Title:
The Abbey Tavern Singers - We're Off To Dublin In The Green

Description:
Issued in Canada March 1966 on Arc 1144, and in the US September 1966 on Hanna Barbera 496. The Abbey Tavern Singers are not Canadians. They are from Howth, Dublin, Ireland. The group was formed in 1962 when Mrs. Minnie Scott-Lennon, of the Tavern, thought it would be a good idea to have musicians and singers play in a relaxed, singalong atmosphere. Members of the ensemble were : Margaret Monks (vocals), Michael O'Connell (vocals), Tess Nolan (vocals), Mary Sheehan (vocals; replaced Nolan), Brian O'Rourke (banjo), John O'Brien (guitar), Bill Powers (banjo-mandolin), Tommy Rick (Illin pipes), Seamus Gallagher (fiddle), Joe O'Leary (fiddle), and Paddy Joseph "P.J." Downes (spoons). They performed regularly at the Abbey Tavern, and made an album in the UK for Pye in 1965. Their next album, in 1966, "We're Off To Dublin In The Green," was released in Canada by Arc Records (of which Yorkville Records was a subsidiary label). This song was originally featured in a TV commercial for Carling beer. The single first appeared in RPM on March 10, 1966, then disappeared to return on August 8th at #100, working its way up to spend the first two weeks of October at #4. It reached #2 on CHUM Toronto. Americans took notice of this, and the master was licensed by Hanna Barbera, who issued it in the US in September 1966. It spent two weeks on the Hot 100, and only made #96. The Abbey Taven Singers had never set foot in Canada until 1967, when overwhelming demand to see them live had them fly over for a North American tour, to promote the "Off To Dublin" album, and their new LP, "You Don't Have To Be Irish..." - which was recorded at the very same session as the previous album at the Abbey Tavern. The record manages to be Canadian content because Arc Records registered the traditional Irish songs as new works with CAPAC, under their own publishing company, CANINT, to make a larger cut of the royalties. The Abbey Tavern Singers did cut a further album for Arc, at Bay Studios in Toronto, in 1968. That qualifies for Cancon, although there were no singles taken from it, and no more was heard from the group on this side of the world. Forty-odd years later, some of the original members still perform at the Abbey Tavern in Howth.

Author:
mojofilter02

Tags:
1966, Abbey, ballad, Canadian, Dublin, Green, In, Irish, Off, singalong, Singers, Tavern, The, To,