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Okay, well about a year later than intended, here we finally are, with the first in what will be an occasional series focussing on the giants of the guitar, the ayatollahs of the axe, the supermen of the strat. In this series my intention is to detail the guitarist's life, both personal and in music, and review most if not all of their recorded material, which might explain why there's only the one album by this guy reviewed in my journal up to this. Yep, I was saving it all for this feature. The level of depth and coverage I want to go into here will more than likely, almost certainly in fact, require that this section be split up into sections, which I will post over a number of days/weeks, depending on how much I get done.

So, drum roll please --- well, guitar solo would probably be more appropriate --- and let's get going on the first ever edition of



Rory Gallagher

Name: William Rory Gallagher (1948-1995)
Birthplace: Ballyshannon, Co, Donegal, Ireland
Born: March 2 1948
Died: June 14 1995
Cause of death: Complications brought on after he contracted a virus while waiting for a liver transplant. Also overprescription of antidepressants contributed to his ailing health.
First band: Fontana/The Impact
First solo attempt: 1970
Influences: Muddy Waters, Chuck Berry, Lonnie Donegan, Woodie Guthrie, Lead Belly
Albums (Studio): 11
Albums (Live): 5
Compliations/Boxsets: 14
Singles: None
Hits: None
Legacy: Signature Fender Stratocaster, millions of adoring fans and the message that you don't have to compromise your ethics to make it in the world of music. A fresh honesty and a true dedication to the Blues.
A fitting epitaph: "Rory lived and died the Blues" --- Donal Gallagher


The Early Years: 1963-1966
Born into a musical family, both Rory and his brother Donal were musically-inclined, though it would of course turn out to be the older brother who was destined to become a star. His father had played in a ceili (pronounced kay-lee) band -- basically Irish traditional dance music --- and his mother, in addition to being an actor, had a great singing voice. Listening to the radio at night Rory heard the greats of the day --- Chuck Berry, Muddy Waters, Buddy Holly and Eddie Cochran --- and knew from an early age that he wanted to do what they did for a living. Winning his first talent contest at age twelve on a self-taught acoustic guitar, he used the prize money to buy himself an electric guitar, and later a Fender Stratocaster, which would remain with him, and identified with him, for most of his career.

With the family hardly rich (his father worked for the ESB, the Irish electricity company) and a record-player a luxury far beyond their means, Rory had no choice but to listen to late night radio and occasional programmes on the television to try to hear the music he was beginning to feel a kinship with, and try to hunt down song books so that he could learn the songs he heard. Music was by no means as available or accessible in the 1950s and 1960s as it is today. There was no internet, hardly any computers at all, and only tinny, mono radios called transistors or "trannies" (Now... ) while video recorders were decades away, so if you wanted to see a TV programme you had to make sure you caught it then and there. Programmes, especially music ones, were rarely if ever repeated.

Though his first love, Rory decided he did not want to restrict himself to playing guitar only, and taught himself harmonica, sax, mandolin, bass, banjo and sitar, elements he would later incorporate into his live shows. In Ireland during the sixties there was only one outlet for a musician who wanted to be heard, who wanted to tour with other musicians, and that was the dreaded showbands. Twee, sentimental, cabaret bands who all dressed and sounded alike and played mostly ballrooms and dances, covering the popular hits of the time, this was not Rory's cup of tea but he bore the restrictions it put on his music, just to be out there playing. His exuberant displays on the guitar soon made him a minor legend, and he made a name for himself with Fontana, his first showband which he subtly moulded into more an r&b outfit, angering staid promoters and ballroom owners but speaking to the desperate need in the audience --- particularly the younger ones --- for a new kind of expression and freedom, a break from the boring traditions of their parents.

After guiding the band's sound sufficiently that they really no longer were the same band, Rory changed their name to The Impact, and they had minor success, especially in Spain. When they disbanded Rory continued on with the bassist and drummer and toured Germany. Returning home to Ireland, Rory was impressed and influenced enough by what he saw in cities like Hamburg to decide that his time in showbands was over, and he formed what would essentially become his first "real" or "remembered" band, Taste.

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Time passages --- Al Stewart --- 1978 (RCA)


A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away ... okay, not far away at all. This one, in fact. But a long time ago certainly, I used to do radio DJ work on a small --- very small --- local radio station. One night, while the records spun and I was bored I decided to go look through what was laughingly called a library. This was essentially a motley collection of records that other DJs had brought up to the station and either left behind by mistake, or just couldn't face bringing home with them. It was a few wooden shelves of records from artistes you had never heard of (or would want to), mostly Irish traditional or country with perhaps some "debut" singles from people who would never be let near a recording studio again, some handouts by artistes who mistakenly hoped we'd play them on air (we never did) and the odd decent album. This was of course the aforementioned, and I came across it, knowing of Al Stewart pretty much from his big hit "The year of the cat" and also one or two other songs I'd heard on the radio (though not, ironically, "Song on the radio"!) so I decided to, er, borrow it. It's still in my collection, and now seemed as good a time to actually listen to it as any.

Al Stewart is one of those people you know but don't know. Most of you will know the abovementioned song, although you may not be aware who sings it (it's Al Stewart!) and may have heard the odd other song by him, but you, and I, will be unaware that he was such a pivotal figure in the early pop/rock/folk scene in the fifties and sixties. He's the man who can lay claim, literally, to knowing Yoko before she ever met Lennon, to sharing an apartment with a young man called Paul Simon, and playing the very first Glastonbury Festival in 1970. He has also released sixteen studio and three live albums, and had six of his singles chart over the seventies, two of which hit the top ten, but only one of which made any impact at all this side of the pond, that being the famous "Year of the cat", which barely scraped in at number 31. But chart position is not everything, and that song particularly has proved far more popular and enduring than its paltry chart performance would have you believe.

The title track gets us underway with a nice soft digital piano and some acoustic guitar, gentle percussion and it's the sort of laidback, middle-of-the-road rock that typified much of the seventies. Good driving music I would think. It's one of the hit singles off the album, in fact the one that rose highest in the charts, at least Stateside. A sort of reflective song with an air of quiet resolution about it, it's shot through with some nice sax breaks from Phil Kenzie that unlike many sax players doesn't take over the song but enhances it gently with his playing, through when he wants to break out in a "Year of the cat" moment he certainly can do that with aplomb. Some lovely guitar from Stewart and fine piano from one of three keyboard players used on the album, you can see how this became a hit: it was a real song for the times. Probably wouldn't even get a single airplay these days if it were written today.

