Rory Gallagher Blues Rock / Co. Cork

In due course, whether using electric firepower or acoustic mastery, the unassuming Gallagher would be transformed into a musical giant, yet he always maintained the most human feeling, eschewing extraneous FX and gizmos in favour of his own raw, primitive, string-bending genius. Acknowledged as ‘the people’s guitarist’ Rory would amass 20 million sales but the emotive connection he made with audiences across the globe was greater than statistics could show. Gallagher’s fire in the fingertips feel was the thrilling result of hard work and dexterity, tireless energy and dynamic drive.

In addition to his facility on guitar, mandolin, and, on occasion, sax, Rory’s songwriting gifts gave perfect platform to his vocal flair and instrumental talent. Whether exuberantly unbounded (‘Walk On Hot Coals’) or reflectively subdued (the hauntingly self aware ‘A Million Miles Away’), his compositions were directed by an instinctive, natural feel for the blues that resided deep within his heart and soul.

As a pre-teen growing up in 1950s Cork, in a home with no record player, the single-minded determination that would hallmark Rory’s career quickly became apparent. The discovery of Elvis and early rock n rollers lead him to seek out blues masters on American Forces radio such as later collaborator, Muddy Waters. “The more I heard the more I got addicted,” he later recalled. He was already a local, talent show-winning star, brandishing a cheap guitar, when the first down payment was made on the celebrated 1961Sunburst Fender Stratocaster that would – its paintwork stripped by his own highly alkaline sweat – become a lifelong totemic tool of his trade.

In early 60s Ireland opportunities for a guitar God waiting to shine were constricted by the only available outlet : identically suited showbands. Rory pushed against the envelope when he hit the road with The Fontana and later The Impact challenging the accepted routines of the day.