Ireland - Comhaltas Archive

TREOIRdid anything mean; he didn't knowhow," the 7 I-year old musician saidfrom his home in Kilmaley, Co. Clare."It was a good bunch of lads in theTulla . They were on time, and theydid what they should, all because ofhim. P. Joe believed he was part of thebest band in the world."Preston mentioned another. moreprivate side of Hayes - his spirituality."When we got in the car for a trip to,say, Dublin, we'd say the rosary. You hadto bring your rosary beads with youwhen you went with the Tulla on a longjourney. We said it aloud in the car:'Money was never a priority for bandmembers back then. "We used to geta pound a person," Preston said."Then it came up to two pounds, andif we went to Sligo, we might getabout three pounds ten." Thedistribution of money was asegalitarian as the band itself. "If P. Joegot a penny for playing the night,"O 'Loughlin recalled, "you got thesame thing."2 Seminal RecordingsDuring their swing through New YorkCity in the winter of 1958, the TullaCeili Band cut an album, "Echoes ofErin". Originally released by DublinRecords, it was done in just fourhours. "We had to get out of thestudio because a rock-and-roll bandwas due in after us," Preston said.Among the dozen tracks on the LPwas one solo:"Cottage Groves/SallyGardens" by Martin Mulhaire onbutton accordion. "For whateverreason, the record company neededthree more minutes of music, andbecause the band had already goneback to Ireland, they stuck me inthere with a drummer and pianoplayer," said Mulhaire. "I remembernervously watching the minute handon a big studio clock going around:'Mulhaire, who had decided to stay inNew York City, couldn't listen past thefirst track of the LP when it came out."It tore the heart out of me," he said."My life had taken a whole new turn."For those lucky enough to owncopies of the Dublin LP orsubsequent Shamrock release, themusic performed by Tulla touringmembers Mulhaire, Hayes, Preston,Seamus Cooley, John Reid, JohnO 'Shaughnessy, and Dr. Bill Loughnanerepresented ceili-band music at itspinnacle. It remains a coveted classicand collectible.The late P J. Hayes performs with his sonMartin at the 1996 Green Unnet Irish MusicParty in Monticel/o, N. Y.A year later, fiddler P.J. Hayes andfellow Tulla Ceili Band membersPaddy Canny on fiddle and PeadarO 'Loughlin on flute joined BridieLafferty on piano to record in Dublin.That pioneering LP was entitled "AII­Ireland Champions - Violin: MeetPaddy Canny & P.J. Hayes" (DublinRecord), and O'Loughlin remembersthe difficult circumstances underwhich it was made."We were unrehearsed, we knewvery little about recording, and wehad one hour to do the whole thing,"he said. "Then we had to leave beforefinishing, so the next day we had tofind another studio in Dublin tocomplete the record. We made it forthe big sum of 40 pounds. That's 10pounds each."It's regarded as one of the greatestalbums of Irish traditionalinstrumental music ever made. "Thatrecording will always be abenchmark," said Ennis-based buttonaccordionist Paul Brock, who knewHayes since the early 1950s. "Itexposed people to the beauty of EastClare music, to the gorgeous tuneselections on it, and to themusicianship of those four playersin full flight and in total sympathy withone another. It was a defining momentin Irish music.Lasting Legacy"A real slice of history has gone,"observed Boston button accordionistJoe Derrane after hearing of Hayes'spassing. Derrane had met him andhis wife, Peggy, twice in New York'sCatskills. "It's a very big loss to themusic."Besides the three recordingsmentioned earlier, Hayes has left uswith other Tulla Ceili Band albums, a1990 duet with his son Martin called"The Shores of Lough Graney", andguest appearances on solo releases byMartin and East Clare concertinistMary McNamara. There's also "TheIrish Folk Fest from WolfTrap", avideo-cassette and CD soundtrackproduced in 1998 by PBS-TV affiliateWUw, Long Island, N.Y., that spotlightsthe Tulla at the 1997 D.e. festival.The legacy of Hayes is inextricablybound up with the wide influence heexerted as gentleman, fiddler, andbandleader. Only in recent months didillness finally prevent the octogenarianfrom performing with the Tulla and atsessions in Peppers Pub, Feakle."We don't stop playing because weget old. We get old because we stopplaying." Those words were spokenmore than half a century ago by adifferent cultural icon, Americanbaseball pitcher Satchel Paige. P.J.Hayes would have understood.On May 8, a funeral Mass was said forhim in St. Mary's Church in Killanena,near Maghera, after which he wasburied in Kilclaren Cemetery. TheTulla Ceili Band played at both thechurch and the gravesite. Hayes issurvived by his wife, Peggy, his sonsMartin and Pat, and his daughtersAnne-Marie and Helen.'+0