Stewart's voice is strong but not overbearing at any time, and I always felt he had a somewhat slightly feminine lilt to his voice, which isn't meant as any sort of criticism, just how he always appeared to me. Big sax break as we near the end of the song and you can see how Stewart was building on the phenomenal success of his big hit single from the previous year, as this song does retain many of the hallmarks of "The year of the cat" without being a copy in any way. Simple gentle piano then starts "Valentina way", but it quickly metamorphoses into an uptempo rocker on the back of electric guitar, sort of Dave Edmunds in structure and feel, the piano getting much more rock-and-roll now. It's interesting to note that, though he had no input into the songwriting that I know of, this is one of the early jobs for Alan Parsons as producer, and this song has a lot of the melody of many of the songs he would go on to oversee with the Alan Parsons Project. Whether he influenced this one or took influences away to his own solo career is not a question I can answer, but there's definitely an echo of "Valentina Way" in later songs to appear on APP albums.

"Life in dark water" is far more ominous, with a big heavy drumbeat and atmospheric guitar, great work behind the skins by Jeff Porcaro, just a year before he would found Toto and go on to fame and fortune. This song is the slowest on the album so far, not a ballad by any means but a real slowburner, dramatic and powerful with a certain feeling of claustrophobia about it. Then halfway through it goes into a bouncy, boppy Beatlesesque rhythm before bringing in some very effective guitar and piano for the middle eighth. I hear echoes of early Dan Fogelberg in here too, and the sonar effect at the end is both clever and chilling, when you realise the subject matter. A more mid-tempo song which to be fair takes a little from the melody of the opener, "A man for all seasons" is a nice little track, with a piano run which ELO would later rob for their hit "Confusion" (Okay, they probably didn't even know about it, but it is very similar) and another interesting lyrical theme, this time Thomas Moore, historical arch-enemy of King Henry VIII, with some rather telling comments on religion along the way. Nice backing vocals and some warbly organ with yet another really inspiring guitar solo from Stewart.

Little country/folk then for "Almost Lucy", a much more uptempo song that just makes you tap your foot, and brings back those memories of Dan Fogelberg to me at any rate if to no-one else. Excellent piece of Spanish guitar, then everything slows down in a very Alan Parsons way --- or I suppose I should be fair and say, a sound that would become Parsons' trademark --- for the stately and grandiose "Palace of Versailles". Nice, measured drumming and some fine work on the keys with Stewart's clear voice rising above it all, it's a retelling of the French Revolution, and the orchestration near the end is again very similar to the sound we would grow used to hearing from the APP. "Timeless skies" has a certain sense of Chris de Burgh about it --- certainly his earlier work, such as "Far beyond these castle walls" and "At the end of a perfect day" --- and some soft accordion from Peter White, then the other big hit from this album is "Song on the radio", which is about as commercial as you can get really for the time.

With a big breakout sax solo starting the song it bops along really nicely, and you can again hear elements of later ELO here; perhaps Jeff Lynne listened to Al Stewart and took some influences from him? It has one of the best hooks which manages to almost qualify the lyric: "You're on my mind/ Like a song on the radio" and which guaranteed it success in the charts, though it only hit outside the top thirty. It has gone on to become one of his best and most-played songs though, and much of this is certainly down to the energetic and flamboyant sax work of Kenzie, in marked contrast to his work on the opener. The song pretty much rides on his sax lines and the piano melody too. Of course, it all comes together under Al Stewart's friendly, gentle and everyman voice, which sells the song like no-one else could. The album ends on one of my favourites of his, which was used by one of the radio stations I used to listen to as their "closedown" song, rather appropriately, as it's called "End of the day".

If the title track was reflective, the song that closes the album is doubly so. Carried on a sparkling guitar line with a real laidback feel, some rippling piano and some flowing Spanish guitar, it's a short song but it doesn't need to be long. It's almost an instrumental, and a real showcase for the guitar work of the man whose name adorns the cover of the album. Just when you think there are going to be no vocals his voice floats in, with just a few lines, all the more effective for their brevity and the song is in fact the perfect ending to the album, the musical representation of the sun sinking slowly in the west, its rays splashing out over the darkening sea, with the promise of its return tomorrow.
TRACKLISTING

1. Time passages
2. Valentina Way
3. Life in dark water
4. A man for all seasons
5. The Palace of Versailles
6. Almost Lucy
7. Timeless skies
8. Song on the radio
9. End of the day

Songwriters like Al Stewart don't come along too often. He's had a pretty big influence on music down the decades, working with people like Jimmy Page, Tori Amos, Rick Wakeman and of course Alan Parsons, and yet few people are even aware of his existence. If it wasn't for "The year of the cat" being a minor hit over here we'd have nothing to mark his presence in the charts at all. And yet that record is played and requested more than most other songs from this era, even today. Timeless classics, you see, don't date and they don't go out of fashion, and even if time does continue in its passage, and we can do nothing to stop it, music like this lives on down the years.

A man for all seasons, indeed.

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Alternating scenes --- Illusive Mind --- 2011 (?)


This band are something of an engima. Very very hard to track down, and even on their own website there is no English version; my Spanish or Portuguese being somewhat rusty (ie virtually non-existent) I've had to make some educated guesses but what I've come up with is this: the band, as such, appears to be the solo project of one guy, Darwin Lubo, who so far as I can make out writes, sings, produces and plays everything here. The music is descibed as "rock progresivo" (anyone?) so I think I'm in about the right area. It looks like this is their/his second album and as far as I can see no label is mentioned, with the entire thing available via his Soundcloud page, which leads me to believe that either the album cover is just some pretty art and there is no hard CD copy, or that he released it independently. I can't obviously verify any of that, as he (let's call the project he, as there is only him involved as far as I can make out) doesn't come up in searches on any of my main metal or prog rock sites. Oh yeah, he's from Venezuela, hence the Iberian tongue. Does he sing in English? Well, the titles are in English, so let's find out, shall we?

