Henry Wymbs remembers Ireland’s original ‘Queen of Country & Western’, who gained international fame in the sixties, and recalls conversations he had with her about her life growing up and her career.

 

Maisie McDaniel had attained living legend status as the Queen of Country & Western music in the early sixties before the Country & Irish genre was ever heard of. Of all the singers in popular music at the time, none could equal Maisie for her simplicity in delivering a range of slow Irish ballads and up-tempo quick-steps. She blazed the trail for many artistes. Maisie nurtured her dream of becoming a singer at a very young age and won many prizes of silverware.

I was fortunate to be of an age in the sixties to see Maisie on stage in ballrooms and later performing in singing lounge bars around Sligo with her husband Fintan Stanley.

In later years I spoke to her about life growing up and her career.

“I was born in London; my parents came back to live in Sligo when I was very young. There were six of us in the family, four girls and two boys. After leaving school in Sligo, I decided I wanted to be a singer in a band as very few of them had women fronting them.

“At the time I was winning competitions as a singer and as accordion player. My little sister, Deirdre, who was seven years younger than me, had a fine voice and was also winning many prizes at local events.

“In 1958, I made some headlines in the local paper when a group of us representing Sligo won an All-Ireland title and I was offered a contract with a music promoter in London. A decision was made to team me up with a band called The Fendermen, who were mainly English musicians.

“My manager, George O’Reilly, needed a new image to make me more recognisable from other entertainers so he decided to adopt a Country & Western theme, which meant me wearing a costume of fringed jacket, short fringed skirt, and long length white boots. With this new outfit I felt confident we could make a name for ourselves. You see, there were very few entertainers singing Country & Western songs, though there was a tremendous market for it.”

It was now the early sixties and Maisie appeared at stage shows and in dancehalls throughout the country to present her own brand of singing.

“I always wanted to live in Sligo as most of my family were there. It was quite a difficult time for singers like myself as I was up against the birth of rock ’n’ roll, British pop groups and Irish showbands who epitomised glamour and generated mass hysteria among its followers.

Continue reading in this week’s Ireland’s Own