The man so often called the ‘King of Country music’ in Ireland in the 1980s, Big Tom McBride from outside Castleblayney, Co. Monaghan, died on Tuesday morning of this week, 17 April, and news of his death came as a shock to his fans everywhere, with many notable music stars in Ireland paying tribute to the genial singer after news of his death became known.
Tom McBride was in his 82nd year, and his death came less than three months following the death of his beloved wife Rose, on 30 January last.
When Big Tom and his band played their first professional dance in Ballybay in the mid 1960s, he afterwards recalled that they were paid £12 for the night. It was in 1966 that the Co. M0naghan band achieved a major breakthrough when they performed Gentle Mother on the RTE television series The Showband Show. Big Tom’s song became a runaway hit, and within a short time, huge crowds were coming to hear and see the “Band with the Magic Beat”.
LOCAL TRIBUTES
In a tribute to him on Tuesday, Ben Dolan told Topic an interesting anecdote: “We will definitely miss him. When Big Tom was starting out in 1966, there was a show on TV called The Showband Show and they used to record two bands every week and we actually met Tom in RTÉ then and were recorded that day. Due to scarcity of money, RTE never kept the tapes, which would be fantastic to have today. So looking back, we kind of started out together.”
(It was probably on the same occasion, that Big Tom’s Gentle Mother recording became the road to fame for the band.
Added Ben: “Once, when we were playing in the same venue in London and after the show, Joe was walking around singing and Big Tom said ‘Who’s that fella trying to sing?’ and then he said, ‘It’s you, It’s you, It’s you’.
MICK FOSTER
Mick Foster, of Foster and Allen, currently touring New Zealand, said that Big Tom was “a real gentleman”.
“We met him loads of times over the years and he was a gentleman of the highest order as well as being a seriously popular singer with the general public. He never got big-headed about his fame and he was the same on or off stage – a really nice, quiet, big man.”
Mick said he hadn’t seen Tom for a while. “We didn’t think he would go so fast after Rose but as the fella said, ‘We don’t know the day or the hour’.
“I was a big fan and often danced to him in the County Hall in Mullingar which is the Arts Centre now and at different carnivals if you could get near the place, because every time you went there Big Tom had a bigger crowd.
To me the most important thing about him was that he was a gentleman and that his fame never changed him- he was like Joe Dolan- it never went to his head. He’ll be sorely missed because he was the yardstick for most Irish country singers. ‘Gentle Mother’ was a hit back in 1966 so that’s 52 years ago.
Commented Mullingar’s Davy Hynes, “He was big in stature and huge on the music scene. They were probably the number one country band in Ireland. He gave the people what they wanted and that’s why he began so popular. They had that magic dancing beat and played for the dancers. I do remember him playing many many nights in the County Hall and the marquees and places like that. He is a huge loss. If Big Tom was coming to town, you knew you were going to have a packed hall.”
PENROSE PAYS TRIBUTE TO THE LATE SINGER
Labour TD Willie Penrose has paid tribute to the late singer Big Tom McBride who has died.
Deputy Penrose said:
“As someone who has always been very supportive of the Irish music industry, I am really saddened to hear of the passing of Big Tom today, and would like to offer my condolences to his four children, family, friends and all those who listened to and loved his music.
“Big Tom will always be remembered as the King of Irish country music; he was a true icon and his passing is a great loss to his many fans at home and around the world.
“Big Tom’s music was hugely popular not only here in Ireland but also with the Irish diaspora abroad, and I grew up listening to his music myself.
“I recall attending one of his big gigs in the Galtymore at Cricklewood in London in the 1970s, and just like most of his gigs, there was a huge queue at every Big Tom venue.
“One of the earliest memories I have of Big Tom’s music is my late mother learning the lyrics to ‘Gentle Mother’ back in the 1960s. The simplicity of the lyrics of all his music resonated with so many people.
“Ar Dheis Dé go raibh a anam.”
