Dozens of folk singers and musicians held their
wedding receptions in the Embankment in those days, and as far as I know Mick
never presented them with a bill. He was
also the first man to introduce “Pub Theatre” to Ireland,
and possibly the first in Europe. He persuaded the great Micheál mac Liammóir to appear in his one
man show “I Must be Talking to my Friends” in the Embankment, and opened the
door for many such events since then. Sadly he passed away this year, and was
cremated on the 6th of April. with music
supplied by many of his old friends. His death marks the end of an era in the
development of folk music as entertainment in Ireland.
Ar dheis Dé dá
h-anam.
Before I go, I must take this
opportunity to say a sincere “Thank You” to everyone who has been in contact
with me through my own website and also via
the sites of Terje Oeye (www.geocities.com/toeye/dubliners) and Peter Boone (www.pbmusicprom.nl).
All your messages are a great comfort and most welcome, and I try to answer
them all. And, of course, special thanks to everyone who subscribed to John
D’Ardis’ very kind project by buying the “Retrospective” CD, “Seems Like a Long Time”. It’s been very exciting for me to hear my
tracks being played on the radio again, even though I’m no longer singing.
Unless something really newsworthy
happens in the meantime, I’ll post another “Letter from Dublin” at next
Christmas time. It’s hard for me to believe, but it’s now almost exactly two
tears since I was diagnosed with throat cancer during the Dubliners’ 40th
anniversary tour. I never like to tempt
fate, but there has been a steady improvement in my condition all the time
since the treatments stopped, and hopefully this will continue. My speaking
voice has improved 100% compared with a year ago, and the fact that I can now
hear a modulation in my voice makes me believe that my vocal chords have not
been irrevocably damaged, and that maybe (just maybe) it could be possible at
some time in the future to coax some musical notes from it! I know it wouldn’t
sound the same as before, but I wouldn’t care. We must never say “never”.
Until the next time, I wish you all
everything you wish yourselves.
Slán,
Jim McCann.