Interview with Gary O'Dea - part 2

Jack and Shane - cultural icons

In last month’s edition we published the first part of an interview with Black Country born singer-songwriter and guitarist, Gary O’Dea. In the first part of the interview, Gary talked about the generation of his Irish and English grandparents and how the family’s sense of identity was influenced by their Black Country surroundings and experiences in the 2nd world war.

 I asked Gary how his musical interests developed:

“I grew up a lot at my nan’s house listening to my uncle’s records in the 60s and 70s. He was into the groups like the Small Faces, Jimi Hendrix and the Stones, all that kind of thing. Around the time I left school in 1978 I was influenced a lot by punk music, but mainly I was a big soul music fan, I loved Northern Soul, Tamla and Stax. I liked The Jam as I felt they were doing soul music stuff and The Clash too as there was a reggae influence in stuff like White Man in Hammersmith Palais, which was about white kids being into reggae. Reggae was big around these parts because of Steel Pulse and their album Handsworth Revolution and ska-revival stuff like Gangsters by The Specials from Coventry. There were great things going on in music in this area and UB40 were also something else.”

Some interesting musical influences, but did Irish heritage have any influence for you as a young musician in the Black Country?

“My old man was actually a big Elvis fan and there was always a lot of rock ‘n’ roll and country being played in our house, but also some of the Irish stuff like Fields of Athenry would get sung every now and then, especially if there was a family get-together at Christmas. But I do remember when The Pogues came out, that was a magic moment.”

“I saw them live at the Fleadh Festival in Finsbury Park in London. I took my lads when they were kids, they were only little tackers and when The Pogues came on stage I got them up by the mixing desk. It was in a great big circus tent and people were climbing up the poles, people were going bananas and my kids had their mouths wide open saying “Dad, look at him …look at him!” They’ll mention it to this day as “that nuts’ party where The Pogues played in that park”. Later I saw them at Aston Villa Leisure Centre when Joe Strummer stepped in for Shane MacGowan when he became too ill. That was brilliant with Joe too.”

Another significant area of Gary’s life where his Irish heritage was to have an influence was as a sports fan:

“I remember when I went to see Celtic feeling this is my football club. I just love that football club, the fans and what they’re about. That’s my international team if you like. I do follow the Republic of Ireland team more so than any other, I ain’t really bothered about England as much now, I used to like to see them do alright but I think over the last number of years I’ve lost all interest. I think it was the Jack Charlton thing that was brilliant. I remember the one game when they played England in the European Championships in West Germany, I think it was 1-0 to Ireland and if they played that game again it might be a different result as England hit the bar and had a couple cleared off the line, the Republic would probably lose 3-1.”

“I remember going into a pub in Tipton called The Rose and Crown and some of my mates going “who yow gonna support then, I bet yow following the Paddies ay yer?” and I remember saying “have I got two horns come out o’ me head?” but they wanted someone to be the opposition and I remember having this conversation and saying “well I think they’ve got a great chance” and them saying “what d’you mean they got a great chance?” But you know, they were drawn from the same teams and Ireland had Paul McGrath from the Villa at that time, he was the best centre half in Europe, and I bet some money with them and they were all “I’ll have some of that, I’ll have some of that” and I was broke and I thought “oh no, I’m going to be about 40 quid out here” Then I remember watching the game and about 7 o clock of the night when the pub opened, I was over there. Two seconds past seven I was in that boozer, “come on!” and they’ve never let me forget that.”

Events like winning a football match or getting excited about a new band may not seem quite so culturally significant in 2015, but Gary reminds us that supporting Ireland in an English pub (on your own) was once a ground breaking, if risky, thing to do. My thanks to Gary O’Dea for his memories.  

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Ariel takes the rocky road: A novella by Paul Murphy

Ariel takes the rocky road is a short novel by Paul Murphy. The story follows the journey of two young men from Belfast, Pierre, a trainee Catholic priest and Sammy, a young loyalist band leader. Paul describes the novella as: 

"a 'coming of age' novella set on the road between Belfast and Dublin, in the summer of 1965. It is about crisis and responsibility, conscience and conformity but ultimately about being true to yourself."

Belfast born Paul Murphy is a well-known writer and musician based in Cotteridge in Birmingham, his creative, musical and literary works go back to the 1960s when he first arrived in England from his Ulster home, at that point on the cusp of the sectarian and political war which became known as 'the Troubles'.

The book title references the popular song Rocky road to Dublin written by D.K. Gavan, for the English music hall performer Harry Clifton (1824-1872). The song describes the many troubles and travails that a 19th century traveller encounters on this travels through the Irish countryside. Murphy's relatively more contemporary protagonists encounter their own troubles and travails as they hitchhike across the border from the unfairly divided north into the  church dominated Republic. On a journey that is often intensely trying, physically, emotionally and spiritually, the two young men grapple with their own inner doubt, frustration, angst and contradiction as they encounter the highs and lows of this uniquely Irish rite of passage.

Paul summaries the plot:

"Sammy Wilson, a young loyalist band leader, isn't marching anymore. Folk music and CND have replaced his sectarian certainties and he's forced to run from home. While selling 'Sanity', he meets the enigmatic Sweeney, a trainee priest in crisis, hiding behind his alter-ego, Pierre Rascal, a fast tongued prankster. Inspired by the mysterious Ariel they travel across 'the border'. Sammy has never been to the Republic before. But it is the ill-defined border between Sweeney and Rascal that proves most contentious. After a night among the destitute and demented in the County Home, Rascal crash lands and Sammy finally understands his dark secret. Unburdened, Sweeney turns to face the future and Sammy's resolve is vindicated. 'I ain't marchin' anymore'."

