Liam Clancy, 1935-2009

I spent a most excellent afternoon in Dublin with Liam Clancy, back in the day. He bought me Guinness and oysters at the Gresham Hotel and he told me all the stories I wanted to hear. This was around the time of the RTE programme 'Bringing It All Back Home' and it was one of those periodic moments when you get to re-evaluate Irish music and its fascinating journey.

Liam obliged by telling me about the early Sixties in New York City, when he and his brothers, plus Tommy Makem, were doing theatre productions with music. Suddenly they were in the middle of the folk revival. Liam and Bob Dylan were dating two sisters and it was all going nuclear. Brendan Behan was passing through and when Liam wasn't party to one of the great culture changes of the century, he was back in Ireland, collecting songs from the old folk.

Liam had his theories about Dylan. Most artists learn how to become professional - to turn in a reasonable performance, no matter how bad the situation is. But Liam believed that Bob had fought hard to stay amateur - to respond honestly to his emotions and his art. That was wisdom enough, but Liam also expounded on the theme of tradition. It's like the rear sight of a rifle, he explained. When you line it up with the front sight (creativity, innovation), then you're in with a chance of hitting the spot.

I saw the Clancys on stage a couple of times. They played the Dylan tribute at Madison Square Garden in 1992 and held their own with Bob, Neil Young, George Harrison, Johnny Cash, Stevie Wonder and Lou Reed. Previously, I'd seen them at Mother Redcap's in Dublin, and they recreated an older era for us. The ballads were a bit overwrought on occasions and the influence of the theatre was never far from the act. But when they regaled us with those sentimental tunes and gave us an appreciation of time's relentless passage, there was no option but to shed a quiet tear.