Larry Cunningham

Larry Cunningham
Born 13 February 1938 (1938-02-13) (age 74)
Granard, Co. Longford
Genres Country and Irish
Occupations Singer
Years active 1961 – present
Associated acts The Mighty Avons
Website http://larrycunningham.ie

Larry Cunningham is an Irish country music singer, who was one of the leading figures of the showband scene in the 1960s and 1970s.[1]

Contents

Life and career

Cunningham was born on 13 February 1938, and grew up in the townland of Clooneen in Mullinalaghta parish, near Granard, Co. Longford, in a farming family of seven children.[2] After leaving school at 16 he went to England and worked as a carpenter, playing Irish traditional music and gaelic football during his spare time. In 1958 he returned to Ireland. Still working as a carpenter, he soon joined the part-time Gowna-based Grafton Showband, but left it in 1961 to become fully professional as the lead singer of the Mighty Avons, based in Cavan. That band initially specialised in covers of Jim Reeves songs and similar country material.

The band's first taste of fame came when they were supporting Jim Reeves during the Irish leg of his European tour in 1963; when Reeves walked off the stage during a concert in Lifford in protest at the poor condition of the supplied piano, the Avons (as they later became popularly called) took over and entertained the crowd, to much subsequent publicity and acclaim.[3][2][4]

In December 1964, Cunningham and the Mighty Avons had a Top-10 hit with the song Tribute to Jim Reeves, which also entered the British charts[5] (the first time for an Irish artiste[6]), and played on Top of the Pops[7] (also an Irish first), which further boosted their career. Their major hit was Lovely Leitrim in September 1965, which stayed at number one in the charts for four weeks. As well as regularly touring Ireland to large crowds, the Avons made many appearances on television, and often played in Britain, the USA, and other places.

In late 1969, he left the Mighty Avons and merged with Edenderry band The Fairways to form Larry Cunningham and the Country Blue Boys, leaving Gene Stuart to front the Avons.[8] Cunningham continued having success with his new band, but after his marriage in 1972 he gave up regular touring in favour of occasional concerts and recording. He continued to have top-10 hits until the mid-1970s, and still performs occasionally. In recent years, audio and video compilations of his music have been released, as well as a biography.[9][10]

In February 1972, Cunningham married Beatrice Nannery, who worked for him managing a supermarket which he owned. They have had four children and, as of 2011, two grandchildren.

Discography

Cunningham and his bands have released the following recordings: [8]

Singles

Released Band Title Peak chart position
Jan 1965 Mighty Avons Tribute to Jim Reeves 9
Apr 1965 Mighty Avons I Guess I'm Crazy 4
Sep 1965 Mighty Avons Lovely Leitrim 1
Apr 1966 Mighty Avons Among the Wicklow Hills 2
Nov 1966 Mighty Avons Snowflake 2
Feb 1967 Mighty Avons Fool's Paradise 5
Jul 1967 Mighty Avons Three Steps to the Phone 8
Dec 1967 Mighty Avons Little Nell
Mar 1968 Mighty Avons The Emigrant 10
Nov 1968 Mighty Avons The Great El Tigre 17
May 1969 Mighty Avons Bracero
Sep 1969 Country Blue Boys Ballad of James Connolly 10
Dec 1969 Country Blue Boys Don't Let Me Cross Over 7
May 1970 Country Blue Boys Mother, the Queen of My Heart 13
Jan 1971 Country Blue Boys Pride of the West 17
Dec 1971 Country Blue Boys Slaney Valley 1
Jul 1972 Country Blue Boys Four Great Irish Hits, Volume 1 4
Oct 1972 Country Blue Boys Four Great Irish Hits, Volume 2 10
Mar 1973 Country Blue Boys Goodbye Comes Hard to Me 5
Jan 1974 Country Blue Boys This Time of the Year 3
Jun 1974 Country Blue Boys Lovely Leitrim 19
1975 Country Blue Boys My Kathleen 3
Dec 1975 solo, with Margo Hello Mr. Peters 15
Sep 1976 Country Blue Boys Annaghdown 6
Apr 1977 Country Blue Boys Where the Blue and Lonely Go 19
1980 Country Blue Boys Where the Grass Grows Greenest
Jun 1983 Country Blue Boys The Story of My Life 16
Nov 1983 Country Blue Boys Galway and You 30
Aug 1984 Country Blue Boys Walk On By 26

Albums

Released Band Title
Jan 1967 solo Two Sides of Larry
Dec 1967 solo Larry Cunningham Sings Country and Irish
Jun 1969 solo Ramblin' Irishman
May 1970 Country Blue Boys Country My Way
 ? Country Blue Boys This is Larry Cunningham
1972 Country Blue Boys Songs Fresh from Nashville
1973 Country Blue Boys Larry Cunningham in Concert
1974 Country Blue Boys Tribute to Jim Reeves
1980 Country Blue Boys Come Back to Erin

References and notes

  1. ^ "The nostalgia two-step". Irish Independent. 2001-07-14. http://www.independent.ie/unsorted/features/the-nostalgia-twostep-338783.html. Retrieved 2011-08-24. 
  2. ^ a b Larry Cunningham. "Biography". http://larrycunningham.ie/biography.html. Retrieved 2011-08-22. 
  3. ^ Ian Gallagher. "The Mighty Avons". http://iangallagher.com/mightyavons.html. Retrieved 2011-08-21. 
  4. ^ "Larry Cunningham in Rooskey". Roscommon People. http://www.roscommonpeople.ie/itemdetail.asp?itemID=12742&menu=d12742. Retrieved 2011-08-22. 
  5. ^ "Larry Cunningham to appear on Nationwide". Longford Leader. 2010-03-18. 
  6. ^ Shay Healy (2002-09-21). "50 years on - why the chart's still No 1". Irish Independent. http://www.independent.ie/unsorted/features/50-years-on-why-the-charts-still-no-1-293700.html. Retrieved 2011-08-24. 
  7. ^ "Hats off to Top Of The Pops...and those great green years". Irish Independent. 2003-09-18. http://www.independent.ie/unsorted/features/hats-off-to-top-of-the-popsand-those-great-green-years-205401.html. Retrieved 2011-08-24. 
  8. ^ a b "Larry Cunningham Feature". irish-showbands.com. http://www.irish-showbands.com/Bands/larryc.htm. Retrieved 2011-08-21. 
  9. ^ "A lifetime of music recalled in new book". Longford Leader. 2009-08-25. http://www.longfordleader.ie/news/local/a_lifetime_of_music_recalled_in_new_book_1_1955768. Retrieved 2011-08-24. 
  10. ^ Gilmore, Tom (2009). LarryCunningham: A Showband Legend. Mentor Books. ISBN 978-1-906623-39-5. 

External links