Rory Gallagher Blues Rock / Co. Cork

A determination to make original music that stayed faithful to the root sounds that inspired him was carried through to the end. Unsullied by jarring studio trickery or momentarily fashionable techniques, cavernous drum sounds or click tracks, what he’s left behind is a recorded legacy defined by rugged purity of form and feeling. The unaffected approach highlighted the many flavours – kick ass country, jazzy sophistication, spit n sawdust folk, floorboard quaking roof raising rock – that fed Rory’s lovingly nurtured blues. His dedication to maintaining what he called “a good vintage, ethnic” sound, favouring pre digital over modern recording equipment, would undoubtedly have been one of the attributes that endeared Rory to admirer Bob Dylan, a backstage visitor at a 1978 LA show after initially being turned away unrecognized. Gallagher’s yearly gig quota often would top 300, sweat soaked nights in which he never gave anything less than 110 per cent . And he was always ready to give a little more, come Christmas time he would often embark on impromptu tours in rural Ireland which naturally attained legendary status. A cross tribal musical hero who appealed to trad rockers, punks and heavy metal hordes, Rory was a true musical journeyman going where the music took him. He guested on albums for many including key influences Jerry Lee Lewis, Albert King, Albert Collins and the aforementioned Muddy Waters, an experience he particularly relished.

By 1990 Rory had played 25 stateside tours and appeared at the UK’s Reading festival and Montreux Jazz festival more times than any other act. Sadly, he swelled up as drink and various prescription medications to deal with the rigours of life on the road had prematurely and noticeably aged him. “The blues is bad for your health,” he shrugged, “its as simple as that, it goes with the territory.”