This day in music - November 11, 1998: Paddy Clancy of the Clancy Brothers dies at age 76

By Richard K. Barry

Okay, I just have to do this one. I grew up a huge Clancy Brothers fan. Tommy Makem along with Paddy, Tom, and Liam Clancy were responsible for a lot of the music I listened to growing up and for my continuing love of Irish music and folk music in general.

The group had their heyday in the 1960s, but got together in various configurations thereafter, including with younger family members, as you'll see below.

I know this will sound defensive, but I can talk classic rock, blues, R&B, and jazz with the best of them, but Irish traditional music is right up there with my other favourites.

And for the purists in the crowd, whatever you may think of them, you can't deny that the Clancy Brothers popularized Irish music in the United States in their early days to an incredible extent. It is also sometimes forgotten what at important influence they were on a young Bob Dylan.

Paddy was the eldest of the brothers and was often the spokesperson for the group.

Here he is with a version of "Mountain Dew," with brothers Tom and Bobby and nephew Robbie, recorded in 1988.

(Cross-posted at Lippmann's Ghost.)