"Trapped" gets us underway with a big synthy, dramatic opening and some low choral voices, effects and almost the feel of some sort of ceremony taking place, then big hard guitar pounds in and the tempo kicks right up alongside galloping drums, keyboards sliding into the mix for a few moments before they fade back out and the guitar takes the melody. Oh, then they're back in with a sort of organ sound and then augmented by very proggy arpeggios. Halfway through the song it's fairly clear this is going to be an instrumental. Will it be so all through the album? Time will tell. Good running keys with attendant guitar backing up the main one, then more ramped-up arpeggios and as we head into the last minute the guitar takes over, not so much a solo but definitely an instrument leading the charge. A big powerful end and we're into "Mechanical plague", which starts with a sound like someone plugging a lead into a guitar, then the guitar itself fires off in a marching sort of riff, percussion added to the sound and the guitar soars off into the heavens.

More guitars (presumably multitracked if our man Darwin is the only one in the band) set up a high squealing melody, with some talkbox work and it's obviously another instrumental. Very powerful guitar, almost shades of Iron Maiden in this at times, then that "plugging-in" sound again, leading me to believe this is definitely self-produced, though nothing about "Dream master" sounds in any way amateur. A great slow ballad with some lovely resonant guitar, almost bluesy in ways, some nice keyboard lines layered over the main guitar melody. I think by now as we work through the third instrumental in a row it's pretty clear this album is not going to have any vocals. Well, if it does I'll be surprised. Lovely orchestral-like keyswork halfway through that really adds a sense of drama to the music, the guitars then joining in on the same lines and creating an overall solid soundscape.

We're rocking again with the title track, powerful speedy guitars and some peppy keyboards, a really fine drum solo in the middle that's then added to by a rising organ salvo, bringing the guitars charging back in for the closing minute, while "Intruder part 2" (what happened to part 1? Search me. Maybe it's on the first album) has touches of the ghost of Metallica and some righteous keyboard work, chugging along at a fine pace, taking us into "Tight squeeze", with a sound familiar to old fogeys like me, the rasping click of stylus on vinyl that almost always preceded the music at the beginning of any album. Some odd sounds then the guitar takes it and it's slightly slower and a bit heavier than what has gone before, with some stabbing keyboard chords and later some really nice chiming keys too. But Darwin loves his axe, and it's this that snarls the ending and takes us into another "part 2" that doesn't seem to have a "part 1" that I can see, at least not on this album.

"1983 part 2" is built on a really nice chingling guitar sound with some synthy backdrop and a really nice bassline, another slow one it would seem although I'm kind of wrong there as there are some speedy licks on the keys more towards the end as it speeds up, and the tempo then stays high for "Divide and conquer", a guitarfest on which Darwin shows what he can do with that axe, racking out some great basslines too. Not that the keyboards don't get a look in... "Dr. Dometone" on the other hand pretty much rides on a mad synth line with the guitar banging away looking for attention, but your ears get drawn to the amazing keyboard riffs. The closer is the longest track on the album, almost nine minutes and to write and play a nine-minute instrumental that doesn't get boring is not easy, but on "Out of sight" Darwin has managed it admirably.

It explodes to life with a crashing drum intro and high keyboard arpeggios before the guitar slices in, and the piece just oozes with energy, as if he's saved the best to last. Strangely enough, just before the four-minute mark he racks off a chord on the guitar and brings the whole thing to a close, then a second later pumps it back up on the back of some wibbly keyboards and charging guitar again. Almost as if this were two tracks stitched together, though the sound is pretty much the same, so I suppose it should be seen as a false ending really. Some nice stop/start guitar then the bass takes over with some weird little synth effects before the main guitar comes smashing back in. To be honest, it's over before you realise it's run its course: how many (almost) nine-minute instrumentals can you say that about?

TRACKLISTING

1. Trapped
2. Mechanical plague
3. Dream master
4. Alternating scenes
5. Intruder part 2
6. Tight squeeze
7. 1983 part 2
8. Divide and conquer
9. Dr. Dometone
10. Out of sight

Listening to this music it's incredible to think (provided I understand the bio correctly) that this is the work of just one man. He makes Illusive Mind sound like a full band, and if this is a self-produced effort it's a pretty damn fine one. I must see if I can unearth his first album. If you like instrumental hard rock on the style of Pg. Lost and ASIWYFA, then you could do a lot worse than give a listen to this guy from South America. It's not too big a stretch of the imagination to say that he could find himself up there with the ... er, with those big rockers from ... um ... You know what? He could very well be on the way to being the one to put Venezuela on the rock map.

Note: unfortunately there are zero videos of this guy on YouTube, but here is his Soundcloud page, where you can listen to his albums: https://soundcloud.com/illusive-mind...nd-alternating

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Darkling, I listen --- The Black Atlantic --- 2012 (Beep! Beep! Back up the truck)


Yeah I know: I'm listening to quite a few EPs recently. They've all been really good though, and hell, if there isn't an album to buy then an EP is the next best thing. The only trouble is that it leaves you often with little to review, as they usually only have four or five tracks. This one has five. You wouldn't expect this at all from an ex-metalcore founder, but I guess that just goes to show that you can't always judge a book by its cover, or an artiste by their previous work. This EP is a masterpiece of dark ambient melancholia, while yet retaining enough of an upbeat edge that my wrists are completely free of razor-marks.

Now admittedly I know nothing of the band called Shai Halud, but apparently they're an American metalcore band which mixes punk, thrash and progressive metal into their music, and Geert van der Velde was their frontman for some years, before he decided to take a course in philosophy, it would appear. During that time he wrote a song for his girlfriend (later wife) which he posted on Myspace and which then got so much interest that a label signed him to produce a whole album. This is the second album as such, although it's an EP. Mind you, I don't know if there's an album to come after this, but I do know that The Black Atlantic's first album is available for download from their website on one of those "pay what you want" deals that are becoming so popular now.

There's a soft gentle acoustic guitar to open "The aftermath (of this unfortunate event)", and it's very moody and melancholic indeed, with some strange sort of sliding percussion and then a nice electric guitar with the vocal quite folky in tone and not too far removed from progressive rock in places too. Gets a bit more animated as it nears the end of the song, sort of reminds me in places of Travis. Some nice lush keyboard then in the bluesy "The flooded road (Built on sand), van der Gelde gets to exercise his vocals a bit more, stronger and more forceful delivery than in the first. This one reminds me a little of Deacon Blue at their laidback best. Again, strange percussion, this time sounds like it's echoing. Lovely arpeggios on the keys from Matthijs Herder and a fine soft yet insistent little guitar line, then we're into the definitely more upbeat and uptempo title track, with the drums sounding "normal" for the first time in the EP, as they trundle out the beat, and some really effective vocal harmonies on the chorus.

