By Hunter60
"It's my best friend. I love playing it. I play it every day."
Rory Gallagher speaking of his battered 1961 Stratocaster
Rory Gallagher speaking of his battered 1961 Stratocaster
In all avenues of music, there are those who, despite amazing talent and skill, spend their entire careers playing on the fringes of fame and popularity. As far as more contemporary blues guitarists are concerned, Rory Gallagher was perhaps one of the most talented guitar slingers who never quite made the move into the spot light. It's difficult to understand why.
Perhaps it was simply a matter of bad timing. Maybe he was a victim of the ever changing tastes of the music industry and the executives who make those decisions that create trends. More than likely though it was Gallagher's own refusal to compromise his vision as a blues guitarist, turning away from the "blues-rock" sound that ruled the airwaves at the time. And yet despite the fact that he may not be one of the first names that most music fans will cite when naming blues guitarists, to hard core blues fans everywhere, Rory Gallagher remains at the very top of their list of pure blues guitarists.
Hailing from Ballyshannon, County Donegal in Ireland, Liam Rory Gallagher was born March 2, 1948. Like so many before him, Gallagher began playing guitar at the age of 9, claiming that the moment of inspiration came from seeing Elvis Presley on television in 1956. In an interview conducted a year before his death, Gallagher told writer Ray Minhinnett that his early interest was acoustic guitar music. "I loved Leadbelly, Josh White and I had a great admiration for Woody Guthrie and Lonnie Donnigon (sic)". Shortly after, he started listening to the old blues men like Muddy Waters and Jimmy Reed as well as rockers like Eddie Cochran and Chuck Berry. But it was the blues that struck a soulful chord with him, one that would ring out through the rest of his life.
He won a talent contest at 12 for his guitar playing and formed his first band that same year. In 1963, Gallagher walked into a music shop in Cork and purchased the 1961 Fender Strat for 100 pounds that he would play throughout the remainder of his life. His first professional gig with a band was with The Fontana Show Band when he turned 15. The Fontana Show Band toured the U.K. and various clubs in Hamburg with Rory supplying the guitar work. They later changed their name to The Imapct and for a time they played a standing gig at an Air Force Base in Spain.
From Spain the band returned to London where they split up a short time later. He continued to gig in with another trio in and around London and Dublin for a short time until they disbanded as well. However his fortunes took an upward swing in 1966 when he formed the band Taste with Eric Kitteringham on bass and Norman Damery on drums. Taste began in County Cork building up a solid local following and began touring Hamburg, Germany and throughout Ireland before landing a standing gig at the Martime Hotel in Belfast.
When the original line up broke up, Gallagher re-formed Taste with Richard McCracken taking over the bass duties and John Wilson sitting behind the drum kit. The band relocated to London where Gallagher's guitar pyrotechnics brought them a huge following in London and soon enough, throughout Europe. While in London, the band signed with Polydor Records and started to tour the United States and Canada opening for Blind Faith.
Taste released two records in 1968, Taste in 1969 and On The Boards in 1970 which revealed that along with Gallagher's uncompromising blues background, a jazz influence. On several of tracks Gallagher played saxophone. In November of 1968, Taste along with the progressive British act, Yes, opened for Cream on their farewell tour. The taste also played The Isle Of Wight Festival alongside Jimi Hendrix and The Who, they gave such a powerful performance that they were called back for five separate encores.
There is a rather persistent urban legend that has sprung up from this concert. According to legend, a reporter allegedly approached Hendrix and asked the question "So, how does it feel to be the greatest guitarist in the world?" Hendrix was supposed to have turned and said "I wouldn't know. Why don't you go ask Rory Gallagher?" Even though this particular story has been debunked several times, it persists which says a great deal about the talents of Rory Gallagher at the time.
During their heyday in the late 60's, Taste landed a standing gig at one of London's premier clubs, The Marquee. John Lennon said many times that Taste was one of his favorite bands and he would go see them play regularly. Taste broke up after their final gig on New Years Eve in Belfast in 1970, freeing Rory Gallagher to pursue his solo career.
[FONT=Tahoma]"All I can do is be me ... whoever that is". Bob Dylan [/FONT]
