Friday 20 August 2021

#20 Out On The Western Plain


Album: Against The Grain, 1975

See Also: Check Shirt Wizard, 2020

There are moments during live shows with a bouncing audience and a raucous band where time seems to stand still and you can hear a pin drop. With Rory, this appeared to be when the rest of the band took a break and out came the acoustic guitar and the audience switched from a frothing mass, to hypnotised mesmerism. A feral monster who could make his Strat wail, he had an altogether different touch on his D35 acoustic.

‘Out On The Western Plain’ first made its appearance in 1975’s Against The Grain. The rest is pretty much history. It’s one of the ultimate Rory performance pieces. Written by Lead Belly in 1943, it has seen many cover versions over the years from John Denver to Van Morrison. I think we can get away with being biased here on favouring Rory’s version!

‘Out On The Western Plain’, also known variously as ‘Out On The Western Plains’, ‘Cow Cow Yikky Yea’ and several other titles depending on who covered it, is one of Lead Belly’s most popular songs. It formed part of a set Moses Asch got Lead Belly to record called Negro Folksongs As Sung By Leadbelly (sic).


Lead Belly, born Huddie William Ledbetter on 23 January 1888 on a plantation near Mooringsport, Louisiana, is arguably the man who gave modern popular music it’s foundation. Just about every major musician cites him as an influence, from George Harrison to George Ezra. Other famous Lead Belly songs include ‘In The Pines’ (covered by Nirvana), ‘Goodnight Irene’ and ‘Boll Weevil’. He covered everything in his music from racism, cotton picking, dancing and notable figures from President Roosevelt to Adolf Hitler (‘Mr Hitler’, 1942)

 His life alone could have made the topic of a classic blues song. By 1902, Lead Belly was already working as a musician and performed around Shreveport, developing his own unique style influenced by what he encountered. However, he was beset by several run-ins with the law, which saw him serve a few sentences in prison. Legend has it that his musical ability got him released from a murder sentence in 1925 when he impressed the Texas Governor Pat Morris Neff! Though some do question the accuracy of that. Folklorist father and son duo John and Alan Lomax found Lead Belly in prison at any rate and their recordings of him promoted his stature as a musician.

 Out of work during the Great Depression of the 1930’s, Lead Belly persuaded John Lomax to employ him as his driver for a period to avoid being returned to prison after early release for not being employed. ‘Legal issues’ aside, Lead Belly had a successful music career, with several recordings, live performances and even a weekly radio show to his name. He died on 6 December 1949 in New York City from ALS or Motor Neurone Disease and laid to rest at Shiloh Baptist Church cemetery in Mooringsport, Louisiana. He is very much worth looking into if you want to find out more.

 During his extensive acoustic set at Rockpalast 1976, Rory describes Lead Belly as ‘King of the 12-string’ in his introduction to ‘Out On The Western Plain’ (see video above), though, as he also adds, he’s going to try it on a six-string ‘with a bit of a Celtic tuning to it – I hope you enjoy this.’ Watching Rory talk and introduce each song on footage of his live shows (yes, the curse of being born too late), it’s as if he’s not quite sure of his ability to deliver the goods musically, befitting his now rather famous quiet nature. 

Of course, he starts playing, the audience are spell-bound and respond with a very enthusiastic applause, which in a nutshell, summarises the effect each time Rory playing ‘Out On The Western Plain’ seems to have had on his audiences. Even Glasgow, reputed for having a difficult crowd to please, and where back in the music hall days, acts who failed to amuse were pelted by rivets from the shipyards, fell under the spell of Rory playing this song.

 Acoustic guitar, being more stripped back, is what is said to really show the calibre of a guitarist. It’s very easy to tell when someone with a basic skill plays, usually sticking to simple chords and strumming. Rory utterly owns the acoustic and ‘Out On The Western Plain’ showcases his playing at it’s very best. A 6-string seems like a basic musical instrument, but in his hands, it becomes so much more. He shows the possibilities. His tuning on ‘Out On The Western Plain’ is apparently influenced by that developed by Martin Carthy, a guitarist Rory greatly admired, notable for working in alternative tunings.

There is a great depth to Rory’s version of ‘Out On The Western Plain’. It doesn’t seem like it’s just one man and his guitar, it sounds like a band, thanks to what seems like more than one sound coming from the guitar at the same time. And it’s something you find yourself going back to again and again because frankly you just can’t get enough from hearing it just once. The song transforms from American folk blues to a Celtic folk classic in a way that only Rory Gallagher can pull off.

Monday 9 August 2021

#19 Souped Up Ford

 


Album: Against The Grain (1975)

See Also: Check Shirt Wizard – Live in ‘77 (2020)

In 1975, Rory Gallagher may have found a new confidence in his music. This was the year he signed with Chrysalis Records, having fulfilled his 6-album contract with Polydor and finding them to be a little lacking in support – Chrysalis appeared to offer a better way forward. And of course, 1975 was also the year when he was supposed by the press to have joined The Rolling Stones following the departure of Mick Taylor. Though the rumours of Rory the Stone were short lived, as after spending a few days in the studio with them, he left and undertook his tour of Japan.

The Stones’ loss was certainly the Rory fanatic’s gain at any rate.

At this point, the line-up of The Rory Gallagher Band had been in place for a few years. As Dónal Gallagher writes on Rory’s website in the notes for Against The Grain, “The band’s line up had been unchanged since Blueprint with Gerry McAvoy on bass, Lou Martin on keyboards, and Rod de’Ath on drums. After years of playing and recording together a musical understanding and trust had developed within the group that resonates throughout the entire album.”

Released on 1 October 1975, Against The Grain was recorded at Wessex Studios in the summer of that year. Upon its release, it was enthusiastically received, Rolling Stone (the magazine, not the band!) writing, “Against the Grain is a studio set but there's no reason why it should be. The basic sound is, as e er, one man and his guitar and the production (by Gallagher himself) subsumes all else in it. Gerry McAvoy and Rod de'Ath are an unselfish and intelligent rhythm section, Lou Martin moves as efficiently on boogie piano as on pub organ, Rory gets through the lyrics throatily and effectively—but they're all servants, putting the guitar at ease as it growls and swoops and bites and relaxes. Gallagher needs few devices for his pleasure.”

The review certainly catches the mood of the album. As well as having Rory’s cover of Lead Belly’s “Out On The Western Plain”, now the stuff of acoustic legend, it also featured “Souped Up Ford”, a track which captures the freedom of the open road, both musically and lyrically. In keeping with the motoring theme, it’s safe to say Rory puts the pedal down and goes to town (swooping down the open highway, of course), with Gerry, Rod and Lou close behind in his wake.

The song opens with a slide solo that sustains for the duration as Rory sings about escaping town and hitting the road in what he sees as the only suitable car, the souped up Ford, of course. It captures perfectly the stripping away of the tensions getting away and heading somewhere new gives us:

No highway cop's gonna make me stop,
What I've started.
'Cos I won't be free till I get up,
And go where my heart is.

And the backing of the band emphatically helps Rory get to where he wants. The piano of Lou complements Rory’s slide guitar beautifully, as it seems at times, they both duel the instruments. Rory’s prowess as a guitarist is widely recognised. Lou, as a pianist, deserves the same attention. He is the perfect partner to Rory’s playing.