A sweet little piano line from Kim Janssen joined by Geert's guitar, then it all stops for acapella vocals for a moment against just the pounding of the drums (sort of like listening to the sea crash against the rocks, very atmospheric) before a solid synth line that reminds me unaccountably of Genesis's "Watcher of the skies", the opening part anyway. There's a gentle little progressive, pastoral feel to "An archer, a dancer", and it's a slower song but some hard percussion cutting in ups the tempo slightly before it drops back to its original folky feel. The members of The Black Atlantic all appear to be multi-instrumentalists (bastards!) as they all seem to play about three instruments at a minimum, from guitar and piano to percussion and ukulele! Well, all except the drummer. Very talented bunch. The song gets a little psychedelic near the end, falling into something of a Beatles vibe, and certainly seems the most upbeat of the tracks.

And all too soon we're into the closing track, as "Quiet, humble man" brings the curtain down with a beautiful little ballad right out of the early Genesis playbook, rippling soft guitar and flute, muted percussion and a really, again, pastoral feel. A lovely little laidback track with a ton of passion in the vocal and a really nice way to end the EP. Just wish there was more.

TRACKLISTING

1. The aftermath (of this unfortunate event)
2. The flooded road (Built on sand)
3. Darkling, I listen
4. An archer, a dancer
5. Quiet, humble man

Actually, there is, because as I say there's another album. It's available from their website, The Black Atlantic (you should go there, if only to see the video running live on the page) and you can purchase it; they now have a set price structure but it's still very reasonable. I'll be watching for more from these guys, and once I get their first album downloaded and have a few listens to it, expect a review here in the not too distant future.

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The Taste Years: 1966-1970
Formed as a power trio with himself on (of course) guitar and vocals, John Wilson on drums and Richard McCracken on bass, Taste (originally The Taste) supported Cream and Blind Faith, making it to the Royal Albert Hall for the former's farewell concert, which must have been some experience for the young band. They played London's Marquee Club regularly, and also appeared at the Isle of Wight Festival in 1970. This was in fact to be their last performance. But before that they released two great albums, and it is these we now will look at, as essentially the first official recorded output from Rory Gallagher.

Taste --- Taste --- 1969 (Polydor)

This was where Rory finally got to play the blues, unfettered by popular convention and band rules. He had snuck in blues and rock tracks into his previous band, The Impact, but mostly to the chagrin of the promoters where they played. In the Ireland of the early sixties, if you didn't play showband you didn't play, and if you were in a showband there were rules to follow, expectations to be met. As often as he could, Rory would flout those rules and destroy/exceed those expectations, making a name for himself not because of the showband circuit, but in spite of it. Taste, however, was his band. He had put it together, he led it, he decided what they played. And here, on their self-titled debut, he writes every track bar the blues covers he includes on the album.

You can hear from the outset how Rory intends his music to be: hard, gritty, dirty and uncompromising. It's almost as if he wants to blow the cloying cobwebs of the sickly traditional/pop music he was forced to play in the showbands away forever, like pulling yourself free from a trap, or struggling out of a straitjacket. "Blister on the moon" gives an early indication of the sort of blues-flavoured rock he would purvey for the rest of his career, and it's one of his own compositions, essentially the first time he's played his own music under his own name. Of course, it's a little rough and his vocals need some honing, but even this early in his to-be illustrious career he's already a master of the guitar, and the clear, honest sound of a power trio that would characterise his music for most of the next almost thirty years is evident in this opener. It's a cover next, one of Lead Belly's, a real blues standard with a walking bassline from Richard McCracken and Rory's soon-to-be recognisable and indeed signature slide guitar. "Leavin' blues" is far more restrained than the opener, built pretty much on the bass pattern with Rory's Strat cutting through and throwing riffs and licks all over the place. The song however does not leave as much room for his instrument of choice as would later be normal, and as I say it's quite laidback.

It's another from one of the greats next, a cover of Howlin' Wolf's "Sugar mama", which certainly gives Rory more scope to exercise the guitar and also lets him unleash his gravelly, raspy vocals which, while they would never win him any awards as a great singer, were always more in a workingman style than someone who wanted to impress with his voice. Rory was always more about the guitar, and to be fair, even when he didn't sing the Strat had its own voice and told its own tale. Here it goes all-out, as you would expect from one of "The Wolf"'s songs, and in fact the track is the longest by far on the album, clocking in at just over eight minutes. What you would also expect on a song of that length would be an extended blues guitar solo, and Rory does not disappoint. You can hear the promise in the young guy here, and it's pretty obvious that even at this early stage we're listening to something special, that a true legend is in the process of being made, or at least started on his path.

To be honest, at times John Wilson seems a little lost behind the drumkit on this song, just kind of bashing away as Rory goes into overdrive, but that's a small quibble on a song this good and the frankly stupendous guitar work from Rory easily glosses over any failings in the percussion department, though I do wonder (this is my first listen to a Taste album) if the problem persists further on down the line? "Hail" then has an extended little bit of acoustic guitar noodling and sort of akin to a Delta blues song with elements of folk in it, another Rory original. Little sparse for my personal tastes, and it's followed by "Born on the wrong side of time", a nice big slice of rock with some great percussion this time (sorry, John: guess it was a one-off!) with a catchy little hook and reminsicent of songs he would later write such as "A thousand miles away" and "Used to be". It breaks down after about a minute into a sort of Beatles-ish sixties quiet acoustic vibe, with McCracken's bass again holding the line before Rory's guitar powers back in and the song takes off again. Bit off-putting, really; don't see the need for the section in the middle. That aside, definitely so far the closest to what would end up becoming Rory's sound on his solo albums in years to come.

"Same old story" is a mid-paced boogie blues rocker with again much of what would find its way into Rory's later compositions, and "Catfish" appears to be an old traditional song given a heavy blues twist by Rory, and clocks in as the second longest on the album. I have to say, for me it doesn't work and just comes across as long and droning, boring and stolid. It's a prime example of a song stretched to well beyond breaking point. Oh well, can't fault the guy on his debut album, can you? And it's not really even his debut, as in solo effort yet, so he has a ways to go and much to learn. Closer "I'm movin' on" is a cover of Hank Snow's song, reflecting Rory's fondness for country music and ends the album in a nice, understated way.

