Mulligan - Posted - 10/20/2015:  11:30:01

My friend Stan (a very good Bluegrass five string player) gave me this case that Tommy Makem used to transport his Vega Longneck.  Stan had offered it back to the family after Tommy's death but they declined.  It is a testament to the hard life of a professional musician on the road!  Notice the decals of now defunct airlines (Allegheny and CPAir).  Tommy and the Clancy Brothers were always my favorites so it is an honor to have this case​.

pastorharry - Posted - 10/20/2015:  11:34:05

Very cool. I have linked this to the Long Neck Banjos group.

Joe Connor - Posted - 10/20/2015:  12:07:17

If that case could talk.....

Brooklynbanjoboy - Posted - 10/20/2015:  12:14:59

I was a grad student at the University of Pittsburgh in the years from 1975 to 1980.  Every year, around St. Patrick's Day, the Clancy Brothers and Tommy Makem would roll into town and do a show or two at the hugh Carnegie Theatre.  I remember walking into the concert hall after securing our tickets, and marveling at the sea of red hair in the audience. 

Joe Connor - Posted - 10/20/2015:  12:34:21

Lew, how were they in concert? Was their instrumental back-up just Makem on banjo (and tinwhistle) and Liam Clancy on guitar? I wish I had gotten a chance to see them perform.

reese158 - Posted - 10/20/2015:  13:06:16

What a cool thing to have! Tommy is one of my all-time heroes. I got the chance to chat with him once after a concert on Cape Cod--a consummate artist and a helluva nice guy. 

mrbook - Posted - 10/20/2015:  16:47:56

Tommy Makem was probably one of the first players to get me interested in the banjo.

mikehalloran - Posted - 10/20/2015:  18:49:48

quote:

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Originally posted by mrbook

 

Tommy Makem was probably one of the first players to get me interested in the banjo.

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Yea. me too. I still listen to my vinyl now and then.

pastorharry - Posted - 10/21/2015:  01:43:09

So does the case smell like whiskey ?

Joe Connor - Posted - 10/21/2015:  05:24:11

Now, now, Harry. No ethnic stereotyping. Besides, Makem was a teetotaler. 

nytimes.com/2007/08/03/arts/03...html?_r=0

Joe Connor - Posted - 10/21/2015:  07:25:21

Tommy Makem and the Clancy Brothers deserve a tremendous amount of respect. Before they came on the scene, most Irish-Americans thought real Irish music was Bing Crosby singing "Too-Ra-Loo-Ra-Loo-Ra." Their albums still hold up very well. I don't understand why Columbia or Bear Family hasn't released a complete box set for the Clancy Brothers.

mainejohn - Posted - 10/22/2015:  07:04:39

 I'm wondering why the case has been separated from his banjo. The airline stickers are from back in the day when checking a banjo thru on the airlines was standard procedure (I never gave it a thought back in the 60's and 70's). And those old Lifton cases, as cool as they are, were not as substantial as today's HSC's.

Edited by - mainejohn on 10/22/2015 07:07:40

mikehalloran - Posted - 10/23/2015:  05:49:20

quote:

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Originally posted by Joe Connor

Tommy Makem and the Clancy Brothers deserve a tremendous amount of respect. Before they came on the scene, most Irish-Americans thought real Irish music was Bing Crosby singing "Too-Ra-Loo-Ra-Loo-Ra." Their albums still hold up very well. I don't understand why Columbia or Bear Family hasn't released a complete box set for the Clancy Brothers.

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Hear! Hear! I'd buy a Clancy Bros & Tommy Makem box sets.

What that case is missing is a Vega PS-5. Frankly, I own just the right banjo with the correct amount of mojo from decades of play. It already has its Lifton case, however. 

Edited by - mikehalloran on 10/23/2015 06:00:19

Joe Connor - Posted - 10/23/2015:  06:32:48

Mike, I did find a two-CD set from Bear Family. bear-family.com/clancy-bros-un...2-cd.html  This looks like the albums that Tommy Makem and the Clancy Brothers did for Tradition Records before they signed with Columbia. If I remember those albums correctly, they had a lot more of a raw sound than the later Columbia albums and contained a lot more traditional material. Unfortunately, I know of no compilation of their Columbia albums or their post-Columbia albums. What we need is for Bear Family to put together one of those big multi-CD sets like they did for Flatt & Scruggs and the Kingston Trio. Bear Family is a pretty astute operation so if they haven't done this, it probably means that they just don't think the market is there. Columbia released one multi-CD set a while ago, but it was mostly unreleased concert recordings and out-takes.

Edited by - Joe Connor on 10/23/2015 06:34:09