Rory Gallagher

In my first year as a student at University I stayed in a flat unit on campus with nine other people. One student had a TV (something in those days!) and we would nag him to let us all come and watch The Old Grey Whistle Test on BBC2 whenever the Irish guitarist Rory Gallagher was playing. The programme was about the only one for serious rock music in those days and always featured a live band in the studio and some film footage. It is likely that only one or two actually owned a Gallagher album but the man commanded such respect that we all wanted to see him on TV.

In the mid 1970's Gallagher was promoting his 'Against the Grain' LP that had been universally praised and commended for capturing in the studio something of what made his live shows so compelling. Even Radio 1's John Peel had given it his blessing. I was captivated by the song of 'Souped-up Ford' with its syncopated rhythms and slide work. It's fast and furious and fits the mood of the lyric just right. A favourite with all of us students was 'Out on the Western Plain' where Rory swaps his Fender Stratocaster for an acoustic guitar to sing this old cowboy song.

Rory always had a distinctly Irish lilt to his playing and a gruff and direct vocal style that marks him out from everyone else. He was basically a great Blues player and he stuck to the cause whether it be in fashion or out of fashion. He had an integrity that shone through in a world of showbusiness that always has a sense of falseness about it. He was a genuine Mr Nice although he did not have a particularly happy life - listen to the album Jinxed to hear the evidence of that. He kept going through to his untimely death in the late Nineties producing work of the highest standard. It was really pleasing to see the national press in the UK salute Rory with a lot of print space rather than the usual footnote. The BBC rearranged their schedule and broadcast an old show in honour of the man who had often recorded for them.

Now I do not say that Stevie Ray Vaughan was not a good guitar player, but when folks start going on about him I play them some Rory Gallagher and Vaughan's playing comes across as brittle and not a little soul-less in comparison. Rory put all his emotion into his music, with his technical skill being used to that end, whereas Vaughan always strikes me as being about technique and not a lot else. Excuse me if that upsets you, but try the comparison yourself some day.

David Coverdale recalls that when Ritchie Blackmore first left Deep Purple to form Rainbow that he wrote down a list of guitarists to fill the shoes of the man in black. Bear in mind, on the basis of concert ticket sales, album sales and general interest, Purple were probably the most bankable band in the world at the time and so the guitarist slot was the best job going. Top of Coverdale's list was Rory Gallagher. It would not have worked because Gallagher just didn't suit Purple but it is a mark of the high esteem that he earned from his peers.

I, for one, miss Rory Gallagher and would have loved to have heard him again live in concert running round the stage and smiling from ear to ear as his music brought us all some Irish cheer.

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