Back Pages: Roll The Tape – Rory Gallagher, The Last Irish Bluesman [Reviews by Rev. Keith A. Gordon, Feb. 1999 edition of Live! Music Review, available on the Internet for the first time.]
Venue: The Hippodrome, London, UK March 17, 1974
Source: 72 minute audience cassette, performance (7), sound quality (6)
Tracklist: Hands Off/ What In The World/ Walk On Hot Coals/ Bottle Of Gin/ Race The Breeze/ Voodoo Blues/ Bullfrog Blues/ Tattoo’d Lady/ Back On My Stomping Ground/ Who’s That Coming
Comments: Although no one can say with any certainty that extraordinary blues guitarist Rory Gallagher, had he lived, would be afforded the same sort of “elder statesman” status as Eric Clapton enjoys today, he certainly deserves better than the obscurity that threatens to envelope him. A young sixties blues prodigy along the lines of “Slowhand” Clapton, Jimmy Page, Peter Green or Jeff Beck, the Ireland-born Gallagher was the first to create a sensation as the frontman for the British blues trio, Taste, recording a couple of critically acclaimed albums and performing a legendary set at the Isle of Wight Festival 1970 after the band’s equipment had been stolen. After Taste broke up amid mismanagement and strained relations, Gallagher embarked on a solo career that ran from 1971 until his death in 1995.
Gallagher hit his stride in 1973, with the release of two solid albums, Blueprint and Tattoo. It was during this period that Gallagher would see his closest brush with American stardom, enjoying immense critical acclaim and a fair degree of commercial acceptance throughout the decade. Although he remained a big name in much of Europe, and a literal conquering hero in Ireland and Scotland, Gallagher never really got the big break that would ensure his legend on this side of the big pond.
This 1974 show, from the Hippodrome in London, is typical of the sets Gallagher was performing at the time, similar to the performance he would eventually capture with Irish Tour ’74, the second of several live discs that Gallagher would release during his lifetime. This London show kicks off with the announcer introducing Gallagher and “Hands Off,” a blusey number from Blueprint. It was during this period that Gallagher, with four solo albums under his belt, would begin what would be a welcome tradition. Whereas many artists (still) only perform songs from their latest releases, with maybe an older hit song or two thrown in for good measure, Gallagher would kick out the jams with whatever song struck him in the moment. Some, like Blueprint’s “Walk On Hot Coals” or Tattoo’s classic “Tattoo’d Lady,” both performed here with a great deal of elan, would become live staples, as would classics like “Bullfrog Blues,” here provided a rousing performance. Other songs, such as the southern-fried soul of “Race The Breeze” or “Back On My Stomping Ground,” with it’s careful bottleneck riffs, were performed by Gallagher only sporadically.
This Hippodrome performance has also been released on CD as Bottle of Gin, and it is a wonderful showcase of Gallagher’s talents and a great place to begin for the novice collector. It was during this era that Gallagher tried his hardest to break through to mass acceptence, releasing an album every year (sometimes two, considering live discs) and playing such high-profile projects as Muddy Waters and Jerry Lee Lewis’ individual 1973 London Sessions albums, impressing the blues godfather Waters so much that the legendary artist called upon Gallagher’s talents again the following year for his London Revisited album. It was also during this period that Gallagher was rumored to be Mick Taylor’s replacement in the Rolling Stones.
Venue: My Father’s Place, Roslyn, NY, September 7, 1979
Source: 80 minute audience, performance (8), quality (7)
Tracklist: Shin Kicker/ Last of the Independents/ Moonchild/ Mississippi Sheiks/ Tattoo’d Lady/ Too Much Alcohol/ Pistol Slapper Blues/ Shadow Play/ Bought & Sold/ Walk On Hot Coals/ Messin’ With The Kid/ Bullfrog Blues/ Sea Cruise
Comments: Gallagher’s 1979 tour was ostensibly in support of his latest album, Top Priority. But in keeping with his tradition, the setlists seemed to draw as much or more so from the previous year’s Photo Finish as it did from his new album. Top Priority proved to be Gallagher’s last flirtation with commercial success in the U.S., and although it is remembered as one of his artistic high points, by no means did it represent the end of the Irish guitarist’s creativity or a weakening of his musical abilities.
