Tommy Makem - Performance Notes

Performance Notes

Makem had a gripping stage presence – the result of years of public performance, a charismatic personality, and a bard's voice. An army of friends and fans attended his frequent concerts, many recognizing each other at far-flung venues. Performances frequently included the following familiar elements:

• Original Makem compositions; the first set often began with "The Rambles of Spring"
• The standard repertoire of folk and Irish music, both well-known and little-known (but never "Danny Boy", "When Irish Eyes are Smiling", "Toorah Loorah Looral", or other forbidden requests)
• Oddball songs, such as "Bridie Murphy and the Kamikaze Pilot" (Colm Gallagher) or "William Bloat" (Raymond Calvert)
• Poetic recitations, often as introductions to songs; a frequent source was William Butler Yeats. (Thus "Gentle Annie" usually began with "When You Are Old and Grey", and Four Green Fields usually began with Seamus Heaney's "Requiem for the Croppies".)
• Jokes, often silly, made funnier through repetition:

"If your nose is running and your feet smell, you're upside down."

• Rarely: monologues, such as Marriott Edgar's "The Lion and Albert"
• Exhortations, nearly always successful, for the audience to join in the singing