manu/mldr-zoomed-100char-total-queries-documents

chunk_id stringlengths 3 9	chunk stringlengths 1 100
73_44	accordion. We were ambitious in those days, we'd played the clubs to death in Toronto and we didn't
73_45	know what to do next; what direction to take. So we decided to visit Will in Calgary, ended up
73_46	staying there, and the Irish Rovers became four. "". Joe moved his family out from Toronto, and the
73_47	band continued in Calgary.
73_48	George was enrolled in a local Calgary high school and Jimmy worked at a local Calgary slaughter
73_49	house. Jimmy's job would last but a few hours. George soon quit school and Will's home became the
73_50	new home base for the band.
73_51	The Irish Rovers became regulars at Calgary's Depression Coffeehouse, a folk club operated by John
73_52	Uren that also contributed to the start of Joni Mitchell's career.
73_53	"US America"
73_54	Will introduced the group to his manager Les Weinstein who became the band's full-time manager,
73_55	while Will became the band leader.
73_56	The Rovers drove to California in 1966, hoping to perform in the folk clubs there. On the way,
73_57	their car broke down near an Italian restaurant owned by two Irish immigrants in northern
73_58	California. The boys were given room and board and an introduction to Jan Brainerd, a booking agent
73_59	who helped them secure an appearance at The Purple Onion in San Francisco where they played
73_60	sold-out houses for five months. The group was then booked at other folk clubs across California.
73_61	In 1966, the Rovers signed a recording contract with Decca Records with Charles Dant and recorded
73_62	their first album, The First of the Irish Rovers, at The Ice House in Pasadena. The album was
73_63	successful enough to warrant another album, which included their first hit, which was from a song
73_64	originally written and recorded in 1962 by Shel Silverstein, The Unicorn. Glen Campbell played
73_65	guitar on the original recording. After recording the album, Joe left the band for a more
73_66	"reliable" income for a family man. It was at this time that they invited All-Ireland Champion
73_67	Wilcil McDowell to join the band. After the success of "The Unicorn", Joe returned to the band. The
73_68	album included the Irish tunes "The Orange and the Green" and "The Black Velvet Band". Wilcil's
73_69	accordion has continued to be a signature sound of the band.
73_70	Starting in the late 60s, the Irish Rovers performed on various North American television programs
73_71	including several appearances on the TV western The Virginian, as well as The Smothers Brothers
73_72	Comedy Hour, The Mike Douglas Show, The Dating Game, The Pig And Whistle, and The Beachcombers.
73_73	In 1968, they were named "Folk Group of the Year" by the predecessor of the JUNO Awards, and in
73_74	1969 they received a Grammy Award nomination for "Folk Performance of the Year".
73_75	The Rovers Era
73_76	In the early 1980s, the group adjusted its style and began aiming itself towards the country-rock
73_77	field. Renamed The Rovers, the group scored a major international hit with "Wasn't That a Party"
73_78	and also found success with the Christmas novelty recording "Grandma Got Run Over By a Reindeer".
73_79	By the late 1980s, however, the group had reverted to their original Irish Rovers branding.
73_80	Television
73_81	In 1971, The Irish Rovers were offered their own CBC-produced television series, The Irish Rovers
73_82	Show. While entertaining a family audience, the show promoted Ireland and Irish music to North
73_83	Americans. Guest stars included their friends The Clancy Brothers and Tommy Makem, Johnny Cash,
73_84	Carl Perkins, Bobby Darin, Glen Campbell, Vera Lynn and Anne Murray. Visits from Shari Lewis and
73_85	her puppets, including Lamb Chop, were audience favourites. There were regularly taped visits to
73_86	Northern and Southern Ireland, Scotland, England, New Zealand, P.E.I., Newfoundland, New Brunswick,
73_87	Banff and even Alert – at the tip of Ellesmere Island – the farthest, northerly inhabited base in
73_88	the world.
73_89	"The Irish Rovers Show" ran for 7 years, winning an ACTRA Award for Best Variety Performance.
73_90	Brothers Will and George Millar co-wrote the majority of their original Irish compositions.
73_91	Producer and Director Ken Gibson and Michael Watt often hosted special effects technicians from
73_92	L.A. who were learning the new green screen technology, which were used for comedic leprechaun
73_93	segments featuring Will, George and Jimmy, and is later used in The Mother Goose Video Treasury in
