The Fureys and Davey Arthur
…a little bit of history
The Fureys Brothers are the sons Ted and Nora Fureys. Ted Furey, a fiddler and singer, was a very well known figure on the folk, and their mother Nora, was an accomplished a singer, accordion and banjo player. The Fureys grew up in Ballyfermot, a suburb of Dublin, Ireland.
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| Eddie Furey (1944- ) |
Finbar Furey (1946-) |
Paul Furey (1948-2002) |
George Furey (1951-) |
Davey Arthur (1954- ) |
1966: Finbar & Eddie relocate to Scotland and began appearing regularly in folk clubs …
1968: Finbar & Eddie's first LP is released on the Waverley label — I Know Where I'm Going, with Paddie Bell.
Their 2nd, self-titled album is also released on the Transatlantic label.
1969: The duo's 3rd LP, The Lonesome Boatman is released, also on Transatlantic. The first album that contains famous the title tune.
Finbar & Eddie join the Clancy Brothers (Paddy, Tom, Liam & Bobby) on tour. The duo also appear,un-credited, on the LP, The Clancy Brothers' Christmas. The first Clancys' first album without Tommy Makem.
1970: Finbar & Eddie appear on their 2nd album with Clancys, Flowers In The Valley. Again, un-credited. After about a year and a half, the Fureys leave the Clancys line-up.
1972: The duo releases two more albums, The Dawning of the Day & Four Green Fields.
1973: The Buskers, Paul Furey, Davey Arthur & Brendan Leeson, release their first LP — The Life Of A Man.
During this same period, Ted Furey is touring with his youngest son, George.
1974: The first "Irish Folk Festival" is held in Germany, featuring all of the Fureys in their various groups, as well as a family. Bobby Clancy also appears at this 1st Festival. In addition, a double LP of the festival is released.
The Buskers release their 2nd, self-titled ablum. By now, George has joined the line-up.
Finbar & Eddie's next LP is released, A Dream In My Hand.
1975: The second "Irish Folk Festival" is held in Germany. Appearing this time with Ted Furey (with George) and the Buskers (without Brendan Leeson). Another a double LP of the festival is released.
Eddie and Finbar do not appear at the 2nd Festival — but do release another album, I Live Not Where I Love.
1976: Eddie & Finbar release their final (double) LP, as a duo — The Farewell Album. Record One is a studio recording, and Record Two is live, with Paul & George Furey and Davey Arthur.
During this period the Buskers are involved in a car crash, Finbar and Eddie returned home. Intially Finbar, Eddie, Paul and Davey form a group called "Tam Linn" and appear at the Cambridge Festival. George eventually joins the group and they change the name to "the Furey Brothers and Davey Arthur".
1977: The Furey Brothers and Davey Arthur release two albums, Emigrant and Morning On A Distant Shore on the Polydor label. Based on the catalog numbers, these albums are released back to back. [1]
Emigrant features the Ralph McTell song, "Clare to Here" — the first of a long list of songs to be made popular by the group.
1978: Their 3rd album, Banshee, is released. Their only recording on the Irish label Dolphin.
1979: The album The Green Fields Of France is released. This is argubly the group's breakthrough LP — featuring Eric Bogle's title track. The song spends 28 weeks in the Irish Charts, reaching number one.
1981: The group releases their most successful single (worldwide), "When You Were Sweet Sixteen". The song reaches #1 in the Irish Charts, #9 in Australia & #14 in the UK Charts.
1984: Their album, Golden Days, makes the top 20 in the UK Charts.
1985: The groups next album, At The End Of The Day, makes the top 40 in the UK Charts.
1990: Finbar releases a solo album, Love Letters.
1992: Davey Arthur leaves the group. The Fureys release their first album without Davey, Winds Of Change.
1994: Finbar Furey leaves the group to pursue a solo career. The group releases their last album (to date) with Finbar, Claddagh Road.
That same year Davey Arthur releases his first solo album, Celtic Side Saddle.
1996: The Fureys release their first album without Finbar, May We All Someday Meet Again
1997: Both Davey Arthur and Finbar Furey release solo albums. Davey — Cut To The Chase, and Finbar — The Wind & The Rain.
2001: The group releases The Fureys Sing Chaplin, an album of songs written by Charlie Chaplin. This is the only album to feature Paul Furey singing lead vocals, on the song "Weeping Willows".
2002: On June 17, Paul Furey passes away, suddenly and unexpecteding, after a brief illness, at the age of 54.
Finbar appears in the Martin Scorsese film, The Gangs of New York.
2003: Davey Arthur returns for the group's 25th Anniversary Tour. Finbar is also invited to take part, but declines. [1]
2008: The Fureys and Davey release a CD and DVD titled, 30 Years On. A live performance recorded at Vicar Street, Dublin, to celebrate the band's 30th Anniversary. [1]
Notes
1 Doing the math, The Fureys celebrate all their anniversaries basing the group's beginning in 1978. Yet their first 2-albums were released in 1977. Either the ablums are mis-dated, or perhaps the group didn't start performing until 1978 …