SHY GIANT, LOVED BY THE DIASPORA BUT A HOME BIRD AT HEART
THE death of the man known as the King of Country has evoked deep feelings of sadness among his fans.
In a career that spanned over 50 years, Big Tom McBride entertained thousands in dance halls in Ireland and the UK.
Born in Drumakill in Castleblaney, Co. Monaghan, Tom left school as a teenager to work on the family’s farm. A keen footballer in his younger years, he was popularly christened ‘Big Tom’ by the team manager.
It wasn’t until he moved to London that Tom began playing music. He and another young man working in the city bought a guitar between them. With no formal training they met others who could play and gradually learned the instrument.
He grew up listening to Jimmie Rodgers and Hank Williams and listed Williams alongside George Jones among his musical heroes. It was with his family that he was first heard singing Gentle Mother and it became the biggest hit of Tom’s career.
The death of his younger brother forced him to return to Ireland, a move without which he said he may never have joined The Mainliners and enjoyed his subsequent fame.
The Mainliners consisted of Tom and six other local lads who were originally a céilí band. Although they were popular in local pubs and dance halls, they shot to fame after they appeared on RTÉ’s Showband in 1966.
Unlike many of the stars of today, being in the limelight did not come naturally to shy Tom.
Gentle Mother sold more than 50,000 records in its first year and became one of the best-selling tracks in Irish country music’s history. In the late 1970s, he left the band, forming his own group, The Travellers.
Tom met his wife Rose at a concert which she attended alongside one of her friends.
The couple had four children Aisling, Thomas, Dermot and Siobhán during their marriage, which lasted over 50 years until Rose’s death in January.
Tom was close friends with songwriter Johnny McCauley and in 1980 the pair travelled to Nashville, Tennessee. It was a long trip as Tom’s fear of flying meant they had to travel there via boat, train and bus. While in Nashville they recorded 12 original songs before returning home, where Tom felt his songs were better received.
In 1989 he reunited with The Mainliners for a show in Carrickmacross, which was attended by more than 4,000 fans. His popularity endured and at the 2016 Irish Country Music Awards Tom became the first person to enter into their hall of fame.
He appeared in the first ever Late Late Show Country Music Special, another episode of which is due to take place on Friday. A farm boy at heart, Tom invested much of the money he earned from his career into buying land as well as into his hobby of repairing vintage tractors.
Just last year a bronze statue of Tom with a budget of €85,000 was commissioned by Monaghan County Council. When completed, it is set to stand in his beloved Castleblayney.