Kicking off with the rowdy “Shinkicker,” a Photo Finish cut, this set at My Father’s Place offered the audience a mix of the old and the new. “Last of the Independents” is a typical rocker, Gallagher’s red hot guitar blazing through the now-familiar chords. An acoustic reading of J. B. Hutto’s “Too Much Alcohol” proved eerily prophetic, as it would be the drink that would eventually kill the hard-living rocker.
Another classic blues tune, Blind Boy Fuller’s “Pistol Slapper Blues,” receives a reverent rendering from Gallagher, who cranks it up a notch or two afterwards with high-octane performances of “Shadow Play,” “Bought And Sold,” and “Walk On Hot Coals,” a crowd pleasing favorite from Blueprint. Gallagher tries to close with “Messin’ With The Kid,” a boisterous boogie tune showcasing some wickedly soulful bottleneck playing. By the end of the song, Rory is having so much fun that he jumps into the traditional blues, “Bullfrog Blues,” that song itself running into a manic cover of the fifties hit “Sea Cruise,” Gallagher leaving the club patrons on a decidedly high note.
Venue: The Apollo, Glasgow Scotland May 29, 1982
Source: 80 min. FM broadcast, performance (9), sound quality (7) – somewhat low but clear sounding, sharp definition on vocals and guitar
Tracklist: Brute Force & Ignorance Double Vision/ Moonchild/ Out On A Western Plain/ Philby/ The Devil Made Me Do It/ Wayward Child/ Nuthin’ But The Devil/ Tattoo’d Lady/ Ride On Red/ Jinxed/ Secret Agent/ Left Me The Mule/ Shadow Play/ Shin Kicker/ Last Of The Independents
Comments: By ’82 Gallagher has already passed his commercial peak in the United States and with the scene dominated by blustery punk and vacuous “new wave” there was no room for an authentic bluesman. He still managed to thrill loyal audiences with dynamic live shows and top notch playing, however, appealing to both blues purists and hardcore rockers alike. Touring in support of a new album, Jinx- which was to be his last release for almost 5 year – Gallagher literally rocked the house, playing to a sympathetic Scottish crowd, the show broadcast by Radio Glasgow.
Several of the songs caught on this tape illustrate Gallagher’s skills as a guitarist and performer. By the third song in the set, the popish “Moonchild,” Gallagher had the crowd in his hand. The Morricone-influence “Out On A Western Plain” saw the audience engaged in a bit of the old “call and response.” A beautiful mesmerizing intro leads into “Philby,” an underated track from 1979’s Top Priority LP. Another fantastic extended intro comes across closer to a Middle Eastern raga than a blues riff, but it leads into “The Devil Made Me Do It,” a rollicking boogie number from Jinx. “Nothing But The Devil” is a lengthy blues romp, the crowd favorite “Tattoo’d Lady” receives its usual raucous treatment and some molten heavy metal surf riffs open up “Secret Agent,” a power blues song. An extended Gallagher jam on “Left Me The Mule” leaves the audience drained for the closing trio of familiar Gallagher favorites, the show finishing with “Last Of The Independents.”
These three tapes represent just a handful of the Rory Gallagher music that’s out there to be discovered. A solid 1991 show from the Guthrie Theatre in Minneapolis may be the topic of future review in this column, and there are also other shows from Philadelphia, New York, Berlin and London that are readily available in tape trading circles. Over two dozen Gallagher bootleg albums and CDs exist, including a great 1985 show from Montreaux.
Gallagher had played constantly until his death in 1995 following complications from a liver transplant. He spent the better part of a quarter century on the road, including some thirty tours of the United States. Sadly, his recorded catalog is in terrible disarray, with many of his best albums currently out of print. [Editor’s note: This situation was largely alleviated later in 1999 with a series of reissues with bonus tracks on the Buddah label.] Although he is overshadowed by contemporaries like Jimmy Page and Eric Clapton, Rory Gallagher always will be the last great Irish bluesman.
Bonus views: Glasgow 1982, the full show
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