Diane Hamilton
Encyclopedia
Diane Hamilton was the pseudonym of Diane Guggenheim (1924–1991), an American mining heiress, folksong patron and founder of "Tradition Records
".
and onetime U. S. ambassador to Cuba, and his second wife, Caroline Morton (formerly Mrs William Chapman Potter), Hamilton was born as Diana Guggenheim in New York City, New York. She had two half sisters, Joan (born 1913) and Nancy (1915–1972), from her father's first marriage to Helen Rosenberg.
Her maternal grandfather was Paul Morton
, U. S. Secretary of the Navy, while her maternal great-grandfather was Julius Sterling Morton
, U. S. Secretary of Agriculture.
She was married and divorced four times:
has it been possible to reconstruct her most notable years. In order to disguise her wealth, she adopted the alias 'Diane Hamilton'.
In 1955 she traveled to Ireland in search of Irish folk singers. According to Liam Clancy's book, she became acquainted with Tom and Paddy Clancy in New York, and while in Ireland made the Clancy household one of the stops on her collecting trip. Young Liam was invited to continue on the trip with her, and one of the next stops was the home of Sarah Makem
who had previously been recorded by Jean Ritchie
on her album "Field Trip" (1954). This fateful meeting brought together Liam and Sarah's younger son, Tommy Makem, who was also recorded. These two, along with Liam's older brothers Paddy and Tom Clancy, would eventually form "The Clancy Brothers and Tommy Makem", one of the most successful groups in Irish music history.
The anthology Diane Hamilton recorded in 1955 as "The Lark in the Morning" is the earliest album-length collection of Irish folk songs sung by Irish singers to be recorded in Ireland. Also on the album are Paddy Tunney
and Tommy Makem
, son of Sarah Makem. This album was re-released in a restored format in the late 1990s on the Rykodisc label.
, helped Diane run Tradition Records. "The Lark in the Morning
" was the first album to be released on Tradition in 1955. Future releases included "The Rising of the Moon" by The Clancy Brothers and Tommy Makem, and "The Countess Cathleen" by W.B. Yeats in 1956. Other notable releases include "Negro Prison songs", a compilation by Alan Lomax
and "The Bonny Bunch of Roses" Seamus Ennis
. Other artists include Ed McCurdy
, Odetta
, Paul Clayton, Lightnin' Hopkins
and Etta Baker
. Once the Clancy Brothers were signed to Columbia Records in 1961, the catalogue was sold, possibly to Transatlantic. In 1959 the label released "John Langstaff sings American and English Ballads". This had her husband singing, and Nancy Trowbridge on piano. Nancy later became John Langstaff's second wife. The album was rereleased by Revels Records in 2002 as "The Water Is Wide: American and British Ballads and Folksongs".
In the 1970's, Meek was involved in the founding of the Mulligan
record label, in Dublin. She may have regarded Donal Lunny
as the successor to Liam Clancy as the next standard-bearer of the authentic Irish traditional music heritage.
A passing reference to Hamilton in a California folk music magazine suggests that she was still active in Irish music as late as the early 1980s. The November–December 1982 issue of Folk Scene (Los Angeles) credits her with "the lion's share of the work" for the recording The Gathering
which features the playing of Matt Molloy
, Paul Brady
, Andy Irvine and Donal Lunny
.
Tradition Records
Tradition Records was an American record label that existed from 1955 to 1961.The label was founded by Guggenheim heiress Diane Hamilton in 1956. Its first president and director was Patrick "Paddy" Clancy, who was soon to join his brothers and Tommy Makem, as part of the new Irish folk group, The...
".
Personal life
The only child of millionaire Harry Frank Guggenheim, president of NewsdayNewsday
Newsday is a daily American newspaper that primarily serves Nassau and Suffolk counties and the New York City borough of Queens on Long Island, although it is sold throughout the New York metropolitan area...
and onetime U. S. ambassador to Cuba, and his second wife, Caroline Morton (formerly Mrs William Chapman Potter), Hamilton was born as Diana Guggenheim in New York City, New York. She had two half sisters, Joan (born 1913) and Nancy (1915–1972), from her father's first marriage to Helen Rosenberg.
Her maternal grandfather was Paul Morton
Paul Morton
Paul Morton was a U.S. businessman.- Biography :He served as the Secretary of Navy between 1904 and 1905. Previous to this, he had been vice president of the Santa Fe Railroad...