TRACKLISTING

1. Blister on the moon
2. Leavin' blues
3. Sugar mama
4. Hail
5. Born on the wrong side of time
6. Dual carriageway pain
7. Same old story
8. Catfish
9. I'm movin' on

Never one to let the grass grow under his feet, Rory made sure Taste's next album was in the shops the following year, and it was a more mature, structured and accessible offering, with this time no covers and Rory composing every track. It's gone down as their best --- although they only had two, plus two live albums --- but this year, 1970, would lead to the breakup of the band and Rory launching his own solo career, from which he would never look back.

On the boards --- Taste --- 1970 (Polydor)


I don't know who designed the cover, but the album couldn't look older if they had tried. Even in 1970, its sepia colour, faded look and the frankly terrible picture of the band (Rory looks like a Native American or a priest or something, and his clothes make him look much fatter than he is) made the album look like it had been around at least a hundred years. Still, cover's aren't everything and no-one was buying Taste albums for the cool sleeves (check the artwork on their debut above): everyone was more interested, rightly, in what was between the grooves. The music was the thing, and terrible cover aside, "On the boards" delivers on every front.

A big heavy guitar riff that would be repeated in part on songs like "Moonchild" and "Last of the independents" some years later, "What's going on?" is a semi-blues rocker, with some nice introspective guitar at times from Rory, one of those great smooth solos he would become famous for, while "Railway and gun" sort of brings in the country/bluegrass elements we heard in the closer on the debut. Great busy little bassline drives "It's happened before it'll happen again" but again I find the drumming a little disjointed. Mind you, I'm not crazy about this track at all. It is however the first time I can hear Rory on the sax, and that's interesting if a little jazzy for my tastes (hah!)

There's a real change for "If the day was any longer", with an acapella intro from Rory which leads into a folky little acoustic number, quite short but cool, and features the first use --- that I can hear --- of Rory's famous harmonica, which would accompany him on so many gigs and be a facet of his performance both live and in the studio, just another of the many instruments he would learn and become proficient on. Minimal percussion and a steady bass line, and we're into "Morning sun", an almost funky little piece which reminds me of, er, Madonna's "True blue". Yeah, sorry, it's just that sort of beat, even though Madge wouldn't appear on the scene for at least another ten years. Great stride guitar although some of Rory's vocals are a little quiet, as they are again on "Eat my words", his squealing Strat leading the charge and sliding all over the song, setting up a great sound that would become familiar to all adherents of Rory's music.

The title track is a slowburner ballad, that again pulls in some jazzy sax from Rory. Sorry, but I really don't like jazz and I'm glad that (good though he is on it, and credit where it's due) Rory mostly dropped the sax from his solo albums, concentrating on the guitar and harmonica, and for a while, piano. This one again I find overlong and not a little boring and hard to get through, though nowhere near as bad as "Catfish" was. A rockin' boogie rocker then in "If I don't sing I'll cry", and I must admit I think most of the problems with Rory's vocals here are probably more than likely down to poor production. I find this very muddy, very fuzzy and cut quite low, although when Rory fires off his Stratocaster it's certainly high in the mix, which is at least a blessing. There's not too much singing in this, luckily, and a nice quick blast on harmonica, then it's two more short tracks to end the album, with "See here" a nice solid acoustic ballad on which you can hear Rory's voice clearly for once, then the album closes on "I'll remember", a big dirty heavy rocker with a walking bass line and some almost big band sax and a superb little solo from Rory.

TRACKLISTING

1. What's going on
2. Railway and gun
3. It's happened before, it'll happen again
4. If the day was any longer
5. Morning sun
6. Eat my words
7. On the boards
8. If I don't sing I'll cry
9. See here
10. I'll remember

By this time, Taste had built themselves a strong following (though it's probably fair to say the one drawing the most attention would have been Rory on vocals and guitar as the frontman) and looked set for big things. They played the Isle of Wight Festival that year and released a live album from the concert, but it was released after their breakup, along with their previous album, also live, also released in1971. Even twenty years later the true story of how and why Taste broke up is not fully known. When asked about it, Rory would either clam up and declare he didn't want to go back over "ancient history" or get quite angry and emotional about the way he was treated, and painted as the villain. What we can piece together from the rumours and stories is that, plagued by management strife and internal problems, Taste, having been the vehicle to propel Rory Gallagher to international attention if not stardom, broke up in 1970 and Rory decided it was time he took on the world on his own terms, under his own name, as a solo artiste.

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Having been gently accused of posting something too depressing by the redoubtable misspoptart (mmm.. pop tarts!) I dedicate this entry to her good self, who from her online personality at least gives the rather encouraging impression that she is seldom, if ever, depressed.

As I said in the first episode of this series, there's not always a clear reason why certain songs cheer us up or put us in a good mood, and indeed some of the ones I select may have the reverse effect, but this is my journal and if you don't like it YOU CAN ALL JUST GO TO HELL ALWAYS BUGGIN ME ANNOYIN ME SICK OF IT .... Er, sorry, forgot to take my pills today. Ahem. Anyway, these are songs that when I hear them just make me smile and want to be happy. Which most of the time I am anyway. God knows why...


"Love is in the air" --- John Paul Young, from the album "Love is in the air", 1978

I love the optimism and simplicity in this song. It's got no deep meaning, just the pure joy of someobody walking around and seeing people in love. Great beat and I love the way the chrous builds up on that "climbing" piano. One of my favourite "up" songs.


"True blue" --- Madonna, from the album "True blue", 1986

The beat of this song makes it for me, also the "Hey!" at the start. I'm no big fan of Madonna's but I really like this single, and again the simplicity of love and devotion in it --- even if it's hardly likely to reflect Madge's own personality --- speaks to me. Always evokes the best part of the late eighties in my mind.


"Love's the only rule" --- Bon Jovi, from the album "The Circle", 2009

The upbeat tempo of this song, plus the power and passion Jon puts into the music makes this one of my favourite tracks on the last album. Say what you like about Bon Jovi --- I've heard it all before and you won't change my mind about them --- they know how to write catchy pop/rock, and this is about as catchy as it gets. Always puts me in a good mood.


"Don't stop" --- Fleetwood Mac, from the album "Rumours", 1977

I hardly need to explain why this song makes me happy do I? One of the cheeriest, most optimistic, uptempo records of the seventies, and from a classic album too. What more could you want?