Lou was born in Belfast on 12 August 1949 and trained in classical piano. He may have been destined for a career as a music teacher, but the blues bug bit, and in 1968, he joined the blues rock group, Killing Floor. This was also the same band where Lou encountered Welsh drummer Rod de’Ath, born 18 July 1950 in Saundersfoot. Both came into the sphere of Rory Gallagher when Gerry McAvoy answered Rod’s advert for a flatmate in London, Gerry turning up to view the flat decked out in his finest suit, to Rod’s great amusement! Following the departure of drummer Wilgar Campbell from Rory’s band in 1972, Rod was brought in as the new drummer, Lou quickly following on piano and keyboards. Rory was not only impressed at Lou’s playing ability, after being invited by Rod to hear his mate on piano, he was also happy with the fact that Lou was a fellow blues nerd.

Rod has been unfairly maligned by who can only be described as stuffed up snobs as a drummer. Gerry described him as the ‘most undrummerlike drummer’ he’d played with. It’s quite hard to put into words what Rod brought to the drums, but it was something else. His playing added immensely to Rory’s distinct sound, which can be heard to great effect in ‘Souped Up Ford’. Rod started on piano, but packed it in, later saying he somewhat regretted stopping. Rod’s father was a musician with his own group. When Rod was about 16, the group’s drummer died of a heart attack, so Rod, with a quick lesson from his dad, was brought in as a replacement.

Even after their departure from Rory’s band in 1978, Lou and Rod played together. They formed the group Ramrod, played on tour with Chuck Berry in Europe, worked with Screaming Lord Sutch, Mick Clarke and The Downliners Sect. Sadly, Rod’s career was cut short in the late 1980s following a horrific accident where he fell down a flight of stairs running to catch a train, and sustaining a head injury that left him unable to play. Lou’s career carried on, and he also returned to guesting with Rory on the Defender album and at an acoustic set in 1993 at what was ultimately Rory’s last Irish show at the Cork Institute of Technology, given in memory of its former principal Dr James Roche, who was Rory’s uncle. Lou was beset with ill health, suffering a series of strokes. He passed away on 17 August 2012. Rod himself sadly passed a couple of years later 1 August 2014. Both are very fondly remembered as outstanding musicians.

And both, no doubt, were highly familiar with Rory’s beloved Ford Executive car, which appears to be an inspiration for ‘Souped Up Ford’. All things considered, there can’t be as many people who have clocked up as many miles as Dónal Gallagher did driving his older brother everywhere, from tours to trips to guitar shops. Rory himself never learned to drive until much later as he was so busy with guitar. As an aside, Dónal incidentally was born in Derry on 9 August 1949, only three days before Lou’s arrival in the world. Dónal learned to drive in his teens when he started working with Rory as Taste’s roadie. Rory got the Ford Executive for band use following the split of Taste. It was a car that seemed to have taken in a few adventures.

The one that made the car so special to Rory was the fact that it was approved by his biggest hero, Muddy Waters. Rory was invited to play on The London Muddy Waters Sessions. However, Rory was also scheduled to be on tour when the sessions were booked. Dónal recalls standing at the side of the stage beckoning Rory to come off as it was time to head to the studio, but Rory being Rory carried on with the encores. Eventually he made it to the car and sat in the passenger seat worrying that he was going to be fired for being late, getting little sympathy from Dónal at the wheel, who pointed out there was no need for so many encores as he literally put the pedal to the floor to get from Leicester to London in good time.

Muddy had held up the sessions awaiting Rory, who arrived a bag of nerves, apologising profusely, only to be handed a glass of champagne by the great man and told to enjoy himself. Meanwhile, Dónal found that he had literally taken the rubber off the tyres driving to the sessions. He then found himself driving Muddy about in Rory’s car, Rory having put the Ford Executive at Muddy’s disposal. Muddy was still in a considerable amount of pain following a bad car accident and said to Rory that the Ford Executive was the first car in Europe he had felt comfortable in, being able to stretch out. That was that. Rory refused to ever part with the car, even as a scrappable heap. It wound up sitting in front of his mother’s house in Cork for years, until she eventually arranged for it to be moved after Rory’s death. It’s safe to say that ‘Souped Up Ford’, with adventures on the road and Muddy Waters perhaps went far beyond a song for Rory.

 (This is an extra special post as its timing takes in key dates of people central to Rory and his music:

Rod de'Ath RIP, who passed away on 1 August 2014

Lou Martin RIP, born on 12 August 1949, passed away on 17 August 2012

Dónal Gallagher, Rory's brother, manager, keeper of the legacy and of course driver of the Souped Up Ford itself, whose birthday is 9 August, which happens to be today! Happy birthday!)


#18 - Overnight Bag

 

(Photo-Finish Version)

Albums: Photo-Finish (1978), Notes From San Francisco (2011)

 

What would become the Photo-Finish album was something of a tumultuous affair for Rory Gallagher. It took in two line-ups of the Rory Gallagher band, two recording studios in different continents, a broken thumb, one producer regarded for his work with Neil Young and another who had just worked with Paul McCartney. The result, however, was stunning.

It started with Rory flying into San Francisco in late 1977 with Gerry McAvoy, Rod de’Ath and Lou Martin to work with Elliot Mazer at his studios. Things began to unravel with Rory concluding that the result was decidedly not the sound he was wanting. Remixing didn’t work and, in the end, Rory literally binned the acetate on the day it was due to be played to executives from Chrysalis Records. His day didn’t improve when he broke his thumb trapping it in a taxi door, which had him off guitar for six weeks. And while he was recovering, the line-up of the group with Rod and Lou was formally ended.

Thumb healed; Rory set about looking for a new drummer. Several auditioned, including Brendan O’Neill, Gerry’s friend since school, though it wasn’t the time, with Brendan being a keen jazz drummer and wanting to make a go of things with his own band, Swift. Alex Harvey had recently split his own group, the Sensational Alex Harvey Band, and his former drummer Ted McKenna was called in to audition with Rory. It worked out well.

Ted was described by Gerry as being one of the loudest drummers in Europe. Alex perhaps helped in this as he would run up to the drums and shake the cymbals if he felt Ted needed to pack more punch into it! Ted already had a fair bit of intense experience on the road with the SAHB. Rory was about to raise that further. The new line-up had its first live appearance at the Macroom Mountain Dew Festival in June 1978. Ted recalls wondering what he had gotten himself into, staring at his bleeding hands and Rory seemingly on the verge of collapse with exhaustion. Then they went back for an encore...

July and August were taken up with the recording of Photo-Finish at Dieter Dierks studios in Cologne. Rory returned to his old role as producer, with Alan O’Duffy, who had just worked with Paul McCartney on Wings Venus And Mars album, as co-producer. ‘Overnight Bag’ the fifth track on Photo-Finish, was one of the songs kept over and reworked from the Mazer sessions. As a result, the song also appears on Notes From San Francisco, released in 2011 after being remixed by Rory’s nephew Daniel, who has done excellent work in recent years keeping Rory’s fire burning.

‘Overnight Bag’ seems, based on the music alone, quite a jaunty rocker, but the lyrics are in stark contrast. Dónal: “The melodic lyrics of this track describe the lonelier side of life on the road, where Rory spent so much of his time.

Trapped by a heartache, and freed by my will
Sentenced to wander, so much time to kill
Hear my plea, and rescue me

Packed my sorrows in an overnight bag
But I'll be gone much longer than that
Who knows when, we'll meet again?

Too many sleepless nights, put my soul on edge
And so many restless moods, lay heavy in my head.”

The guitar solo is regarded by fans as one of Rory’s finest, though the poignant lyrics have caused some to ask why Rory wrote them. Dónal, with whom Rory was very close, on being asked about it suggested that at that time, he was often off the road to deal with the managerial side of things while Rory was on tour, and that Rory may have been feeling homesick as a result.