73_94	1987. The Rovers then continued with another television series on the Global Television Network in
73_95	conjunction with Ulster Television in Ireland.
73_96	Although most of their music focuses on the band's Irish roots, in the early 1980s The Irish Rovers
73_97	recorded an unknown novelty Christmas song written by Randy Brooks. Record producer Jack Richardson
73_98	produced The Rovers' album, It Was A Night Like This. The single release of "Grandma Got Run Over
73_99	by a Reindeer" rose to the top 20 in Canada within a week of airplay. Exposure of the music on
73_100	television also added to the popularity of their music.
73_101	In 1980, their crossover hit recording of Tom Paxton's "Wasn't That a Party", which was inspired by
73_102	the boys' own after-show partying, put them at the top of the charts again. In 1981, the group
73_103	starred in their second Canadian TV series: The Rovers Comedy House, a seven-part CBC series of
73_104	comedy and boisterous Irish music produced by Ken Gibson. For most of the 1980s the band was known
73_105	as "The Rovers" and followed up hits with songs such as "Chattanoogie Shoe Shine Boy" and "No More
73_106	Bread and Butter".
73_107	Their third television series, Party with the Rovers, ran from 1984 to 1986 with Jack Richardson as
73_108	Musical Director and Ken Gibson as Executive Producer. The show was set in a traditional pub
73_109	setting featuring music sessions with the band performing together with Liam Clancy, Tommy Makem,
73_110	John Allan Cameron, Kenny Rogers, Lonnie Donegan, Andy Gibb, Rita Coolidge, Ronnie Prophet, and
73_111	many others. The series was produced for Global in conjunction with Ulster Television in Ireland,
73_112	and was syndicated around the world.
73_113	The band members became Canadian citizens after Canada's Prime Minister, Pierre Elliott Trudeau,
73_114	asked them to do so, to officially represent Canada around the world. By 1989 they had represented
73_115	Canada at five world Expos: Montreal (1967), Osaka, Japan (1970), Okinawa, Japan (1976), Vancouver
73_116	(1986), and Brisbane, Australia (1988). In recognition of their quarter century of contributions of
73_117	Canadian music to the International music world, they were awarded Canada's top music honour, the
73_118	Performing Rights Organization's (PROCAN) Harold Moon Award. With their double album 25th
73_119	Anniversary Collection in 1989, which featured the backing of The Chieftains and songs written by,
73_120	amongst others, Randy Bachman, Bryan Adams and Jim Vallance, the band was, once again, officially
73_121	known as The Irish Rovers, but many fans still refer to them as The Rovers.
73_122	Will announced his departure in 1994 and has become a successful artist focusing on the Ireland of
73_123	old as a favourite subject matter. Upon departure, George replaced him as bandleader and hired
73_124	fellow musicians John Reynolds and Wallace Hood.
73_125	After a court battle for the name of "The Irish Rovers", the full band continued to tour, then
73_126	filmed the video "The Irish Rovers, Live and Well", plus the CD, 'Celtic Collection: The Next
73_127	Thirty Years'. Over the following two years they followed up with two more albums, "Gems", and
73_128	"Come Fill Up Your Glasses". While the band was on tour in Worcester, Massachusetts in October
73_129	1997, Jimmy Ferguson died of a heart attack.
73_130	For a return to television in 2011, the band filmed the television special, The Irish Rovers, Home
73_131	in Ireland. Locations for the special included Dunluce Castle, Carnlough Harbour, Portglenone, and
73_132	various spots along the northeast coast of Northern Ireland. The show was transmitted in 2011 and
73_133	2012 across the PBS Network in North America.
73_134	In 2012 The Irish Rovers Christmas television special, which was filmed at various locations in
73_135	Banff National Park, Sunshine Village and Chatham-Kent's Capitol Theatre, was shown across the PBS
73_136	Network throughout the US and Canada and was broadcast in New Zealand on Sky TV.
73_137	In 2015 The Rovers filmed their own 50th Anniversary LIVE on St. Patrick's Day concert in Nanaimo,
73_138	Canada. Shaw Communications also filmed behind the scenes at the event for a music documentary
73_139	titled "The Irish Rovers 50th Anniversary Special". It was broadcast nationally in Canada on SHAW
73_140	Video on Demand in 2015 and 2016.
73_141	The two-DVD set "LIVE on St. Patrick's Day" which was filmed at The Port Theatre on Vancouver
73_142	Island and Lismore, Ireland, was released in 2017. All three television specials were released on
73_143	DVD and may be rebroadcast during the holiday seasons.

