#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 19^th 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.