"And a bang on the ear" --- The Waterboys, from the album "Fisherman's blues", 1988

Perhaps odd that two of the songs I chose as happy ones, or ones that make me feel happy have "blue" in the title, but there you go. This is a great celtic swinger from Mike Scott and the boys. It sort of has no real chorus, just the line where he sings the title, but it's a real one to get up and have a hoolie to, and the sort of philosophical shrug Scott treats each of his failed love affairs with is refreshing.

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The Early Solo Years: 1971-1974

The early seventies were Rory's most prolific, as he struggled to establish himself as a solo artiste in his own right. At that time, there really were no international artists from Ireland, and with Van Morrison Rory led the way, recruiting bass player Gerry McAvoy, who would be one of the mainstays of his band for over two decades, and a firm friend, to create another power trio, though unlike Taste this one would have a harder rock edge, and was clearly from the start Rory's own band. Although he had basically taken the controls at Taste, performing under his own name gave him an extra degree of contol over the output, and on his first, self-titled album he wrote every track and also produced the album. He also pulled in Wilgar Campbell on drums, but whereas McAvoy would remain a steadfast ally of Rory's through the seventies and eighties, Campbell would be replaced after the second album.

Rory Gallagher --- Rory Gallagher --- 1971 (Polydor)


There's a big boogie number to start the debut album off, with "Laundromat", and it's rockin' good, though again I find the vocals very far down in the mix, like on the Taste albums. Rory produced this himself and it was likely his first attempt at production, so perhaps he was just unfamiliar with how to mix an album properly. Either way, the guitar work of course stands out head and shoulders above everything, and Rory uses his trusty harmonica for the first time on one of his own albums. McAvoy keeps up a great bass rhythm, almost as if it were an upright bass he was playing, and Campbell bashes out the beat the way you would expect a seventies drummer to. Rory's style of singing was often more shouting lines at you than conventional singing, and nobody would I think class him as one of the great singers, but as a guitarist he had few if any equals. "Just the smile" slows things down a little with a hard dobro-style sound on the guitar, and a folky melody that still maintains an edge. Has a great almost "Mrs. Robinson" rhythm to it.

This song is mostly guitar, as were many of Rory's: he never forced too many lyrics or even vocals into a song if he could avoid it, preferring to let his guitar do the talking, and so it works. You don't really concentrate too much on the singing --- though it's fine, but nothing terribly special --- and just let the great fretwork wash over you. Slowing it down even more then for the blues-style ballad "I fall apart" with again soft vocals from Rory but a hard guitar and the first really standout solo. That old mixture of Delta blues and country shows up again on "Wave myself goodbye", featuring for the first time piano, here provided by Vincent Crane, in one of two appearances by him on the album. It does add a nice honky-tonk feel to the song, and compliments the acoustic guitar nicely.

"Hands up" is a more rocky, bouncy track with some fine powerful drumming from Wilgar Campbell driving the beat, and featuring an extended workout by Rory on the Strat, while the next one up was to become one of his standards and best-loved songs. "Sinner boy" starts off like a blues ballad but then breaks out into a real rocker, with that squealing twanging guitar that was to become something of his trademark, high pitched with plenty of slide. A much slower, laidback song then in "For the last time", a kind of menacing blues ballad, of the type Rory would become identified with, as would his contemporary Gary Moore, the sort of song where the singer admits he's been a fool (usually for some woman) and swears that won't happen to him again. Another great solo and a walking bass line from McAvoy, sort of doomy drums from Campbell, and the lion's share of the song is taken up by another serious workout on the guitar, taking us into the bluesgrass-styled "It's you", a bopping, slide-guitar aided little tune (I'll be honest: it sounds like steel guitar but I can't be sure, and there's no such instrument credited, though it's a guitar so... maybe) and on into "I'm not surprised", the other song containing piano accompaniment from Vincent Crane.

Starts off almost Rush-style on hard acoustic and mandolin, then gets going in a blues groove with the piano sliding in; sort of a Beatles vibe to the song, and the album then ends on "Can't believe it's true" with a sort of shuffle melody and coming closer to the more famous songs he would pen down the line. This also features sax from the man, but again as I said in the Taste reviews, I don't really feel it adds much to the song or makes that much of a difference. A good album, a good debut but it was unlikely to set the charts on fire. Then again, that was never Rory Gallagher's intention. He just wanted to make music that people might like to hear. Simple, huh?

TRACKLISTING

1. Laundromat
2. Just the smile
3. I fall apart
4. Wave myself goodbye
5. Hands up
6. Sinner boy
7. For the last time
8. It's you
9. I'm not surprised
10. Can't believe it's true

Eager now more than ever that he had released his first solo album to get his music heard, Rory was back in the studio at the end of the year and this resulted in his second album coming out in the same year. Although only his second it is markedly different in its tone and feel, and copperfastens the beginning of the real Gallagher sound on tracks like "Crest of a wave", "In your town" and the melancholy "Should've learned my lesson".

Deuce --- Rory Gallagher --- 1971 (Atlantic)


Right away there's a more cohesive sound to the album. Whether that's due to his growing proficiency on the guitar or the fact that his intention for this album was to give it a more "live performance" feel I don't know, but one thing I do hear is that his vocals are more balanced, not pushed down to the point where they could be not quite inaudible on the debut, but definitely low in the mix. "I'm not awake" gets us underway, bopping along nicely with some rolling percussion from Wilgar Campbell, an almost Irish traditional rhythm to the song, some more fine soloing. Much harder and rockier is "Used to be", with Rory's growled vocal rising to meet the snarl of his guitar, and again I hear a lot of Alex Lifeson in his playing here, although Rush would not release their first album for another three years yet. That country/folk element comes back in for "Don't know where I'm going", with another star turn for Rory's other old mate, the harmonica, allied to his acoustic guitar.

Back to the electric then for "Maybe I will", with an almost jazzy tempo to it, some great basswork from Gerry McAvoy, sense of rockabilly to it too, then "Whole lot of people" is even moreso, while the real standout on the album comes in the shape of "In your town", with a big boogie blues rocker with Irish reels threading through the melody. The story of a man released after serving his time in jail and out for revenge or just to have a good time (it's not clear), it's a great bopper and really just bursts with energy and enthusiasm. In total contrast then is "Should've learned my lesson", a doleful blues ballad in the mould of "woke-up-this-morning-and-my-woman-done-gone" so beloved of the old hands. Great stuff.