(Notes From San Francisco Version)

Listening to the two versions of the song between Photo-Finish and Notes From San Francisco, you can hear a considerable difference. The original San Francisco version is very busy. Rory’s voice sounds as though it has been double tracked and there is the interplay between his guitar and Lou’s piano. Rory may have had a point about the sessions not sounding like him. It’s very noticeable that Mazer took a complex approach - perhaps going for the radio friendly and chart busting route that had gotten hits with other albums he had worked on.

The thing is, Rory’s sound is very uniquely, well, Rory. He was a musician who knew what he wanted and how to achieve it. He gave his musicians leeway to work their own way to the sound, Rory stepping in with some guidance if he felt they were a little off the mark. As good as Mazer was and Notes From San Francisco is an outstanding piece of work, it’s also notable in its divergence with what Rory was developing.

Trying new things is great for any musician. But an issue arises when record companies tweak the style and sound to what they see fit. It does beg the question what is the point of taking on an artist, only to considerably change them?  A lot don’t even seem to get much say in this process. But Rory had his head screwed on in that he refused to bend to any industry whims. It frustrated a lot of people, but he stayed honest to himself as a musician and that’s part of his drawing power.

‘Overnight Bag’ on Photo-Finish is a much calmer affair, with drums, bass and guitar. And Rory’s vocals having no studio tricks. It’s my personal favourite of both versions, being a little easier on the ear. One interviewer even asked Rory if he had taken singing lessons for working on the album as his vocals seemed stronger than ever on it. Or perhaps it could be that in going back into the studio to redo things, one thing Rory absolutely ensured was that his voice, with no fripperies and tricks, was unmistakably his on Photo-Finish.

 

#17 Continental Op

 


Album: Defender (1987)

 

Rory Gallagher was something of a bookworm. His brother Dónal once told a tale of loading baggage at an airport whilst on tour. He picked up one of Rory’s bags and promptly injured his back. Upon opening the bag to see what on earth weighed so much, Dónal found himself looking at a massive stack of books Rory had packed to read whilst on the road. Then there was also talk among some fans recently discussing Rory’s reading habit of Dónal opening guitar cases and Rory’s reading pile falling out everywhere. The e-reader was certainly invented for book fiends like Rory, though preferring more old school ways, it was suggested in this same fan discussion that Rory probably wouldn’t have gone for the Kindle (even though it perhaps has benefits in not injuring your wee brother’s back).

Rory was a fan of hardboiled detective stories and mysteries and had read that in great quantities. Amongst his favourite authors were Patricia Highsmith, Raymond Chandler, and Dashiell Hammett. The influence of what he read was quite marked on his music and can be seen from the start of his solo career. But looking over his output, it appears that the detective genre perhaps influenced him the most, given the number of gangsters, detectives, and criminals who feature as characters in his songs.

Rory may have had a few detective tales in him had he ever turned his hand to writing novels and short stories. One of his favourite books was The Continental Op, a collection of seven short tales about an unnamed private detective who worked for the Continental Detective Agency, by Dashiell Hammett. Rory liked it so much, that he wrote a song called ‘The Continental Op’, which appeared on the Defender album, first released on 1 July 1987. Rory discussed his love of Dashiell Hammett’s work in 1991 with Shiv Cariappa, who asked if the song was a tribute to Hammett:

“It is, yes, indeed. It is his character, the Continental Op, a very vain detective, and I just wrote that one night after reading various stories of his, you know. He’s got a book of short stories called The Big Knockover, and the “Op” is in that. I’ve also got quite a few books on the life of Dashiell Hammett, which is quite an interesting story on what he’s been through and so on. And I wrote songs like Big Guns which is about a guy who has bitten off more than he can chew. It is about a small-time crook. He’s got to the point where he has no friends in the underworld and the police want him as well. And I used a similar type of guy, but more innocent, in the song called Loanshark Blues.”

Dashiell Hammett was born on a farm near Great Mills, St Mary’s County, Maryland on 27 May 1894. He was an operative for the Pinkerton National Detective Agency from 1915 to 1922, with a spell serving in the Motor Ambulance Corps during the First World War, though he was hospitalised after catching The Spanish Flu, and subsequently Tuberculosis. This had a detrimental effect on his health. Hammett became disillusioned and subsequently left the Pinkerton Agency after it was hired for strike breaking and led to him becoming a leftist activist. He joined the Communist Party in 1937 and was strongly anti-fascist during the Second World War. He re-enlisted in the US Army during this despite his poor health, and this service saw him develop Emphysema. After the war, his left leanings lead to all sorts of legal complexities, including imprisonment. In the latter stages of his life, Hammett was described as something of a hermit. He died on 10 January 1961 two months after being diagnosed with lung cancer and is interred at the Arlington National Cemetery.

Hammett’s first stories started appearing in 1922, the year he left the Pinkerton Agency and Hammett used his experiences as an operative in writing his detective fiction. The Continental Op appeared in 36 short tales and some novels. Primarily, the tales appeared in the Black Mask pulp magazine through the 1920s. The character is seen as one of the first of the hard-boiled detectives, the forerunner to Hammett’s Sam Spade and Raymond Chandler’s Philip Marlowe and many others, whom I have no doubt Rory read the majority of at some point. Many of the Continental Op tales were later collected into various volumes, The Continental Op collection appearing in 1961.

The Op works for The Continental Detective Agency, which unsurprisingly has strong similarities to the Pinkerton National Detective Agency, which was established during the 1850s by Alan Pinkerton. One of the agency’s early operations was foiling an early assassination plot against Abraham Lincoln shortly after his election. Pinkerton operative Kate Warne was deployed to protect Lincoln during a long train tour from his hometown of Springfield, Illinois to Washington DC. Warne did this using several disguises – and by staying awake the entire time, which inspired the Pinkerton catchline “We Never Sleep”. The agency still exists today. In just one song, Rory has opened us up to a fascinating history.

All of this feeds beautifully into the song ‘Continental Op’. The lyrics themselves are as complicated as one of Hammett’s Op tales:

"Jane Doe in the bay
Now that's exhibit 'A'
Bloodstains on the dress of the millionairess
But I saw you leavin' town
I'm gonna have to track you down

Just like a hound
You slipped through the web
And you might have dodged the Feds
But who they gonna get when you've outfoxed the cops

Here's my number
I'm the Continental Op
Call the agency, we never close
First consultation is free
Check my reputation, check my pose

But first check my fee."

As to the raw sound of the song, Rory said, “Main guitar was my Eccleshall Telecaster with Gibson PAF’s, lead phrases were a white Tele, but the slide was the Gretsch Corvette through an AC30. The sound was basically like an old-fashioned radio blowing up. I don’t like fuzz guitar actually, just amps that are getting ready to blow!”

If anything, what ‘Continental Op’ shows is that at times there is no such thing as a song just being a song.

 

 

 

 

 

 

#16 Daughter Of The Everglades

 


Album: Blueprint, 1973

See also: BBC Sessions, 1999

 

The mind might boggle when looking at the extensive touring schedule of Rory Gallagher (the dates being preserved historically online and also noted daily on his social media) at how he managed to fit in the time to write and record new material. But manage it he did.

Songs could come to him while noodling about on guitar, or at random moments, for which he carried around a notebook. One such memorable occasion has already been recounted in a previous entry to this series when Rory got separated from his brother Dónal during a walk along the Ballycotton Cliffs and sat down to write down some lyrics that came to him, as Dónal’s calls to him went unheeded. When the inspiration hits, it hits!

