Rory Gallagher's Best?

Subject: Rory Gallagher's Best?
From: GUEST,Neil Lowe
Date: 13 Mar 00 - 09:51 AM

I have heard Rory Gallagher was a fine blues rocker. I am not very familiar with his music, but I've been told he liked his blues pretty much the same way I do: the minimum complement of instruments (guitar, bass, drums - with the emphasis on guitar), garnished with liberal doses of decibels.

Any nominations for his best songs/recordings? What would you say was his best studio effort? How about his best live performance? Comments on guitar style/playing ability/etc? Or any other thoughts, musings, rants or raves you may have on this subject or anything else for that matter will be welcomed.

Fat Strats forever,

Neil

Subject: RE: Rory Gallagher's Best?
From: Metchosin
Date: 13 Mar 00 - 10:36 AM

Neil, I don't know if it is still available and it is an odd place to find it, but Rory Gallagher's guitar work on the song Rock Island Line by Lonnie Donegan on the Album Putting on the Style, is one of the "smokin'est" guitar riffs, I have ever heard in any genre of music. He just blazes!

Subject: RE: Rory Gallagher's Best?
From: GMT
Date: 13 Mar 00 - 11:07 AM

Metchosin, good call he sure brought skiffle to life.
Some other great names on that album as well.

Neil, you could try Live in Europe from the early seventies.
I was on it you know but you can't hear me
for all the others cheering as well. He had a
great way of making sure, what he considered, a bad solo
didn't make it onto the record. He kicked over
the mike stand and flooded the place with feedback.

There are also a couple of videos of him live hear in
the UK but I haven't watched them.

Thanks for the memories

Gary

Subject: RE: Rory Gallagher's Best?
From: Den
Date: 13 Mar 00 - 11:14 AM

Neil, you might try to get your hands on some Taste, a powerful power blues trio and Rory's first band. The Album On the boards was great. What's going on and Bull frog blues. Rory was once supporting Status Quo at a concert in Vancouver. Status Quos gear didn't show up so Rory ended up entertaining the audience for almost three hours. Den

Subject: RE: Rory Gallagher's Best?
From: Steve Latimer
Date: 13 Mar 00 - 02:01 PM

Neil,

I know that you're a Johnny Winter fan. There are a lot of similarities between the two. Rory was straight ahead Rock and Blues, 'Live In Europe' is the only Rory album I have,it is quite similar in style and feel to Johnnys' 'Live, And.'

I think that one would be a good starting point for you.

I saw him once on the worst booked bill I've ever seen. He opened, the third act was Rick Derringer, the closing act was Aerosmith, makes sense so far, right?

The act between Rory and Derringer was Henry Gross who did that horrible, schmaltzy song "Shannon" about the dog who drowned. Who could have booked that? Rory was great that day though.

Subject: RE: Rory Gallagher's Best?
From: Steve Latimer
Date: 13 Mar 00 - 02:05 PM

Neil,

I know that you're a Johnny Winter fan. There are a lot of similarities between the two. Rory was straight ahead Rock and Blues, 'Live In Europe' is the only Rory album I have,it is quite similar in style and feel to Johnnys' 'Live, And.'

I think that one would be a good starting point for you.

I saw him once on the worst booked bill I've ever seen. He opened, the third act was Rick Derringer, the closing act was Aerosmith, makes sense so far, right?

The act between Rory and Derringer was Henry Gross who did that horrible, schmaltzy song "Shannon" about the dog who drowned. Who could have booked that? Rory was great that day though.

Subject: RE: Rory Gallagher's Best?
From: GUEST,Neil Lowe
Date: 13 Mar 00 - 08:40 PM

Thanks to all...I'm off to sample some MPEG files. Think I'll look hard at the "Live In Europe" record for starters. If I can find Taste, I'll check that out as well. I heard they once opened for Cream.

BTW Steve, still working on the rhythm part to Johnny's It's My Own Fault. That's a long song, you know? *BG* Good to "talk" to you!

Hasta los tacos....Neil

Subject: RE: Rory Gallagher's Best?
From: GUEST,Neil Lowe
Date: 13 Mar 00 - 09:45 PM

Oops....the article said Taste once opened for Blind Faith, not Cream. Oh well, 2/3 of Cream was in Blind Faith, so technically I was only 1/3 wrong.

There's a "Best Of" Taste that sounded real tasty, as well as a live, two-disc "BBC Sessions" of Rory Gallagher that had some wicked slide work on there. Also a studio (Best Of, sort of?) "Blues For a Blue day" that caught my ear. Decisions, decisions, decisions....

