Dermot O’Brien (Obituary)
by Rob Howard
B&F July 2007
Dermot
O’Brien passed away on May 22nd in his hometown of Ardee, County Louth,
in the Republic of Ireland, following a long battle with cancer. For many years he had lived in New York, but had returned to Ireland following the death of his wife Rosemarie in January
2005. His four children, none of whom followed musical careers, survive him.
A legend of Irish show business, Dermot O’Brien was a many faceted individual, well known not only as an accordionist and singer, but also a multi-instrumentalist (piano, guitar, trombone and 5-row button accordion), composer, arranger, producer and sportsman (captaining County Louth at Gaelic football).
After becoming an All Ireland Accordion Champion in 1954 and 1959 O’Brien turned professional in 1962, fronting Dermot O’Brien and The clubmen, a showband whose repertoire included everything from pop music to Country and Western to traditional jazz. In 1966, O’Brien’s vocal / accordion single The Merry Ploughboy went straight to No. 1 in the Irish Charts, a feat only otherwise achieved by Elvis Presley and The Beatles.
Dermot O’Brien was the most accomplished and commercially successful accordionists Ireland has produced to date, and his recordings sold in large quantities throughout Ireland, Britain, the USA, and other parts of the English speaking world. He was the first Irish accordionists to make recordings of non-Irish music, and his LPs The Laughing Accordion, Dancing Fingers and The Three Dimensions of Dermot O’Brien popularized a broad range of accordion specialities to a wide audience. His was, in fact, a very individual style of playing that copied no-one but influenced a whole generation of accordionists in Ireland and Britain. Although a product of the Irish traditional music scene, O’Brien’s accordion style was certainly not ‘mainstream’, and reflected his interest in Scottish and Continental music, jazz and swing bands.
Always interested in keeping up with the latest developments in technology, Dermot was the first accordionists to record an LP of Irish traditional music using multi-tracked accordion parts. This 1971 recording, O’Brien’s Cross-road Ceili, featured him playing both lead and harmony parts throughout a selection of reels, jigs, waltzes, hornpipes and set dances.
By the 1990s Dermot had switched to playing accordion with MIDI, and excelled at producing a very convincing one-man band sound on solo gigs and recordings, in fact, his later recordings were all self-produced, demonstrating his experience and brilliance at studio production and arrangements.
Few accordionists worldwide could match Dermot O’Brien’s stage presence, and his ability to entertain was second to none. He had a huge personal following, and performed in every major theatre in Ireland and the UK, including some top of the bill appearances at the Royal Albert Hall, London. In the middle and late 1960s, Dermot O’Brien and The clubmen were one of the biggest attractions in Ireland, and were regularly featured on Irish radio and television. They toured regularly in Britain, the USA, Canada, Germany and even visited the United Arab Emirates. Dermot was especially popular in Scotland, where his innumerable appearances included an interview with Robbie shepherd on BBC Scotland’s ‘Take the Floor’. Whenever he toured Scotland, Dermot made a point of looking up Jimmy Shand in Auchtermuchty, with whom he had a long-standing friendship. His 1974 LP Tribute to Scotland was dedicated to his many Scottish fans.
Dermot had his own show on Irish television, which ran for seven years, and his guests included Bing Crosby and Jimmy Shand. He has also appeared as guest on many other shows, including Irish language programmes, as he was a keen Gaelic speaker. O’Brien wrote several pieces for accordion including Alpine Ski Run, The Laughing Accordion and Alpine Slopes. Alpine Slopes, published by Trivani, has been performed and recorded by countless accordionists in many countries. He also wrote many songs, including Connemara Rose, Farewell to Galway, Dublin ’62, There Has To Be an End, etc. One of his compositions in Irish, Neansai, won the International Pan-Celtic Song Contest in 1980. Other artistes including Paddy Reilly, Brendan Shine, Dermot Hegarty, Bridie Gallagher and Daniel O’Donnell have recorded many of his songs.
Dermot O’Brien moved to New York in 1983. He was already well-known on the American C&W circuit, having toured and performed with Jim Reeves, Johnny Cash, Buddy Herman, Hank Snow and Bill Haley and the Comets. O’Brien quickly established himself as a favourite on the Irish American club and festival circuit, where his ability to transform any gig into a carnival atmosphere was especially welcomed. He recorded a St Patrick’s Day Special for television with Bing Crosby in Dublin, which was shown coast to coats in the United States.
In later years, Dermot inherited the family home in Ardee, and thereafter divided his time between American and Ireland, making frequent short tours of the UK, appearing as a guest at Accordion and fiddle clubs and Festivals. On some of these dates, his sister, Marie O’Brien, herself a fine singer and keyboard player, accompanied him.
Dermot O’Brien was, with Finland’s Veikko Ahvenainen, co-chief guest at Malcolm Gee’s Autumn Accordion Festival at Caister in November 1991. He also later memorably shared the concert stage at The Wyre Accordion Festival in Fleetwood with Italian maestro Gervasio Marcosignori, and with fellow Irish accordionist Fintan Stanley at the Bolton Irish Centre in Lancashire. From 1995 to 2000, Dermot was part of the celebrated Jury’s Irish Cabaret in 1995 and spent six happy years performing with them in Dublin and on their US tours.
