#3 Bad Penny

Album: Top Priority,1979

 

In 1979, Rory Gallagher returned to Dieter Dierks’ studio in Stommelm, Germany to record Top Priority, which saw its release on September 16 of that year, Rory found the set up of the studio to his liking. It was located far enough outside a big city to be peaceful, but close enough, as Rory put it, to be a short trip away if needed. The fact that it also had accommodation close enough to allow him to walk to the recording studio rather than a big commute appealed too. He had recorded Photo Finish there the previous year.

Gerry McAvoy had been Rory’s bassist since 1971, whilst Ted McKenna from Coatbridge, Scotland had joined on drums in 1978. Previously, Ted had drummed in The Sensational Alex Harvey Band, where he noted he learned to drum hard thanks to Harvey striding over and shaking his cymbals to encourage him during performances.

Sitting in at number six on the tracklisting of Top Priority, ‘Bad Penny’ is one of Rory’s heavier songs. With a riff that sears itself permanently into that part of the brain that creates earworms, it is a song that you may find yourself singing enthusiastically while pottering about the house, without much care as to what the neighbours may think. Neighbours of Rory enthusiasts may also find that they are likely to hear it regularly played at volume, it being one of those rock songs where a certain volume is pretty much mandatory. As Dónal Gallagher writes in Rory’s official website: “No live performance was complete without Bad Penny, this big southern rock number. Again Rory uses a sitar to add texture to the song.” (The electric coral sitar, hired from Pete Townshend, also being a famous feature of another Top Priority track, ‘Philby’.)

 

As well as being a fantastic rocker in general, ‘Bad Penny’ is also a great song for anyone who has been screwed over in life:

 

“Well, like a bad penny you have turned up again,
You're in my sights, there's a mist on my lens.
I think you know how it was when I tripped and fell,
Well, you double-dealed me, baby and I broke like a shell.

Like a bad penny you've sure lost the glow
But I'm out of reach, your smile's sure gone cold.
Well, it can't ever be like it was then,
Well, don't you fool with me, baby,

Don't you mess with my plans.”

 These are lyrics that you can relate to if you have been through the mill with a charmer that draws you in, breaks you, spits you out, and just when you think you’ve got rid of that rotten soul from your life, back they come. Or perhaps it’s someone you can’t fully cut ties with, and they’re in and out of your life like a slow, slightly malignant yo-yo. Either way, it’s a situation that you get to a point where you learn the person’s mind games so that when they come back for more, you’re ready. The shine has worn off – they know they have hurt you, but this time it’s different because the charm offensive no longer works.

 The words are to the point, Rory’s vocal is powerful and to listen to it when you are feeling frustrated with the chancers and manipulators showing up in your life yet again is an incredibly powerful experience. It’s cathartic and reaffirming. Perhaps you’re at a point you know the lay of the land in the machinations of these individuals, and no, they aren’t going to get to you again. You’re healing, but you’re stronger.

 And that can be the power of music, in particular Rory’s music.