The Swallows Band Feature (1969-1974)
(Magic Band - 1974-1981)
Photo Gallery -
Band Lineups -
Discography
- Audio samples -
Where Are They Now?
The Story
The Swallows hold an interesting place in the
career of its founder, trumpeter Johnny Carroll. His first band was
the Premier Aces, one of the top showbands of the 1960's
and after their demise he formed the Swallows with three other
members of that band which would eventually become
The Magic Band with Johnny as the
common threads between all three bands. .
There was also a band based in Northern Ireland
from Enniskillen called John Donegan and the Swallows that
was on the road in 1969, but this story is about the Galway-based
Swallows.
In late 1969, the Premier Aces had reached
their end and four members, Johnny Carroll (trumpet), Jimmy O'Neill
(keyboards), Sonny Ward (sax) and Bob Madden (guitar) decided to try something completely
different. The country and western scene had started to take off in
Ireland with the success of bands like the Cotton Mill Boys and the Hoot'nanny's. Johnny saw the opportunity to reinvent themselves and put the Swallows
on the road by adding Mickey Belton (drums), Murty Finn (bass) and Tipperary man, Jim
O'Halloran, who had been singing in London, on lead vocals.
Their first manager was John McNamara who had
been with the Royal Blues, but by February, 1970 he had left and
Liam Donnelly was then managing the band.
Early adverts listed them as the
"Swallows Showband." The band also had an
interesting tagline back in the early days which appeared in many of
their newspaper adverts: "One swallow never made a summer, but the
Swallows make a dance." They were also billed in
most places as "ex-Premier Aces."
Joe O'Neill was a major backer of the band
(being Jimmy's brother) and the band was launched in late 1969, and
six months later, they had a major advertising splash in Spotlight
which included a 4 page spread. Around April, 1970, Jim changed his
stage name to "Jim Nash," we assume because it sounded more country
than "O'Halloran." The band would soon be advertised usually as Jim
Nash and the Swallows, although the showband moniker was often used
as well.
In May, they released their first single
featuring Jim Nash, "Just Between You and Me" with "Mama Tried," the
Merle Haggard classic on the B side. Some reports said that "Mama
Tried" was the original A-side, but was flipped, so we're not sure
except that "Just Between You and Me" was most often cited as their
new record. The record got airplay, but did not reach the charts. By
July. Liam Donnelly was no longer managing the band having taken
over managing Dawn Knight and the Casuals. Noel Carty, one of the
top managers in Dublin took over managing the band. During 1970, the
band established itself as one of the top country acts in the West,
where they mostly played.
During 1970, press stories raved about the
popularity of Jim and the band and often suggested he would soon be
challenging Larry Cunningham and Big Tom for the top spot on the
country scene. The band was also making trips to play in England
during Lent and various other times of the year as most showbands
did back in those days. In September, Jim was one of the
"guest stars" featured during Slim
Whitman's famous tour of Ireland.
In November, 1970, an article in the Evening
Herald quoted Sonny Ward as saying they had left Ruby Records and
were now singed to Release Records, as they were "unhappy with the
production on their first single." A month later they released "No
One To Welcome Me Home" which featured Sonny rather than Jim Nash,
which was a little strange given the amount of publicity heaped on
Jim as a potential rival to Big Tom, just months earlier.
On February 18th, 1971, an article in the
Connaught Telegraph reported than Jim was rumoured to be leaving
the Swallows. Following the release of the record, which reached
number 20 in the Irish Charts, advertising started to include
Sonny's name. As the year progressed, Sonny's name became more
prominent until at one point he started having top billing. As
advertisements for upcoming gigs in October, 1971 appeared in papers
around the country, a small advert appeared in the Irish Independent
"Dance Band" section advertising that Jim
Nash, ex-Swallows was looking for a gig with an "established name
band." At this point Sonny was made the band's new lead vocalist, a
role he had been playing, it would appear, for some time with Jim in
support.
A few weeks later, newspaper reports said the
band was adding an "female vocalist" whose name had not been
released. The band would recruit
17-year-old Margaret Murphy, who hailed from Glenamaddy, Co. Galway.
Margaret had been playing around the pubs in Co. Galway with her two
brothers Martin and Oliver when Joe O'Neil "discovered" her. Not
only did Margaret (who used the stage name, Murphy) sing, but she
also played bass. I met Margaret in June, 2018 and she told me she
was first asked to "stand in on bass" with the band, so we assume
Murty Finn left the band around this same time.
As far as we can tell, it would be November
before Murphy was the featured name in the band and they started
being billed as Murphy and the Swallows, a name which some thought
was a bit odd. (Donegal News - Dec 4th, 1971). However, the
band's first single with Murphy out front, was an immediate success
with "Don't Take Advantage of Me" reaching number three in the Irish
Charts. By this time, the band had grown to be truly national in
scope, playing gigs from Dublin to Galway and Donegal to Cork.
In 1974, after several years of success on the
country circuit, bandleader Johnny Carroll decided it was time for a
change. The last advert for "Murphy and
the Swallows" we could find was on August 24th, 1974 and they were
advertised to play the Castle Ballroom, Macroom on August 30th,
however, that gig was done by the Farmer's
Sons. Murphy would return to the local cabaret scene based in
Glenamaddy and they played their first gig on Quinn's of Glenamaddy
on October 11th, 1974 and would go on to play all around the country
as a great cover charge cabaret act.