In the case of ‘Daughter Of The Everglades’. Rory drew inspiration from a book he had read. The song appears on ‘Blueprint’, released on February 18, 1973. It’s quite unusual, with a strong folky feel and almost a touch of the Southern Gothic. One way to describe it is that it is a novel in a song. It’s not the only track of this nature on ‘Blueprint’, the other being ‘Seventh Son Of A Seventh Son’.

If anything, ‘Blueprint’ seems to mark a point in which Rory was taking his songwriting further into the depths of his imagination, as well as finding inspiration in the presence of new bandmates, including the addition of pianist Lou Martin as the fourth part to Rory’s previous trio setups. In his notes on ‘Blueprint’, Dónal writes that ‘Daughter Of The Everglades’ ‘highlights Lou’s contribution to the band’. Switching drummers from Wilgar Campbell to Rod de’Ath following the former no longer being able to carry on with Rory’s tour schedule, also switched things around in Rory’s sound. ‘Daughter Of The Everglades’ is certainly proof of that, Rod’s drumming having both an uncanny and earthy element. It would be curious to be a time-traveling fly on the wall to see it all come together at the recording sessions of December 1972 at the Polydor and Marquee Studios in London.

The sound certainly sets the scene. When you listen to ‘Daughter Of The Everglades’, it feels as if you are being transported to the cinema at some point in the earlier half of the 20th century to see a brilliant but slightly forgotten movie set in the rural American southern states in which, a love story plays out. And the lyrics punch home the remarkable character of the Daughter who Rory’s first-person protagonist falls in love with:

"Well, you looked like your mama
Before you walked, you swam
Learned to makes snake tails stew
From your daddy, a crazy talkin' fisherman
In this place there is no law; the river makes all the rules
What they are I found out
When I came back to look for you."

But while winning his heart, there is also an inexplicable supernatural element that strikes fear into Rory’s character, yet he can’t pull away:

"Daughter of the Everglades
Why did you bring me here?
Daughter of the Everglades
My love has turned to fear
Child of the river
Let me feel you near."

 The lyrics also describe a habitat ‘where the river makes all the rules’. There is a certain mysticism to be found around places like environments such as the Everglades, an area unique to Florida. The Everglades is in the southern tip of Florida, forming a 1.5 million acre wetland that is a national park. Even the generic Google description of the place as a ‘slow-moving river’ with marshes, pine Flatwoods, mangroves, and all sorts of fauna from leatherback turtles, manatees, and the Florida panther smacks of the ethereal. Add to that, it’s the largest subtropical wilderness in the US, so there is plenty of scope for the imagination to run, as Rory’s certainly did. He even describes strange noises and eyes hidden peeking out from the reeds.

The eponymous Daughter also comes across more like a genius loci, or spirit of the place, her nature mirroring that of the Everglades. In the song, she’s taken miles away to live in a city, the result (or peril) of falling in love. But away from the Everglades, she seems to wither and, in the end, disappears, eventually tracked back by her lover to the Everglades. But it’s not good news for him when he gets there and asks her whereabouts, ‘But they tell me you have drowned.’

 


#15 Rory Gallagher Album 50th Anniversary Special

 (First published on the 50th anniversary of the Rory Gallagher album before the actual 50th anniversary reissue!)


There is the old saying, time flies. For music fans, the passing of the years when it hits a certain anniversary of a favourite album is a case in point, especially when it is a significant one from our youth that we have memories of purchasing in the record shop as clear as yesterday. For Rory Gallagher fans lucky enough to have been about for the start of his career, the thought that his eponymous debut solo album, first released on 23 May 1971, has now reached its 50th anniversary must surely have them reaching for a glass of whiskey or Guinness while putting their cherished viny copy on the turn table for a happy trip down memory lane. There’s nothing like music to mark our lives, and for several people, none more so than the music of Rory Gallagher.

The Rory Gallagher album has its genesis in the days following the demise of Taste. Rory found himself in a complex situation involving a long of wrangling that would subsequently allow him to forge his solo career. Taste had their final concert at Queens University in Belfast on 24 October 1970. It would be a further six months before Rory was able to take to the live stage under his own name, a wait he surely felt, but in the meantime he was busy.

Having had a bad experience with management in Taste, he was more than happy to take charge of things himself, with help from others, such as his younger brother Dónal. Led Zeppelin manager, Peter Grant, was interested in doing the job himself. He and Dónal had got chatting at one show in Taste’s final months, Dónal telling Grant about the various issues Rory had. It was Grant who subsequently helped to resolve Rory’s solo record contract for with Polydor for six albums.

Meanwhile, Rory set about looking for musicians to join him in a new band under his own name. Belfast band Deep Joy were also in their final months at the same time as Taste, calling it a day at the end of December 1970. They had supported Taste a number of times. And Rory had also been popular in Belfast having moved there with the first line up of Taste in the late 1960s, so both he and the members of Deep Joy were known to each other. Deep Joy’s bassist, Gerry McAvoy, recalled seeing both Rory and Dónal in the audience at some shows, but didn’t think of it as anything more than the pair enjoying a night out.

In January 1970, Gerry was a home in Belfast enjoying his record collection when an unexpected phone call came through. At first, he thought it was Wilgar Campbell, the now former Deep Joy drummer who had remained in London following the band’s split. He was now with Rory who needed a bassist, and Wilgar gave him Gerry’s phone number. Rory was calling to invite Gerry ‘for a blow’ in London. Gerry flew to  London, met by Dónal at the airport and taken to a rehearsal room. It was perhaps not quite how the then 19 year old Gerry expected that particular day to turn out! After returning home, he got another call from Rory asking if he would like to join him and Wilgar in recording a new album. Work on Rory Gallagher took place in February 1971.

Rory brought sound engineer Eddy Offord with whom he had previously worked on Taste’s On The Boards album. It was the first time Rory acted as producer. Whilst Rory was busy with all this, Dónal in the meantime had got himself a new job working for Atomic Rooster as their tour manager. Rory had asked him to find a good pianist to work on the album and Dónal had put forward Atomic Rooster’s Vincent Crane, who joined Rory as a guest for a few tracks.

Though it appears things were coming together for Rory starting his new career, there were a few bumps in the road. Dónal noted that Rory was virtually destitute living in a bedsit in London. Their mother had sent him money to help survive, but that was stolen. Rory also later noted in an interview that Polydor had informed him they weren’t going to back his first solo album and he’d had to borrow money off his mother to finish it. In an era when many parents were keen to have their aspiring musician progeny to ‘get a normal job’, the way Monica (Mona) Gallagher supported Rory is commendable, especially given the times he could have just packed it in out of frustration. But with the backing  of both his mother and brother, giving up doesn’t seem to have been something Rory would have been able to do easily!

Rory Gallagher is an album that takes in a wealth of styles. Interestingly the cover art photography was the work of Mick Rock, famous for his iconic photos of Queen, David Bowie and Lou Reed to name a few.  Musically, it lacks the grand instrumentation and glitz of many other albums released in 1971, but this is where its strength lies. Featuring guitar, harmonica and sax from Rory, bass from Gerry, drums and percussion from Wilgar, and of course Vincent Crane’s guest spot tinkling the ivories, it covers blues rock, folk and jazz in just ten tracks. A further two bonus tracks were added in the 2018 remaster, covers of ‘Gypsy Woman’ by Muddy Waters and ‘It Takes Time’ by Otis Rush, also recorded during the album session. Though Rory didn’t carry many of the songs from the album to his live shows beyond the very early days of his solo career, several of them remain perennial fan favourites.