"There's a light" has a sort of Santana idea about some of it, rocks along nicely and you can definitely hear a marked improvement in Rory's singing, his voice much stronger, more determined and focussed. More of the folky country feel from the previous album on "Out of my mind", some great mandolin playing by Rory, with the closer the brilliant "Crest of a wave", another which would become a fan favourite, a great heavy groove that just closes the album as strongly as it began. For a second album, I think "Deuce" shows a giant leap in Rory's talent, which is not to say the debut was bad, because it wasn't, but this is a world removed from that first album, and you could see even then this boy was not going to be held down; we're witnessing here the birth of a star.

TRACKLISTING

1. I'm not awake yet
2. Used to be
3. Don't know where I'm going
4. Maybe I will
5. Whole lot of people
6. In your town
7. Should've learnt my lesson
8. There's a light
9. Out of my mind
10. Crest of a wave

Of course, every true musician knows there's no substitute for the stage, and though Rory was getting no radio airplay at this time, and certainly releasing no singles, and was pretty much an unknown quantity generally, he raised his profile and built his fanbase on the back of continuous touring, becoming one of the hardest-working musicans certainly in Ireland, maybe in Europe. He ensured that he toured his native country at least once a year, often more, and yet managed to fit in recording two albums a year between 1971 and 1973. Rory's reputation was built, maintained and mythologised through his live performances, and many people consider versions of studio tracks inferior to the live renditions. Certainly, free of the constraints of studio time Rory could lengthen and expand some of his better songs onstage, and he also got a chance to cover some ones he would probably not have put on his studio albums.

Two live albums have gone down in history as being definitive of his work, the first released in 1972 and pretty much made up of covers and traditonal songs, with just one track from each of his first two albums. "Live! in Europe" was recorded, not surprisingly, on his European tour of 1972 and together with the later "Irish Tour '74" gives a fascinating insight into a man who lived to walk the stage with a Strat, a guitarist who loved the stage spotlight but shunned the celebrity one, and an almost reluctant star who lit up any stage he strode.

Live! In Europe --- Rory Gallagher --- 1972 (Buddah)


It's probably not the greatest of starts, to be honest, when they introduce him as "Rory Gallag-er" rather than "Galla-her", but the album gets going with a track that, though it appears on none of his studio albums and is not his own song, became another to be very clearly identified with him, Junior Wells' "Messin' with the kid", great bit of blues boogie rock and you can hear Rory's singing voice now firmly established; gone are the squeaky, breathy, echoey and at times almost inaudible vocals that plagued the first album: Rory's singin' loud and proud now. Strangely enough, the track he chooses from the debut album is "Laundromat", which is okay but certainly not the best track on that album: I would have gone for "Sinner boy" or something like that. Nevertheless, it's a spirited version of the song, and it's also nice to hear Rory thank the crowd and say hi after the first track: adds to the genuine live experience so few live albums manage to capture.

Next up is one of four traditional arrangements on the album, a song apparently Bob Dylan wanted to duet with Rory on, but which sadly never happened. With a melancholy harmonica intro and sharp guitar, " I could've had religion" has a blues/gospel arrangement, then breaks into a crunching slow rocker, with pounding percussion from Wilgar Campbell and chunky bass from Gerry McAvoy framing the song. Real slowburner, and Rory really gets to exercise his pipes here, then much more restrained and in a country vein is Blind Boy Fuller's "Pistol Slapper Blues", pretty much on acoustic guitar without any accompaniment that I can hear from the band: I feel (though I could be wrong) that even the minimal percussion in the song is engendered by Rory tapping his palm against the guitar. What would appear to be a Gallagher original not on either of his first two albums to date, "Going to my hometown" is almost acapella with some frenetic work on the mandolin by Rory, big thumping drumming from Campbell and some enthusiastic clapping from the audience.

Highlight of the album for me is a ten-minute storming version of "In your town" from "Deuce", my favourite from that album and I'm glad to see that if he had to pick only one track from the second album that this is the one he decided on. The song is made for a live performance, and goes down really well with the crowd. That leaves three trad arrangements to take us out, the first of which is called "What in the world" and opens on soulful harmonica and a slow blues/soul beat with the thickest bassline you're likely to hear, then it's another slow heavy blues tune in "Hoodoo man", and the album closes on yet another track that, though it would never feature on a studio album by him, would become another standard and expected song at every gig, the rockin' and rollin' boogie "Bullfrog blues".

TRACKLISTING

1. Messin' with the kid
2. Laundromat
3. I could've had religion
4. Pistol slapper blues
5. Going to my hometown
6. In your town
7. What in the world
8. Hoodoo man
9. Bullfrog blues

When Rory's second live album, the career-defining "Irish Tour 74" was released two years later, he would quite amazingly have another two studio albums to choose material from. The early seventies were a time of great productivity and creativity for Rory, and he would release, all told, seven albums before the decade was halfway through. That's some workrate, especially when you take into account that he was also squeezing in at least one tour a year into his schedule. Some of today's artistes could learn from this man.

After being first made aware of the blues by listening to his heroes, studying them, covering them and eventually emulating them, Rory was finally rewarded in the early seventies by playing with them. Muddy Waters invited him to guest on his album "London Sessions" in '72, and though he says it was a honour to play with his idol, as well as the likes of Steve Winwood and Mitch Mitchell, even participating in those recordings did not keep him from gigging. He would play a concert in the evening and then drive at speed up to London, arriving in the early hours and, in true rock-and-roll fashion, jam till dawn. Rory was so impressed by, and in awe of Muddy, that he kept the car in which he had driven the blues legend to various gigs as a sort of shrine to him, letting it rust away in his front garden back home in Cork. He just could never bring himself to sell it, the car an integral part of his history and a concrete link back to the glory days.

As mentioned, "Live! In Europe" was the last album to feature Wilgar Campbell behind the drums, and he was replaced the next year by Rod De'ath (yeah, his real name apparently!), who would stick with Rory for another six years, right through to the end of the seventies. He also brought with him a recommendation for his friend Lou Martin, a pianist and keyboard player. Rory had been thinking about incorporating the sound of keyboards into his band, and Martin seemed to fit the bill. And so in February of 1973 Rory's band changed from a power trio and for the first time included a keyboard player. Under this lineup he released his third studio album, one of two he would produce that year, and one of his most regarded.