Editor's note: As I joined the band I have a
particular interest in this period. The last actual gig I can find
for the band with Murphy was August 11th, 1974 at the Stradbally
Steam Festival. We had the photos taken for the new Magic and the
Swallows on August 9th.
The band would be reformed as Magic and the Swallows, bringing
in young Clogherhead-based singer, Kevin Walsh (brother of the Nevada's Willie
Walsh) who had previously been with a local band which often played
relief in the Aisling Ballroom in Clogherhead under the name, "Bandy
Blondie." Kevin would don the £2,000 Magic light up suit. Also new to the band were
Gerry Gallagher (Sligo - guitar), John McKenna (Kingscourt - bass - ex Silver Pennies),
and Joe Bernie (Castlebar - sax - ex
Leaders). Only Mickey Belton (Galway - drums), Frank Clancy (Sligo - keyboards) and Johnny Carroll (Roscommon
- trumpet)
remained from the former line-up.
The band went into rehearsals on August 22nd
and would play their first gig on September 6th, 1974 in Banagher,
Co. Galway.
For the rest of the story, click
here to follow the history of the Magic
Band....
(Our thanks to Sean and
Margaret Gorham (aka Murphy) for information contributed to this feature
in 2008)
click on thumbnails for full image
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Johnny Carroll:
As the last original member of the band, we are pretty sure
they called it quits around 1983. At that point Johnny went on the road as the
"Man With The Golden Trumpet"
and has never looked back. Having started in 1958 at the age of
13, in 2008 Johnny celebrated 50 years of continuous
entertaining in and around Ireland and has seen it all! He
still plays regularly, although he has cut back a little on
his touring. He often plays outside the country these days
having recently been playing in Australia, Fiji, Hong Kong,
and Spain. As of March 2017, Johnny, now 73, is still on the
road mostly doing showband shows and concerts as well as the
odd function.
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Sonny Ward: Unknown - if you have info please email us |
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Jimmy O'Neill: Jimmy
retied from the road after the Swallows made the switch to
the Magic Band, where he was the road manager for many
years. He also ran dances, working with his brother Joe
O'Neill. Today, Jimmy lives in Galway and still plays
occasionally, although he never played with a band that was "on the road"
after the Swallows. |
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Mickey Belton: Mickey
was one of two musicians (along with Johnny) who made the
transition to The Magic Band in 1974. He played with Magic
until the early 80's when he retired from the road. However,
in the intervening years, Mickey became one of Galway's best
know jazz drummers and he
still plays regularly in Galway with a variety of bands. He
does some session work, but we understand his main gig is with the Black
Magic Band.
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Jim "Nash" O'Halloran: We
received an email in June, 2019 telling us Jim moved to
Regina, Saskatchewan,
Canada with his wife Linda and had three children.
If you have more info please email us |
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Margaret Murphy:
Margaret married drummer Sean Gorham in 1975 and the couple
emigrated to London, where they played the clubs and pubs
for 15 years. They returned to Co. Galway in 1989, where
they live today. Although Margaret no longer sings in
public, she still maintains a very keen interest in the
Irish music scene. |
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Bob Madden: Unknown - if you have info please email us |
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Murty Finn: Unknown - if you have info please email us |
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Kevin Walsh
(Magic): After moving to Galway from Drogheda, Kevin married and made his home in Galway.
After leaving the scene in 1979 he started singing on the
local cabaret scene around Galway. Today he works for a major international manufacturer in Galway, but still sings on a part time basis
around the area. |
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Gerry
Gallagher: After leaving the Magic Band, Gerry returned
to Sligo and played locally with the local group Sundown
with Joe Foley and Dick Lynott for a few years. In 1978, he formed
The Kim Newport Band with his wife, Kim. They
played from 1978 until 1983 when they called it quits and emigrated to the States.
He entered the business world and finally sold his company
in 2003. In 2006, he returned to Sligo to run an
international entertainment production and licensing
company which he left in 2009. After a stint teaching at IT
Sligo, he now plays locally once in a while. In late 2012, Gerry joined up with
members of the original Smokey Mountain Ramblers for their
40th reunion tour playing bass. |
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Frank Clancy: At one
point Frank
owned his own company in Tuam. In January 2014, we received
an update from Frank. He said he doesn't play music much
any more and is 80% retired but he is still partly involved
in a small GPS company called Celtrak and
plays golf regularly. |
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Joe Bernie: After
leaving the band, Joe continued to play music, but also
managed Star Records, a local music retail shop. He still
plays regularly in the Galway area, although he now lives in
Athenry after spending many years living in Galway. Joe
released a CD in 2005. A January, 2014 update from Joe tells
us he is still playing regularly with the Black Magic Big
Band around Galway along with Mickey Belton. |
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John McKenna: After
leaving Magic, John returned to his native Kingscourt and
has been playing music on the local scene for the past 30+
years, first with a pub group, but for the last few years as
a solo artist. |
