Brian Coll and the Buckaroos Feature (1968-1993)
Photo Gallery -
Band Lineups -
Discography
- Audio samples -
Where Are They Now?
The Story
Editor's note: Every care
has been taken to present only factual information in our stories
based on first person reports, newspaper articles and photographic
archives. If you can add anything or correct info in this story,
please email us and let us know.
Brian Coll's career started back in 1960 when
he spent a brief spell with the newly formed
Polka Dots showband from his home town of Omagh. In 1961 he was with the Platters Showband
also from Omagh, but he would
play with the band for a
relatively short time, leaving in 1962 because of illness according
to newspaper reports at the time.
He would return to the line-up of the
The Polka Dots for the next few years, a band that would later
also include Rob Strong.
However, he really came into his own as a member of one of Ireland's
most enduring bands, the Plattermen. Initially called The Platters
Showband, the group soon changed their name because of confusion
with The American Platters. In short time, they became The
Plattermen.
Already recognised as one of the top country
singers in Ireland, in June, 1968 Brian decided it was time to
start his own band which he called the Buckaroos and the new
band included several members of the Claxton Showband who had been on the
road since 1961.
The band debuted in the Astoria Ballroom in Bundoran on June
9th, 1968 and were an immediate hit with the dancing public. Even
though they were mainly a country band, they included a good mixed program
with pop and country and John
Trotter's accordion playing was mentioned as quite impressive along
with the excellent vocal skills of Brian himself.
The band was being managed by Barney Curley, who also managed the
Polka Dots, Brian's previous band. It wasn't long before the band
was playing right across the country, building a reputation as one
of the top acts in the country, on either side of the border.
The original lineup was: Brian Coll (vocals),
Brendan Sweeney (guitar), Kevin McGinty
(trumpet), Freddie Armstrong (drums),
Gerry Quinn (sax), John Trotter (trombone-keyboards), and Pio McCann
(bass). Almost every member of the band could sing, giving them a
lot of variety to back up front man, Brian.
Within weeks the band was playing to packed houses (see below) and
it was obvious Brian had more than enough talent to challenge the
biggest bands in the country.
In early 1969, the band were ready to release
their first record, which was Asthoreen
Bawn with I'll Be Glad to Help You Out as the B-side
which was on the new Release label, although Brian had previously
recorded on the Emerald label. The record received rave reviews with
Spotlight magazine saying, "Brian never sounded better and
he's backed with some great music. Should be huge for him...he
deserves it." Brian and the band were now well on their way and it
wouldn't be long.
In July of 1969, the band announced they were
going to be appearing in the world famous Carnegie Hall in New York
alongside top American country stars Johnny Cash and Buck Owens.
They were flown to New York by Carl Eidenberg, Director of the
famous venue who had seen them while touring in Ireland. This would
be the first of many honours for Brian and the boys. Throughout the
summer of 1969, the band went from strength to strength, playing at
all the carnivals across the country which brought their music to an
even wider audience.
Late in 1969, the band undertook what was
described as "one of the biggest English tours
ever undertaken by an Irish showband" when they spent two weeks in
December in England. The band's reputation was now tops across both
countries.
In March, 1970 an article in the Ulster Herald
reported changes for two Omagh based bands, the Buckaroos
and the Polka Dots. Around this same time, Seamus McCusker took over
management of the Buckaroos. The Donegal News reported
that the band would be introducing three new members to the line-up,
which would be named a little later as keyboard player, Jim Bradley
from Motherwell in Scotland, Leo Mulligan from Omagh (banjo and
fiddle) and Kevin Farrelly on (sax).
At this same time, the band released another
single, one of their live show favourites,
The Prisoner's Song
with I Wonder How The Old Folks Are At Home
as the B-side. Just a few weeks later, Brian put out
"Sing Me Back Home" his first album with
the Buckaroos. Both releases were met with rave reviews further
cementing their reputation as one of the top country acts in Ireland
and the UK. Brian also started wearing his signature embroidered
jackets at this time, which were imported from Nashville from Mel
Levy, tailor to all the Nashville stars.
The summer of 1970 was another bumper year for
the band and the new line-up never missed a beat drawing massive
crowds wherever they played. In October, Brian released his third
single with the band, Give An Irish Girl to Me which was not
only well received by the public but was selling like hotcakes. It
eventually cracked the top ten in the Irish Charts, topping out at
number seven and spending over three months in the top twenty, the
first of many charts hits for the Omagh singer over his long career.
In September, 1970, Brian
was selected, along with a handful of other top Irish country stars,
to share the stage as a special guest when International country
superstar Slim Whitman played at the National Stadium in Dublin.
Brian's singing style had been compared many times during his career
to Slim's style. A few weeks later, Brian was again a special guest,
this time at the Castlebar Song Contest. All this, plus the band had
just finished taping a BBC country show to be aired in November.
Things were going great for the number one country band from the
North. In a relatively short time, the band had reached the top of
the showband circuit, playing all the major venues across and up and
down the country.
