Jimmy McCarthy
Encyclopedia
James "Jimmy" MacCarthy is a singer/songwriter born in Macroom
, County Cork
, Ireland.
MacCarthy left school at 15 where he was unhappy, without an Inter Cert and became a stable boy at Vincent O'Brien's place in Ballydoyle, but after five years between Tipperary and Newmarket Jimmy returned home to help his father whose bad heart led to the end of the business.
He then made a living out of singing at pubs, and was later busking in the streets of London and during occasional slots. He opened other singers' gigs in Ireland.
In 1995 Jimmy MacCarthy bought a house in Wicklow, which was unfortunately destroyed by a recent blaze along with other recording studios (outhouses) set up by MacCarthy.
MacCarthy now resides in Kilkenny in a house he bought in 2006
, Mary Black
, Finbar Wright
, Maura O'Connell
, The Corrs
and Westlife
. "Ride On", recorded by Christy Moore, is one of his best known compositions. Moore also recorded MacCarthy's songs "Missing You
", "Bright Blue Rose" and "Mystic Lipstick". Mary Black, Maura O'Connell and The Corrs have recorded MacCarthy's "No Frontiers", while Black has also recorded his songs "Katie", "Adam at the Window", "Diamond Days", "As I Leave Behind Neidin", "Shuffle Of the Buckled" and "Another Day." MacCarthy also co-wrote Westlife
's "Angel's Wings." This track was meant to be a Christmas single for Westlife
during that year but the band chose a different song. Jimmy believes that if Westlife
released "Angel's Wings" as a single the chances were that it could have became a number one hit and it would have been nice to have a song at the top of the UK charts.
" in 1981 under Mulligan Records. The same year a second single was put out through the same label, which was titled "Like In The Movies". This was after being in a band called "Southpaw" with Declan Sinnott in the late 1970s.
A long time fan of The Beatles
, in October 1999 Jimmy MacCarthy played at the National Concert Hall
, Dublin as a special guest with the "fifth Beatle" George Martin
. He performed a cover of The Beatles' song "She's Leaving Home
".
In his career Jimmy has toured with De Dannan
and worked with the best producers such as Donal Lunny
and many more.
Up to 2002, Jimmy MacCarthy released three albums of his own. The Song of the Singing Horseman (1991), The Dreamer (1994) and The Moment (2002). His debut album, The Song of the Singing Horseman has been described as having a "masterly blend of pop melodies, trad fiddles, Spanish guitars, country-and-western rhythms and chamber-music strings." MacCarthy's third album, The Moment, features co-writers on five of its tracks, including a song written with Graham Lyle (the songwriter of Tina Turner
's "What's Love Got to Do with It?"). More firmly a pop-rock album than his first two recordings, the music on The Moment is predominately guitar and keyboard based.
Jimmy released his fourth album Hey Ho Believe on 25
October
2010.
More recently Jimmy's songs have been covered by newer artists such as The Celtic Tenors, Michelle Lally
, and Tommy O'Sullivan.
, Frances Black
, Mary Black
, Christy Moore
, Maura O Connell and Mary Coughlan
which they named Warmer For The Spark; the songs of Jimmy MacCarthy Volume One. Jimmy wrote every song on this album and sang two of his own.
in April 2008 for his achievements in song writing. He was only the third person in the town's history to be awarded the freedom of the town. He was given the keys by mayor Pat O'Connell.
, Ronan Keating
and Brian Kennedy
. Jimmy MacCarthy's song "Wonder Child" was put on this album.
Jimmy MacCarthy will also be co-writing songs on Marc Robert's upcoming fourth album.
, the Cork Opera House
and Galway Town Hall.
On 4 July Jimmy played at Kenmare
, County Kerry
, which is the town known as "Neidin", in Irish, after which MacCarthy named his classic hit "As I Leave Behind Neidin". Manager of the Carnegie Arts Centre Deryn O'Callaghan has said that after remembering the town in one of his songs Jimmy MacCarthy will have a warm welcome in playing at this venue.
Jimmy has also stated in a recent interview that he feels more relaxed now in preparation for playing gigs in Ireland once again. He has over 100 new songs written and plans to release a new album. The new album Hey Ho Believe was released on 25
October
2010 and feature a new producer Donal Lunny
. Other musicians that play on the album include Eoin O'Neill, Anto Drennan, Graham Henderson and more.
Jimmy performed at Dublin's National Concert Hall
in March 2010 following his big selling concert at this same venue in June 2009.