, U. S. Secretary of the Navy, while her maternal great-grandfather was Julius Sterling Morton
Julius Sterling Morton
Julius Sterling Morton was a Nebraska editor who served as President Grover Cleveland's Secretary of Agriculture. He was a prominent Bourbon Democrat, taking the conservative position on political, economic and social issues, and opposing agrarianism...
, U. S. Secretary of Agriculture.
She was married and divorced four times:
- Lieutenant John Meredith LangstaffJohn LangstaffJohn Langstaff , a concert baritone, and early music revivalist was the founder of the Northeast United States tradition of the Christmas Revels, as well as a respected musician and educator. He attended the Curtis Institute of Music as well as Juilliard. In 1943 he married Diane Hamilton...
, a U. S. Army officer and aspiring concert singer, married 1943. They had one child, Diane Carol Langstaff (Mrs Peter Duveneck, Mrs Jim Rooney). - Robert Guillard
- William Meek, an Irish journalist, whom she married in 1963. They had four children: Eoin Meek, Colin Meek, Sorcha Meek (adopted), and Catriona Meek (adopted; Mrs Thomas Nelson).
- John Darby Stolt, aka John Darby-Hamilton
Career
Very little is known of Hamilton's life, and only since the publication of the book "The Mountain of the Women: Memoirs of an Irish Troubadour" by Liam ClancyLiam Clancy
William "Liam" Clancy was an Irish folk singer and actor from Carrick-on-Suir, County Tipperary. He was the youngest and last surviving member of performing group The Clancy Brothers. The group were regarded as Ireland's first pop stars...
has it been possible to reconstruct her most notable years. In order to disguise her wealth, she adopted the alias 'Diane Hamilton'.
In 1955 she traveled to Ireland in search of Irish folk singers. According to Liam Clancy's book, she became acquainted with Tom and Paddy Clancy in New York, and while in Ireland made the Clancy household one of the stops on her collecting trip. Young Liam was invited to continue on the trip with her, and one of the next stops was the home of Sarah Makem
Sarah Makem
Sarah Makem a native of Keady, County Armagh, Northern Ireland, was a traditional Irish singer.She was the wife of fiddler Peter Makem, mother of musicians Tommy Makem and Jack Makem, and grandmother of musicians Shane Makem, Conor Makem and Rory Makem...
who had previously been recorded by Jean Ritchie
Jean Ritchie
Jean Ritchie is an American folk singer, songwriter, and Appalachian dulcimer player.- Out of Kentucky :Abigail and Balis Ritchie of Viper, Kentucky had 14 children, and Jean was the youngest...
on her album "Field Trip" (1954). This fateful meeting brought together Liam and Sarah's younger son, Tommy Makem, who was also recorded. These two, along with Liam's older brothers Paddy and Tom Clancy, would eventually form "The Clancy Brothers and Tommy Makem", one of the most successful groups in Irish music history.
The anthology Diane Hamilton recorded in 1955 as "The Lark in the Morning" is the earliest album-length collection of Irish folk songs sung by Irish singers to be recorded in Ireland. Also on the album are Paddy Tunney
Paddy Tunney
Paddy Tunney was an Irish traditional singer, poet, writer, raconteur, lilter and songwriter. He was affectionately known as the Man of Songs.-Early life:...
and Tommy Makem
Tommy Makem
Thomas "Tommy" Makem was an internationally celebrated Irish folk musician, artist, poet and storyteller. He was best known as a member of The Clancy Brothers and Tommy Makem. He played the long-necked 5-string banjo, guitar, tin whistle, and bagpipes, and sang in a distinctive baritone...
, son of Sarah Makem. This album was re-released in a restored format in the late 1990s on the Rykodisc label.
Attempted Suicide
According to Emmanuel Kehoe in his article "The Trouble With Defining Truth" in "The Sunday Business Post", Diane became infatuated with Liam Clancy. She took him to her father's house on Long Island. Liam Clancy had a strict religious upbringing, so when she tried to have sex with him, it was, in Clancy's own words, ‘‘an incredibly frightening episode". Shortly afterwards she made a suicide attempt. Clancy drove her to a hospital for treatment. From there she was then taken to an asylum, where Clancy tracked her down. She asked him to phone Harry Guggenheim so that she could get out of the institution. Harry Guggenheim may well have disapproved of this hopelessly romantic love affair, since he transferred her to another institution. Rather than chase her again, Clancy gave up, saying: "And I went down to New York and I was free."Tradition Records
Another member of the Clancy family, Paddy ClancyPatrick Clancy
Patrick Clancy , usually called "Paddy" or "Pat" Clancy, was an Irish folk singer best known as a member of The Clancy Brothers and Tommy Makem....