The track opener, ‘Laundromat’, was inspired by the public laundry on the ground floor of the building Taste had their bedsit in the last few days of the band. It was, according to Dónal, the warmest part of the building, so they would spend time there in the winter. Rory also found it the ideal place to practice his guitar and saxophone without disturbing anyone. ‘Just The Smile’ is a beautiful folk number on acoustic that several younger fans often remark on for its brilliance. The lyrics are evocative and the guitar sticks in the mind for a long time.

The third track ‘I Fall Apart’, which is also what the Spotlight On The G-Man series started with, was voted the best Irish love song and has Rory soloing for all his worth. It’s a shame that he didn’t keep this as a regular fixture in his live shows. Vincent Crane adds barrel-house piano, reminiscent of later Rory Gallagher band member Lou Martin, to ‘Wave Myself Goodbye’, while Rory works his magic on acoustic blues. It’s a song that perhaps doesn’t get as much attention as other tracks, unfortunate, because it’s a classic.

The pace is picked up with ‘Hands Up’ a positive stomper of a blues rock track guaranteed to dispel any negativity and self-doubt that can cloud the mind. In the 2018 sleeve notes, Dónal writes: “Hands Up is a highly motivational song written post-Taste. The track’s positive lyrical message is delivered with lines such as ‘hands up and reach for the sky’ and ‘get up you know it’s time’ which act to counter the negativity Rory felt when the disbanded.”

‘Sinner Boy’, which made an appearance at Taste’s legendary Isle of Wight show in August 1970, comes with searing electric slide to melt the leather on your boots. The theme of the song is homelessness and the drama of the guitar playing echoes the desperate emotions felt when even just considering the horror of having nowhere to go but the streets. ‘For The Last Time’ again is noted by Dónal in the 2018 sleeve notes about how Rory was treated in the collapse of Taste. Lyrically it talks about being knocked down but not essentially knocked out and coming through a difficult time. Vincent Crane has another guest spot on ‘I’m Not Surprised’, giving another foreshadowing of how well Rory worked as a guitarist with a highly competent pianist as a foil. ‘Can’t Believe It’s True’ is the most jazz influenced song on the album, and the final track in the original release. It features Rory’s double tracked alto sax.

The 2018 remastered reissue is a feast for the ears, released on vinyl, MP3, CD and also on streaming. The remaster was part of the reissue of all of Rory’s solo albums via UMC, and every single one sounds as fresh as if it had just fallen out a recording studio, or live venue, the night before. This is what makes it hard to believe Rory Gallagher is now 50 years old. And a great part of this is that Rory’s work is now accessible to younger and newer fans. When I first came across him at 14, it was a little harder to find his work. Now it’s more readily available and a new generation of music fiends are falling in love with the man and his music.

 

#14 Follow Me

 

(Note - This features Brendan O'Neill and not Ted McKenna)

Album: Top Priority, 1979

 

The period following the release of Photo Finish had been successful for Rory, so when it came time to work on the follow-up, Chrysalis Records had promised to make it a top priority. “In typical Rory style he named the album after their promise so that no one at the record company would be able to forget their guarantee,” writes Dónal Gallagher.

 Recorded at Dieter Dierks studio, like Photo Finish, Top Priority saw its release on September 16, 1979. It was the second of Rory’s album to feature the immense talents of Scottish drumming legend, the late great Ted McKenna. Gerry McAvoy, as in all Rory’s solo albums, played bass.

 Top Priority embraces a heavier rock style. Interestingly, at the time, he was drawing heavy metal fans at his live shows, which perhaps is a testament to his appeal. He himself didn’t mind that, though wasn’t about to go all out metal! There is still a strong folkish blues feel to several songs. In particular, the album opener, ‘Follow Me’ has a mild touch of the mystical:

I want to plant a star on the sky
One you can find at the end of the night
I want to climb a ladder to space
And leave without trace
Cause now is the time”

 For me especially, this brings Neil Gaimanesque imagery. I can almost picture a ladder sprouting to the skies and Rory stealthily climbing it, which is perhaps an indicator of just how much Gaiman I’ve read combined with how much I listen to Rory and a slightly vivid imagination (and the fact I am writing this with a heavy dose of hay fever!). But beyond this brief touch of the fantastical, there is a more down-to-earth feel to ‘Follow Me’. That is one of optimism, hope, and moving on from tough times:

“I've been locked in this cage
Gonna break away before it's too late
I'm gonna rewrite the page take the stage
And live tomorrow today
You'll find the dreams you mislaid.”

On the face of it, ‘Follow Me’ is a straight-up rocker, but it’s a song worth paying close attention to. Rory probably put as much into his lyrics as he did the music when it came to crafting his songs. He may be renowned as a genius on guitar and certainly deserves more credit as a great singer, but purely as a wordsmith, he could easily have written a creditable novel or book of poems.

‘Follow Me’ is a song in which he appears to be putting his feelings on a plate. He was notoriously shy and private (in a good way), and not many interviews could really break beyond the professional talk of guitar models, views on the music industry, or the history of the blues amongst other things. It seems to get an idea of Rory’s innermost thoughts, you probably can’t do any better than just turn on his music and listen.

Dónal notes on the official site, “At the time of Top Priority’s release Rory’s fear of flying was worsening, whilst touring commitments around the World were increasing. Just Hit Town is Rory talking of his fears but declaring he has no intention to change his lifestyle to hide from them”. Though Dónal is referencing another track on the album, ‘Just Hit Town’, ‘Follow Me’ could easily be seen as another statement from Rory that he intends to keep going on, no matter what, and more specifically do it his own way.

The other aspect of ‘Follow Me’ is that he invites you to join him. It’s an intensely positive message. If you have struggled with a negative mental state, it’s a song that I can speak from personal experience with lifelong anxiety disorder helps immensely. There’s nothing more awful in the human experience to find yourself trapped in a sense of perpetual dread, fear, and worry about screwing up, not being good enough, struggling to function in a ‘normal’ fashion. And then you play this song – it’s like the sun beaming through the storm clouds.

An interesting thing I’ve noticed in talking with other fans of Rory is that several also have similar issues with anxiety and phobias. Rory is a good influence in their lives, his music, live performance, and in a way, his general essence providing a salve and inspiration to get through it. That is the sort of thing super legends like John Lennon and Bob Marley are known for, but Rory proves you don’t need to reach that level of stature to have that kind of impact on people’s lives.

“Won’t you follow me?” He asks. Well, thousands upon thousands gladly do.


#13 It's Happened Before, It'll Happen Again

 




Album: On The Boards, 1970

 

In 1970, Taste were on the rise. They had toured the States backing Blind Faith with Delaney and Bonnie, with Taste being regarded as many audiences as the best band, whilst Blind Faith crumbled and eventually disbanded. Meanwhile Taste’s self-titled debut album was putting in creditable appearances in the charts.

The follow up album, On The Boards, is arguably the one that brought Rory Gallagher to prominence. Released on New Year’s Day, 1970, it’s jazz and blues mix being praised by fans and reviewers alike. It’s certainly a jump from the rawer first album, the trio sounding stronger and more adventurous, with none other than Lester Bangs writing in Rolling Stone: “The band is so tight and compelling, the songs so affecting, and the experiments and improvisations so clearly thought-out, that it seems a shame even to suggest that Taste be classed in any way with that great puddle of British blues bands. Everybody else is just wood shedding; Taste have arrived.”

