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Bio:
Cromwell formed in the early 1970s as a quartet. Singer Mick O'Hagan
from Drogheda was the son of tenor Pat O'Hagan.
Patrick Brady (guitar) and Michael Kiely (drums) were from Drumcondra in Dublin.
Michael Kiely had been a musical journalist for High Times, an early 70s underground
rock newspaper which was a forerunner of Hot Press in its coverage of the Irish rock scene.
He'd earlier been
in Julian's Heirs with his brothers David and Des.
Cromwell supported Rory Gallagher on his Irish tour in 1972 alongside Sleepy Hollow.
Their live set was a mixture of originals and covers, including Granny's Intentions.
Given that Rory recorded these shows for a live album, live recordings of Cromwell from
this tour may exist.
The band recorded a demo
at Emerald Studios in Belfast sometime in 1972 or 1973. This is presumably lost.
By the time of their debut single "Guinness Rock" in 1973 Mick O'Hagan had left the band
and was not replaced. The band continued as a trio with Brady and Kiely on vocals.
The debut single and all subsequent releases were on the
band's own Cromwell label, distributed by Release Records. In all 5 singles and one LP were released between 1973-75.
The last single was distributed by CBS. All
are collectors items today, especially the album and
picture sleeves copies of the first and last singles in
good condition.
Due to it's scarcity it became a target for rare record dealers in the 80s/90s who hyped it
as a hard rock 'monster' album comparing it to Thin Lizzy. In fact it is an excellent
rock LP with a healthy Rolling Stones influence.
Cromwell split sometime in the mid-1970s with the core songwriting duo of Brady & Kiely forming The Establishment who recorded into the early 1980s.
Right: Cromwell recording news in New Spotlight magazine, 19th October 1973. The new single mentioned here is their second "Stomp Stomp Stomp" which came out the following year in 1974. The LP didn't emerge until 1975, had 10 instead of 12 tracks, and did not include the mentioned instrumental "Achill Island". |
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Help!: We need your help to complete this entry. If you can tell us more about this band then please do! We welcome any corrections, missing details, connections to other bands, where are they now, etc. We also need photos, scans, copies of releases or live or demo recordings, and any other memorabilia gathering dust in the attic.
thanks to TP McLoughlin