# Ronnie Drew RIP



## The_Banker (17 Aug 2008)

A great musician, a great Dub and a great Irish man who was at the fore front of the Irish folk revival in the 60s. He proved that you did not have to sing about republicanism or the IRA to make Irish music great.

7 drunken nights was a classic.

"The Ballad of Ronnie Drew" released early this year as a tribute to the man (while a poor song) was brilliant because the whos who of Irish music paid tribute to the man and therefore he knew that he had been recognised by his peers.

Now all that is left is for the Dublin City Council to enact the last line of the song and "build a statue of Ronnie Drew holding the hand of a girl in a black velvet band" in St Stephens Green.

As a Cork person it is not often that I would call a Dub a "A True Legend" but in this case it is perfectly apt.


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## DeclanP (17 Aug 2008)

Have to say that he was unique and could mix it with anybody. Pity RTE didn't do a tribute programme to him last night instead of having to watch that Failte Towers rubbish. Still have the video tape of the Late Late Show tribute 12 years ago and play it regularly. Wonderful stuff. He had a terrible last couple of years but it would be true to say that life owes him nothing.


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## juke (17 Aug 2008)

Having listened to "an evening" her courtesy of youtube  \9 and MrC)
but cab]n link..

he was a legend      ol triangle......................


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## PMU (17 Aug 2008)

The_Banker said:


> A great musician, a great Dub and a great Irish man who was at the fore front of the Irish folk revival in the 60s.


 Gimme a break! Like a lot of people with nothing better to do than hang out in pubs, the Dubliners/ Drew started out singing in pubs and finished up singing in pubs.  No great achievement there.  Their UK hits - Seven Drunken Nights / Paddy works on the railway - were the worst sort of stage Irish bogus paddywhackery.  Nothing to be proud of there.  They really were nothing more than a sort of Irish version of Chas & Dave. Inoffensive and inconsequential.


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## Caveat (17 Aug 2008)

The_Banker said:


> He proved that you did not have to sing about republicanism or the IRA to make Irish music great.


 
Not really, because he _did_ sing about these things from time to time.


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## heretohelp (17 Aug 2008)

PMU said:


> Gimme a break! Like a lot of people with nothing better to do than hang out in pubs, the Dubliners/ Drew started out singing in pubs and finished up singing in pubs. No great achievement there.


 
Have some respect for the dead.


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## z106 (17 Aug 2008)

PMU said:


> Gimme a break! Like a lot of people with nothing better to do than hang out in pubs, the Dubliners/ Drew started out singing in pubs and finished up singing in pubs. No great achievement there.


 
I'd say you'd want to brush up on your research there PMU.


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## mercman (17 Aug 2008)

PMU said:


> Gimme a break! Like a lot of people with nothing better to do than hang out in pubs, the Dubliners/ Drew started out singing in pubs and finished up singing in pubs.  No great achievement there.  Their UK hits - Seven Drunken Nights / Paddy works on the railway - were the worst sort of stage Irish bogus paddywhackery.  Nothing to be proud of there.  They really were nothing more than a sort of Irish version of Chas & Dave. Inoffensive and inconsequential.



PMU - this comment is a bit rich, Wake up and smell the coffee. An Ambassador for Ireland for the past over 30 years who kept the Irish proud even in the darkest times. I presume you certainly you are no Super Star. Crawl back to where you came from.


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## miselemeas (17 Aug 2008)

Ronnie Drew Tribute on RTE at the moment


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## The_Banker (17 Aug 2008)

PMU said:


> Gimme a break! Like a lot of people with nothing better to do than hang out in pubs, the Dubliners/ Drew started out singing in pubs and finished up singing in pubs. No great achievement there. Their UK hits - Seven Drunken Nights / Paddy works on the railway - were the worst sort of stage Irish bogus paddywhackery. Nothing to be proud of there. They really were nothing more than a sort of Irish version of Chas & Dave. Inoffensive and inconsequential.


 
Your a class act. 

The measure of the impact someone made when they were alive is reflected by the tributes paid to them after they are gone.

Have a read of todays papers, read the tributes from The President, The Taoiseach and the people who have reached the pinnacle of the music industry. 

I hope when your gone you make such an impact.

By the way, Chas and Dave probably have more class than you.


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## Bubbly Scot (18 Aug 2008)

The_Banker said:


> A great musician, a great Dub and a great Irish man who was at the fore front of the Irish folk revival in the 60s. He proved that you did not have to sing about republicanism or the IRA to make Irish music great.
> 
> 7 drunken nights was a classic.
> 
> ...


 
A beautiful tribute, Banker. While I'm not a Dubliners fan my other half is and were were both saddened to hear of his passing.


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## MrMan (18 Aug 2008)

He was never really my cup of tea but I do realise that he had a lot of followers and I did enjoy some performances. There's no fear of his legacy and if some people didn't like him it should be ok to say so, this respect the dead stuff is rubbish and often hypocritical. It would be disrespectful to say you liked someone when you didn't just because they have passed.


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## Betsy Og (18 Aug 2008)

There was a good tribute on RTE last night, didnt watch it all but there had been a Luke Kelly/Dubliners tribute on a few months back - on BBC3, ITV3 or one of those - which covered the same ground. 

Ronnie had a very disctinctive voice and was probably the epitome of a certain "craic and the porter black" philosophy of ballad singing, certainly after Luke Kelly's death he was surely the front runner. 

I'd disagree with those who think there wasnt artistic merit in the music, 7 drunken nights wouldnt be my favourite, but buy a complilation and see if you cant appreciate at least parts of it. The point was made last night that at the time in the 60's it popularised Irish music that had been written off, it was seen as backward, a bit like how the language was thrown aside.

I think this music is going to be more popular in the years to come, and with the advent of relative peace among our nordy friends, the rebel element of the music is no longer so taboo (though I think most songs about the "Troubles" should be left on the shelf for a while yet).

As I said about the recent Late Late Tribute, that it had the feeling of a living wake, so it turned out but wasnt it great to show the guy that he was appreciated while still alive. For the next generation of this music check out Damien Dempsey's Rocky Road album.


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## dodo (18 Aug 2008)

I thought he was good but he was no Luke Kelly, also he was born in Wicklow
RIP Ronnie you deserve  the rest.


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## heretohelp (18 Aug 2008)

MrMan said:


> this respect the dead stuff is rubbish and often hypocritical.


 how is it hypocritical????


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## MrMan (18 Aug 2008)

heretohelp said:


> MrMan said:
> 
> 
> > this respect the dead stuff is rubbish and often hypocritical.
> ...


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## BillK (18 Aug 2008)

Good obituary for him in today's Daily Telegraph; quite a tribute given that the newspaper tends to be a tad right-wing.


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## LDFerguson (18 Aug 2008)

dodo said:


> I thought he was good but he was no Luke Kelly, also he was born in Wicklow
> RIP Ronnie you deserve the rest.


 
Wasn't he born around Dun Laoghaire / Monkstown but lived much of his married life in Greystones?


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## Caveat (19 Aug 2008)

LDFerguson said:


> Wasn't he born around Dun Laoghaire / Monkstown...


 
Correct.


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## Simeon (19 Aug 2008)

A "tad" right-wing? Hmmmmm! 


BillK said:


> Good obituary for him in today's Daily Telegraph; quite a tribute given that the newspaper tends to be a tad right-wing.


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