This is a beautifully told and compelling story which, sometimes gently, sometimes shockingly but always powerfully interrogates and reveals the century-old dynamics of faith, politics and human psychology in the Ireland of 1965. Through captivating descriptive scenes and the gradually building relationship, Paul Murphy is honest, insightful and critically fair as he unpicks and unravels the traditions of Protestant, Catholic and Dissenter on the island of Ireland.

A strong theological theme runs through the novella, as Pierre Rascal wrestles with the contradictions of his Catholic faith, whilst Sweeney attempts to rationalise the cultural traditions of his family's Orange conviction. Murphy's deep theological knowledge is evident though always relevant and meaningful for the reader. The book is refreshing in it's honest and fair approach, he is not judging, apologising or blaming, both men are victims and heroes of their respective traditions as well as the cultural and political dynamic which existed between them in 1965 and still exists to a large extent for young people in Ireland fifty years later.

A great read for anyone seeking a balanced and insightful perspective on the traditions of Irish culture and a beautifully descriptive and entertaining story.

Download the e-book for your Kindle at an incredible £1.99
 
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Ariel-takes-rocky-road-novella-ebook/dp/B011WJIP40


  
 

October 2015 article - an interview with Gary O'Dea part 1

Photo of Gary O'Dea at The Blue Piano by Mike Prowse

This month we start the first part of an interview with Black Country born singer-songwriter and guitarist, Gary O’Dea. Born into a small local Irish community in Tipton in the early 1960s, Gary talks candidly about his memories of his grand-parents and how his own identity and life-view have been formed by the merger of both English and Irish working class heritage. Thank you to Jonathan Harris for his technical support recording the interview and to Lisa Travers for hosting the interview at the Blue Piano bar in Edgbaston.

Gary O’Dea grew up in Tipton in the industrial Black Country borough of Sandwell, his grandparents were part of the wave of economic migrants from Ireland who arrived in England during the 1930s: 

“My grandparents were both from Ireland, my granddad was from Nenagh in Tipperary and my nan was from across the Shannon in Killaloe, County Clare. These were my dad’s parents but on my mom’s side, my granddad was from Plymouth and it was only my nan on my mother’s side who was from Tipton, all the other three ended up in the area through work”.

“My Irish grandparents came over in the 30s, they were in Liverpool first and then moved to the Black Country drawn by the local industry. My dad’s oldest brother was born in Ireland, but the rest were all born here. There was at that time and even when I was a kid in Tipton, a small Irish community round the Catholic church and there was the Catholic school, Sacred Heart, but it wasn’t such a strong identity as you’d get in Birmingham or Wolverhampton for the Irishness.”

“There is a story that when my grandparents came over here and moved to Tipton, they moved with the kids to just off Bell Street into an old terraced house, sharing the yard and the communal wash-house which in Tipton we called the brewus. The first day there the kids went out to play and this one woman who was living in the yard, seeing a new family had moved in (my nan and granddad and the kids), the woman gets a bucket of water and throws it all over the kids, cursing them for being Irish. It was something which struck me deeply when I heard the story when I was a kid, which is why I always hate and detest racism.”

I agreed with Gary that this sort of prejudice was nasty and unnecessary, though he suggested that Irish people weren’t the only target:

“Well it’s offensive and disgusting, but you know, it’s always gone on. You can imagine in the industrial revolution round here when people came in from the countryside they experienced the same thing. My granddad from Plymouth, when he came up here, he used to get told to bugger off back to where he came from.”

“But my Irish granddad, when the second world war started, he was from Nenagh in Tipperary, which had a reputation for being rebel country in Ireland and he joined the British army and became a Redcap. I don’t really know for certain, but what I’ve heard is that there was a certain pressure to be accepted in England, because in the Republic at the time you’d got De Valera courting the Germans, the Nazis. Anyway he joined the army and became a Redcap and got sent to Singapore where he was captured by the Japanese and was imprisoned in a prisoner of war camp.”

“Granddad survived the POW camp, but he became very bitter after this experiences and I think the consensus was that it was because he had come to England with good intentions, looking for work, he’s treated like a Paddy so joins the British army to fight in a war he feels isn’t his war. He must have experienced some really traumatic things in the camp and then comes back out of the army to more of the same, “alright Paddy, here’s a shovel, get digging and then sweep that up…”

“But he didn’t talk about it. You’d just pick up the stories from within the family. I think people would talk about it in this day and age but back then, Irish people just had to put up with that type of thing”.

I asked Gary about his own sense of Irish identity, growing up in a town with its own distinctive Black Country heritage. He answered my question with some interesting observations about English identity:

“No to be fair, I think the Irish population was certainly well integrated into Tipton and I think because at whatever time they became accepted there was perhaps not the need to be so strong, I think that may have been one of the things, but in saying that I found that as I got older I connected more with Irishness. I think the thing is for me that Englishness has been stolen, we have had a marketing job done on us because to be English you have to be “Rule Britannia, God Save the Queen” and all that kind of thing. Which is a shame because in any other country if they had people like the Chartists and the Suffragettes and Tolpuddle Martyrs and the massacre of reformists at Peterloo, these people would be celebrated and to the fore and although they are ‘known’, I feel the average English person doesn’t know who they are. English people have done some fantastic things, fighting for social and civil rights but it is not celebrated.”

In the next edition we continue the interview with Gary O’Dea, with some personal memories about his musical influences, seeing The Pogues and winning a bet when Jack Charlton’s Irish soccer team beat England.

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