The
Pat Ely
Story (Active - 1968 to Present)
Photo Gallery -
Band Lineups -
Discography
- Audio samples -
Where Are They Now?
The Story
Pat Ely's showband career started in the late 1960's. Pat,
whose family was originally from Thurles, grew up in Manchester
where he started singing in local bands and playing relief to Irish
showbands who often toured England.
In 1967,
Pat came to Ireland at the request of John Healy and joined the
Savoy Swing Seven, based in Carrick-on-Shannon, but with members
from Sligo as well. Within a short time, the Savoy joined forces
with the Sligo-based St. Mary's Bandshow which featured Tommy
Higgins (keyboards) and Bernie Fallon (drums). For a while the
amalgamated bands would play under whichever name suited the gig.
Galway's Des Kelly of the famous Capitol Showband saw the trend of
country music coming to the showband scene before anyone else had a
chance to react. In 1968 he put together a new type of band, naming
them the Smokey Mountain Ramblers. He wanted something totally
different, not like Big Tom or Larry Cunningham (both of whom were
more "country n' Irish). He put together a great team of country
and bluegrass musicians and eventually needed a lead singer to complete the
picture.
The story of the Smokey Mountain Ramblers started when Jerzy Kryzanowski
(better known as George Kaye) came to Ireland to busk, having spent
time around the folk clubs of England. Instead, he found himself
doing the pub scene and formed the Mitchell County Ramblers with
Clive Collins. It was late 1967 and George had decided it was time
to go home when he was approached by
Galway's Des Kelly of the famous Capitol Showband. Des saw the trend of
country music coming to the showband scene before anyone else had a
chance to react. George went home for a holiday at Christmas and
returned to join a new type of band. Naming
them the Smokey Mountain Ramblers, Des wanted something totally
different, not like Big Tom or Larry Cunningham (both of whom were
more "country n' Irish).
The original lineup of the band
included: Dave Kearney on guitar (formerly of The Movement), Paul
Kenny on drums, Martin Johnson (bass), and John Cook (guitar and
dobro). The band hit the road in early 1968 and soon released their
first single, "Ballad of Amelia Earhart." Although the band
garnered a lot of attention, their strong bluegrass influence did
not catch on with dancers who were used to hearing the "country and
Irish" music of Big Tom and Larry Cunningham.
As the band's single, Amelia Earhart was winding down, Des
decided the band
needed a singing front man. In the October 19th, 1968 issue of
Spotlight, a small article announced Pat Ely was joining the
band as its new lead singer. Pat had previously been with the Savoy
Swing 7. Pat's addition to the band paid off with immediate success
when his first single, The Little Folk, made it to number 13
in the Irish charts. In April, the band appeared alongside American
star Hank Locklin at the Danny Pearse Tribute Concert in Dublin. The
country boom was in full swing and the Smokeys were one of the first
bands to climb to the top of the new genre.
Around this time, (mid-1969) Paul Kenny left
the band to join the newly formed Cotton Mill Boys that hit the road
Friday, June 20th, 1969 and he was replaced by Sligo drummer Bernie Fallon
(RIP).
In November, 1969, the band had a
scare when George Kaye collapsed on stage in Donegal. He was off the
road and hospitalized for several weeks in Dublin, but thankfully
was not seriously ill. During 1970, the band continued to
consolidate its position as one of the top five country bands in the
country, appearing on the cover of Spotlight magazine. The
band also released its first album, The Smokeys, in 1970.
In
August, 1970, the Smokeys were hit by its first serious lineup
change when founder George Kaye decided to return to England and
left the band. In an article in Spotlight, co-manager Johnny
Kelly reported that he would be replaced with a sax player, giving
the band more versatility in their music. A few weeks later,
Johnny's brother Des Kelly responded to the crisis by announcing the
Smokeys would be featuring two sax players in the future and would
be featuring Cajun music in their updated programme.
As an aside, when George Kaye left
the band and went to England, he formed a group there called White
Lightning in the Nottingham area. In May, 1971, George returned
to Ireland and brought several group members with him including his
brother Thaddeus Krzyzanowski (guitar), and Terry Foster (banjo).
They formed a band called Real Country
by adding to their ranks Bernie Fallon, (who previously drummed with the Smokeys),
Joe Murray (lead vocals and keyboards from the Firehouse), Vinnie Baker
(guitar also from the Firehouse) and Shea Cribben (bass from the Riviera
Showband who broke up a few months earlier).
An article in Spotlight
dated October 7, 1971 reported that Eileen Reid, former singer
with the Cadets was joining the band, which was going to drop the
name Real Country and become the George Kaye band featuring Eileen
Reid. In the end, Eileen formed a band called The 2nd Sound and
George opted not to play with the new outfit, instead forming a
four piece bluegrass band which played acoustic music. The band
(pictured below) was George Kaye and the Bluegrass Roadshow. The
band featured George (fiddle), Thad (guitar), Bernie Fallon (string
bass) and Terry Foster (banjo).
