Album: Tattoo (1973), Irish Tour ‘74 (1974)
One of those random coincidences that life likes to throw up is the fact that Rory Gallagher was born at the Rock Hospital in Ballyshannon, County Donegal on 2 March 1948. Fans and writers alike have made many a quip about the aptness of this given the musician that Rory turned out to be. It wasn’t lost on Rory either, as, according to his brother, Dónal, in the linear notes for the Tattoo album, ‘Cradle Rock,’ was inspired by this as Rory “literally rocked all his life.” An added twist is the fact that Rory was also christened at the Rock Church in Ballyshannon.
Rory certainly was on rocking form in the summer of 1973, when he and his band started work on Tattoo, rehearsing at a rowing club in Rory’s hometown of Cork. For those now scratching their heads at the jump from the province of Ulster, where Donegal is located, to Munster, where Cork is, settle yourselves for a brief geographical digression. When Rory was born, his father Danny, who was also a notable musician, being Ulster champion on the accordion, was working on the Erne Hydro-electric scheme in Ballyshannon. The family then moved to Danny’s native Derry, where Dónal was born on 9 August 1949. By the latter half of the 1950’s, the family relocated to Cork City, where Rory and Dónal’s mother Mona came from. And now, back to Tattoo!
Rehearsals progressed so well, that Rory was able to work out the music for his third solo studio album in a relaxed manner, the album being recorded quickly at the Polydor studios in London and released on 11 November 1973. Reviews for Tattoo were positive. Rolling Stone Magazine wrote that its predecessor Blueprint was excellent, and that Rory ‘is a confident and intelligent rock and blues guitarist,’ Tattoo was an indication that he was also becoming ‘a composer of note,’ finding a sound that was his.
This is a fair summation. With his highly regarded line up of Lou Martin (keyboards), Gerry McAvoy (bass) and Rod de’Ath (drums), there were few parts of Europe, Ireland, the UK, and North America they hadn’t played by the summer of 1973. Rory had started to cement a distinctive sound and hit a stride in his music. They were a tight group. Watch any video of them from 1973 onwards, and they jump into a song straight off the bat. Their strength as a cohesive performing unit is very evident on the Irish Tour movie and accompanying live album, Irish Tour ‘74, which seems to me to join both the music of Blueprint and Tattoo magnificently and highlights a band at its apex.
Irish Tour ‘74 opens with the announcement, “Hello, ladies and gentlemen, Rory Gallagher”, a crowd cheering enthusiastically in response, and a few strums of a guitar, before launching into the riff, the rest of the band joining as a whole in the first few bars to create a wonderful, thundering sonic onslaught. If you’re only going to listen to Cradle Rock one way, this is it.
There are two things that come to mind listening to Cradle Rock. The first is that Rory has without a doubt plumbed the depths of his talents and brought them to the fore, no holds barred. The music digs right into the guts and livens you up. If you’re struggling to get yourself going, I thoroughly recommend it, though any neighbours catching a glimpse of you through the window dancing unabashedly, throwing in some air guitar for good measure, may raise their eyebrows. Not that you’d care at that moment, being caught in the music.
The power of Rory’s guitar playing is wonderfully highlighted in the song. He really lets rip and the guitar does all the talking, wailing, swooping, and diving all over, with a nice bit of slide halfway through to take it that bit further. On the Irish Tour ‘74 version, you also get a nice example of that remarkable ability Rory had for being able to sing and scat along with the guitar as he plays, note perfect. As Gerry has previously said, Rory at times sounded like a guitar himself.
As much as Cradle Rock showcases Rory’s musicianship, it is also an example of his generosity as a band leader. Gerry, Lou, and Rod could have been expected just to provide a toned-down sound, toeing the line while the ‘main show’ demonstrated what he could do. But Rory didn’t roll like that – he collaborated with musicians who were immensely talented and he let them show it.
Rod’s drumming on this is one of the reasons he is one of my favourite drummers. He throws his all into it – watching him on the Irish Tour movie, it’s a wonder he doesn’t have to be wheeled out after Cradle Rock alone for a lie down. And the end of the film after the show, he looks utterly exhausted. Rod has been unfairly disparaged by some snobs who don’t think he’s up to much. Rory himself often stated he was a fantastic drummer and many fans believe he nailed the Rory Gallagher sound perfectly.
Lou Martin trades licks with Rory in Cradle Rock like a maestro and at one points switch over to take the lead on his keyboards, carrying on the swooping nature of the song before handing back to Rory’s guitar. Lou was a classically trained pianist, who fell for the blues hard. Rory enjoyed his encyclopaedic knowledge of the blues and probably knew there was potential when he told Rod to bring his ‘piano playing friend’ to rehearsals one day, Lou having previously been in the band Killing Floor with Rod, who just happened to enthusiastically tell Rory at great length how good Lou was. It wasn’t long before Lou was a member of the band. An interesting aside is that as a kid, Rod also studied piano, before giving up at the age of 12 to his later regret!
Gerry McAvoy remained Rory’s bassist for 20 years. And he still rocks to this day, some describing him as the reason they themselves picked up bass. On Cradle Rock, he provides the glue that helps keep it all together. It’s often said the Rory and Gerry had a sort of telepathy on stage. Rory said in a 1978 interview with the Cork Examiner:
“I wanted Gerry McAvoy to stay with the band because we’ve always had a great understanding for each other when we were on stage. His play inspires me. I don’t know why, it’s hard to explain. But when you play with someone like Gerry, there’s just this electrifying spark on stage here and there. However, he’s an excellent bass man.”
Birthday wishes are due to both drummer Brendan O'Neill and the aforementioned Gerry in the timing of this post.