73_44

accordion. We were ambitious in those days, we'd played the clubs to death in Toronto and we didn't

73_45

know what to do next; what direction to take. So we decided to visit Will in Calgary, ended up

73_46

staying there, and the Irish Rovers became four. "". Joe moved his family out from Toronto, and the

73_47

band continued in Calgary.

73_48

George was enrolled in a local Calgary high school and Jimmy worked at a local Calgary slaughter

73_49

house. Jimmy's job would last but a few hours. George soon quit school and Will's home became the

73_50

new home base for the band.

73_51

The Irish Rovers became regulars at Calgary's Depression Coffeehouse, a folk club operated by John

73_52

Uren that also contributed to the start of Joni Mitchell's career.

73_53

"US America"

73_54

Will introduced the group to his manager Les Weinstein who became the band's full-time manager,

73_55

while Will became the band leader.

73_56

The Rovers drove to California in 1966, hoping to perform in the folk clubs there. On the way,

73_57

their car broke down near an Italian restaurant owned by two Irish immigrants in northern

73_58

California. The boys were given room and board and an introduction to Jan Brainerd, a booking agent

73_59

who helped them secure an appearance at The Purple Onion in San Francisco where they played

73_60

sold-out houses for five months. The group was then booked at other folk clubs across California.

73_61

In 1966, the Rovers signed a recording contract with Decca Records with Charles Dant and recorded

73_62

their first album, The First of the Irish Rovers, at The Ice House in Pasadena. The album was

73_63

successful enough to warrant another album, which included their first hit, which was from a song

73_64

originally written and recorded in 1962 by Shel Silverstein, The Unicorn. Glen Campbell played

73_65

guitar on the original recording. After recording the album, Joe left the band for a more

73_66

"reliable" income for a family man. It was at this time that they invited All-Ireland Champion

73_67

Wilcil McDowell to join the band. After the success of "The Unicorn", Joe returned to the band. The

73_68

album included the Irish tunes "The Orange and the Green" and "The Black Velvet Band". Wilcil's

73_69

accordion has continued to be a signature sound of the band.

73_70

Starting in the late 60s, the Irish Rovers performed on various North American television programs

73_71

including several appearances on the TV western The Virginian, as well as The Smothers Brothers

73_72

Comedy Hour, The Mike Douglas Show, The Dating Game, The Pig And Whistle, and The Beachcombers.

73_73

In 1968, they were named "Folk Group of the Year" by the predecessor of the JUNO Awards, and in

73_74

1969 they received a Grammy Award nomination for "Folk Performance of the Year".

73_75

The Rovers Era

73_76

In the early 1980s, the group adjusted its style and began aiming itself towards the country-rock

73_77

field. Renamed The Rovers, the group scored a major international hit with "Wasn't That a Party"

73_78

and also found success with the Christmas novelty recording "Grandma Got Run Over By a Reindeer".

73_79

By the late 1980s, however, the group had reverted to their original Irish Rovers branding.

73_80

Television

73_81

In 1971, The Irish Rovers were offered their own CBC-produced television series, The Irish Rovers

73_82

Show. While entertaining a family audience, the show promoted Ireland and Irish music to North

73_83

Americans. Guest stars included their friends The Clancy Brothers and Tommy Makem, Johnny Cash,

73_84

Carl Perkins, Bobby Darin, Glen Campbell, Vera Lynn and Anne Murray. Visits from Shari Lewis and

73_85

her puppets, including Lamb Chop, were audience favourites. There were regularly taped visits to

73_86

Northern and Southern Ireland, Scotland, England, New Zealand, P.E.I., Newfoundland, New Brunswick,

73_87

Banff and even Alert – at the tip of Ellesmere Island – the farthest, northerly inhabited base in

73_88

the world.

73_89

"The Irish Rovers Show" ran for 7 years, winning an ACTRA Award for Best Variety Performance.

73_90

Brothers Will and George Millar co-wrote the majority of their original Irish compositions.

73_91

Producer and Director Ken Gibson and Michael Watt often hosted special effects technicians from

73_92

L.A. who were learning the new green screen technology, which were used for comedic leprechaun

73_93

segments featuring Will, George and Jimmy, and is later used in The Mother Goose Video Treasury in

73_94

1987. The Rovers then continued with another television series on the Global Television Network in

73_95

conjunction with Ulster Television in Ireland.