Vinny Baker wrote to
tell us the band didn't last for more than two years, they released
one single and eventually included Jimmy Day and Eileen Reid in its
ranks for about a year. By then, George had left to rejoin Pat Ely
in the Rocky Tops. Thaddeus and Terry returned to England, but
sadly Thaddeus was killed in an airplane crash a few years later.
Vinny left in 1971 and Joe Murray joined the Smokeys before ending
up with Margo's Country Folk.
Meanwhile back at the Smokey's
ranch, George's departure seems to have caused quite a change in the
band, or by coincidence several changes happed at or around the same
time. An article in the November 4, 1971 issue of Spotlight
announced that three members of the Capitol would be joining the
band: Bram McCarthy (trumpet), Tony O'Leary (vocals), and Mike
Dalton (bass). They would be joining Pat Ely, Joe McIntyre (sax),
Tony Cannon (sax), Dave Kearney (guitar) and Alfie Merrigan (drums).
The revamped lineup of the band was pictured on Pascal Mooney's
"London Calling" page in the November 18, 1971 issue of Spotlight.
The band included newcomers Jimmy Murray (guitar), Tony O'Leary
(vocals), Bram McCarthy (trumpet), Alfie Merrigan (drums) and Mike
Dalton (bass). We can only assume Dave Kearney left the band at this
time as well.
Tony O'Leary had first come to
national prominence when he sang in the 1970 National Song which was
won by Dana singing Ireland's first Eurovision winner, All Kinds of
Everything. From there he had joined the Capitol as they wound down
and then was picked to front the Smokeys. After the break up of the
Smokeys, he would go on to front the Gallowglass Ceili Band.
In the February 5, 1972 issue of
Spotlight, Pascal Mooney announced the formation of a new band
called the Rocky Tops and hinted that George Kaye would be a member.
A few weeks later it was announced the original Smokeys had reformed, but under
the new name of the Rocky Tops. In probably one of the strangest
showband stories ever, the band, which had been chopped and changed over
the years decided it was time to get back together, but with the
Smokey's name already in use, they decided to start a "new" band.
Even though an article in the March 4th issue of Spotlight reported
that the original lineup was back together with the exception of one
member - Tony Canon from Donegal on sax - this was incorrect as the
original lineup had included drummer Paul, Kenny who left to join
the Cotton Mill Boys and was replaced by Bernie Fallon. The Rocky
Tops played their first date on St. Patrick's Day, 1972.
The departure of Pat Ely left the Smokeys with Tony O'Leary as their lead singer and, in
fact, a band that was more Capitols than Smokeys. In the Spotlight issue of July 6,
1972, an article about the Smokeys reported their new lineup. The
lead singer of the band was Tony O'Leary, who would eventually go on
to front the Gallowglass. Also in the band at that time were Jimmy
Murray (guitar), Joe Murray (keyboards), Bram McCarthy (trumpet),
Alfie Merrigan (drums), Joe McIntyre (sax),
and Mike Dalton (bass). There is some question here about Joe
Murray's role as Vinnie Baker told us Joe was with Real Country, but
Spotlight reported he was with the Smokeys.
By March of 1973 Lennie Power was
with the folk group Thatch, which also included future Miami
guitarist Des Flaherty.
In November, 1974, Pat left the Rocky Tops and signed with Top Rank.
A new band, the Storytellers, was formed to back Pat and his last
night with the Rocky Tops was listed as November 21st. The band made
its debut on Friday, November 22nd in the Drumquin Social Centre. A
week later, on November 28, 1974 Frankie O'Neill (formerly of the
Skyrockets), replaced Pat in the Rocky Tops.
In January, 1976, Donal O'Boyle reported in his column that Pat had
added ex-Dixie Joe O'Toole to the Storytellers' line-up and that the
band was being managed by Peter Bardon. However, also around this
time, advertisements were beginning to appear in cabaret for Pat Ely
band his "band" or "trio." Sometime in the
middle of 1976, Pat left (or disbanded or renamed) the Storytellers
and returned to touring as the "Rocky Tops" which for awhile also
featured singer Sharon (formerly of the band, The Entertainers and
Green Forest). In February 1977, Top
Spin released an album featuring Sharon, but it appears she left the
band around the same time.
Pat would continue to tour with
the Rocky Tops for several years and was soon being managed by Tom
Kelly, who also looked after the affairs of the
Fairways and Kim
Newport Band. Throughout the early to mid 1980's Pat was on the
road, often with a band made up of local musicians who had formerly
played in showbands as the Rocky Tops and undertook regular tours of
the UK.
Susan McCann would eventually from the Storytellers (although we are
unsure if it was the same band as Pat left Top Rank and appears to
have managed the Storytellers himself for a while. Although Pat retired from regular touring
in the late 80's, but he still (very) occasionally reforms The Rocky Tops for special gigs
and does solo appearances as well.
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