Skip to main content
MusicRadar MusicRadar The No.1 website for musicians
Sign in
  • View Profile
  • Sign out
  • Artist news
  • Recording Week 25
  • Music Gear Reviews
  • Synths
  • Guitars
  • Controllers
  • Drums
  • Keyboards & Pianos
  • Guitar Amps
  • Software & Apps
  • More
    • Recording
    • DJ Gear
    • Acoustic Guitars
    • Bass Guitars
    • Tech
    • Tutorials
    • Reviews
    • Buying Guides
    • About Us
More
  • As It Was preset
  • Don't Give Up
  • Ron Wood's drum secret
  • 95k+ free music samples
Don't miss these
Brad Whitford, Tom Hamilton, Joey Kramer (drums), Steven Tyler and Joe Perry of Aerosmith on "Midnight Special" in Burbank, CA - June 1974. (Photo by Jeffrey Mayer/WireImage)
Gigs & Festivals Aerosmith’s Joe Perry and Brad Whitford on the support act who completely upstaged them
Dusty Hill and Billy Gibbons tear it up as ZZ Top play the Aragon Ballroom at Chicago in 1980, with Gibbons playing his legendary Les Paul Standard, Pearly Gates
Artists “"There is something magic in that instrument”: Billy Gibbons on why Pearly Gates is one of the greatest Les Pauls ever
“The most talked-about guitar of the summer is coming to the Gibson Garage London”: P-90s, Light Aging from the Murphy Lab, handwritten Oasis lyrics… The Gibson Custom Noel Gallagher Les Paul Standard has been unveiled and is here photographed in the Gibson Garage, with a variety of close-ups to show every detail.
Artists Gibson unveils Custom Noel Gallagher Les Paul: hand-signed, limited run – the ultimate Oasis guitar?
Mark Knopfler
Artists Mark Knopfler on the Dire Straits song he's come to accept that he has to start in the same way every time
Ray Cooper
Artists Percussionist Ray Cooper tells the story of his ‘lost’ live collaboration with Elton John
Van Morrison
Artists How Van Morrison recorded his greatest song
John McLaughlin with Zakir Hussain
Artists “If I had never met him, where would my life have gone?”: Virtuoso guitarist John McLaughlin honours a beloved bandmate
Warren Haynes takes a solo live onstage with his Gibson Les Paul Standard. He wears a black shirt.
Artists Warren Haynes on the Allman Brothers, Woodstock ’94, and finishing what Gregg Allman started with Derek Trucks’ help
Ozzy Osbourne and Zakk Wylde onstage in 1989. Both shirtless, Wylde takes a drink as he holds his bulleseye Les Paul Custom.
Artists “We were doing that riff and cracking up laughing the whole time”: Zakk Wylde on how a “joke” riff won Ozzy Osbourne his first ever Grammy
Charlie Watts and Ronnie Wood of The Rolling Stones accept the award for Album Of The Year: Public Vote for their album 'Blue & Lonesome'
Guitarists “He tried it when he came in and he said ‘I can’t do it as good as you, Ronnie. You get back on the drums.’”: When Charlie Watts ceded the drums to Ronnie Wood on a Stones track
John Fogerty wears a blue plaid shirt and plays his Fireglo 'Acme' Rickenbacker live onstage in 2022
Artists “Dumb idea to give a guitar away that meant so much to you”: John Fogerty explains why he let go of his iconic guitar
Graham Bonnet
Artists “Some of the guys never wanted to do that song. ‘This is crap!’”: The ’70s hit that reinvented a legendary band
Ritchie Blackmore with Rainbow
Artists “I think every serious fan of hard rock music would love Stargazer”: How Ritchie Blackmore created his magnum opus
Noel Gallagher performs at an Oasis reunion show in Cardiff with his custom-built 1960 Les Paul Standard with P-90 pickups.
Artists Gibson teases release of the P-90 Les Paul Noel Gallagher has been playing at Oasis reunion shows
Brian May and Freddie Mercury in 1980
Artists “I have none of that high-speed technical skill of a Steve Vai or a Joe Satriani”: How Brian May plays off instinct
  1. Artists

Rory Gallagher: the magic, the modesty and Muddy Waters

News
By Julian Piper ( Guitarist ) published 14 October 2015

Donal Gallagher on his brother's rare talent

When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. Here’s how it works.