As 1971 started, Brian was
in high demand. In February he appeared on the BBC's
"Folk Meets Folk"
programme on the 22nd. Around this same time, Brian was reunited
with long time friend, Arty McGlynn (guitar) who joined the band
along with Colm Keeley (drums) from the Polka Dots.
Arty was (and remains) one of the top players in the country, at the
time he was one of the few great steel guitar players in the
country.
That summer, Brian appeared
at the massive International country and western festival at the
Empire Pool in Wembley representing Northern Ireland and a few weeks
later he released one of his biggest hits, These Are My Mountains,
which climbed to number three in the Irish Charts, staying on the
charts for almost four months! At this point Brian and the boys were
setting attendance records across the country as well as topping the
charts. His new record would continue to sell for several months. He
made an appearance on UTV's "Country
Sound" programme on December 18th, capping off a brilliant year in
the band's history.
1972 would see the band solidify their position
on top of the country world alongside the likes of Big Tom and
Philomena Begley. He would have four records in the charts that year
including When My Blue Moon Turns to Gold Again (number 8),
Four Great Irish Hits EP (number 4), She's Mine
(number 12), and Four Great Irish Hits EP Volume 2 (number
10). Both in live appearances and on vinyl (records), Brian could do
no wrong.
In April, 1974, Pascal Mooney reported in
Spotlight, that several members of the band had joined Philomena
Begley's new band, The Ramblin' Men. Brian
was quick to find top-notch replacements (being one of the top
country outfits in the country) and the new line-up was: Brian
(vocals), Arty McGlynn (guitar and steel), Jim Bradley
(keyboards), Gerry Quinn, who rejoined
the band on sax, Liam Keenan (drums), Aidan McGuigan (bass), and Brian's brother Martin Coll on rhythm guitar.
An article in the "Release Round Up" from
Spotlight on October 3, 1974 announced that Brian had joined the
Release organization for both recording and management. The article
also confirmed that long time manager, Seamus McCusker would
continue to handle Brian's bookings, while having the full support of
Release's marketing and PR resources. Brian was already one of the
label's top selling stars since he formed the Buckaroos in 1968.
In June, 1977, the Irish entertainment scene
was rocked when Brian announced he was retiring from show business, on the advice of his doctors as he had trouble singing
for several months and he said, "I have been unable to yodel and
have had trouble singing because of shortness of breath." (see
below). As far as we know, the remaining members of
the band reorganised themselves under a new name, Country Spoonful
and hit the road with: Arty McGlynn
(guitar), Martin Coll (guitar), Liam Keenan (drums), Aidan McGuigan
(bass), Mervyn Nixon (vocals), and T. Fox (keyboards).
Brian recuperated quickly and was soon back on
the road again himself in August, 1977 when an advert appeared in the Anglo-Celt newspaper
from "Brian Coll and His New Buckaroos" who would be making their
first appearance on September 9th. In December, 1977, the Donegal News
reported that Country Spoonful had disbanded and that Arty McGlynn
would be rejoining Brian in the New Buckaroos. We think the
band were now managed by Tony Loughman of the Top
Rank Organisation. Before long, Brian was back on top continuing his
already stellar career as one of the country's best ever country
singers.
A recent scan of YouTube uncovered a video of a
BBC2 TV show made in 1980 called Six Days on the Road which
captured Brian and the Buckaroos as they traveled across Ireland and
over to England for gigs. It is a great "snapshot" of the way things
were for bands back then and Brian makes some great comments about the state of the industry at the time, as
well as his own career. It is well worth a look if you have the
time. We thoroughly enjoyed it having been on the road at the time
as well.
In May, 1980. Brian added a female singer,
Grainne Renehan from Limerick who he heard singing in England to the
band's lineup. She would only stay a short time (five months) before
starting her own band, Grainne and the Strangers in November, 1980.
During the 1980's, the dance scene in Ireland
underwent huge changes with the rise of discos and (more or less)
the end of the pop bands like the Nevada, Miami, etc. However, country music
still had a loyal fan base and the Buckaroos continued to enjoy
their popularity
entertaining dancers across the country.
Although our website really only covers the
years from 1955 to 1985, we have
discovered that the Buckaroos stayed on the road longer than most
and we have found an advert for the band from September, 1993. In
July of that year, Brian had announced his farewell tour when he
said he was retiring from the "dance band scene." This may have been
the end of the Buckaroos, but Brian was still on the road himself
doing concerts across Ireland and the UK to this day (see below).
One of the country's most enduring
and endearing superstars, Brian continued to entertain audiences
across Ireland and the UK taking part in concerts ands shows. I got
to meet him in 2014 when he was part of David Hull's "Do You Come
Here Often?" concert tour in Dublin, Belfast and Derry. He was in
great voice and like so many professionals, he has the audience
singing along and dancing in the aisles. Sadly, Brian passed away on
November 7th, 2020, aged 79.
click on thumbnails for full image