, helped Diane run Tradition Records. "The Lark in the Morning
The Lark in the Morning (album)
The Lark in the Morning is an album by Liam Clancy, Tommy Makem, family and friends.It has the distinction of being the first album-length recording of Irish music to be recorded in Ireland. It was recorded by Diane Hamilton and Catherine Wright on portable equipment, between August and December...
" was the first album to be released on Tradition in 1955. Future releases included "The Rising of the Moon" by The Clancy Brothers and Tommy Makem, and "The Countess Cathleen" by W.B. Yeats in 1956. Other notable releases include "Negro Prison songs", a compilation by Alan Lomax
Alan Lomax
Alan Lomax was an American folklorist and ethnomusicologist. He was one of the great field collectors of folk music of the 20th century, recording thousands of songs in the United States, Great Britain, Ireland, the Caribbean, Italy, and Spain.In his later career, Lomax advanced his theories of...
and "The Bonny Bunch of Roses" Seamus Ennis
Séamus Ennis
Séamus Ennis was an Irish piper, singer and folk-song collector.- Early years :In 1908 James Ennis, Séamus's father, was in a pawn-shop in London. Ennis bought a bag of small pieces of Uilleann pipes. They were made in the early nineteenth century by Coyne of Thomas Street in Dublin. James worked...
. Other artists include Ed McCurdy
Ed McCurdy
Ed McCurdy was an American folk singer, songwriter, and television actor. His anti-war classic, "Last Night I Had the Strangest Dream" , inspired and gave hope to those in the peace movement.-Career:...
, Odetta
Odetta
Odetta Holmes, known as Odetta, was an American singer, actress, guitarist, songwriter, and a human rights activist, often referred to as "The Voice of the Civil Rights Movement". Her musical repertoire consisted largely of American folk music, blues, jazz, and spirituals...
, Paul Clayton, Lightnin' Hopkins
Lightnin' Hopkins
Sam John Hopkins better known as Lightnin’ Hopkins, was an American country blues singer, songwriter, guitarist and occasional pianist, from Houston, Texas...
and Etta Baker
Etta Baker
Etta Baker was an American Piedmont blues guitarist and singer from North Carolina, United States.-Biography:...
. Once the Clancy Brothers were signed to Columbia Records in 1961, the catalogue was sold, possibly to Transatlantic. In 1959 the label released "John Langstaff sings American and English Ballads". This had her husband singing, and Nancy Trowbridge on piano. Nancy later became John Langstaff's second wife. The album was rereleased by Revels Records in 2002 as "The Water Is Wide: American and British Ballads and Folksongs".
In the 1970's, Meek was involved in the founding of the Mulligan
Mulligan
A mulligan, in a game, happens when a player gets a second chance to perform a certain move or action. The practice is also sometimes referred to as a "do-over."-Mulligan in golf:...
record label, in Dublin. She may have regarded Donal Lunny
Dónal Lunny
Dónal Lunny is an Irish folk musician. Lunny has been at the forefront of the evolution of traditional Irish music for more than thirty-five years and has participated within the renaissance of traditional Irish music in that time period...
as the successor to Liam Clancy as the next standard-bearer of the authentic Irish traditional music heritage.
A passing reference to Hamilton in a California folk music magazine suggests that she was still active in Irish music as late as the early 1980s. The November–December 1982 issue of Folk Scene (Los Angeles) credits her with "the lion's share of the work" for the recording The Gathering
The Gathering
- Film and television :* The Gathering , a made-for-TV drama starring Edward Asner and Maureen Stapleton* The Gathering , a thriller/horror film starring Christina Ricci...
which features the playing of Matt Molloy
Matt Molloy
Matt Molloy is an Irish musician, from a region known for producing talented flautists. As a child, he began playing the flute and won the All-Ireland Flute Championship at only seventeen years old...
, Paul Brady
Paul Brady
Paul Joseph Brady is an Irish singer-songwriter, whose work straddles folk and pop. He was interested in a wide variety of music from an early age...
, Andy Irvine and Donal Lunny
Dónal Lunny
Dónal Lunny is an Irish folk musician. Lunny has been at the forefront of the evolution of traditional Irish music for more than thirty-five years and has participated within the renaissance of traditional Irish music in that time period...
.