April 04th – I’m kind of a Rory Gallagher fan, in a
non-fannie way (yes, thank you; calm down everyone…). I've had the good fortune to see him twice live
and have been very, very impressed at his musicality and commitment to the
cause. I’m also, if not a lover of then certainly a very strong supporter of,
Thin Lizzie. I did hear from a very good friend a couple of weeks back that
their ‘Live and Dangerous’ album was voted best of
all time in several polls. Not surprised really; I've chatted about it before
(Feb 2nd) but, best of all time? Well, if not then it’s close, certainly a
standout piece. Anyway, that’s all beside the point. What has triggered this
chat in a very roundabout fashion is that Rory Gallagher was, for me, a highly
accomplished Irish guitarist and Thin Lizzie were a highly accomplished root
Irish rock band and I wondered what it would have been like if they had got
together… They didn't, I know, but the next best thing did; another highly
talented young Irish guitarist joined Thin Lizzie in ‘74’ and again in ‘77’;
his name was Gary Moore.
Born on this day in 1952, he was just
22 when he joined Thin Lizzie and the man he replaced, Brian Robertson, was no
slouch round a guitar neck so he had to step up to the mark; he did and then some. After starting out
his career with Skid Row, Mr. Moore, although he participated in many musical
collaborations including Thin Lizzie, began a solo career that, IMHO, produced some of his very best
work, ‘Still Got The Blues For You’ being one of his tracks that I return to
again and again as well as his version of The Yardbirds single ‘Shapes of
Things’.
The sad part is that alcohol played a
very large part in the early demise of both Mr. Gallagher and Mr. Moore; the
predilection of those in the music industry to use various liquid props to help
them through the touring experience claims yet another couple of
scalps…s’bugger, innit?
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