The Billy Brown Archive

PHOTO ALBUMS - EARLY '70s


Peace concert RDS, Dublin, 1970	Onstage with The Freshmen - Seán Mahon in the background

Billy photographed for a Spotlight magazine cover in 1970

Having parted with The Freshmen in 1971, Billy assembled the Billy Brown Band with some of the finest musicians on the island. From left, Keith Donald (Federals, Greenbeats, Real McCoy), Paschal Haverty (Chessmen, Clouds), Billy Brown, Tiger Taylor (Banshees, Tigers, Éire Apparent, Dessie Reynolds (Mexicans, Jim Farley), Mick Nolan (Jim Farley, Dermot O'Brien) and Johnny Browne (Magazine, Airchords). The band folded within a year.

From left: Mick Nolan, Dessie Reynolds, Keith Donald, Johnny Browne, Paschal Haverty, Billy Brown, Tiger Taylor

Following the break-up of the Billy Brown Band in 1972, Billy teamed up with Mike O'Brien (Huds, Real McCoy) to form Brown ad O'Brien. Tiger Taylor stayed on and they were joined by multi-instrumentalist Ray Elliott, Eddie Creighton (guitar, Chessmen), Gerry Anderson (bass, Beaumont 7, Chessmen), Paddy Freeney (drums, Others) and Pat McCarthy (trombone, Columbia, Dreams, Miami).

The band released a single ‘One More River To Cross’, a Neil Sedaka song which had been released by Sedaka himself in 1971 as 'One More Mountain To Climb'. The record label credits ‘Billy Brown of Brown & O’Brien’, rather than the band. ‘Yesterday Song’ on the B-side is a Brown original composition.

Pat Nash (Granny’s Intentions) replaced Freeney in July 1972 and the band emigrated to Canada but within a year, both Brown and O’Brien had returned to Ireland.