Big Ivan Feature (1970-1978)
Photo Gallery -
Band Lineups -
Discography
- Audio samples -
Where Are They Now?
The Story
The first mention we can confirm as being about Big Ivan McConville
came in 1970 when he was one of several singers featured on a BBC
show called "New Voices" which came to his hometown of Newry to
highlight the local talent. Among the singers making their broadcast
debut on the programme were Ivan McConville and Eileen King.
Researching further has been made difficult as there was another
"Big Ivan" playing the local circuit in Dundalk (not far from Newry)
at the time with a band called the Blue Boys but we think
this was a different singer.
By 1971, there was another pub
group playing around Dundalk which was called "Big Ivan and the
Velvets," which may have been our Ivan. We know from an interview he
did several years later that he was "playing the pub circuit around
Newry" for a few years.
In March, 1973, newspaper adverts
listed "Big Ivan" as the new lead singer with the
Smokey Mountain Ramblers, but we know this
didn't last very long.
Meanwhile, Cavan's
Navak Showband released a successful single
in 1969i called "The Lightning Express." A short time later. the
band underwent some changes and signed to the Release Organisation,
changing their name to Lightning Express which featured
original Navak members Brendan Hutchinson and Dag Carroll. In early
1973, it appears Brendan left the band and was replaced by Big Ivan.
As far as we know, they released a single shortly after called
"House for Sale" which featured Ivan on vocals but did not do well.
Managed by Willie McCormick, the
band initially had its fair share of jokes about Big Ivan vs. Big
Tom as well as headlines like "Big Ivan is getting bigger." However,
the band was doing well, especially across the North and the
midlands and Donegal. Visits to the South and West seemed to be
rare. In 1975 they released "Goodbye Johnny Dear" which was much
better received than their previous offering and the band was doing
a good business.
Later in 1975, Ivan released an
old Bing Crosby number called "That Tumbledown Shack in Athlone"
which was again well received and his fan base was steadily growing
in certain parts of the country. Buig Ivan would release his fnal
single in 1976 with the offering of "A Mother Like Mine."
1976 would also be the year the
band broke up as several of it members were recruited by Larry
Cunningham to become a new version of his Country Blueboys after his
much publicised breakup of his partnership with Margo. At this
point, Ivan returned to the cabaret scene which had continued to
grow since the early 1970's and allowed acts to prosper without the
hassle of nationwide travel required for the ballroom circuit. He
formed a new band called Celebration which would do quite well on
the cabaret circuit around Cavan, Louth, Dublin and the North.
In October, 1977, Donal K. O'Boyle
reported that Ivan was returning to the ballroom circuit with a band
called Big Ivan and New County. We're not too sure how long
New County remained on the road, but we do know that Big Ivan was
still performing regularly. Reklease also put out an album of his
songs called Big Ivan at Large around this time.
Sadly on June 11th, 1978, Ivan was
returning from a gig in Banbridge when he was involved in a head on
collision and killed. Sadly over the years, too many showband
musicians have died on Irish roads which (especially back in the 50s
, 60s and 70's) were especially treacherous and poorly maintained.
Additionally, bands often came upon flocks of sheep or herds of
cattle on the road in the middle of the night due to poor fence
maintenance as well.
click on thumbnails for full image