As positive as the reviews and reception of On The Boards were, within the band itself, things were slowly starting to rumble, with the group breaking up in October that year. Given they were on the rise, particularly after a legendary set at the Isle of Wight festival in August 1970, it certainly shook a few people. But Rory was headed in a different path from bassist Richard McCracken and drummer John Wilson, both from Omagh and Belfast, respectively.

This jazzy style can be heard the most on the third track of the album, “It’s Happened Before, It’ll Happen Again.” Lyrically, it’s very short and sweet, describing in a vague way the realisation that your significant other is playing you somewhat and the mind games of it are getting a bit much, though nothing is really going to change:

You only call to see me when I'm out
A guilty conscience nags you, I have no doubt
You've got the balls not to call anymore
It's happened before, it'll happen again
It's happened before, it happened again.”

Perhaps the most notable aspect of Rory in this song is, for once, not his guitar playing, though it’s as ‘Roryish’ as ever in complexity and experimentation, but his sax playing. At the time Rory was listening to a lot of jazz and was a massive fan of Ornette Coleman, the Texan saxophonist. As well as sax, Coleman also played the violin and trumpet. Regarded as one of the originators of free jazz, Coleman took a more improv style in his music, eschewing the more traditional forms of jazz. His sax playing hypnotised Rory. He may have looked for a way to integrate that style into his guitar, but Coleman also inspired him in another way, that apparently led Dónal Gallagher to believe his brother may have been about to switch instruments from guitar, a notion that is somewhat stunning to contemplate these days!

 

At the time, Rory and Dónal were sharing a bedsit in London and somewhat strapped for cash. One day, Dónal returned to their digs to find that Rory had trooped out to the music store and bought himself an alto sax and tutor book. A guitar, understandable, but a saxophone! The landlord of the bedsit didn’t like noise. The neighbours perhaps also found living next door to a musician a bit of a racket. And the saxophone is a notoriously difficult instrument to play. At first, it doesn’t sound too pleasant! Not that this deterred Rory. He solved the problem by learning how to play shut away in the wardrobe, the clothes muffling the sound of his first practice sessions. Apparently if it did annoy any neighbours, Rory’s natural charm soon won them over. In a few weeks, he started to get the hang of it and began incorporating the sax into Taste’s sound, something which John Wilson recalls liking a lot.

 

After Taste split, Rory didn’t play sax as much, but it still made the odd appearance in his solo work, including “A Million Miles Away” and also on the Defender album of 1987.

 

A final, nice touch to Rory and his sax playing is that Rory once found himself staying in the room next door to Ornette Coleman at a hotel. And how did this pan out for the lad who taught himself to play saxophone closed away in his wardrobe so he didn’t annoy the neighbours too much? Ornette practiced his sax playing the entire time Rory was his neighbour…

 

 

 

#12 Tattoo'd Lady

 


 

Album: Tattoo, 1973

See also: Irish Tour 74, The G-Man Series, Notes From San Francisco, Check Shirt Wizard – Live in ‘77

 

The summer of 1973 saw Rory Gallagher return home to Cork, where he and the band rehearsed new material for a brand new album, which was recorded shortly after at the Polydor Studios, London. Released on November 11 that same year, Tattoo was Rory’s final studio album for Polydor. Having originally signed a six album deal with the label at the start of his solo career in 1971, it might be quite reasonably argued that it could take several years for any artist to fulfil this requirement. The live album, Irish Tour 74, released on July 21, 1974, completed his contractual obligations – that particular album being one of Rory’s most successful and highly regarded as one of the best live albums ever made.

Tattoo in many ways seems a landmark album for Rory. By now he seems to be very comfortable as a solo artist and the sound of the music is confident, brash, and bold. It also sounds like he and the rest of the band – Rod de’Ath, Lou Martin, and Gerry McAvoy – had a hell of a good time working on it. It’s the second album of this line-up and they’ve certainly found their feet. You can’t help but smile when you hear it.

Another reason that it is such a key album is that it features a couple of tracks that were to become classic Rory songs: ‘A Million Miles Away’, which has already been explored in this series, and ‘Tattoo’ed Lady’. There are of course others in that album that are sleeper earworms, ‘Who’s That Coming’, ‘Sleep On A Clothes-Line’, ’20:20 Vision’ to name but a few. Tattoo is a great starting place for anyone yet to try any of Rory’s studio albums.

The fairground lifestyle had appealed to Rory since childhood and, on opening track Tattoo’d Lady, lyrically he draws parallels between the travelling entertainers and his own profession,” his official website notes. ‘Tattoo’ed Lady’ is a flash of brilliance in Rory’s song writing. It evokes the atmosphere of fairground life both lyrically and musically. The words take the listener through a series of vignettes featuring characters you might find at a traditional fairground in a bygone age.

The eponymous Tattooed Lady and Bearded Baby don’t get much mention beyond the start of the song. In a traditional fairground, they would have been found in the sideshow, otherwise known as ‘the freak show’, a particular draw to audiences from the 19th century onwards, though definitely not one for contemporary times. We don’t know much of the protagonist’s role within the fairground, though he’s been there since childhood, having fallen love with the Pearly Queen along the way, and generally soaking up fairground life. It’s a place he feels where he belongs, perhaps a place where anyone who doesn’t fit in anywhere else belongs even.

"Tattoo'd lady,
Bearded baby,
They're my family.

When I was lonely,
Something told me, where,
I could always be.

Where I could,
Wish for pennies,
If we had any.
You'd meet me down,
At the shooting gallery.

Yes I'm a,
Fair ground baby.
Wonder what made me,
Fall for the pearly queen."

Other characters central to the song’s narrative are the fire-eater, a key attraction as a ‘real fine sight to see’, and ‘Wicked Sadie’, who it appears is a burlesque dancer, even got ‘the law’ on side by turning them into a froth, showing a subtly tongue-in-cheek touch of humour on Rory’s part. It’s a troubadour style song, that in another universe would have made a fantastic novel, and a perfect example of the many songs where Rory appears to use the situation he sets up to explore various emotive themes. It’s as if he’s showing us glimpses of his inner life without giving too much away.

The ingenuity stays within the music. On the album, it begins with a slow carousel music, blurred, until Rory starts singing. A key part of the album version, as well as Rory’s guitar, is Lou’s keyboard, which sounds like another form of carousel music. Live, ‘Tattoo’ed Lady’ took on a life of its own. None of Rory’s songs when performed live were carbon copies of the original recording. He could stretch them out, taking them down all sorts of improv rabbit holes, the band eagerly following. Even the lyrics could change ever so slightly from time to time.

There are many live albums of Rory, but it’s safe to say that ‘Tattoo’ed Lady’, with all it’s unique incarnations could probably form a particularly special live album of its own, if all the versions were gathered. It’s not a song that wears out the ear from repeated listening because there always seems to be something new in it, whether that be something the fan finds or the band itself finds.

Even after Lou and Rod left the band, it holds up well, Rory using his Strat as some kind of sonic guide around all the characters and attractions of the fairground, something he seems to have particularly started from 1977. The Check Shirt Wizard version of the song simply burns itself into the atmosphere. And the near quarter of an hour rendition at the 1979 Rockpalast with Ted McKenna is an experience. This song is Rory at his very best.

 

 

 

#11 Wheels Within Wheels

 






Album:  Wheels Within Wheels, 2003

See also: Notes From San Francisco, 2011

Late in 1977, following a hefty world tour, Rory Gallagher and his band headed straight from Japan to San Francisco to record what, by all accounts, was a highly anticipated album. The late Elliot Mazer had been brought in as producer, with work taking place at Mazer’s studios, His Master’s Wheels.

