Bluesville (1963-1966)
Photo Gallery -
Band Lineups -
Discography
- Audio samples -
Where Are They Now?
The Story
The first mention of Bluesville we could find was in October 1964.
They were part of a new concept sweeping the Dublin scene patterned
after the "jazz and beat" clubs in London. Other bands that were
part of this new "movement" were the Greenbeats, the Inmates and the
Semi-tones. Founded by a group which included Tony Boland, a new
club called Sound City opened in Dublin on Burgh Quay and would
become a popular night spot for the more "sophisticated"
youth of the city. It would also feature the band on a regular
basis.
An article in the Evening Press in
April, 1965 reported that "all the
musicians in the band were attending Trinity College in Dublin."
Lead singer Ian Whitcomb (RIP), who was born in Surrey, had gone to
the United States in 1963 and travelled around, soaking up much of
the musical energy that was popular at the time. Returning to
Trinity the band was formed in or around October, 1964 with Ian on
vocals, Deke O'Brien (guitar), Mick Molloy (bass), Ian McGarry
(drums) and Peter Adler on sax.
Tracing the history of the band
using newspaper archives has been difficult as Ian Whitcomb seemed
to be following a separate and unique musical career in the United
States which did not involved the band as far as we can tell. This
comes from the fact that he seemed to spend his summers in the USA,
specially around the Seattle region where he had great success. His
singles were released on multiple labels credit sometimes as
"Ian Whitcomb and Bluesville" and other
times as only "Ian Whitcomb."
In early 1965 he (or they)
released "The Sporting Life," a song Ian wrote himself which we read
on another website reached number 8 in the Irish Charts, but
according to the website, www.irishcharts.ie, neither Ian nor the
band ever had a chart record in Ireland. However, it did reach
number 100 on March 13, apparently the first "Irish" pop to make the
American Hot 100 (even though it was released on an American label
(Tower Records) and sung (ad written) by an English singer. Van
Morrison's "Them" would not ht the American charts until May 22nd,
1965 when Gloria reached number 93.
However, Ian's second single "You
Turn Me On (Turn on Song)" released a few months later would be a
big hit in the States, reaching Number 8 on the Hot 100. The extent
to which this success in American impacted the band's status at home
is difficult to measure, or whether the band eve toured in America.
We do know, according to a report
in the Evening Herald on September 25th, 1965 that Ian
McGarry, Peter Adler and Ian Whitcomb had all left the band. At the
time, Ian and Peter were with a band called "The Action" on the
Dublin scene, we assume Ian was still in America. The Action also
featured a young Colm Wilkinson.
Following what appears to have
been the "breakup" of the band, we came
across an advert in November 1966 which featured a "Bluesville jam
session" which featured Barry Richardson (from London), Peter Adler,
Ian McGarry, Deke O'Brien and Dara O'Lochlainn.
More to come.....
click on thumbnails for full image
