Big Tom and The Mainliners

Infobox musical artist
Name = Big Tom and The Mainliners


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Origin = Castleblayney, County Monaghan, Ireland flagicon|IRE
Genre = Country, Country and Irish
Years_active = 1966 - 1975
1989 - Present
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Current_members = Big Tom
Seamus McMahon
Henry McMahon
John Beattie
Cyril McKevitt
Ginger Morgan, Ronie Duffy
Past_members = Robert Browne, Dermot McBride, Peter McCarthy

Big Tom and The Mainliners is an Irish Showband of Country and Irish genre from the Castleblayney area of County Monaghan, Ireland.

Time Line

1966 - 1975

Originally named as The Mighty Mainliners the band became famous after appearing on RTÉ Television in 1966 performing their hit song "Gentle Mother" which reached number 7 in the pop charts of Ireland. In the early seventies the band changed their name to just The Mainliners however soon afterwards they adopted the name Big Tom and the Mainliners in line with other Irish Showbands where a single man was used to take centre stage.

Original line up 1966

* Big Tom - Lead vocals, Saxophone, Rhythm Guitar
* Seamus McMahon - Lead guitar, Fiddle, vocals
* Henry McMahon - Tenor sax, vocals, Bandleader, percussion
* John Beattie - keyboards, Piano
* Cyril McKevitt - Trombone, vocals
* Ronnie Duffy - drums, vocals
* Ginger Morgan - Bass guitar, vocals

Hit Songs

Big Tom and the Mainliners have hit the Top Ten numerous times in the pop charts of Ireland

1975 - 1989

In May 1975 lead vocalist Big Tom split from the band and formed a new band named Big Tom and the Travellers under new management Top Rank Entertainment owned by country music tycoon Tony Loughman. The band in the meantime had other lead vocalists drafted in including John Glenn, Tom Allen and Jan Lynch. They also performed without a front man.

1989 - 1998

Big Tom rejoined the band and became very successful once again.

ince 1999

Due to their advancing years the band have only had occasional 'comeback' tours.
In 2000 Big Tom underwent a nodule operation on his throat.
In 2004 Big Tom’s son Dermot McBride took Ginger Morgan's place on Bass Guitar, Peter McCarthy took Ronnie Duffy's place on drums and Robert Browne, a second keyboardist in the band, appeared to took Cyril McKevitt's place on Trombone (however both were performing for the band in their Q4 2005 tour)
In 2005 the band recorded a hit single "The Same Way You Came In".
On July 8, 2005 a plaque was erected in Big Tom's home village of Oram, near Castleblayney in appreciation to his contribution to Country and Irish music.
In November 2006 at the age of 70 Big Tom suffered a sudden heart attack [http://archives.tcm.ie/breakingnews/2006/11/14/story285148.asp] , this had put doubt into whether he would tour again with the band however doctors have since given the all clear for him to have a mini tour of Ireland in February, 2008. [http://www.royaltheatre.ie/events/20080201_Big_Tom.php] It is believed that the band will revert to the seven original Mainliners for this tour [http://k-macrecordsonline.com] .

Current line up (2008 Tour)

* Big Tom - Lead vocals, Rhythm Guitar
* Seamus McMahon - Lead guitar, Rhythm guitar, Fiddle, vocals
* Henry McMahon - Bandleader, Tenor Sax, vocals, percussion
* John Beattie - keyboards, Piano
* Cyril McKevitt - Trombone, vocals
* Ronnie Duffy - drums, vocals
* Ginger Morgan - Bass guitar, vocals

Management

Kevin McCooey
[http://www.k-macrecords.com/ K-Mac Records]
Castleblayney