Died On This Date (December 4, 2009) Liam Clancy / The Clancy Brothers
themusicsover William “Liam” Clancy
September 2, 1935 – December 4, 2009
Liam Clancy was an Irish folk singer who, along with his brothers, came to prominence during the ’60s folk revival as the Clancy Brothers. Growing up, Clancy first gravitated toward the theater, producing, directing and starring in plays that ran in and around Dublin. During the mid ’50s, he began performing and recording with his brothers and friend, Tommy Makem. They soon moved to the U.S. where they became an integral part of the New York folk scene. In 1961, the group was asked to be a last minute replacement on the Ed Sullivan Show. After a then unheard of 16-minute performance, the Clancy Brothers were folk music’s new rising stars, landing a multi-album deal with Columbia Records. They had a very successful career that also included album releases on the storied Vanguard Records. No less than Bob Dylan has cited them as an influence on his career and reportedly called Liam the greatest ballad singer he ever heard. Clancy recorded several critically acclaimed solo albums throughout his career as well. Liam Clancy died of pulmonary fibrosis on December 4, 2009. He was 74.
What You Should Own
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Eric Woolfson was a much respected Scottish musician, songwriter and singer who is best remembered as one-half of the driving force behind the Alan Parsons Project. Woolfson started out mostly as a songwriter, penning songs for the likes of Marianne Faithfull, Peter Noone and the Tremeloes. In the early ’70s, he got into artist management, guiding the careers of Carl Douglas of “Kung Fu Fighting” fame and an up-and-coming producer, Alan Parsons who had previously engineered the Beatles’ Abbey Road and Pink Floyd’s Dark Side of the Moon. In 1975, the two began collaborating creatively and the Alan Parsons Project was born. Over the next decade, the group released such popular prog rock albums as I Robot, Pyramid and Eye in the Sky. Overall, they sold in excess of 40 million albums. By the early ’90s, Woolfson and Parsons parted ways with Woolfson moving into musical theater. Woolfson was later diagnosed with cancer and died from the disease on December 2, 2009. He was 64.