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THE
FUREYS & DAVEY ARTHUR ……….. 30 YEARS ON
The Fureys & Davey Arthur
celebrate their 30th anniversary this year with the release of a live
DVD / CD which was recorded in Vicar St, Dublin.
The band were formed in 1978 literally by accident. George, Paul and
Davey were playing in Denmark with their own band called the
Buskers and Eddie and Finbar, while touring in Germany were involved in
a road accident. When George, Paul and Davey got news of the
accident they immediately travelled to Germany to be with their
brothers. They then decided that they should all be playing together
and this was the start of the Fureys
and Davey Arthur.
Inevitably changes have occurred over 30 years. Their brother Paul died
suddenly in June 2002 and Finbar left the band in December 1996,
however George, Eddie and Davey Arthur have continued to delight
audiences on their tours and have been releasing a new CD every year.
They will be touring in 2008 with two superb musicians - Luke Crowley
and Dominic Leech.
The oldest of the brothers, Eddie Furey left home in 1966 and travelled
to Scotland at the time of the great folk revival where he met and
shared accommodation in Edinburgh with then unknown folk singers Billy
Connolly, Gerry Rafferty and Alex Campbell, now all famous in their own
right. In 1969 with his brother Finbar, he was the special guest for
the Clancys Brothers and Tommy Makem throughout the USA and Canada. In
1971 he moved to mainland Europe where he toured for seven years with
Finbar, building up a huge following particularly in Germany. Dave
Stewart from the Eurythmics has credited Eddie as teaching him his
first chords on guitar when they met up in the North East of England
while Dave was still a teenager.
The band became an instant success and had a string of hits including
When you were Sweet Sixteen, The Green Fields of France, Red Rose Café,
The Old Man, Steal Away, Her Father didn't like me anyway, Clare to
Here and Leaving Nancy.
The Fureys &
Davey Arthur are responsible for some of the most stirring
music ever to capture the public imagination. Their folk based music
has received standing ovations in some of the biggest concert halls of
the world and they credit their musical ability to their parents, Ted
and Nora, who were well known musicians themselves. They encouraged
their sons to play music from a very early age and there was live
traditional music in their house almost nightly.
Over the years some of their greatest admirers have ranged from the
neighbours they grew up with in Ballyfermot to the top sports people
and politicians of the world and have performed for leaders such as
former Australian Prime Minister John Howard, Irish President Mary
McAleese and Pope John Paul. Tony Blair has publicly stated that his
favourite peace song of all time is the Fureys "Green Fields of France".
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