By Jim McGill
Paddy Moloney certainly was the heart and soul of the Chieftains. He was keenly aware of the big picture.
The Chieftain’s first appearance in Philadelphia was in 1973. A group of singers from Release Records, which included Sean Dunphy, were in concert at the Irish Center. The Chieftains had a gig in New York but were free on that night. They decided to join their friends at the Irish Center and played a guest spot
Dr. Kenny Goldstein, (1927-1995) was chairman of the Department of Folklore and Folklife at the University of Pennsylvania for nearly 20 years and a friend of Bill Lustig.
Lustig was the Chieftain’s London based agent in their early days. Kenny was instrumental in founding the Philadelphia Folksong Society and co-founder of the Philly Folk Festival and when the Philadelphia Ceili Group came back to the Irish Center, the revival began to happen.
It was no wonder that when the Chieftains toured again in 1974 that the Folksong Society would sponsor them in concert with help from the Philadelphia Ceili Group at the Irish Center.
The concert was an outstanding success with over 400 attending for a most memorable musical occasion.
The following year the venue was the Academy of Music but somehow did not capture the magic of the previous year. We went backstage until ushered out and then to a downtown hideaway where Paddy held sway till the wee hours.
Paddy had a good recipe and knew the right ingredients. The Chieftains were his baby and he was going to cultivate them the best way he knew how.
Who will emerge to fill the void of the likes of Paddy?