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Bio:
Born in North Dublin in 1952, Carl Corcoran began performing as a pianist/singer-songwriter
in the clubs in Dublin in the early 70s, the same scene which gave Chris de Burgh his start. His biography
says he was surprised to be offered a recording contract
by EMI Records. The stage name Jamie Stone was chosen for him by producer John Drummond.
Before recording as Jamie Stone, Carl had already made his vinyl debut with the Dublin branch
of the Crehan Family (as opposed to their West Clare cousins),
a traditional music group who'd appeared on ITV's Opportunity Knocks in 1970 and signed to EMI Records.
When recording their 1973 LP "The Green Hills of Clare", they decided
they needed vocals on some tracks to
prevent it from being an all
instrumental affair, an so they asked Carl, a friend of the band, if he would like to guest on it.
He performed on three tracks: the title track "The Green Hills of Clare",
"Sally Free And Easy" and "Lord Franklin". I haven't heard the resultant LP but it has a good reputation.
Carl reputedly does a very good job handling the traditional tunes in contemporary, slightly progressive
settings incorporating acoustic guitar, bass and drums.
As Jamie Stone, Carl recorded three albums for EMI, "New Day" (1974), "Storyteller" (1976) and
"Let It Shine" (1978). "New Day" is the liveliest and most varied of the three; "Storyteller" is
dominated by mid-tempo piano ballads of little variety or distinction which suffer
from a drabness and samey-ness across the album, making it his least interesting recording;
and "Let It Shine" is the slickest, recorded in London
with seasoned session musicians.
The first album spawned a hit single in Ireland "Gulliver" and Stone won several RMI awards
that year the same year.
In 1976 he entered ITV's New Faces where he came second. He appeared again in a
runners-up competition broadcast on 18 December 1976 but it was
that well-known boy/girl duo from Portsmouth
Koffy & Kreme who won the right to go on to the Grand Final.
Meanwhile "I Believe in Love", the lead single off his second album, hit the #1 spot in
Ireland in December 1976 and spent a total of 14 weeks in the Irish charts.
In 1977 he made a stab at Eurovision, entering the National Song Contest with "If I Give My Love" and
finishing second. He tried again the following year with "Over Again" which finished 7th. His final LP for EMI
"Let It Shine" came out the same year.
In 1978, he reverted to his real name Carl Corcoran and he and his wife, songwriter Rosemarie Taylor,
emigrated to the USA where they stayed for 20 years. Both continued to publish
songs. He finished 4th in the 1995 Irish National Song Contest with the song "Little By Little".
Carl also began to work in radio in the 1990s which led to an opportunity
after returning to Ireland when he joined the staff of Lyric FM.
He continues to write and also performs on occasion.
Besides his pop recordings, Carl revisited traditional music material by recording a trad-flavoured solo
CD for the US Rego label in 1995.
Notes: All tracks wrtiten by Carl and Michael Corcoran. Matrix: SKER 2004 A-1U/B-1U.
Notes:
All music by Jamie Stone. Lyrics by Pat Abernathy,
Pat Mullen, Michael Corcoran, Jim Connolly & Fred Goulding
and Carolyn Swift.
Record at Dublin Sound Studios. Arranged by Ed Welch.
Engineered by Bob Harper. Produced by Bob Barrett.
Piano and vocals by Jamie Stone.
Guitars: Des Moore, Eamonn Campbell
Bass: John Drummond
Drums: Desi Reynolds
Banjo ("Country Smoke-Out"): Eamonn Campbell
Fiddle ("Country Smoke-Out", "Music Man"): Audrey Parks
Electric piano: Ed Welch
Backing vocals: Ann Bushnell, Pat Reilly, Des Smyth, Jack Bayle.
Notes:
All music written by Jamie Stone.
Lyricists: Art McGann, Pat Abernethy, Fred Goulding.
Recorded at AIR Studio, London, September-October 1977.
Mixed Nov-Dec 1977.
Music arranger and conductor: Dave Gold
Produced by Gavin Dare for Rebel Records Ltd
(p) 1978 Rebel Records Ltd
Guitars: Martin Kerslaw, Chris Rae, Kevin Stacey
Bass: Andy Pask, Colin Hodgkinson
Drums: Martin David
Perc: Brian Markham
Synth/Clavinette: Pete Lemer
Backing Vocals: Vicky Brown, Norma Winstone, Kim Daniels
Numerous strings and brass credits (omitted).
Notes: Recorded in Valley Cottage, New York in March-April 1994. Produced by Carl Corcoran and Rosemarie Taylor. Personnel includes Carl Corcoran (vocals, guitar, keyboards); Rosemarie Taylor (piano, keyboards); John Guth (guitar, banjo, bass); Kevin McCann (guitar); Winnie Moran (fiddle); Joanie Madden (flute, whistle); Matthew Fisher (flute, soprano saxophone); Jerry O'Sullivan (uillean pipes); Paddy Noonan (accordion); John Nolan (button accordion); Barry Wiesenfeld (acoustic & electric basses); Ricky Martinez (drums, percussion); Seamus Greene (bodhran, woodblock).
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. If you can help, then please get in touch.