Nov 22, 2022: Independent Westmeath: From toy trumpets to President Kennedy and The Drifters
One evening in 1968, Frankie was playing with a small jazz band when a copy of the Evening Herald with the banner front page headline ‘Drifters Split’ came into the venue.
It sparked a chain of events which resulted in Frankie auditioning for The Drifters at the unlikely venue of a carnival in nearby Cloghan, where he played a short personal set, in advance of the full Ciaran Kelly Ceilí Band performance, with manager Ben Dolan amongst the audience.
Subsequently, the job was offered to Frankie as Joe and Ben Dolan worked to rebuild the band from scratch after five members had departed.
Thus started a 39-year membership of The Drifters and the end of his career in the army band.
One evening in 1968, Frankie was playing with a small jazz band when a copy of the Evening Herald with the banner front page headline ‘Drifters Split’ came into the venue.
It sparked a chain of events which resulted in Frankie auditioning for The Drifters at the unlikely venue of a carnival in nearby Cloghan, where he played a short personal set, in advance of the full Ciaran Kelly Ceilí Band performance, with manager Ben Dolan amongst the audience.
Subsequently, the job was offered to Frankie as Joe and Ben Dolan worked to rebuild the band from scratch after five members had departed.
Thus started a 39-year membership of The Drifters and the end of his career in the army band.
|
Billboard 9/26/60
|
|