Introduction

Introduction

Rory Gallagher was one of the most important and incendiary blues guitarists of his generation. Though he sadly passed away at the young age of 47 in 1995, the Irishman’s amazing blues legacy still resonates 20 years later. To mark two decades since his tragic death, we sat down with his brother, Donal, to discuss the magic of his music and the unique instruments he used to make it.

Montreux Jazz Festival, 1977: “I’m gonna hang these young boys by their toes up here tonight,” Albert King said when he walked out on stage.

The great bluesman was directing his comment at Rory Gallagher and Louisiana Red, who were to join him at times during his set on that occasion. As introductions go, it was hardly welcoming, and must have been particularly intimidating for Rory.

But as the recording of that night shows - notably on King’s nine-minute-long reading of As The Years Go Passing By - Rory more than justified his presence, reeling off an extended fiery solo that perfectly complemented King’s own playing.

Page 1 of 6
Page 1 of 6
Unwanted

Unwanted

Almost four decades later, the details are still perfectly etched in Donal Gallagher’s memory.

“That wasn’t a very cordial affair,” he recalls. “Rory was under a lot of pressure at the time. It was the one break he had for holiday, and because Warners wanted to sign him, I’d gone to California. Then, Claude Nobbs, who was the director of the Montreux Festival, said that he had Ronnie Hawkins and The Band due to appear for a reunion gig, but Robbie Robertson had refused to play. Would he stand in?

Rory was really up against the wall, but when you listen to the album, he does a smashing couple of solos

“The next night, Albert King was due to play and was being recorded for the album that became On The Road. I think the record company wanted to get Rory on the album, too, and needless to say, Rory was chuffed to bits. He went down to find that there wasn’t going to be any rehearsal and King wasn’t being at all communicative. Rory felt very awkward and that he wasn’t really wanted.

“When eventually he was called on stage, the band didn’t make it very pleasant for him; there were no keys written down and it was a case of being thrown in the deep end. If you could swim, fine - if you couldn’t, tough!

“Rory tried looking at Albert’s fretboard to see what key he was in, but that didn’t help. Albert King had such a unique system of playing - the guitar was upside down and he was left-handed. Rory asked one of the brass players, who just said, ‘B natural, boy - B natural.’ And that was it!

“Rory was really up against the wall, but when you listen to the album, he does a smashing couple of solos and really acquitted himself well.”

Page 2 of 6
Page 2 of 6
One of a kind

One of a kind

As Donal talks about his brother 20 years after his untimely passing, it’s a poignant reminder that there’s never been another guitar hero quite like Rory Gallagher.

If you spoke to Rory, he’d always talk about some obscure blues guy, never about himself

From the earliest days, when he blew out of Cork with Taste, his brass-knuckle-in-your-face approach to playing was always capable of outgunning anyone else on the block. Only the formative blues players he adored, such as Muddy Waters and Albert King, were in the same league.

Rory was always a triple threat; it’s difficult to think of any white blues player who has ever matched the intensity of his performance, the brilliance of his guitar playing or had the strength of his songwriting. And the blues in all its forms was the cornerstone, the essence of everything he did.

“If you spoke to Rory, he’d always talk about some obscure blues guy, never about himself, and there never seemed to be any musical barriers to his playing,” Donal continues.

“His blues appreciation stretched from the hard-line electric Chicago style of Muddy Waters, through to the subtle country blues of people like Big Bill Broonzy and Blind Boy Fuller.”

Page 3 of 6
Page 3 of 6
A Taste of success

A Taste of success

Nowhere is this more evident than in Rory’s early Taste recordings, now reissued as part of a four-CD box set.

