The Rovers return

Press, Volume CXIV, Issue 33447, 31 January 1974, Page 4

The Rovers return

The Irish Rovers will tour New Zealand again shortly, with concerts in Timaru, Christchurch and Nelson on February 13, 14 and 15. In only nine years, five young men originally from Ireland have become major television, concert, nightclub and recording stars. Residents of Canada since their teens, the Irish Rovers came together as a group in 1964, under the leadership of Will Millar. He gathered around him his brother George, cousin Joe, boyhood friends Jimmy Ferguson and Wilcil McDowell, and it’s been a winning combination ever since.

As recognition grew in Canada, interest grew in the United States and resulted in a successful 22week engagement at San Francisco’s Purple Onion, famed as a springboard for such show business personalities as the Kingston Trio, the Smothers Brothers, Phyllis Diller and a host of others.

Since that Purple Onion opening on New Year’s Eve, 1965, the Irish Rovers have never looked back. Decca Records were quick to sign them and release their first single, "The Unicom,” which became a hit the world over. And with “The Unicom” came the recognition that has made them the best-known group of their kind. The same Unicom now signals the start of the show for more than 2.5 m viewers who weekly enjoy the Irish Rovers on C.B.S. network television across Canada, Now in its third highly successful season, the series has an over-all enjoyment index of 85 per cent plus . . . higher than any other show seen on Canadian television, Canadian or American. As guest stars, the Irish Rovers have been seen with Art Linkletter, Pat Boone, John Davidson, the Smothers Brothers, Joey Bishop, Woody Woodbury, Gypsy Rose Lee, Mike Douglas, Merve Griffin, Barbara McNair, and Della Reese, and on the popular "Virginian” series they appeared in both singing and acting roles in several episodes. The Irish Rovers have pleased audiences and set attendance records in New York's Carnegie Hall and Madison Square Garden, Toronto’s Massey Hall, the Symphony Hall in Boston, Place Des Arts in Montreal, and Nashville's Grand Ole Opry.

And since versatility is their long suit, it’s not surprising that their list of accomplishments includes singing the St Patrick’s Day Mass in Toronto’s St Paul’s Cathedral and being Canada’s Ambassadors of Song in Osaka, Japan, where they delighted fans from all over the world by rendering "The Unicom" in only slightly Irishaccented Japanese. Very few people leave an Irish Rovers concert without having been happily affected by their sheer exuberance. They draw on the music of the world as well as from their own rich

Irish heritage, and the resultant blend of happy and heart-warming entertainment is something that has to be experienced to be fully appreciated. "We ask ourselves why we would go out to listen to music. It would be because we’d want to relax and enjoy ourselves for a few hours. So we give our audiences drinking songs, love songs, and funny songs until they feel like singing and laughing right along with us,” say the group’s leader, Will Millar.

Will Millar—Emcee, bard, composer, poet, singer, historian, story-teller, interpreter, Will was bom in Ballymena, County Antrim, and began his entertainment career as one of "The Millar Kids” (with brother George and sister Sandra), touring Ireland until the family emigrated to Canada. The guitar, mandolin, banjo and Ireland’s happy tin whistle are but a few of the accomplishments of this selftaught impresario. Jimmy Ferguson — Lead singer and comedian, Jimmy was bom in Belfast, Northern Ireland. The urge to travel in his early teens took him aboard a British Merchant Navy ship, where he spent three years seeing the world from the scullery. His last trip landed him in Canada, but the urge to

travel stayed with him and, not content with an expedition up the Amazon River, he is now fascinated with the study of flying saucers. George Millar — Singer, guitarist and accomplished “flat-picker” whose first musical instrument was a pair of spoons, George was one third of “The Millar Kids” with brother Will and sister Sandra in Ireland. Wilcil McDowell — Born in Antrim Town in Northern Ireland, Wilcil opted for the accordion instead of architecture and wound up with the coveted “All Ireland Championship Accordionist” award. He toured extensively on both sides of the ocean with his own band, The Donegore Ceili, until the call came to join the Rovers.

Joe Millar — Often described as "The Gypsy” by his fans, Joe is featured in love song solos, plays the electric bass, harmonica, button accordion and lends bass harmony to group vocals. Bom in Ballymena, Joe was trained by his grandfather to be a cobbler, but the writing was on the wall when he began to win prizes for dancing. Joe’s talent as a musician surfaced quickly and the natural outcome was an invitation from cousin Will to be part of the Irish Rovers.