Dermot O’Brien’s music brought pleasure to millions. He made a large number of recordings, from the 1950s to 2005, and several of these are available on CD. There is also a DVD of a concert in Dublin in 1992. Fortunately, Dermot O’Brien’s name, reputation and music will live on through the great memories he has left us over the years, and his many superb recordings and compositions.
A legend of Irish show business, Dermot O’Brien was a many faceted individual, well known not only as an accordionist and singer, but also a multi-instrumentalist (piano, guitar, trombone and 5-row button accordion), composer, arranger, producer and sportsman (captaining County Louth at Gaelic football).
After becoming an All Ireland Accordion Champion in 1954 and 1959 O’Brien turned professional in 1962, fronting Dermot O’Brien and The clubmen, a showband whose repertoire included everything from pop music to Country and Western to traditional jazz. In 1966, O’Brien’s vocal / accordion single The Merry Ploughboy went straight to No. 1 in the Irish Charts, a feat only otherwise achieved by Elvis Presley and The Beatles.
Dermot O’Brien was the most accomplished and commercially successful accordionists Ireland has produced to date, and his recordings sold in large quantities throughout Ireland, Britain, the USA, and other parts of the English speaking world. He was the first Irish accordionists to make recordings of non-Irish music, and his LPs The Laughing Accordion, Dancing Fingers and The Three Dimensions of Dermot O’Brien popularized a broad range of accordion specialities to a wide audience. His was, in fact, a very individual style of playing that copied no-one but influenced a whole generation of accordionists in Ireland and Britain. Although a product of the Irish traditional music scene, O’Brien’s accordion style was certainly not ‘mainstream’, and reflected his interest in Scottish and Continental music, jazz and swing bands.
Always interested in keeping up with the latest developments in technology, Dermot was the first accordionists to record an LP of Irish traditional music using multi-tracked accordion parts. This 1971 recording, O’Brien’s Cross-road Ceili, featured him playing both lead and harmony parts throughout a selection of reels, jigs, waltzes, hornpipes and set dances.
By the 1990s Dermot had switched to playing accordion with MIDI, and excelled at producing a very convincing one-man band sound on solo gigs and recordings, in fact, his later recordings were all self-produced, demonstrating his experience and brilliance at studio production and arrangements.
Few accordionists worldwide could match Dermot O’Brien’s stage presence, and his ability to entertain was second to none. He had a huge personal following, and performed in every major theatre in Ireland and the UK, including some top of the bill appearances at the Royal Albert Hall, London. In the middle and late 1960s, Dermot O’Brien and The clubmen were one of the biggest attractions in Ireland, and were regularly featured on Irish radio and television. They toured regularly in Britain, the USA, Canada, Germany and even visited the United Arab Emirates. Dermot was especially popular in Scotland, where his innumerable appearances included an interview with Robbie shepherd on BBC Scotland’s ‘Take the Floor’. Whenever he toured Scotland, Dermot made a point of looking up Jimmy Shand in Auchtermuchty, with whom he had a long-standing friendship. His 1974 LP Tribute to Scotland was dedicated to his many Scottish fans.
Dermot had his own show on Irish television, which ran for seven years, and his guests included Bing Crosby and Jimmy Shand. He has also appeared as guest on many other shows, including Irish language programmes, as he was a keen Gaelic speaker. O’Brien wrote several pieces for accordion including Alpine Ski Run, The Laughing Accordion and Alpine Slopes. Alpine Slopes, published by Trivani, has been performed and recorded by countless accordionists in many countries. He also wrote many songs, including Connemara Rose, Farewell to Galway, Dublin ’62, There Has To Be an End, etc. One of his compositions in Irish, Neansai, won the International Pan-Celtic Song Contest in 1980. Other artistes including Paddy Reilly, Brendan Shine, Dermot Hegarty, Bridie Gallagher and Daniel O’Donnell have recorded many of his songs.
Dermot O’Brien moved to New York in 1983. He was already well-known on the American C&W circuit, having toured and performed with Jim Reeves, Johnny Cash, Buddy Herman, Hank Snow and Bill Haley and the Comets. O’Brien quickly established himself as a favourite on the Irish American club and festival circuit, where his ability to transform any gig into a carnival atmosphere was especially welcomed. He recorded a St Patrick’s Day Special for television with Bing Crosby in Dublin, which was shown coast to coats in the United States.
In later years, Dermot inherited the family home in Ardee, and thereafter divided his time between American and Ireland, making frequent short tours of the UK, appearing as a guest at Accordion and fiddle clubs and Festivals. On some of these dates, his sister, Marie O’Brien, herself a fine singer and keyboard player, accompanied him.
Dermot O’Brien was, with Finland’s Veikko Ahvenainen, co-chief guest at Malcolm Gee’s Autumn Accordion Festival at Caister in November 1991. He also later memorably shared the concert stage at The Wyre Accordion Festival in Fleetwood with Italian maestro Gervasio Marcosignori, and with fellow Irish accordionist Fintan Stanley at the Bolton Irish Centre in Lancashire. From 1995 to 2000, Dermot was part of the celebrated Jury’s Irish Cabaret in 1995 and spent six happy years performing with them in Dublin and on their US tours.
Dermot O’Brien’s music brought pleasure to millions. He made a large number of recordings, from the 1950s to 2005, and several of these are available on CD. There is also a DVD of a concert in Dublin in 1992. Fortunately, Dermot O’Brien’s name, reputation and music will live on through the great memories he has left us over the years, and his many superb recordings and compositions.