Publishing rights to ‘Grace’ owned by local businessman
The publishing rights to ‘Grace’ are owned by another well-known Westmeath native, businessman and former politician Donie Cassidy and his son Peter, writes Rodney Farry.
The original recording of the song was a huge hit for folk singer Jim McCann on its release in 1986 and stayed in the Irish charts for more than six months. Since then, the song has been recorded by more than 100 artists, including Rod Stewart, The Dubliners, Foster and Allen, and The Wolfe Tones.
Donie believes the fact that the song is more popular than ever is a testament to the songwriting abilities of its creators, Sean and Frank O’Meara.
“It’s a beautiful love song. The words in the first line of the chorus: ‘Grace just hold me in your arms and let this moment linger’ – they are just haunting, and so many people can resonate with it.”
In recognition of their contributions to music, Donie, Peter, Frank and Sean were presented with Gradam Na hÉigse awards by Comhaltas Ceoltóirí Éireann at a ceremony on the steps of the Cathedral of Christ the King on the Thursday afternoon of last year’s Fleadh Cheoil na hÉireann.
The O’Mearas performed ‘Grace’ alongside Foster and Allen, another musical duo that Donie has been associated with for decades. He says the song will continue to be performed by musicians for centuries to come.
“It’s an uplifting song and I’m delighted to be associated with it.”
The lot of a publisher
Donie and Peter own the publishing rights to a large selection of well-known Irish songs, including ‘My Lovely Rose of Clare’, ‘After All These Years’, a song made famous by Foster and Allen and written by Ollie Kennedy and Ber Colman, and ‘The Westmeath Bachelor’, one of Joe Dolan’s first major hits.
Donie says publishers have to work hard to see a return on their investment.
“A songwriter writes a song. He then goes to publishers and he will then bring the song around to reputable recording artists and ask them to consider it for maybe their next album release or whatever it is. Then when they record it, he also tries to get them record plays on the radio stations and television shows. So the publisher has to work to make a living.
“If he doesn’t work on the songs that are not getting played, he gets nothing. As you know, Spotify now is very small [when it comes to royalty payments], but it’s wonderful to be associated with the success of a song or the success of an artist.
“When you build up a catalogue over the years, all the small little pieces of income that come in, they’re worthwhile at the end of the day, but it takes about 30, 40 years before you can achieve that.”
Donie and Peter are currently trying to get some of the best-known names in country music to record ‘After All These Years’.
“It’s just waiting for a big artist to record. It’s a song that U2 could record. I’m just trying to get Willie Nelson to record it in Nashville at the minute.
“I think Willie is 87, 88 years old. He’s an icon in country music. And look, I suppose the likes of him, Dolly and all of those singers, that song could be really good for them because the melody is strong, but the words are strong too.”