Sonny Brogan
| Sonny Brogan | |
|---|---|
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| Background information | |
| Birth name | Patrick Joseph Brogan |
| Born | 4 July 1906 |
| Origin | Dublin, Ireland |
| Died | 1 January 1965 (aged 58) |
| Genres | Irish traditional |
| Instruments | Accordion |
| Years active | 1930s–1964 |
| Labels | HMV, EMI, RTÉ, Topic Records |
| Associated acts |
Lough Gill Quartet, Ceoltóirí Chualann |
| Notable instruments | |
| Hohner Single-row Melodeon, "Paolo Soprani" Double-row B/C Button Accordion |
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Sonny (Patrick Joseph) Brogan (4 July 1906 – 1 January 1965) was an Irish accordion player from the 1930s to the 1960s, and was one of Ireland's most popular traditional musicians. He was one of the earliest advocates of the two-row B/C button accordion in traditional music, and popularised it the 1950s and 60s. He originally played on a single-keyed Hohner melodeon, and later the two-row Paolo Soprani (pictured) which he used until he died. Sonny's Paolo Soprani was one of the rarest, the grey model, made in 1948, when the company still made them by hand. Offaly-born button box player Paddy O'Brien currently has Sonny's accordion.
Sonny Brogan was born in Dublin, the eldest of three children born to Alicia Brown and Andrew Brogan. On a holiday trip to Kildare as a young boy, he first heard Irish music played on the accordion by his great uncle, Thomas Cleary. His mother, when opening luggage on returning home, found a melodeon hidden there 'stolen' by Sonny who had taken a fancy to it. He was allowed to keep the instrument and taught himself to play it.
Growing up he attended music classes for piano, and learned how to read basic music notation. He soon found, however that his ear served him better as a teacher, and abandoned "paper music" as he called it. The teacher in question offered to teach Sonny free of charge if he returned, but he declined.
Sonny had a great love of music in general and possessed many 78rpm records of artists like Amelita Galli-Curci, apart from a huge collection of Michael Coleman, the Sligo fiddle player, who he admired more than any other musician.
In the 1930s and 1940s, alongside his close friend Bill Harte, he played with the Lough Gill Quartet. Sonny gathered a lot of tunes from Bill Harte, some of which he would write down in tonic solfa for the record, and others which he simply committed to memory. It has been said that both Bill Harte and Sonny Brogan "are reputed to have been among the pioneers who saw the potential for Irish music making in the button accordion pitched B/C and subsequently devised and disseminated the fingering method". One of the tunes Sonny recorded with the Lough Gill Quartet, "Toss the Feathers" (78rpm HMV IM948), was his own composition, and he took great pride in playing it on selected occasions.
Sonny went to England briefly in the 1940s, and on his return, George Rowley (fiddler originally from Co. Leitrim) and Ned Stapleton (flute player from Dublin) wrote "Sonny's Return" in honour of him. Ned called it "The Wanderer's Return", but it is more commonly known as "Sonny's Return".
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