A jazz-inflected version of Leadbelly’s Leaving Blues, heavily borrowing from folk icon Davey Graham’s version on Folk, Blues And Beyond, sits comfortably alongside Gallagher originals, plus Howling Wolf’s Sugar Mama and Muddy Waters’ Catfish.

Taste took a lot of flack from the so called ‘bluesers’, and they were intimidated by the Mayalls of the world

“Rory was also a huge fan of Bo Carter and the Mississippi Sheiks. He wrote a song about them, and it was one of the reasons that he bought his National Steel guitar. He loved the idea of these guys standing on Mississippi street corners wearing turbans so that they would be noticed, banging away on loud guitars,” Donal adds.

After Taste first moved to London, Rory struck up a firm friendship with Alexis Korner, at the time very much the spiritual godfather of the British blues movement.

“Rory got to play on a radio show that Alexis was running at the time, played some beautiful acoustic guitar and they hit it off really well. Subsequently, they often ended up on the same gigs together and became very close friends, which is why Rory wrote the tribute track to him, Alexis, which is included on Fresh Evidence.”

Despite this, Donal still ruefully recalls the antipathy Rory received in some circles.

“Taste took a lot of flack from the so called ‘bluesers’, and they were intimidated by the Mayalls of the world - people who, ironically, had once been very happy to share bills in the North of Ireland where Rory was very popular.

“Bands like Cream and Fleetwood Mac knew Rory and rated his playing, but there was a slight resentment because it wasn’t a London thing: ‘You can’t play the blues if you don’t come from London.’ This even spilled over into the press, with Saint Someone of the Blues saying that because Rory was Irish, this really shouldn’t be happening.”

Page 4 of 6
Page 4 of 6
The Taste test

The Taste test

In 1969, Taste embarked on the ill-fated Blind Faith tour of America. Intended to expose the band to large American audiences for the first time, the tour ended up being a total disaster, but it did provide Rory with the opportunity of experiencing the blues first-hand in its home environment.

Muddy called Rory to the stage, but before he got there, Steve Marriott went up and took the guitar!

He hung out with slide master Hound Dog Taylor in a Southside Chicago juke joint, and Donal laughs as he remembers how Rory missed the opportunity to play with his main man, Muddy ‘Mississippi’ Waters.

“We went down to see Muddy and his band playing in a New York club called Ungano’s. The gig was very badly attended by the public, but it was the million dollar audience with Eric Clapton, Steve Winwood, Steve Marriott, Buddy Miles and Hendrix all sitting there.

“At the end of Muddy’s set, it inevitably turned into a jam session and Muddy called Rory to the stage, but before he got there, Steve Marriott went up and took the guitar! In typical fashion, Rory just shied away and backed off.”

Page 5 of 6
Page 5 of 6
Muddy feat

Muddy feat

In 1971, Rory finally got his opportunity to play with Muddy Waters when he was invited to appear on the London Muddy Waters Sessions album.

Rory was always far more into the Chicago guys’ cut-to-the- chase, straight-in-your-face kind of guitar

“Rory was always far more into the Chicago guys’ cut-to-the- chase, straight-in-your-face kind of guitar, and particularly the sharpness of the bottleneck style, than the BB Kings,” says Donal.

Certainly, the two men appeared to get along well, and Rory’s interaction with the Chicago master on tracks like Walking Blues provides an authentic edge to the recording, sadly missing with some of the other players.

Like his blues idols, undoubtedly Rory would have liked to keep playing guitar until he dropped, but in a 1990 interview, there was a worryingly ominous foreboding in his comments.

“Over the last four or five years, I’ve wondered if I can keep it going. I think if I can get over the next couple of months, when the album comes out and I can get back touring, I’ll go for about 60. That would be my dream, and a fair time to retire.

“It’s not so easy as when you’re 19, or 25, or 30 - but it’s still better than retiring to Buckinghamshire, getting a mansion and six corgi dogs and writing the next rock opera!’’

When Rory Gallagher tragically died on 14 June 1995 at the age of just 47, we lost not only one our greatest guitar heroes ever, but a guitarist who was undoubtedly one of the finest blues players ever to emerge from this side of the Atlantic.

