The Good Old Boys

The Good Old Boys developed into a band over time. There was no overnight plan to start a band. The initial group

consisted of Louis O'Dwyer lead guitar and vocals, Ringo Regan rhythm guitar and vocals, Sean Murphy on bass,

Simon O'Dwyer guitar and vocals, and Tom Costigan from Piltown near Carrick-on-Suir on drums. All the band

members but for Tom Costigan had played together in bar sessions for a number of years. Sometime during 1983

Louis, Ringo and Sean were involved in a one night stand at a charity concert in the Fisherman's Hall Dunmore East

and that more or less was the beginning of the Good Old Boys...

The name The Good Old Boys was a tongue-in-cheek title taken from a popular movie of the day called The Blues

Brothers. In one of the more memorable and funny scenes from the movie, the Blues Brothers are chased down a

highway by a country and western band called The Good Ol Boys on account of a double booking where the Blues

Brothers ended up taking over The Good Ol Boys spot in a country bar.

The chase is still one of the funnier scenes in the movie and one of the clips shows the Blues Brothers speeding

around a highway bend at night in their converted Police Car, being pursued by The Good OL Boys in their camper

van.

But getting back to the Dunmore Good Old Boys, in early 1984 the boys persuaded a very sceptical Mary and Peter

Power of Powers Bar to allow them use amplification and begin a series of Saturday night residencies at Powers Pub.

The Dunmore Good Old Boys began playing in Powers Bar in early 1984 and were one of the first groups anywhere

in Ireland to cover songs by Willie Nelson, Waylon Jennings, Rodney Crowell, Emmy Lou Harris, and so forth. In later

years Willie and Waylon would go on to international success but when The Good Old Boys began playing songs like

Mamas Don't Let Your Babies Grow Up To Be Cowboys, On The Road Again, Good Hearted Woman, etc few people

knew the music. Most of the songs were taken from an album entitled Wanted, by the Outlaws which was not

available on the Irish market at that time.

Locally the Good Old Boy sessions in Powers on a Saturday were a tremendous success. The venue was packed to

capacity every Saturday night. Easter Sat 1984 Peter Power closed the premises at 5 pm in the afternoon on account

of the fact that the house was full. The Saturday nights went on for over a year and then Louis O'Dwyer and Sean

Murphy left the band for personal reasons. Ringo Regan and Simon O'Dwyer carried on with The Good Old Boys and

enlisted the services of two well known Waterford musicians, Tony Cleere on Bass and Tony (Chez) Power on drums.

The band played a number of gigs between late 84 including performances at the Stonecourt and a most enjoyable

gig in Whites Ballymacaw on the day that the 1984 Live Aid was screened across the world for charity. In the summer

of 1985 The Good Old Boys played their last gig at the Cleaghboy Inn, Waterford City .

Back