Taimse Im Chodladh - Music

Brief Story I Was Born In East Belfast On The 3rd Of September 1947. The First Time I Fell In Love With Music Was Around 8 Years Old Listening To Classical Music On A Big Wireless - It Was Great To Daydream To. One Christmas When I Was 14 Or So One Of My Presents Was A Plastic Guitar - It Was Totally Unexpected. It Was Small Half Size Had Six Different Coloured Strings And Pretty Good Frets. There Was A TV Programme On In Those Days And One Of The Regulars On It Was Bert Weedon A Very Well Known Guitarist. Every Week He Would Draw A Guitar Chord On A Blackboard And Explain How To Play It. I Would Watch And Learn A New Chord Each Week. The Next Major Thing To Form My Interest In Music Was Hearing And Then Seeing Lonnie Donegan. A Friend Of Mine At School Davie Lyttle Had Lots Of Lonnie's Records And I Would Go Back To His House After School To Listen To Them-They Were Magic And I Never Tired Listening To Them Even To This Day. The Other Major Influence Was The Shadows Who Also Cast Their Spell On Me.
Eric Brian Phil Great Days!!! I Was Still Going To Orangefield Boy's Secondary School And One Lunch Break Found Out One Of The Guys In My Class Played Drums In A Shadows-Type Group. Eventually I Was Invited Up To The House Where They Rehearsed. Their Guitarist Let Me Play His Guitar - The Very First Time I Had Ever Played An Electric. A Week Later The Group Asked Me To Be Their Lead Guitarist! I Stayed For Six Months Then Joined Another Group Then Another Until An Offer To Join An Irish Showband The Bluebeats Came My Way. The Only Reason I Joined Was They Were Professional. I Said Goodbye To The Shirt Factory Where I Worked And Went To Live In Glascow Where The Bluebeats Were Based. After A Year And A Few Months Later We Returned To Belfast And Went Our Separate Ways. I Joined The Shannon Showband. Four Months Later And This Time I Had To Live In Headingly Leeds. We Played Working Men's Clubs Irish Ballrooms And Some Irish Pubs. It All Fizzled Out After A Year And A Half And I Went Back To Belfast. I Joined A Blues Group Called Shades Of Blue After Their Guitarist Had Left. A Young Man Called Gary Moore. Through Shades Of Blue I Met John Farrell A Singer From A Dublin Group Called The Movement. John Was Going To Be The Singer With A New Young Modern Irish Showband Called The Dreams. He Said I Should Go To Dublin And Audition For The Guitar Slot. I Took The Chance And Got It. After A Year And A Few Months I Left The Dreams And Decided To Form A Group. I Called It Thin Lizzy... read less