The brand new four‑CD Taste anthology, I’ll Remember, is available now on Polydor Records.

Page 6 of 6
Page 6 of 6
Julian Piper
The magazine for serious players image
The magazine for serious players
Subscribe and save today!
More Info
Read more
Brad Whitford, Tom Hamilton, Joey Kramer (drums), Steven Tyler and Joe Perry of Aerosmith on "Midnight Special" in Burbank, CA - June 1974. (Photo by Jeffrey Mayer/WireImage)
Aerosmith’s Joe Perry and Brad Whitford on the support act who completely upstaged them
 
 
Dusty Hill and Billy Gibbons tear it up as ZZ Top play the Aragon Ballroom at Chicago in 1980, with Gibbons playing his legendary Les Paul Standard, Pearly Gates
“"There is something magic in that instrument”: Billy Gibbons on why Pearly Gates is one of the greatest Les Pauls ever
 
 
“The most talked-about guitar of the summer is coming to the Gibson Garage London”: P-90s, Light Aging from the Murphy Lab, handwritten Oasis lyrics… The Gibson Custom Noel Gallagher Les Paul Standard has been unveiled and is here photographed in the Gibson Garage, with a variety of close-ups to show every detail.
Gibson unveils Custom Noel Gallagher Les Paul: hand-signed, limited run – the ultimate Oasis guitar?
 
 
Mark Knopfler
Mark Knopfler on the Dire Straits song he's come to accept that he has to start in the same way every time
 
 
Ray Cooper
Percussionist Ray Cooper tells the story of his ‘lost’ live collaboration with Elton John
 
 
Van Morrison
How Van Morrison recorded his greatest song
 
 
Latest in Artists
Nena
Nena speaks to us about the making of her era-defining classic 99 Red Balloons
 
 
BLOW RECORDS Spotify header
Meet the AI 'artist' that's earning four times the average wage in the UK
 
 
INGLEWOOD, CA - FEBRUARY 19: Prince performs live at the Fabulous Forum on February 19, 1985 in Inglewood, California. (Photo by Michael Montfort/Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images)
How Prince embraced The Beatles and recorded one of the most vulnerable ballads of his career
 
 
Ace Frehley in 1980
“I hope the fans realised that I’m for real”: Kiss guitarist Ace Frehley inspired a generation of rock stars
 
 
Wolfgang Van Halen
“My list of voice memos is in the thousands!”: Wolfgang Van Halen on his songwriting process for his new Mammoth album
 
 
Justice
"It saves us 900 hours digging through crates”: Justice on why they gave up sampling
 
 
Latest in News
Zultan Alaris cymbals
“Deliver a light, open sound with exceptional stick definition and a gentle, airy wash: Zultan unveil new ALARIS cymbal range
 
 
Teenage Engineering OP-XY
Teenage Engineering is letting you pay what you want for the OP-XY
 
 
Positive Grid Spark LINK XLR
Time to go wireless? Positive Grid’s Spark LINK XLR offers cable-free connections for live performance
 
 
spectrasonics
Spectrasonics announces Omnisphere 3, the "ultimate virtual instrument" that's been ten years in the making
 
 
A family photo of the newly refreshed Gretsch Streamliner and Electromatic Jet singlecut electric guitars, in various classic and bold finishes.
Gretsch relaunches the Jet in Streamliner and Electromatic series – and there is a single-pickup rock 'n' roll machine FTW
 
 
Apple M5 MacBook Pro 14-inch
Apple announces its new M5 chip and puts it in the MacBook Pro 14-inch, iPad Pro and Vision Pro headset
 
 

MusicRadar is part of Future plc, an international media group and leading digital publisher. Visit our corporate site.

  • About Us
  • Contact Future's experts
  • Terms and conditions
  • Privacy policy
  • Cookies policy
  • Advertise with us
  • Accessibility Statement
  • Careers

© Future Publishing Limited Quay House, The Ambury, Bath BA1 1UA. All rights reserved. England and Wales company registration number 2008885.

Please login or signup to comment

Please wait...