A great musician and a great person. He was a superb guitar player, and I've always loved his voice. Maybe his voice wasn't perfect for everybody, but it was perfect for his songs, and that's all!
First time I heard Rory was when I bought Taste album On the boards. The first song, "What's going on", shocked me. His skills were really evident, and since that day, when I was 17, he's one of my favourite musicians. I even liked how he played sax in that album, and I always wondered why he didn't play it more often.
Next album I bought was Tattoo, a superb record. With one of my favourite songs, "Tattoo'd lady". But if I thought I had heard his best efforts, later I bought two live albums, Live in Europe and the 2LP Irish tour '74. WOW! Smashing albums, superb playing, lots of blues songs. I love songs such as "A million miles away", "Who's that coming", "Messing with the kid", and many others.
His latest album, Fresh evidence, contains several superb songs, such as "Walkin' wounded" and "Slumming angel".
After playing two tracks in Peter Green tribute, Rattlesnake guitar: the music of Peter Green, he died on June 14th, 1995. That's why that album is dedicated to Rory.
Now, I've begun to buy his remastered CDs. But, as my friend Alex Gitlin (great Rory fan!) tells me, some of them contain remixes, not the original mix. Why? Was maybe Rory unhappy with the final results? I can't understand. The great thing in them is that they contain bonus tracks.
Ah, if you ever see an album called Irish
tour (not Irish tour 74), that's a remaster of the
original 2LP, but it misses some of the tracks, so you're advertised! Please,
someone should release this complete album, it's a masterpiece!!
Albums I have where he plays:
On the boards (1970) < a Spanish compilation >
Solo albums that I have:
Rory Gallagher Deuce (remastered CD + 1 bonus track) Tattoo Live in Europe Irish tour '74 (2LP) (live) Photo finish (remastered CD + 2 bonus tracks) Calling card (remastered CD + 2 bonus tracks) Defender (remastered CD + 2 bonus tracks) Fresh evidence (non-remastered) Fresh evidence (remastered CD + 2 bonus tracks)
Collective albums:
Rattlesnake guitar: the music of Peter Green (1994) (2CD) Isle of Wight (1996) (2CD) (live)
Live bootlegs:
Messin' with the kid () Just a rolling stone (1993) Can't get enough (1994) (shared with Montrose and Bad Company)
Bootlegs where he appears: Albert Collins - Jammin' with Albert (----)
Albums that I have where he plays: Jerry Lee Lewis - The session (1973, Mercury)
Links:
From the comprehensive Rockpalast site (by Michael Marsch), we have:Thanks section
Thanks to: Alex Gitlin, as always, my friend, for sharing his feelings about Rory with me!
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