Mazer already had rather an impressive track record, having worked with Lightnin’ Hopkins, Neil Young, Chubby Checker, Bob Dylan, The Band, and several others. He and Rory first crossed paths during the latter days of Taste, when Jake Holmes, another artist Mazer produced, joined Taste on tour and Elliott accompanied him. Some plans were put forward for Rory to record his debut solo album with Mazer producing it, though that never came to fruition. Years later, following the Calling Card album, Chrysalis were enthusiastic about Rory recording an American album, and Mazer travelled to Cork to discuss the project with Rory.

Work began in November 1977, carrying on through to almost Christmas. It appeared the sessions were a success, but as time went on, Rory became increasingly dissatisfied. Back home in Ireland for Christmas Rory confided in Dónal his concerns about how the music sounded, thinking that remixing may iron out the kinks. However, that was not to be the case, and in the end, Rory literally binned the album, just as it was due to be played to a gathering of executives at Chrysalis. It was while Dónal was at that meeting, Rory wound up in hospital with a broken thumb, after accidentally closing a taxi door on his right hand!

 During his recovery time, Rory decided to re-record the album with a new line-up, leading to the brilliant Photo Finish album. As previously mentioned in this series’ Shadow Play article, some of the songs from the Mazer sessions were kept, while others were put to one side in favour of new material. One of the songs left off of Photo Finish was ‘Wheels Within Wheels’.

 In his later years, Rory discussed his ambitions to put out an acoustic album in several interviews. Sadly, it was not to be, and eventually Dónal began producing an album of Rory’s acoustic work that became Wheels Within Wheels, released on March 1, 2003. The title track is perhaps one of the most striking songs Rory ever wrote. At the time of the album’s release, Shiv Cariappa wrote an excellent article about the project, in which Dónal discusses the title track: “To me it was such a beautiful song… …It was a turning point in Rory’s life. In a spiritual sense, he probably knew of his own destiny: about [eventually] fading away.”

 It is certainly a highly philosophical song, not only touching on fading out, but also loss, yearning, loneliness, and the way in which we just get tangled up and hurt by something that hits us hard:

"Wheels within wheels,
Confused what you feel a little bit.
Rules within rules,
Won't hide the hurt I have felt."

 The lyrics are very brief and to the point, but the effect they can have on the listener is immense. They are heart breaking. And Rory’s poignant vocals hammer the impact in even more. Had he kept this on Photo Finish, it no doubt would have gone down as one of his most popular songs. You can imagine him holding an audience even more in the palm of his hand by including it in the acoustic section of his live shows.

 The coupling of Rory’s acoustic guitar with Lou Martin’s piano on the acoustic version of the song is breath-taking. Lou seemed capable of tuning into something Rory needed like no other pianist. And if you didn’t think the acoustic version was a treat enough, Notes From San Francisco, released May 17, 2011, features both this version and an electric version. Literally, you cannot beat ‘Wheels Within Wheels’ with the full line-up of Gerry McAvoy, Lou, and Rod de’Ath, complete with a classic searing Rory guitar solo and even more impassioned vocals. Notes From San Francisco is partly made up recordings that Rory scrapped, though as Dónal has pointed out, he would not have been averse to their release with the right remix. The second disc of the album is a compilation of live performances, with Ted McKenna, at San Francisco’s The Old Waldorf, from December 1979.

 Though he opted not to release it in his lifetime, posthumously, ‘Wheels Within Wheels’ has become highly regarded as one of Rory’s greatest songs.

 

 

 

#10 All Around Man

 


Album: Against The Grain, 1975

Also: Blues (Deluxe Edition) 2019

 

Having fulfilled his six-album requirement with Polydor Records, Rory Gallagher headed for pastures new with Chrysalis Records in 1975. Against The Grain, released on October 1, 1975, was his first album with Chrysalis. Among the album’s track listing is bluesman Bo Carter’s ‘All Around Man’.

The blues appealed to Rory from an early age. Though famously associated with Cork and Ballyshannon, Rory spent several years of his childhood living in Derry, Northern Ireland, where his father Danny’s family came from. At the time there was an American naval base in the area, so the American Forces Network radio was easy to pick up locally. A young Rory tuned into this on the family radio one day and was immediately taken by what he heard. His brother Dónal recalls being spooked by the sounds coming from the radio and running out the room! However, despite a scared wee brother, Rory from that point took in everything he could, from books, radio, and records, learning what he could about the blues.

 A key component of Rory’s output are his own interpretations of the work of the blues masters. He would feature these both on his studio albums and live shows. They are a treat, with the side effect that they may also get the listener exploring the blues for themselves! One blues group Rory enjoyed was The Mississippi Sheiks - his song of the same name can be found on 1978’s Photo Finish. The Mississippi Sheiks comprised of the Chatmon brothers Arminter, Sam and Lonnie alongside Walter Vinson, formed in 1928 and popular through the early to mid-1930s.

Arminter Chatmon was born in Bolton, Mississippi in 1892. Under the name Bo Carter, he began recording classic blues, but also specialised in the ‘dirty blues’, songs that were of a more suggestive nature, ranging from drugs to sex. These were pretty much banned from radio, but in the pre-World War Two era, were popular, primarily heard in juke joints.  ‘All Around Man’ was just one such song Arminter Chatmon recorded as Bo Carter and can be found album Banana In Your Fruit Basket, Red Hot Blues. The songs on the album are meant to be tongue-in-cheek, as well as somewhat suggestive.

 When Rory came to tackle ‘All Around Man’, his nephew Daniel said on the promotion for 2019’s Blues album that, “Rory pretty much re-wrote the lyrics on it, kind of, because the original’s quite pornographic! And Rory kind of made it a bit more subtle about what this guy, who’s an all around man, might do for you. Rory sort of changed the lyrics, like I say, to be a little more his taste – he was very shy about things like that!”

 Listening to the Bo Carter original, it is safe to say that Rory’s version is perhaps a little safer to listen to in a more general environment! In this instance, we will skip showing the lyrics and suggest listening to the Bo Carter video here if you are curious about what Rory rewrote.



Perhaps the seminal performance Rory did of ‘All Around Man’ was on his Old Grey Whistle Test special of March 2, 1976, which was also his 28th birthday. On it, Rory flies through rip-roaring slide on his 1958/59 Fender Esquire (a guitar which was lucky to still exist after being run over by a baggage handling buggy during one US tour!), before switching to blues harp for an epic solo. How he managed to keep up the breath is quite astounding, harmonica being an instrument I have found to require ‘a lot of puff’! This also features on the deluxe version of the Blues album, a record that is well worth the investment, and a great introduction to the blues. This performance of ‘All Around Man’ is now somewhat revered and is well worth the watch.

In the late 1920’s Arminter Chatmon started to lose his sight. He performed for some time after this but fell away from music. He moved to Memphis in 1940 and he died there on September 21, 1964 from a cerebral haemorrhage, after already had several strokes.


#9 Crest Of A Wave

 




Album: Deuce, 1971

Somehow, in his busy calendar of 1971, that saw him launch his solo career, record his debut solo album, record with his hero Muddy Waters and tour just about everywhere, before ending the year playing to ecstatic, music starved crowds in Belfast for the New Year, Rory Gallagher found time to record his second solo album.

