Rory Gallagher

Rory Gallagher (1948-1995) was an Irish blues/rock guitarist whose career started in the mid-sixties with the legendary Taste, featuring his guitar and vocals, the jazz-tinged drumming of John Wilson and intricate bass playing of Richard McCracken. The band made two studio albums, Taste and On the Boards, and two live recordings of the band at its incendiary best, Live at Montreux and Live at the Isle of Wight, the latter appearing a long time after the band broke up, famously, at that same Isle of Wight festival.

Upon leaving taste he started his solo career which is when his career took off and albums took a more bluesy turn, although both his playing and song writing styles were very eclectic. Although Rory went though many different musicians (bar bassist and best friend Gerry McEvoy who stayed with Rory longer then anyone) the bands critically best and longest running line up was Rory(Guitar, Vocals), Gerry McEvoy(bass), Lou Martin(Keys) and Rod D'Ath(Drums) which came together on 1973's "Blueprint". The band produced 11 studio albums, 3 live and a BBC Sessions.

He became very successful for his live shows giving an always long and incendiary performance that his fans came to expect and love him for. Rory loved his fans and treated them the same way they treated him, just for example, for no reason at all he would from time to time give a free live performance for them which we all know not too many bands would do for their fans. He also received an almost cult status in Northern Ireland for being one of the only performers at the time to play there due to the troubles (Northern Ireland in the seventies was known to be a very unsafe place) but he still came, to the delight of his fans and in doing so gained many more for it. His popularity in Britain and Ireland(especially Ireland) was at the time nearly unrivalled. He had a cult following and still does to this day there but unfortunately he never broke America despite many tours (During one of which he was supported by KISS, who are said to have upstaged him with their makeup and props). It didnt matter anyway Europe was Rory's playground and in which he was loved.

In 1972 he was voted Melody Makerss Top Musician of the Year, his album "Live in Europe" being a big selling Top Ten album not only in the Uk but internationally.

For the most part Rorys Albums are excellent with a few better then others but no rubbish ones, as i said earlier they are all very different so liking one album over another was really a matter of taste(No pun intended) rather then superiority. The albums that stand out are indeed excellent pieces of work that would show up any band of the era. The one that most Rory fans will tell you is mandatory listening is his 1974 live album "Irish Tour" considered one of the best irish live albums of all time(Well that and Thin Lizzy's "Live and Dangerous"), the songs, performances(he more then likely wanted to play his best in front of his fellow countrymen and women) and most notably the crowd, it was performed in front of a small crowd but their reactions and interactions are better then any you'll hear on most live albums. If you are looking for a studio album "Tattoo", "Calling Card" and if you are into it, his heavy rock album "Top Priority" are considered some of his best.

In later life (despite his previous negative views on drugs and alcohol often warning his own friends who drank a lot that they were killing themselves slowly and should cut down) he started to hit the bottle very hard often locking himself in a room for days drinking. Sadly his excess finally caught up with him and he died in London on 14th June 1995 from complications following a liver transplant.

"An uncompromisingly serious musician" - The Times, 16th June 1995.