He will be playing the Concert Hall again on 29 November 2010 and a few other venues from now and until well into 2011. Currently he is hoping to play at Glor Theatre in Clare. This is scheduled to be sometime in March but no specific date has been given yet. Dates for this and more upcoming gigs can be found on Jimmy's official website.
Singles include:
All the singles are now out of print.
Macroom
Macroom is a market town in Ireland located in a valley on the River Sullane, a tributary of the River Lee, between Cork and Killarney. It is one of the key gateways to the tourist region of West Cork. The town recorded a population on 3,553 in the 2006 national census...
, County Cork
County Cork
County Cork is a county in Ireland. It is located in the South-West Region and is also part of the province of Munster. It is named after the city of Cork . Cork County Council is the local authority for the county...
, Ireland.
Early life and career
Jimmy MacCarthy was born in 1953 to Ted (died 1998) and Betty MacCarthy (died 2009). He has 11 siblings. The family had a business distributing newspapers and magazines all over Munster. However the family soon lost their business from a combination of bad health and bad luck. Despite this Ted and Betty made sure that things would still be good for their children.MacCarthy left school at 15 where he was unhappy, without an Inter Cert and became a stable boy at Vincent O'Brien's place in Ballydoyle, but after five years between Tipperary and Newmarket Jimmy returned home to help his father whose bad heart led to the end of the business.
He then made a living out of singing at pubs, and was later busking in the streets of London and during occasional slots. He opened other singers' gigs in Ireland.
In 1995 Jimmy MacCarthy bought a house in Wicklow, which was unfortunately destroyed by a recent blaze along with other recording studios (outhouses) set up by MacCarthy.
MacCarthy now resides in Kilkenny in a house he bought in 2006
Songwriting
Jimmy MacCarthy is best known as a songwriter. Composing since the late 1970s, his songs have been recorded by many Irish artists including Christy MooreChristy Moore
Christopher Andrew "Christy" Moore is a popular Irish folk singer, songwriter, and guitarist. He is well known as one of the founding members of Planxty and Moving Hearts...
, Mary Black
Mary Black
Mary Black is an Irish singer. She is well known as an interpreter of both folk and contemporary material which has made her a major recording artist in her native Ireland, and in many other parts of the world....
, Finbar Wright
Finbar Wright
Edward Finbar Wright , known popularly as Finbar Wright, is a popular music singer, songwriter, poet from County Cork, Ireland....
, Maura O'Connell
Maura O'Connell
Maura O'Connell is an Irish singer and actress. She is known for her contemporary interpretations of Irish folk songs, strongly influenced by American country music.-Background:...
, The Corrs
The Corrs
The Corrs are an Irish band which combine pop rock with traditional Celtic folk music. The brother and sisters are from Dundalk, Ireland. The group consists of the Corr siblings: Andrea ; Sharon ; Caroline ; and Jim .The Corrs came to international prominence with their performance at the...
and Westlife
Westlife
Westlife are an Irish boy band established on 3 July 1998. They are to disband in 2012. The group's line-up was Nicky Byrne, Kian Egan, Mark Feehily, Shane Filan, and Brian McFadden . The group are the only act in British and Irish history to have their first seven singles peak at number one...
. "Ride On", recorded by Christy Moore, is one of his best known compositions. Moore also recorded MacCarthy's songs "Missing You
Missing You (Christy Moore song)
Missing You is a folk song written by one of Ireland's best contemporary songwriters Jimmy MacCarthy in the 1980s. This song has been popularized by Christy Moore....
", "Bright Blue Rose" and "Mystic Lipstick". Mary Black, Maura O'Connell and The Corrs have recorded MacCarthy's "No Frontiers", while Black has also recorded his songs "Katie", "Adam at the Window", "Diamond Days", "As I Leave Behind Neidin", "Shuffle Of the Buckled" and "Another Day." MacCarthy also co-wrote Westlife
Westlife
Westlife are an Irish boy band established on 3 July 1998. They are to disband in 2012. The group's line-up was Nicky Byrne, Kian Egan, Mark Feehily, Shane Filan, and Brian McFadden . The group are the only act in British and Irish history to have their first seven singles peak at number one...