73_96

Although most of their music focuses on the band's Irish roots, in the early 1980s The Irish Rovers

73_97

recorded an unknown novelty Christmas song written by Randy Brooks. Record producer Jack Richardson

73_98

produced The Rovers' album, It Was A Night Like This. The single release of "Grandma Got Run Over

73_99

by a Reindeer" rose to the top 20 in Canada within a week of airplay. Exposure of the music on

73_100

television also added to the popularity of their music.

73_101

In 1980, their crossover hit recording of Tom Paxton's "Wasn't That a Party", which was inspired by

73_102

the boys' own after-show partying, put them at the top of the charts again. In 1981, the group

73_103

starred in their second Canadian TV series: The Rovers Comedy House, a seven-part CBC series of

73_104

comedy and boisterous Irish music produced by Ken Gibson. For most of the 1980s the band was known

73_105

as "The Rovers" and followed up hits with songs such as "Chattanoogie Shoe Shine Boy" and "No More

73_106

Bread and Butter".

73_107

Their third television series, Party with the Rovers, ran from 1984 to 1986 with Jack Richardson as

73_108

Musical Director and Ken Gibson as Executive Producer. The show was set in a traditional pub

73_109

setting featuring music sessions with the band performing together with Liam Clancy, Tommy Makem,

73_110

John Allan Cameron, Kenny Rogers, Lonnie Donegan, Andy Gibb, Rita Coolidge, Ronnie Prophet, and

73_111

many others. The series was produced for Global in conjunction with Ulster Television in Ireland,

73_112

and was syndicated around the world.

73_113

The band members became Canadian citizens after Canada's Prime Minister, Pierre Elliott Trudeau,

73_114

asked them to do so, to officially represent Canada around the world. By 1989 they had represented

73_115

Canada at five world Expos: Montreal (1967), Osaka, Japan (1970), Okinawa, Japan (1976), Vancouver

73_116

(1986), and Brisbane, Australia (1988). In recognition of their quarter century of contributions of

73_117

Canadian music to the International music world, they were awarded Canada's top music honour, the

73_118

Performing Rights Organization's (PROCAN) Harold Moon Award. With their double album 25th

73_119

Anniversary Collection in 1989, which featured the backing of The Chieftains and songs written by,

73_120

amongst others, Randy Bachman, Bryan Adams and Jim Vallance, the band was, once again, officially

73_121

known as The Irish Rovers, but many fans still refer to them as The Rovers.

73_122

Will announced his departure in 1994 and has become a successful artist focusing on the Ireland of

73_123

old as a favourite subject matter. Upon departure, George replaced him as bandleader and hired

73_124

fellow musicians John Reynolds and Wallace Hood.

73_125

After a court battle for the name of "The Irish Rovers", the full band continued to tour, then

73_126

filmed the video "The Irish Rovers, Live and Well", plus the CD, 'Celtic Collection: The Next

73_127

Thirty Years'. Over the following two years they followed up with two more albums, "Gems", and

73_128

"Come Fill Up Your Glasses". While the band was on tour in Worcester, Massachusetts in October

73_129

1997, Jimmy Ferguson died of a heart attack.

73_130

For a return to television in 2011, the band filmed the television special, The Irish Rovers, Home

73_131

in Ireland. Locations for the special included Dunluce Castle, Carnlough Harbour, Portglenone, and

73_132

various spots along the northeast coast of Northern Ireland. The show was transmitted in 2011 and

73_133

2012 across the PBS Network in North America.

73_134

In 2012 The Irish Rovers Christmas television special, which was filmed at various locations in

73_135

Banff National Park, Sunshine Village and Chatham-Kent's Capitol Theatre, was shown across the PBS

73_136

Network throughout the US and Canada and was broadcast in New Zealand on Sky TV.

73_137

In 2015 The Rovers filmed their own 50th Anniversary LIVE on St. Patrick's Day concert in Nanaimo,

73_138

Canada. Shaw Communications also filmed behind the scenes at the event for a music documentary

73_139

titled "The Irish Rovers 50th Anniversary Special". It was broadcast nationally in Canada on SHAW

73_140

Video on Demand in 2015 and 2016.

73_141

The two-DVD set "LIVE on St. Patrick's Day" which was filmed at The Port Theatre on Vancouver

73_142

Island and Lismore, Ireland, was released in 2017. All three television specials were released on

73_143

DVD and may be rebroadcast during the holiday seasons.