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John "Irish" Earle
1944 - 2008
It is with great sadness that we learned of the death of John "Irish" Earle. "Irish" had been unwell for some time and was found dead in his flat in Dublin on 7th May. It is believed that he had suffered a heart attack. He was 64.
During the 70/80/and 90's, "Irish" had a CV that read like a Who's Who of the rock business. He’d gigged with and/or recorded with Sir Cliff Richard, Thin Lizzy, Ian Dury, Dave Edmonds, Wreckless Eric, Gnidrolog, Joan Jett, Little Bob Story, Dana Gillespie, Johnny Thunders, Motorhead, Shakin Stevens, Rory Gallagher, and many, many more. When asked, in the early 90's, how many albums he had appeared on, he thought about it for a short while before answering, "At least 70"!!!
But, in addition to the more well known "names" that he worked with, "Irish" was also an integral part of Ruthless Blues for some 12 years (1985-1997) during what was probably Ruthless Blues' finest period.
His attacking, rocking style of sax playing, was unique and fitted perfectly into Ruthless Blues. His interchanges with John Knightsbridge on numbers like Smokestack Lightning and Foxy Lady were the stuff of legends. And his rip roaring Henry Mancini medley of The Pink Panther / Peter Gunn Theme always a real crowd pleaser.
But, in 1997, for personal reasons, "Irish" decided to return to his native Dublin. His departure from Ruthless Blues left a big hole in the band’s sound and he was very much missed by everyone. "Irish" was so unique that Ruthless Blues never bothered looking for a replacement saxophonist. No disrespect to all the other fine players who are no doubt out there somewhere, but there was only ever one John "Irish" Earle.
Apart from being one of the all time great rock saxophonists, he was also a pretty good vocalist as well and he used to take the lead vocal for a couple of numbers at most gigs.
Off stage, "Irish" liked to talk. And talk. And talk - about pretty much anything. Many a road trip with Ruthless Blues was spent listening to John in lengthy debate with one or more of the other band members about all manner of topics. But it didn't matter how a conversation started, it was almost guaranteed that within a matter of minutes the debate would somehow become related to Berlin and/or the fall of the Third Reich! The only subject that "Irish" didn’t appear to have anything to say about was computers!
"Irish" had a great sense of humour and an extensive repertoire of amusing anecdotes from his life on the road – one for every situation - and he kept us amused for many hours recounting them.
Even on stage "Irish" used to like to have a bit of fun. Most memorable were the little skits he used to do with Stevie; either duetting on the Peter Gunn theme with Stevie playing a yellow plastic saxophone with a kazoo attached; or acting as a roadie for Stevie’s inflatable guitar solo both of which were always great favourites with audiences.
Although "Irish" had not been a well man for some time, his untimely death came as a shock to all of us who knew him as a colleague and friend. We were honoured to have shared so many good times and great gigs with him.
R.I.P. "Irish" wherever you are. You may have moved on, but you'll never be forgotten.
Individual Tributes from Ruthless Blues
"I would have liked to have been there to give you a last farewell Irish, but it was not possible. But, "Thank You" for your passionate, aggressive, dynamic Sax playing throughout your years working with Ruthless Blues. You brought a personality to the stage along with your excellent musicianship that would have been impossible to find in anyone else - you were an absolute "one-off". I will treasure some great memories."
Tony Fernandez
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"Irish lived for the next gig or beer, preferably both.
He could play like an angel and sing like a bird and could tell a story like no one else...The only thing that seemed to worry Irish was how he sounded. "How did that sound" and "I think we got away with it". Yeah mate, I think you did."
Stevie Smith
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"It was a pleasure to play with such a great sax player and no mean vocalist, too. He always played with 100% conviction. A larger than life character, he will be sadly missed by all those who knew him and worked with him."
Andy Herbert
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"Sad news for me to hear about Irish,I always enjoyed the time I spent working with him in Ruthless & even knowing he has not been in good health these past few years I always hoped to meet up again & relive a few old times."
Martyn Taylor
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Please feel free to leave any messages and/or comments in the Ruthless Blues guestbook. Alternatively, a MySpace site has been set up in John’s honour. You can find it at :-
http://www.myspace.com/legendjohnearle
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