Thanks for the input, 'Cats.

Lonnie Donegan? Rock Island Line? The "Rock Island Line, Mighty good road to ride" Rock Island Line? I'll have to check it out.

Regards, Neil

Subject: RE: Rory Gallagher's Best?
From: Metchosin
Date: 14 Mar 00 - 06:07 AM

That very one Neil and really worth the search, IMHO the penultimate of guitar riffs of that type, (well, maybe of Gallahers playing) and on a folk song even. He took it somewhere Woody never dreamed and good on him.

Subject: RE: Rory Gallagher's Best?
From: GUEST,Neil Comer
Date: 14 Mar 00 - 05:29 PM

As a slight aside from the main thread- listen to Western Plane by Rory Gallagher

Subject: RE: Rory Gallagher's Best?
From: GUEST,The Beanster
Date: 17 Mar 00 - 12:44 AM

There is film running around--shows up on PBS from time to time--from the Isle of Wight concert from long, long ago. (1969?) Rory does one song on that--unfortunately, I can't remember which one. Not easy to find this guy on video or film, though. And the whole movie is very entertaining as it includes performances by Donovan, The Moody Blues, Tiny Tim (?!) Free, Joni Mitchell (who says some really sweet, hokey things), The Doors, Leonard Cohen, Ten Years After, The Lovin' Spoonful, The Who and tons of others--quite the hodgepodge. Good stuff.

Subject: RE: Rory Gallagher's Best?
From: GUEST,Neil Lowe
Date: 17 Mar 00 - 10:25 AM

Beanster.....

You piqued my curiosity so I went surfing. Here's what I found: The festival you mentioned occurred in 1970 - incidentally, the last performance given by Jimi Hendrix a few days before he died. Rory Gallagher performed "Sinner Boy" with his band Taste.

There's a video available: "Message To Love - The Isle of Wight Festival 1970: The Movie." Cost about $20.00 for DVD. I don't know if Rory is on there.

Thanks for the info.

Regards, Neil

Subject: RE: Rory Gallagher's Best?
From: GUEST,Neil Lowe
Date: 17 Mar 00 - 10:50 AM

Metchosin......

I found a CD reissue of a Lonnie Donegan recording titled, "King of Skiffle." There were no liner notes, but "Rock Island Line" was on there along with "Wabash Cannonball," "Michael, Row The Boat Ashore," "Don't Rock Me Daddy-O,"...19 cuts in all, for the low, low price of $6.00. Reckon this recording would have the Rory riff you were talking about?

Neil

Subject: RE: Rory Gallagher's Best?
From: GUEST,Roger the skiffler
Date: 17 Mar 00 - 11:08 AM

The recording you want is the 1977 one with star guests including Elton John & Ringo Starr as well as Gallagher. Personally I prefer the original 1950s or the later 1990s ones with Van Morrison.
RtS

Subject: RE: Rory Gallagher's Best?
From: GUEST,Neil Lowe
Date: 17 Mar 00 - 01:39 PM

Thanks, RtS....time to fire up the search engine again.

Subject: RE: Rory Gallagher's Best?
From: Brakn
Date: 17 Mar 00 - 10:27 PM

I first saw Rory with The Taste in Bath, early 1969, when Jeff Beck didn't turn up. They did mainly blues standards, which many were never put out on disc (except "I Feel So Good", "Sugar Mama"), and included a Gershwin medley. I think I still have the first single somewhere "Blister On The Moon". I saw them quite often then. I was never too keen on his own compositions and I never thought that the "Rory Gallagher Band" were a patch on The Taste.

Subject: RE: Rory Gallagher's Best?
From: Brakn
Date: 17 Mar 00 - 10:36 PM

As for them opening for Blind Faith, I don't think so. I was under the impression the Blind Faith only did one gig, in Hyde Park, I was there and Rory didn't play. If I remember correctly, which doubtful, other artists on that bill were The (awful out demons out) Edgar Broughton Band, The Third Ear Band and possibly Richie Havens.

Subject: RE: Rory Gallagher's Best?
From: GUEST,The Beanster
Date: 18 Mar 00 - 12:33 AM

Dear Neil,

Yes!! You found it! "Sinner Boy"--that was it! Thanks for your info...I might just trot out and rent it if I can. I also remembered I saw Rory here at the Bottom Line in 1978 or so--my GOD was he LOUD! lol

Thanx again, Neil, that was a nice surprise.

