Big Tom

Big Tom
Big Tom in 2004
Background information
Birth name	Tom McBride
Also known as	Big Tom
Born	18 September 1936
Origin	Castleblayney, Monaghan, Ireland
Genres	Country Irish Easy Listening
Occupation(s)	Musician
Instruments	Vocals guitar saxophone
Years active	1966 – present
Associated acts	Big Tom and The Mainliners

Tom McBride (born 18 September 1936), also known as Big Tom, is an Irish country music singer, guitarist, and saxophone player. Established since 1966, he is currently front man of the Irish showband Big Tom and The Mainliners. He is affectionally known as 'Ireland's king of country music'

2000–present

In 2000, Big Tom underwent a nodule operation on his throat. In September 2004, Big Tom was reported to have been in a list of Irish tax evaders.^[1]

• 8 July 2005 – A plaque^[2] was erected by the local community in Big Tom's home village.
• November 2006 – Big Tom suffered a sudden heart attack at the age of 70,^[3] which had put doubt into whether he would ever tour again with his band.
• 1 February 2008 – Big Tom began a 12-date tour of Ireland^[4] after doctors gave him the all clear.
• 24 March 2008 – Big Tom performed at Castlebar's TF Ballroom's final farewell night (in its current guise) but he was reported to have taken ill on stage^[5] during the performance.
• 25 May 2008 – Big Tom performed for the closure night of the Galtymore dance hall in Cricklewood, London.^[6]
• 27 July 2008 – Big Tom was headline act at London's Irish Festival.^[7]
• 23 November 2008 – Big Tom headlined the Claremorris dance festival weekend.
• July 2009 – K-MAC Records announced more dates in Ireland for Big Tom and the Mainliners which commenced August 2009.
• 14 August to 13 September 2009 – Successful tour of Ireland with large attendances to venues. The highlight was the Glencarn Hotel in Tom's home town Castleblayney where the concert was packed to capacity. The tour ended in Ennis with fans travelling many miles to see Tom and the band. Two days after the end of the tour the band's trombone player and vocalist Cyril McKevitt died of a heart attack.
• 8 November 2009– Big Tom will be back in Claremorris to headline the Michael Cummins Dance weekend.
• 2010 – Big Tom announced an extensive series of tour dates
• 2011–present – Tom and the band continue to perform with sporadic appearances.
• 2016 – Tom and the original mainliners will tour to mark 50 years since the release of their most enduring hit – "Gentle Mother"
• June 2016 – Big Tom became the first artist to be inducted into the Irish Country Music Hall of Fame.
• May–September 2016 – Big Tom and the mainliners continued their summer tour to celebrate 50 years of Gentle Mother

Other details

Big Tom suffers from a fear of flying; in 1980 he undertook a sea voyage across the Atlantic Ocean to record his Blue Wings album in Nashville.

Hit songs

Big Tom has hit the Top Ten numerous times in the pop charts of Ireland:^[8]

Title and position reached		Entry Date	Artist credited
Gentle Mother	7	30 January 1967	Big Tom and The Mainliners
Old Log Cabin for Sale	4	21 October 1967
The Sunset Years of Life	3	23 July 1970
Broken Marriage Vows	1	19 February 1972
I Love You Still	1	4 January 1973
Old Love Letters	1	16 May 1974
Four Country Roads	5	16 May 1981	Big Tom
Streets of Dublin City	7	15 November 1981
If I Needed You	10	18 March 1984
Jealous Heart	9	7 April 1984

Discography

Vinyl albums

Prior to 1990 all of Big Tom's audio music releases (over 20 albums) were on vinyl record (or cassette) and are now out of print. Since 1990 the release format became CD (or cassette).