's "Angel's Wings." This track was meant to be a Christmas single for Westlife
Westlife
Westlife are an Irish boy band established on 3 July 1998. They are to disband in 2012. The group's line-up was Nicky Byrne, Kian Egan, Mark Feehily, Shane Filan, and Brian McFadden . The group are the only act in British and Irish history to have their first seven singles peak at number one...
during that year but the band chose a different song. Jimmy believes that if Westlife
Westlife
Westlife are an Irish boy band established on 3 July 1998. They are to disband in 2012. The group's line-up was Nicky Byrne, Kian Egan, Mark Feehily, Shane Filan, and Brian McFadden . The group are the only act in British and Irish history to have their first seven singles peak at number one...
released "Angel's Wings" as a single the chances were that it could have became a number one hit and it would have been nice to have a song at the top of the UK charts.
Music
While his music has been described as folky power-pop it can also be classed as folk-rock. Prior to embarking on a lengthy career as a singer/songwriter in Ireland Jimmy MacCarthy released his first single "Miles of EyesMiles of Eyes
Miles of Eyes is the debut single released by Irish singer/songwriter Jimmy MacCarthy in 1981 under Mulligan Records.-Summary:This song was Jimmy's first hit before recording hits for many other popular Irish artists such as Christy Moore, Mary Black and Maura O' Connell in the years that followed....
" in 1981 under Mulligan Records. The same year a second single was put out through the same label, which was titled "Like In The Movies". This was after being in a band called "Southpaw" with Declan Sinnott in the late 1970s.
A long time fan of The Beatles
The Beatles
The Beatles were an English rock band, active throughout the 1960s and one of the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed acts in the history of popular music. Formed in Liverpool, by 1962 the group consisted of John Lennon , Paul McCartney , George Harrison and Ringo Starr...
, in October 1999 Jimmy MacCarthy played at the National Concert Hall
National Concert Hall
The National Concert Hall is a concert hall located on Earlsfort Terrace in Dublin, Ireland, close to St. Stephen's Green, and is the principal national venue for classical music concerts in Ireland....
, Dublin as a special guest with the "fifth Beatle" George Martin
George Martin
Sir George Henry Martin CBE is an English record producer, arranger, composer and musician. He is sometimes referred to as "the Fifth Beatle"— a title that he often describes as "nonsense," but the fact remains that he served as producer on all but one of The Beatles' original albums...
. He performed a cover of The Beatles' song "She's Leaving Home
She's Leaving Home
"She's Leaving Home" is a song credited to Lennon–McCartney and released in 1967 on The Beatles album Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band. McCartney wrote and sang the verse and Lennon the chorus...
".
In his career Jimmy has toured with De Dannan
De Dannan
De Dannan was an Irish folk music group. They were formed by Frankie Gavin , Alec Finn , Johnny "Ringo" McDonagh and Charlie Piggott as a result of sessions in Hughes's Pub in An Spidéal, County Galway, subsequently inviting Dolores Keane to join the band...
and worked with the best producers such as 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...
and many more.
Up to 2002, Jimmy MacCarthy released three albums of his own. The Song of the Singing Horseman (1991), The Dreamer (1994) and The Moment (2002). His debut album, The Song of the Singing Horseman has been described as having a "masterly blend of pop melodies, trad fiddles, Spanish guitars, country-and-western rhythms and chamber-music strings." MacCarthy's third album, The Moment, features co-writers on five of its tracks, including a song written with Graham Lyle (the songwriter of Tina Turner
Tina Turner
Tina Turner is an American singer and actress whose career has spanned more than 50 years. She has won numerous awards and her achievements in the rock music genre have led many to call her the "Queen of Rock 'n' Roll".Turner started out her music career with husband Ike Turner as a member of the...
's "What's Love Got to Do with It?"). More firmly a pop-rock album than his first two recordings, the music on The Moment is predominately guitar and keyboard based.
Jimmy released his fourth album Hey Ho Believe on 25
25
Year 25 was a common year starting on Monday of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Lentulus and Agrippa...
October
October
October is the tenth month of the year in the Julian and Gregorian Calendars and one of seven months with a length of 31 days. The eighth month in the old Roman calendar, October retained its name after January and February were inserted into the calendar that had originally been created by the...
2010.
More recently Jimmy's songs have been covered by newer artists such as The Celtic Tenors, Michelle Lally
Michelle Lally
-Biography:Limerick born Lally is a singer from Ireland. She has covered several renditions of contemporary easy listening Irish traditional songs.-Musical career:...
, and Tommy O'Sullivan.
Warmer for the Spark
In 1998 Jimmy MacCarthy released an album together with Tommy FlemingTommy Fleming
Tommy Fleming is an Irish singer and philanthropist. He rose to fame in the early 1990s after he was asked to tour the US with Phil Coulter. He soon established himself as a solo artist, he found his greatest success singing traditional Irish music with his forceful and dynamic bel canto tenor...
