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The Horslips are a band who play traditional Irish Jigs and reels with rock undertones.
Johnny Fean was born in Dublin in 1951 and spent his childhood in the city of Limerick. He soon mastered guitar, banjo, mandolin and harmonica. In his teens he played in sessions in Limerick and County Clare. He developed his listening tastes from rock to blues and incorporated it into his guitar style. In his late teens he played in a group called "Sweet Street", with Joe O'Donnell on electric fiddle and Eugene Wallace. He later played in "Jeremiah Henry", a rock and blues band. His idols were Jimmy Hendrix and Eric Clapton. He left "Jeremiah Henry" in 1970 to play traditional music again in Limerick.
Jim Lockhart studied classical music at Trinity College Dublin. He fell under the influence of Sean Ó Riada, wanting to build an orchestral sound out of Irish music. He played harpsichord and flute.
Eamon Carr was from Kells, County Meath. He started a quarterly literary magazine in Dublin and met up with a graphic designer, Charles O'Connor. O'Connor played concertina, mandolin and fiddle. Barry Devlin had been in training as a Franciscan priest. He was playing bass guitar by the time he joined with Carr and O'Connor and tin whistle player Jim Lockhart.
They joined with guitarist Declan Sinnott to form the Horslips in 1970 and were obviously bookish from the start. They went professional on St Patrick's Day 1972 and released a single - "Johnny's Wedding" on their own record label called Oats. It went to number one in Ireland. Declan Sinnott left soon after and was replaced by Gus Guiest, then Johnny Fean. Ten years later Sinnott re-appeared as a member of Moving Hearts. In October 1972 Horslips went to Longfield house in Tipperary and recorded their first album "Happy To Meet, Sorry To Part" in the Rolling Stones Mobile Studio.
They were savvy and self-sufficient. They designed their own artwork, wrote their sleeve-notes and researched the legends that they made into concept albums. They had their own record label and licensed the recordings through RCA for release outside Ireland. They kept their base in Ireland, unlike previous Irish bands. 1972 was a quiet year for Fairport Convention, and Horslips seemed to fill the gap, releasing another single, Green Gravel. On the first album the melodies were mostly traditional. If Johnny Fean was the Richard Thompson of the band, Charles O'Connor was the Dave Swarbrick on fiddle. Jim Lockhart was on keyboards and gradually mastered other instruments including uillean pipes. Eamon Carr was on drums, including the Irish bodhran. Unsurprisingly, "Happy To Meet, Sorry To Part" was the best-selling album of all time in Ireland.
The Abbey Theatre in Dublin asked the band to provide the background for a stage adaption of "The Táin". They leapt at the opportunity. "Táin Bó Cúailnge" (The Cattle-Raid of Cooley), is a tenth-century story written in Gaelic. It tells of an ancient war between Ulster and Connaught. They spent a lot of time on the planning. They wove the story and song together in a theatrically and musically satisfying way. "The Táin" was released in 1973 and had more original material alongside the traditional tunes, and greater emphasis on rock. In the same year a single "Dearg Doom" got to number one in Germany.
"Dancehall Sweethearts" followed in 1974, and also balanced folk with rock. Their third album "The Unfortunate Cup of Tea" drifted towards pop music and was a disappointment by comparison. RCA ended their funding deal for the group in 1975. The group funded their next venture themselves and went back to basics. "Drive The Cold Winter Away" (also 1975) was their most traditional album to date. You would have been hard-pressed to detect that this was the same group who made "The Book of Invasions: A Celtic Symphony" (1976), their next venture. Like "The Táin" it was an adaption of Irish legends built into a complex story. It went further into rock than any previous Horslips album. Many songs were sung in Irish and is usually considered their best work. It was their first UK top-40 album since "The Táin".
Ever ambitious, they now tried to make it in the United States. They brought in Jim Style to become their manager. He later sold their publishing rights to William McBurney. It was the start of a financial and legal nightmare. In 1977 they produced "Aliens", about the experience of the Irish in nineteenth-century America. There was almost no folk music in it. They toured relentlessly round Britain, Germany, Canada and the United States. The night that they played the Albert Hall in London was described by a critic as the loudest gig there since Hendrix. Johnny Fean was playing as if he was in a heavy metal band. "The Man Who Built America" (1978) concerned Irish emigration to the USA. The heavier sound did bring some acceptance in America but they lost their folk base, and their freshness. "Short Stories, Tall Tales" (1979) was their last studio album.
At a time when IRA activity was at its height, Horslips played gigs in both Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland without prejudice and were accepted everywhere. Their last recordings were from live performances at Whitla Hall in Belfast April and May 1980. A few months later in 1981 they played their final gig in the Ulster Hall. They made no public announcement. They simply gave an encore - the Rolling Stones' song "The Last Time". This was a reference to the recording studio of their first album. Ten years after they formed, they disbanded.
For 20 years William McBurney received royalties from vinyl and CDs, including many compilations. The band received some money as well. The former band members fought back and on March 7, 1999 won a court victory for the copyright ownership and a substantial financial settlement.
Even before Horslips ended, Johnny Fean and Eamon Carr, plus two others founded the "Zen Alligators" in 1980. They played straight rock 'n' soul on the Irish circuit. They recorded several singles. Another spinoff group called "Host" contained Fean, O'Connor and Carr. They issued one album "Tryal" in 1984, and two singles.
In 1986 Johnny Fean moved to England. An English indie band called Jacobites (1983 to 1986) consisted of Nikki Sudden and Dave Kusworth. Their 1986 album "Ragged School" had Johnny on guitar.
In 2004 Horslips reformed with the original lineup to produce a studio album, "Roll Back". Described as 'Horslips Unplugged', the album contains acoustic reworkings of many of their best-known songs.
Discography (original studio albums)
- Happy To Meet, Sorry To Part (1972)
- The Táin (1973)
- Dancehall Sweethearts (1974)
- The Unfortunate Cup Of Tea (1975)
- Drive The Cold Winter Away (1975)
- The Book Of Invasions (1976)
- Aliens (1977)
- The Man Who Built America (1978)
- Short Stories, Tall Tales (1979)
- Roll Back (2004)
External links
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