That autumn, he went to Tangerine Studios, London, which was famously established by producer Joe Meek, though they had somewhat fallen out of ‘fashion’ by this point, primarily used by reggae artists. Recording there was also hampered in daytime hours by the fact there was a bingo hall next door, with the sound of the bingo caller wafting through the walls. Rory, being a bit of a nighthawk, resolved this by recording in the wee small hours, alongside bassist Gerry McAvoy and drummer Wilgar Campbell. Part of that was also because the band was still on the road, so would return to the studio after gigs. Rory also produced the album Deuce, released on November 28, 1971, and going on to achieve something of a legendary status amongst the likes of Bill Hicks and Johnny Marr.

There are several fan favourites on Deuce, from ‘I’m Not Awake Yet’, ‘Whole Lotta People’, ‘In Your Town’ and ‘Don’t Know Where I’m Going’. ‘Crest Of A Wave’ also joins this list. It is so popular that on the BBC’s Rock Goes To College, for which Rory recorded a show in January 1979, years after Deuce’s release, one highly enthusiastic fan loudly and repeatedly calls on Rory to play ‘Crest Of A Wave’.

 "Well, they say it's a lie, a joke

That you are living
But you know one thing they don't
You won't give in

'Cause you're like a cat, chasin' its tail
Makes a million circles but you're gonna fail
Look down you just don't understand

Well, you can ride on the crest of a wave
If that's where you want to be
But does the look on your face
Mean you're really feeling happy?"

 It doesn’t particularly follow the narrative style songs Rory did well. Instead, the lyrics appear to focus on just the dilemma of just floating along, not making any particular effort to pick up and do something, and indecisiveness. There is the nastiness of people who talk behind your back, perhaps the reaction of people who feel threatened by the individual who walks their own path in life, who’s choices are sneered at, and whose failure is greatly anticipated. You could keep them quiet by fitting into the norms, but at the end of the day, as Rory sings, does it lead to true happiness? It’s a choice – you can go with the flow – the crest of the wave of the title, or you can break out of it and make things happen.

It’s a situation many of us face in life. Perhaps one that hits us more at a very early age, and peer pressure, the compulsion to conform can be a difficult burden when you’re trying to figure out just where you want to go in life. Do you keep the world happy by being a square peg in a round hole? Sticking with the flow when you want to do something else can be the source of a lot of unhappiness. Ultimately it is only a choice that a person can make for themself, though it’s safe to say the philosophy of the song – would you really be happy? – is sound advice. If you look at Rory’s own life story, breaking out to become Ireland’s first true rock icon, it’s safe to say he opted to go against the grain. He often said that music was his life. As the Glasgow sage, Sir Billy Connolly, put it – don’t be beige!

Musically, the song is made up of the three components of bass, guitar, and drums, but it sounds monstrous. Rory’s slide playing has come in for particular praise, taking the listener on a ride, perhaps breaking against that wave sung about in the song.

Deuce has often been mooted as a good entry point to Rory’s music. It is worth checking out. Given that Bill Hicks wore out his copy from playing it so much that he had to buy a new one, it perhaps should also come with the warning of being mildly addictive!

 


#8 Shadow Play

 


Album: Photo Finish, 1978

Check also: Stage Struck (1980), Notes From San Francisco (2011) – and just about every live video of Shadow Play on YouTube.

 

The start of 1978 is perhaps one Rory Gallagher may not have described as happy. He had been working with Elliot Mazer on a new album that he became increasingly unsatisfied with. On the day he decided to scrap the album, he also broke his right thumb after trapping it in a taxi door returning to his hotel from the cinema, and wound up in hospital. He called it a bit of a Django Reinhardt moment, a reference to the revered Belgian jazz guitarist who lost the use of two fingers in a fire! Fortunately, Rory’s thumb did heal and didn’t affect his guitar playing.

Shortly after his stint in a splint, Rory changed the structure of his band, from the four-piece to a three-piece, removing drummer Rod de’Ath and pianist Lou Martin, who had been playing with Rory and bassist Gerry McAvoy since 1972. He brought in Scottish drummer Ted McKenna, who previously played in The Sensational Alex Harvey Band, which had just split. After a few festival dates, which included Ted’s first live show with Rory at the Macroom Mountain Dew Festival in Co. Cork, Ireland on June 24, the band went to Dieter Dierke’s studios near Cologne in Germany (read more about Ted and Rory working at Dierke’s in Spotlight On The G-Man #3 – ‘Bad Penny’) to record new material replacing that which Rory had discarded.

Photo Finish, released on October 1, 1978, was so-called because it literally just made the deadline! It retained some songs from the Mazer sessions that were re-recorded with Ted, but Rory added some new songs that he felt were, as he told one interviewer ‘in keeping’. One of these new songs was Shadow Play a somewhat surreal song, which Rory wrote on a 12-string acoustic guitar while in bed with a dose of ‘flu. Rory commented on the impact this had on the lyrics, describing the impact of the liminal state between sleep and being awake he was in while unwell.

"In the flinty light, it's midnight
And stars collide.
Shadows run, in full flight
To run, seek and hide.
I'm still not sure what part I play
In this shadow play, this shadow play.

In the half light, on this mad night
I hear a voice in time.
Well, I look back, see a half-smile
Then it's gone from sight.
Won't you tell me how I can find my way
In this shadow play, this shadow play.

Sounds come crashing
And I hear laughing
All those lights just blaze away.
I feel a little strange inside
A little bit of Jekyll, a little Mr. Hyde."

 Lyrically, this is probably the one song of Rory’s that can be read just like a poem when the words are laid out in a text. The world it describes is dark, terrifying, and unreal. As someone who has been dealing with an anxiety disorder for years, it’s the one I feel I can relate to the most on a personal level because that’s how having anxiety feels like to me. Dónal Gallagher says of Shadow Play on Rory’s website, “Starting with a pile-driving classic Gallagher guitar riff, this self doubting song gives us an insight into Rory’s double life, on and off stage, poetically described in the line – ‘A little bit of Jekyll, a little Mr. Hyde’.”

 There has been much comment on the duality of Rory’s nature, the confident firey performer on stage versus being quietly reticent off stage. He said, “…sometimes I don't recognize myself up there, and sometimes I don't recognize myself when I come off the stage. I don't know. I am not aware of this Jekyll and Hyde change. I mean, if I were as crazy offstage as I am onstage, people would lock me or they wouldn't talk to me.”

 Musically, it is a primal sound. To this day, when it is played live by one of the many excellent Rory groups at events ranging from the Ballyshannon Rory Gallagher Festival to a tribute night in a local venue, it gets the fans into a pogoing, dancing, sweat-drenched lather. It’s almost as if Shadow Play is an entity that possesses both the audience and the musicians who play it. At the Montreux Festival of 1979, Rory himself literally loses inhibitions and goes for broke, from duck walking all over the stage, jumping offstage to be with the delighted audience, throwing the drum microphones to the ground, dragging his Strat across the floor, and fanning both it and Gerry with a towel!

 Shadow Play also is a testament to Ted’s legacy as a brilliant drummer.  He wasn’t a stereotypical ‘powerhouse drummer’, he was in a league of his own. From the Sensational Alex Harvey Band, to Rory, to the Michael Schenker Group, to Ian Gillan and many other projects and band he played in, he left his mark. One fan commenting on archive footage of a Rory special from 1980 remarked that ‘the drummer is a monster!’ He was, but by all accounts a very friendly guy too!

 Ted also formed a strong partnership with Gerry McAvoy, joining him on drums for his 1980 solo album Bassics, joining in Gerry’s jam sessions at the Bridge House at Canning Town, London, and latterly in Gerry’s Band Of Friends, with whom Ted was still performing when he suddenly passed away during elective surgery on a hernia in January 2019. He is sadly missed.