, Frances Black
Frances Black
Frances Black is an award-winning Irish singer. A pure vocal tone and an energetic stage presence has made Black one of Ireland’s most popular singers...
, Mary Black
Mary Black
Mary Black is an Irish singer. She is well known as an interpreter of both folk and contemporary material which has made her a major recording artist in her native Ireland, and in many other parts of the world....
, Christy Moore
Christy Moore
Christopher Andrew "Christy" Moore is a popular Irish folk singer, songwriter, and guitarist. He is well known as one of the founding members of Planxty and Moving Hearts...
, Maura O Connell and Mary Coughlan
Mary Coughlan (singer)
Mary Coughlan is an Irish jazz and folk singer and actress. She has received great acclamation in her native country, for her emotional and heartfelt jazzy musical renditions.-Background:...
which they named Warmer For The Spark; the songs of Jimmy MacCarthy Volume One. Jimmy wrote every song on this album and sang two of his own.
Freedom of Macroom
MacCarthy was awarded the keys of MacroomMacroom
Macroom is a market town in Ireland located in a valley on the River Sullane, a tributary of the River Lee, between Cork and Killarney. It is one of the key gateways to the tourist region of West Cork. The town recorded a population on 3,553 in the 2006 national census...
in April 2008 for his achievements in song writing. He was only the third person in the town's history to be awarded the freedom of the town. He was given the keys by mayor Pat O'Connell.
Current Work (2002-Present)
In 2007 a charity album named Tuesdays Child was released which included MacCarthy as well as Irish artists WestlifeWestlife
Westlife are an Irish boy band established on 3 July 1998. They are to disband in 2012. The group's line-up was Nicky Byrne, Kian Egan, Mark Feehily, Shane Filan, and Brian McFadden . The group are the only act in British and Irish history to have their first seven singles peak at number one...
, Ronan Keating
Ronan Keating
Ronan Patrick John Keating is an Irish recording artist, singer-songwriter, musician, and philanthropist. Keating debuted on the professional music scene alongside Keith Duffy, Mikey Graham, Shane Lynch and Stephen Gately, in 1994 as the lead singer of Boyzone. His solo career started in 1999, and...
and Brian Kennedy
Brian Kennedy (singer)
Brian Edward Patrick Kennedy is an Irish singer-songwriter and author, known for his ballads, and has represented Ireland at Eurovision 2006. He is the younger brother of musician Bap Kennedy.-Personal life:...
. Jimmy MacCarthy's song "Wonder Child" was put on this album.
Jimmy MacCarthy will also be co-writing songs on Marc Robert's upcoming fourth album.
Returning Performances (2008-Present)
MacCarthy returned to performing in 2008 initially with a band consisting of Eleanor Healy (bass and vocals) and Martin Leahy (percussion and drums) to great acclaim. More recently he has been performing solo at venues throughout Ireland. He plans to perform new songs along with all of his classic hits. In summer 2009 he played his first tour of gigs at big venues such as the National Concert HallNational Concert Hall
The National Concert Hall is a concert hall located on Earlsfort Terrace in Dublin, Ireland, close to St. Stephen's Green, and is the principal national venue for classical music concerts in Ireland....
, the Cork Opera House
Cork Opera House
Cork Opera House is a theatre and opera house in Cork in the Republic of Ireland. It was originally built in 1855, although its existence has not been continuous; having survived the burning of much of Cork by British forces in reprisal for an ambush of a military convoy in 1920 by Irish rebels,...
and Galway Town Hall.
On 4 July Jimmy played at Kenmare
Kenmare
Kenmare is a small town in the south of County Kerry, Ireland. The name Kenmare is the anglicised form of Ceann Mara meaning "head of the sea", referring to the head of Kenmare Bay.-Location:...
, County Kerry
County Kerry
Kerry means the "people of Ciar" which was the name of the pre-Gaelic tribe who lived in part of the present county. The legendary founder of the tribe was Ciar, son of Fergus mac Róich. In Old Irish "Ciar" meant black or dark brown, and the word continues in use in modern Irish as an adjective...
, which is the town known as "Neidin", in Irish, after which MacCarthy named his classic hit "As I Leave Behind Neidin". Manager of the Carnegie Arts Centre Deryn O'Callaghan has said that after remembering the town in one of his songs Jimmy MacCarthy will have a warm welcome in playing at this venue.
