Conference tallis::celt

1537.0. "Hamish Imlach" by ULYSSE::NIMMO () Thu Jan 04 1996 09:56

    I just saw a snippet in the news that Hamish Imlach died recently. 
    
    Does anybody have any more information? Had he been ill for long?
    
    Hamish was a Scottish folk singer, well known for his bawdy ballads.
    His trademark was his gravelly voice and one of the filthiest
    laughs in the business.
    
    Hamish was one of the best known singers when Scottish folk music was
    going through a bit of a revival in the late sixties and early
    seventies. Whilst groups like the Corries, McCalmans etc were focussing
    mainly on traditional folk music, Hamish concentrated more on the
    humorous side ( together with artists like Matt McGinn,Watt Nicol etc.)
    
    One memory I have of him was when I went to a concert in a small church
    hall to see an unknown group called Planxty ( well they were unknown
    then! ), headed by Christy Moore. It was one of the Fringe concerts
    during the Edinburgh Festival. 
    
    Hamish came in after he had finished one of his shows, sat down and
    proceeded to drink out of a bottle which was ( and remained ) wrapped
    in a brown paper bag. He did offer it to a few of us sat
    nearby but we declined. I guess we valued our livers too much ( at least
    we did then! ).
    
    Thinking about it I guess it's a suprise he lived this long. 
    
    Anyway => RIP, Hamish!!
    
    P.S. Maybe they'll re-release some of his work - I'd be interested if
    any of you hear anything about this.
    
    
    
    
    
    
    

    I hadn't heard this news. I saw him a do a gig only last year in the
    Wellington pub in Ayr. A great night was had by all. He told the story
    about his song `Sonny' which was never a hit for him but it launched
    Mary Black's career. He sang the song the way it was supposed to be
    sung, a soft beautiful ballad about a mother asking her son not to leave 
    home, not the the Karaoke-like versions you hear in pubs and clubs....
    
    this is indeed sad news....
    
    Ray....

Which reminds me that there was a program about Jon Heaney on RTE a few
evening ago.  It seems he was some character too!  I was disappointed
that they didn't dredge up the interview he did with Merv. Griffin on
network TV where he "spoke his mind" as Liam Clancy put it.  Classic
stuff.  Not classic what he did with the wife and kids though...

                           James.

    Ray,
    
    Thanks for the "Sonny" info.  I've always liked this song, but never 
    knew who wrote it.  I first heard it sung by a man on one of my 
    Irish/celtic/ballad albums.  I've also heard the Mary Black version
    on "Heart of a Woman" and it is sung similiar to my first reference.
    I'm curious to hear how Hamish intended it to be sung.
    
    My kids love the part ..."daddy, the sailor, never came home".
    
    
    Cheers,
    Paul