AccuRadio Song Of The Day-The Dubliners

Artist:The Dubliners

Song:Seven Drunken Nights

Album:The Best of the Dubliners

The Irish folk group The Dubliners have been around since the 60s. The 1967 single Seven Drunken Nights was their first number one hit in Ireland. They were formed in 1962 as The Ronnie Drew Ballad Group playing O'Donoghue's Pub in Dublin. Drew was lead singer along with Luke Kelly, Ciaran Bourke and Barney McKenna. But Drew didn't like the group name and Kelly was reading James Joyce's Dubliners so the group name was changed to The Dubliners. After an appearance at the 1963 Edinburgh Festival got them an appearance on the BBC show Hootenanny, The Dubliners signed with Transatlantic Records and released their 1964 debut album The Dubliners. After Kelly briefly moved to England, he was replaced by Bobby Lynch and John Sheahan joined. When Kelly returned, Lynch left and Sheahan remained. The Dubliners signed with Major Minor Records with Decca distribution for their 1967 debut studio album A Drop of the Hard Stuff. The album was produced by Decca house producer Tommy Scott. The songs are mostly traditional. When Seven Drunken Nights topped the Irish charts, the album was re-released as Seven Drunken Nights to take advantage of that. Seven Drunken Nights is based on the traditional Scottish song Our Goodman or The Merry Cuckold and the Kind Wife. It eventually became known as Seven Drunken Nights as each verse is one night. The Dubliners version is the best known version. This one hit kept them going for many years. They have recorded for EMI and Polydor. This 3CD budget comp seems to be original recordings. The Dubliners are still around led by John Sheahan as of 2020. Drew left in 1995 and died in 2008. Kelly died in 1984. Bourke left in 1974 and died in 1988. McKenna died in 2012. Here's The Dubliners performing Seven Drunken Nights in 1987.