Dylan's Heroes: Tommy Makem and Liam Clancy with "Morning Glory"

A little touch o' the Irish for you in today's random tune. Morning Glory is by Tommy Makem and Liam Clancy. The song was clearly written before the Irish were willing to ignore church warnings and began using birth control - it is about a guy who regularly visits four sisters, the daughters of the landlord in the Cross Keys Inn, goes to war, and comes back to find the sisters four have made babies four that look just like him. Makem, who died in 2007, was a folk musician, artist, poet and storyteller known as the Bard of Armagh. Internationally acclaimed, he was a member of The Clancy Brothers and Tommy Makem. A baritone, he played a number of instruments including 5 string banjo, tin whistle, low whistle, guitar, bodhrán and bagpipes. Liam Clancy, who died in 2009, was the youngest member of The Clancy Brothers. He was known for his powerful voice, and Bob Dylan considered him the greatest ballad singer ever and he was a hero to the young Dylan as he was learning his craft. He was a central figure in the folk revival of Europe and North America. Morning Glory can be found on Makem and Clancy's 1978 album Two for the Early Dew.