The great Brush Shiels and Skid Row
One of the most energetic performers on the Irish music scene has to be Brush Shiels who came on the scene in the mid-sixties. In his teenage years, his talent as a musician might have been equalled by football as he was a promising player with Bohemians.
Though born in Limerick in October 1945, Brush (Christian name Brendan) grew up in Dublin and began his music career as a the bass player with Dublin beat group ‘The Uptown Band’ which had been making somewhat of a name for itself in the Dublin beat group scene.
He left The Uptown Band and formed ‘Your Father’s Moustache’ which, towards the end of 1967, he changed to ‘Skid Row’. The original band had Brush (then 21) on bass, Noel Bridgeman (20) on drums, Bernard Cheevers (18) on guitar and Phil Lynott (17) on vocals. Gary Moore also became part of the band following the departure of Ben Cheevers.
In the next few years, Rory’s Gallagher’s ‘Taste’ had come out of Cork and was making a name for themselves in England; Liam McKenna was fronting ‘The Creatures’, Phil Lynott (who had started with Skid Row) & Thin Lizzy were on the rise, it looked like Van Morrisson had cracked America with his ‘Brown Eyed Girl’ and Brush Shiels & Skid Row were certainly holding their own here at home.
Brush dropped Phil Lynott from the band and, years later is on record as having said that Phil was ‘the worst bass player in the world’ (or words to that effect). The band continued as a three-piece with himself out front as lead singer. (Brush had been the original bass player but took to lead/rhythm guitar preferring to be out front on vocals). The record shows that despite having been dropped from Skid Row, Phil Lynott went on to international fame as founder, bass player and vocalist with ‘Thin Lizzy’.
34 HOURS
Skid Row released its first album titled ‘Skid’ in October 1970 and the following year, released the single ‘Night Of The Warm Witch’. Later in the year (1971) they released their second LP ’34 Hours’, so titled because it took them a mere 34 hours to record it.
Short tours of Europe and of the USA followed and a third album was recorded in the Autumn of 1971. Following a few more changes in the band, Brush Shiels teamed up with drummer John Wilson and guitarist Adrian Fisher to form ‘Brush’.
Skid Row reformed in Ireland in 1973, initially with Brush, John Wilson, singer Eamonn Gibney and guitarist Ed Deane, later adding keyboard player Kevin McAlea. Next came the ‘Bell-Brush Band’ with Brush, Eric Bell and Timmy Creedon on drums, this trio sometimes joined by Eamonn Gibney.
Several personnel changes followed over the next decade or so (along with several record releases), all too numerous to mention here, but Brush Shiels was always to the fore.
Skid Row had little commercial success outside Ireland and the UK, although ‘Skid’ reached No 30 on the UK Album Charts. Into the new millennium and Brush Shiels was still performing (on occasion) as ‘ Brush Shiels’ Skid Row’ and in 2009, Brush releasing Mad Dog Woman which had been originally titled ‘Skid Row Revisited’ through his website - an album of new material and re-recordings of Skid Row songs.
Our relief band (The Outlaws) played before Brush Shiels under different titles and line-ups, but what a ball off energy he was - and a real nice guy. On one occasion we were after playing ‘The Wild Side Of Life’ as a slow foxtrot and when we came off stage, Brush told us we were ‘doing the wrong version of the song’. “Wait until I’ll get up there and I’ll show ye what I mean,” he said. And that he did - a real hard rock version of the song and I must say, it was simply brilliant. Several of his LPs and CDs include songs like ‘Dirty Old Town’, ‘The Fields Of Athenry’, ‘Whiskey In The Jar’, ‘Danny Boy’ and other great Irish songs - all with that special Brush Shiels touch of magic.