Jimmy has also stated in a recent interview that he feels more relaxed now in preparation for playing gigs in Ireland once again. He has over 100 new songs written and plans to release a new album. The new album Hey Ho Believe was released on 25
25
Year 25 was a common year starting on Monday of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Lentulus and Agrippa...
October
October
October is the tenth month of the year in the Julian and Gregorian Calendars and one of seven months with a length of 31 days. The eighth month in the old Roman calendar, October retained its name after January and February were inserted into the calendar that had originally been created by the...
2010 and feature a new producer 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...
. Other musicians that play on the album include Eoin O'Neill, Anto Drennan, Graham Henderson and more.
Jimmy performed at Dublin's National Concert Hall
National Concert Hall
The National Concert Hall is a concert hall located on Earlsfort Terrace in Dublin, Ireland, close to St. Stephen's Green, and is the principal national venue for classical music concerts in Ireland....
in March 2010 following his big selling concert at this same venue in June 2009.
He will be playing the Concert Hall again on 29 November 2010 and a few other venues from now and until well into 2011. Currently he is hoping to play at Glor Theatre in Clare. This is scheduled to be sometime in March but no specific date has been given yet. Dates for this and more upcoming gigs can be found on Jimmy's official website.
Discography
- The Song of the Singing HorsemanThe Song of the Singing HorsemanThe Song Of The Singing Horseman is the first album of Irish singer songwriter Jimmy MacCarthy. The album was released in 1991 by Mulligan Records and it includes many of the popular songs MacCarthy wrote during the first ten years of his career including "Ride On", "Mystic Lipstick", "Bright Blue...
(1991) - The DreamerThe Dreamer (Jimmy MacCarthy album)The Dreamer is the second album by Irish singer/songwriter Jimmy MacCarthy, released in 1994 by Sony Music Ireland.-Track listing:# "Adam At The Window" - 5:25# "Shadowy" - 3:37# "Lorraine" - 4:03# "The Highest Point" - 5:13...
(1994) - The MomentThe Moment (Jimmy MacCarthy album)The Moment is the third album by Irish singer/songwriter Jimmy MacCarthy, released in 2002 by his own record label, Ride On Records.-Track listing:# "The Music of Love" - 4:18# "The Moment" - 3:22# "Juggler" - 4:04# "Original Doubt" - 4:11...
(2002) - Hey-Ho BelieveHey-Ho BelieveHey-Ho Believe is the fourth album by Irish singer/songwriter Jimmy MacCarthy. It was released on 12 November 2010 through his own label Ride On Records, the same label used for the previous album The Moment. The tracklisting was announced via MacCarthy's official website.-Chart reception:The album...
(2010)
Singles include:
- "Miles of EyesMiles of EyesMiles of Eyes is the debut single released by Irish singer/songwriter Jimmy MacCarthy in 1981 under Mulligan Records.-Summary:This song was Jimmy's first hit before recording hits for many other popular Irish artists such as Christy Moore, Mary Black and Maura O' Connell in the years that followed....
", which has "Shuffle of the Buckled" on the B-side (Mulligan, 1981). - "Like In The Movies", which also included a B-Side "Cherry Blossom Blue" (Mulligan, 1981).
- "Adam At The Window" with B-Side "The Grip Of Parallel" (Solid Records, 1987).
- "Mystic Lipstick", taken from The Song Of The Singing Horseman. Also included the songs "A Hard Man To Follow" and "On My Enchanted Sight". (Mulligan, 1991).
- "Lorraine", taken from the album The Dreamer (Sony Music, 1994)
- "My Singing Bird" taken from Warmer For The Spark (Dara Records, 1998) also had the song "The Mad Lady and Me".
- "The Contender", which had "My Singing Bird" as a B-Side (Ride On Records).
- "The People of West Cork and Kerry", which had '"The Sky Road" on the B-Side (Ride On Records).
- "The Music Of Love", taken from The Moment (Ride On Records, 2002)
- "Hey Ho Believe", promotional track taken from the forthcoming album. Currently unavailable as a physical single but used for airplay. Includes a B-Side "Christian Telephone" (2010)
All the singles are now out of print.
External links
- Official Website
- http://daz.com/artists/Jimmy%20Maccarthy.html
- http://cdbaby.com/cd/keogh
- http://www.mtv.com/lyrics/westlife/angels_wings/8434459/lyrics.jhtml Angel's Wings
- http://daz.com/artists/Jimmy%20Maccarthy.html Jimmy MacCarthy's History
- http://www.rambles.net/maccarthy_rideon02.html Jimmy MacCarthy, Ride On
- Listing of Songs