Title	Artist credited	Year	Record Label	Issue Code
The All Time Hits of	Big Tom and The Mainliners		Emerald	GES1051
Little Bit of Country and Irish		1969		GES1076
From Ireland		1970		GES1077
I'll Settle For Old Ireland		1971		GES1102
Requests!		1972	Denver	DEB102
Image of Me				DNV 2
Ashes of Love				DNV 3
Smoke Along The Track				DNV 4
Souvenirs		1975		DNV 5
When The Roses Bloom Again	Big Tom & The Travellers	1975		DNV 6
Travel On		1977		DNV 7
I Would Like To See You Again		1978		DNV 8
At The Irish Festival		1979		DNV 9
Blue Wings	Big Tom	1980		DNV 10
Four Country Roads	Big Tom & The Travellers	1981		DNV 11
Songs From Home and Faraway		1982		DNV 12
				DNV 14
Teardrops in the Snow		1985		DNV 15
Around Ireland		1986		DNV 16

Compilation Vinyl albums

Title	Artist credited	Year	Record label	Issue code
Favourites		1980	K-Tel	KLP55
The Heart of Country Music			Denver
King of Country Music – Volume 1	Big Tom	1977		BT1
King of Country Music – Volume 2
King of Country Music – Volume 3
King of Country Music – Volume 4
King of Country Music – Volume 5
King of Country Music – Volume 6
Hits by the Dozen				DEB105

CD albums

The CD releases typically contain tracks which were previously issued on vinyl, however those marked * consist all tracks newly recorded and those marked ** consist of some tracks newly recorded. The 20 Golden Greats CD may be discontinued as all tracks have been reissued on latter CDs.
The Greatest Hits CD includes two tracks taken from the Live at the Glencarn Hotel video. The Live at The Galtymore CD is solely the soundtrack from the video of same name recorded in 1991.
It is intended by Big Tom's record company to reissue all vinyl tracks on to CD releases.

Title	Artist credited	Year
Today **	Big Tom and The Mainliners	c.1990
Greatest hits		c.1991
20 Golden Greats		1992
Out on Their Own *		1993
The Sweetest Gift *		1995
Songs I Like To Sing	Big Tom	c.1996
25 Golden Greats		1996
Souvenirs		c.1998
Blue Wings (In Nashville)		c.1999
The Irish Collection		1999
The Very Best of Irish Country		1999
Smoke Along The Track		c.2000
When The Roses Bloom Again		2002
The Same Way You Came In **	Big Tom with Seamus McMahon	2005
Teardrops in the Snow	Big Tom	April 2007
Around Ireland **		March 2008
Ashes of Love	Big Tom and The Mainliners	August 2009
Four Country Roads	Big Tom and The Travellers	August 2009
The Image of Me	Big Tom and The Mainliners	August 2009
Requests		August 2009
Live at The Galtymore		June 2010
I am an Island *		November 2010
Songs From Home & Faraway	Big Tom	October 2011
Travel On	Big Tom and The Travellers	October 2012
Lonesome at Your Table	Big Tom and the Mainliners	April 2013 The Ultimate Collection vol.1 Big Tom Due April 2014

Tom has also recorded a duet track in 2009 with Frank Nelson:^[9] Treasured Memories which is featured on Frank's album of the same name.

Videos/DVDs

• Live at the Glencarn Hotel, Castleblayney
• Live at the Galtymore, London
• In Concert at the Ardhowen Theatre, Enniskillen
• The Sweetest Gift
• The Very Best of (Compilation)
• Back to Castleblayney, Live
• Galtymore 2004, Live
• Live in Birmingham and Manchester
• Live in Castlebar 2008 (featuring The London Irish Festival)
• Big tom and the mainliners -A Celebration- 2016

References

1. Singer Big Tom among tax dodgers in €30m settlements – National News, Frontpage. Independent.ie. Retrieved on 16 November 2011.
2. "K-MAC Records". Archived from the original on 13 July 2011. Retrieved 2011-07-13.
3. BreakingNews.ie – 2006/11/14: Big Tom recovering well after heart surgery. Archives.tcm.ie (14 November 2006). Retrieved on 16 November 2011.
4. The Royal Theatre, Castlebar, County Mayo, Ireland
5. The Mayo News – Big Tom takes ill. Mayonews.ie (1 April 2008). Retrieved on 16 November 2011.
6. news : (Irish News). The Irish World. Retrieved on 16 November 2011.
7. London Irish Festival – Music Acts
8. The Irish Charts – All there is to know Archived 1 February 2010 at WebCite. Irishcharts.ie (1 October 1962). Retrieved on 16 November 2011.
9. Big Tom report in the Mayo News. Mayonews.ie. Retrieved on 16 November 2011.

External links

• Big Tom's record company