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Longford-born fiddle player James Clark partnered the eponymous piccolo player George White in operating a bar and restaurant on 60th Street near Columbus Avenue in the mid 1930s, where Paddy Sweeney served as musical director. Clark led a varying group of “Irish Entertainers” who played for the “Smiles and Tears of Erin” program, first on WHOM and later WLWL, a station run by the Paulist Fathers from their church on 59th Street. Clark, who died young at the age of 50, made only a handful of now-rare recordings, but they included some of the finest fiddling of his era, as evidenced by “Dowd’s Favorite,” a three-part reel on which he was accompanied by George White’s wife Eileen on the piano.

  • Dowd's favourite, reel / Jim Clark, fiddle ; Frank Quinn, fiddle ; Eileen White, piano

  • The bells of Tipperary [medley of reels] / Frank Quinn ; Jim Clarke: The smiles and tears of Erin Orchestra

  • Medley of reels [incl. The Bridge of Athlone] / Frank Quinn ; Jim Clarke: The smiles and tears of Erin Orchestra

  • Master Rodger's [medley of reels] / Frank Quinn ; Jim Clarke: The smiles and tears of Erin Orchestra


Jim Clarke's Orchestra from the Smiles and Tears of Erin Programme. The "Smiles and Tears of Erin" program aired weekly on various nights from 1934 - 37 on radio station WLWL ("We Listen, We Learn"), run by the Paulist Fathers, a missionary order based in a church on West 59th Street near Donovan's Halls, one of New York's most important Irish dance halls. Standing: Paddy Sweeney, fiddle ; Tommy Cawley, fiddle ; ? Kenny, announcer ; ? O'Brien, programme director ; Patsy Cawley, fiddle ; J Flood, drums ; Jim Clarke, fiddle. Sitting: Paulie Ryan, clarinet ; Jimmy Ryan, saxophone ; Tim Fitzpatrick, accordion ; P Drohan, piano ; Jim McGowan, flute / Unidentified photographer. New York, 1930s. Image courtesy Iris Nevins