The Irish Rovers

The Irish Rovers were one of the more popular folk-based singing groups to come out of Ireland in the mid-'60s, although they had to do it by way of Canada. As teenagers, founders George Millar (guitar, vocals, banjo) and Jimmy Ferguson (vocals) were former residents of Northern Ireland, living in Toronto, when they started singing together in 1963, originally for cigarette and beer money. It was Millar's mother who suggested, on hearing the duo rehearse, that they use the name the Irish Rovers, from the song "The Irish Rover." The duo of Millar and Ferguson became a trio with the addition of new immigrant Joe Millar (vocals, accordion), George's cousin, in 1964, and a quartet when the trio headed to Calgary, Alberta to add Will Millar (guitar, banjo, vocals) -- George's older brother, who was hosting a children's television show at the time -- to the lineup. Their original inspiration came from Tommy Makem & the Clancy Brothers, mixing shared vocals and somewhat heavier instrumental prowess. After a successful engagement at a coffee house in Calgary where they honed their act for weeks, the group headed south to the United States, where they managed to get booked into the Purple Onion in San Francisco -- where the Kingston Trio and other renowned acts had been fixtures for years -- and then to the Ice House in Pasadena. At that time, they were a straight folk act with lots of good-time songs and between-song humor about drinking and other pleasures of the flesh. And they were popular enough at both venues to end up making a circuit of the still-vibrant folk club scene across the United States, then back to Canada, and finally a return visit to the Ice House in 1966. There, they were heard by Charles "Bud" Dant, an executive with the U.S. label Decca Records, who was...