[ad_1]
Tributes have been paid to the “absolute Wexford legend” Robbie Furlong who has died in Philadelphia, USA from motor neurone disease at the age of 76.
gifted lead guitarist who became a professional musician as a teenager, Robbie started out with the Johnny Reck band at the Wexford Town Hall dances and graduated to the London music scene, playing on the Leapy Lee smash hit “Little Arrows”.
He enjoyed success during the Irish showband era, toured Germany in the early 1970s, played with Slim Whitman during a tour of Ireland and later moved to America where his musical career included performing on cruise ships.
“He learned the guitar at a very young age. He was a fantastic guitarist, a natural player. It just came naturally to him. He could play anything. He was very versatile, he was a great rock n roll player, a great country player, he could play jazz , anything. He was an absolute legend, no doubt about it”, said the well-known Wexford drummer Bill Doyle who played with Robbie countless times.
A favourite party piece of Robbie’s was to play the guitar with his teeth, often performing a three-minute rendition of “Satisfaction” by the Rolling Stones to great audience approval.
“I’ve known him all my life, from the time we were in the CBS school. I got a call on Wednesday morning to say that he had passed. To be honest, it hasn’t sunk in yet”, said Bill.
Robbie got his first break when he was just 16 years old, playing with Johnny Reck’s Rockets and touring Ireland. The legendary Johnny Reck gave many local musicians their first taste of playing professional gigs and Robbie was no exception.
Robbie was a member of Wexford-based “The Supreme Showband” featuring Dermot and Declan Kelly, Don Sadler, Con O’ Rourke and Michael Holman, and played in the dancehalls of Ireland during the country’s showband years.
His first departure from Ireland was to London to play with Leapy Lee who recorded the song “Little Arrows” which was a massive chart hit in the UK in 1968. He returned to Wexford three years later and rejoined The Supreme Showband.
In 1972, Bill Doyle travelled to Germany with Robbie and they toured with the Dublin-based singer Danny Fontana and his band before going on the UK circuit again.
“After that, he was back here for a while and we played together on a few different bands. We played a couple of gigs with Declan Sinnott after he left Horslips”, Bill recalled.
Robbie was keen to travel and his next stop was the US where he teamed up with Dave Golding (who also played with Leapy Lee and The Supreme Showband ) to gig with the Irish band Poitín. He spent seven years in New York where he also worked with Pat Roper and the Spotlights.
Robbie travelled throughout the US and played with Johnny McEvoy on his American tour. He was hired by High Noon, one of America’s top country rock bands.
The Wexford native who grew up in The Faythe met and married American woman Leanora (Lea) and settled in her native Philadelphia, joining the cruise liners that operated between the east coast and Bermuda and between Miami and Puerto Rico. He and Kathleen Breen were a resident act.
The couple left Philadelphia in 1999 and came to Ireland, spending time in Tipperary and Wexford. The music scene had changed from the showband days with seven-piece bands replaced by two or three-piece bands and discos. But there were still a number of showbands touring the country and it wasn’t long before Robbie’s phone was hopping with offers from groups like the Dave Lawlor band. He later joined the newly-formed Classic Gold band.
Before Robbie returned to Philadelphia to join Lea, there was a farewell gig in the Gaelic Bar in Wexford, with a large group of musician friends and colleagues turning up in support including Don Sadler, Dermot Kelly, Pierce Turner, Bill Doyle, Billy Roche, Toddy Walsh and Rachel Clancy.
Over the years, Robbie also joined with other well-known Wexford musicians including Bernie Barrett, another Philadelphia resident, for special performances and musical tributes to their early mentors Johnny Reck and Joe Lowney.
Robbie’s death was announced on Wednesday by his wife Lea who said he had passed away gently and peacefully with his family surrounding him at his bedside.
She extended her “deepest gratitude to all those who prayed for him and wished him well through this horrible disease”.
Many online tributes have been paid to the Rosslare Harbour musician with Philip Naessens describing him as “an inspiration to us as we grew up in the Wexford area.”
.
[ad_2]
Source link