Subject: RE: Rory Gallagher's Best?
From: GUEST,Allen
Date: 01 Jun 05 - 03:57 AM

He also appears in the 1994 Lorient Festival playing "Out on the Western Plains" and then a really wild number with Dan ar Braz. Don't know if it's on video or DVD, but I taped it off the Mezzo channel.

Subject: RE: Rory Gallagher's Best?
From: HipflaskAndy
Date: 01 Jun 05 - 06:23 AM

My Fave studio album - 'Deuce' - Grand! HFA

Subject: RE: Rory Gallagher's Best?
From: PoppaGator
Date: 01 Jun 05 - 03:36 PM

There's a DVD called "Out of Ireland: From A Whisper to a Scream" that features a number of Rory Gallagher songs. Several were from the same TV show, something with a German title; the narration did not explain it fully to my satisfaction (i.e., an American with absolutely no prior knowledge), but apparently Rory played some sort of role in organizing the show, which may have been an all-Europe rock "festival" broadcast, not necessarily a series and not something just for Germany.

The "Out of Ireland" feature has a fair amount of Rory footage, interviews and commentary as well as several different performances (including a few minutes from the Isle of Wight show), but no complete long songs. If there's any way to find a complete video of the show(s) from which snippets were taken for "Out of Ireland," you'd have something.

Subject: RE: Rory Gallagher's Best?
From: GUEST,Allen
Date: 01 Jun 05 - 04:18 PM

Out of Ireland also has Planxty, Horslips and Thin Lizzy among others.

Subject: RE: Rory Gallagher's Best?
From: Den
Date: 01 Jun 05 - 04:20 PM

Actually I just got Rory's Irish Tour 1974 on DVD. Its pretty good. Not sure if this is the one you're talking about PoppaGator but the track listing is as follows:
1. Walk On Hot Coals
2. Tatoo'd Lady
3. Who's That Coming?
4. A Million Miles Away
5. Going To My Home Town
6. Cradle Rock
7. As The Crow Flies
8. Hands Up
9. Bullfrog Blues
You can buy it on amazon.com or .ca depending on where you are. I picked it up at the library.

Subject: RE: Rory Gallagher's Best?
From: PoppaGator
Date: 01 Jun 05 - 05:52 PM

Allen, do you have a copy of that "Out of Ireland" DVD? I rented it several months ago and don't have a copy on hand.

If you (or anyone) can watch the tape, perhaps you can tell us the title of the show from which several Rory Gallagher songs are extracted. I wrote earlier that the title was German because it looked German to me, but I may have been mistaken ~ it may have been Dutch or Scadinavian. (I'm no linguist, and my limited knowledge of non-English languages is limited to Latin/French/Spanish rather than northern-European languages.)

Subject: RE: Rory Gallagher's Best?
From: GUEST,Allen
Date: 01 Jun 05 - 06:11 PM

Nah, I wish I had. Shop ordered it but haven't received it in stock yet. There used to be a good official website with details of the bands mentioned.
The Rory songs might be from the Rockpalast, which he opened.

Subject: RE: Rory Gallagher's Best?
From: Rain Dog
Date: 02 Jun 05 - 07:52 AM

There is a new best of 2 cd to be released 13th June , Big Guns

Press release details here:

Big Guns

Does not seem to include the full track listing

Subject: RE: Rory Gallagher's Best?
From: PoppaGator
Date: 02 Jun 05 - 09:55 AM

"Rockpalast" is indeed what I had in mind. I was pretty sure someone east of the pond would know what I was trying to communicate, however feebly.

"Out of Ireland" has limited footage of Rory doing several different songs on that show ~ one has to assume the complete footage exists somewhere.

Subject: RE: Rory Gallagher's Best?
From: GUEST,Allen
Date: 02 Jun 05 - 10:10 AM

I believe it does. Let me google it.

Subject: RE: Rory Gallagher DVD
From: GUEST,Allen
Date: 02 Jun 05 - 10:41 AM

Here we go:
Rockpalast on DVD

Subject: RE: Rory Gallagher's Best?
From: PoppaGator
Date: 02 Jun 05 - 02:23 PM

I just checked Netflix , my (US) source for DVD rentals, and they do NOT carry "Rory Gallagher at Rockpalast." (Maybe its UK-only.) They DO stock four different anthologies featuring Rory Gallagher performances:

Blues Rock: The Anthology (At least 7 different artists, but Rory's picture is on the sleeve.)
Get It On: 70s Jukebox
Guitar Legends
and the aforementioned Out of Ireland ~ which I recommend wholeheartedly.

Can anyone tell me more about "Rockpalast"? Just curious...