Daniel O’donnell
DANIEL O’Donell Interview Transcription.
All Quotes By DANIEL O’Donell
I’m not as much a big fan of singers, but of songs.
Love to sing, I’ve chosen a lot of cover songs only because I really feel that I would like to hear that song to if I were somewhere out at a function. I only sing songs I believe that I would be really happy to hear. That’s how I base my show. If I’m doing something,I would normally do one show set of sixty songs. When I set out to pick these songs, I don’t remember the ’60’s all that well because I was very young, but a good few of the people in my band do. So, when I choose some of these songs to cover that were popular during the ’60’s,well, my band would know the songs well but I wouldn’t. It’s no good for me to sing a song because somebody else knows it or somebody else likes it. I have t actually want to sing it and know it and love it myself.
If somebody gave me a song today and they guaranteed me it would be an absolute number one hit, without any question about it,and I didn’t feel that I could sing it or wanted to sing it, I just could not do it.
Even if somebody said to me I’d be know all over the world because of the song, I just couldn’t do the song. If I wasn’t totally happy with the song, I could not sing it. It’s a very important process for me choosing what I sing.
Country music here in Ireland is a music we’ve always love here.
Certainly country music is still the most listened to music in all of Ireland today. I guess it’s because the sentiments of traditional country music are very similar to our Irish songs and they marry very well together. From my point of view, during my show, a country song and an Irish song can go together one after another so easily. I was brought up with the Irish ballads,but because there’s many singers, singing country music here,it’s like country music belongs to us.
My favorite country singer of all time is, Loretta Lynn, I just love her. After that, I really like Charlie Pride.
I love the traditional country.
Of the modern country singers I suppose Randy Travis is my favorite. I really don’t feel that this is work, it just doesn’t come under that category for me. I can’t really tell you what I’d call it. It’s just a great joy to do this. I’m so lucky to be allowed to go through life as I am. I meet people all the time and there’s such a positive attraction to what you do. It’s a very happy situation. I really have a good time singing to my fans. I feel that if you find something you really enjoy to do, then you’re much better to the people you meet. You have to be happy with yourself for others to be happy with you. It’s a lovely, lovely feeling to have.
I’m lucky to be in the type of music that I am because it brings you in close contact with the people.
The people who come out to see me are regular, everyday people, very similar to myself really. Because of the type of music I sing it attracts normal people who treat things in a normal way. There’s not huge hysteria about what I’m doing. If I meet people it’s a calm situation. Which is lovely because it’s allowed me to get to know many people. When you’re traveling, you will know a face, so you’re never in a strange place, when you know someone there.
When I go back to places in the States and places in England, I have a visual picture of the people I’m going to meet. Even if I don’t know them very well, I see them and I know they’re going to be there. Once you see people, no matter how strange the surrounding, the place becomes familiar. Success is a wonderful thing, I’m certainly better off and I lead a comfortable life. But I don’t know if I would be that much different, if I never had the success. I certainly probably wouldn’t be as fulfilled if I didn’t sing.
The only part of my life that is involved with show business, is the actual show. I don’t have any connection with show business people. Not because there’s anything wrong with show business people, because I would prefer to be home where I grew up because the people here where I grew up I know best. Things that happen here, insignificant though they might be to the world, they mean a lot to me and the people living here.