Blueprint --- Rory Gallagher --- 1973 (Polydor)


There's an immediate difference in the sound thanks to Martin's influence behind the keys. A big booming organ sound greets the opening of "Walk on hot coals", and then changes to a funky piano that complements Rory's guitar as the song goes along, a rocky, uptempo toe-tapper, and a song that would become another favourite live. As on all his previous and future albums, other than cover versions, every track here is written solo by Rory. He was a man who never co-wrote with anyone, and that was how he liked it. His songs were his children: he gave birth to them, he nurtured and cared for them and he was responsible for them. It's quite stunning really that he could be such a tremendous guitarist, showman, songwriter and singer --- although as noted, while he was certainly an adequate singer no-one would put him up with the greats purely on the strength of his vocals.

A great piano run takes us out of the song and we're into "Daughter of the Everglades", a somewhat more downtempo song driven this time mostly on Lou Martin's steady piano, the keys lightening the tone of the song somewhat, nice little organ stabs also adding to it. If this song reminds me of anything, in structure and melody, it's his later "Overnight bag" from the very successful "Photo finish", released a few years later. Rory breaks out the harmonica then for an old-style blues lament he calls "Banker's blues", which could almost still be relevant today if you look at it from a different angle to the one under which Rory originally wrote it. More great piano work here, and acoustic guitar takes the lead, with a great harmonica and piano ending, taking us into "Hands off", a bouncy, uptempo boogie rocker where once again Martin gets to shine as he adds his own special touch to the song.

"Race the breeze" then gets something of a progressive rock edge due to the organ work on it by Martin, the song chugging along like a steam train, and in fact again reminding me of a future song he would record, "Ride on red, ride on", from the "Jinx" album, released in 1982. Some great slide guitar on this, then fifteen years before Iron Maiden had it, Rory's "Seventh son of a seventh son" isn't quite as mythologically/fantasy-based as the title track from that album, though there's again quite a prog rock intro on crashing cymbals and rippling keyboards with a lovely shuffling bass line from Gerry McAvoy. Some very Doors-ish piano from Martin too, and it's a long song, the longest on the album at over eight minutes. I have to admit though, it's quite repetitive once it gets going, and in that manner I think it goes on too long. Way too long.

Nice little acoustic folky tune in "Unmilitary two-step" played on maybe mandolin, or could be the acoustic guitar, even a dobro, not sure, but it's the first instrumental track of Rory's career. The album then ends on the very country-styled "If I had a reason", with what sounds like Hawaiian guitar (!) but hell, that could just be Rory making his axe do what he wants it to do. A slow, country ballad, it's perhaps an odd way to end what is otherwise a pretty hard-rockin' album, but then, Rory's tastes and influences were always quite diverse.

TRACKLISTING

1. Walk on hot coals
2. Daughter of the Everglades
3. Banker's blues
4. Hands off
5. Race the breeze
6. Seventh son of a seventh son
7. Unmilitary two-step
8. If I had a reason

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Quatro --- Suzi Quatro --- 1974 (RAK)


My very first rock and roll female crush, and that of thousands or more of hormones-raging teenage boys, was this lady. The first major female rock star, certainly the first female bass player to achieve fame on her own merits, Suzi Quatro was ahead of her time. Taking the British charts by storm during the early seventies and eighties she had a string of successful hit singles like "Can the can", "48 crash", "Devil gate drive" and "If you can't give me love". For us young rockers of the male persuasion, she epitomised both the allure of hard rock and the pure sex of the female performer. She characteristically wore tight leather outfits that often left little to the imagination (down, Trollheart! Control yourself!) and flouted the image of the archetypal tomboy, a woman --- a very sexy woman --- breaking into what was mostly considered exclusively male territory. Of course there had been female singers, but even the likes of Stevie Nicks and Kate Bush were more seen as "softer performers", whereas Suzi played as loud and as proud and as raunchy as any of the boys. It's probably fair to say there are more than a few young men who may have been turned on to rock initially through her (ahem) gyrating hips and husky voice.

With at present fourteen studio and numerous live albums to her credit, this is her second and contained one of her big smash hit singles, and it opens with a big statement of intent as she yells "All my life I wanted to be someone/ And now here I am!" kicking off "The wild one", a big fast rocky uptempo number, not Iggy Pop's song in case you were wondering, or indeed Thin Lizzy's later effort. Like most of her music this is written by the famous songwriting duo of Nicky Chinn and Mike Chapman, who were responsible for all her hit singles. Great bouncy piano and raucous guitar, as well as Suzi's trademark basswork, but it's her distinctive voice that you instantly recognise, though on this song it's a little higher and less raw then it would later become. Her version of "Keep a-knockin'" is prefaced by some advice to young girls about not just "giving it away" to be cool: girl power? Spice Girls? This lady started it! A real role-model for young girls, she would sadly not have as much influence then as she would have done now, as back then not too many women were into the whole rock thing, certainly not as many as now.

Great guitar solo and it's a real fun song with a slick bass line from Suzi; you really get the idea she's totally enjoying herself and jsut having a good time, while still trying to deliver a serious message to the youth of the time. The song sounds as if it's live, though I don't think it is. Big heavy crunchy blues drums and a boogie-woogie piano on "Too big" with Suzi at her sultry, unrepentant best; she'd never apologise for being a woman in what was mostly a man's world, and she could hold her own with the best of them. Perhaps a sly dig at herself, a little self-deprecating humour as she grins "I'm too big for my boots" --- oh, those boots! Is it getting hot in here? She has a great blues voice and can sing with the fervour and soul of any of the great masters, this song swaying along carried on the rising wave of her infectious enthusiasm. "Klondyke Kate", the first of three songs she writes herself (well, co-writes) is another boogie number, with a real swinging tempo and some sort of fifties style male backing vocals. You can hear the growl, the little pussycat becoming a lioness now, as Suzi gets into her stride.

A big powerful swirling organ intro to "Savage silk", on which she cuts back on her vocal for about ten seconds before unleashing the weapon we loved in the seventies, yelling at the top of her voice with real power and passion. More great piano, as well as some stirring organ from Alastair MacKenzie, soft but powerful backing vocals from her drummer and guitarist. This song is slower and more restrained than the others, but still nowhere near a ballad. The organ runs on the song really make it, then Suzi's vocal drops down to a seductive mutter before the song fades out and we're into a bg guitar intro courtesy of Len Tuckey for a storming version of Cliff Richard's "Move it" --- sorry, did you just say...? Yeah, Cliff Richard --- and somehow she manages to give the song new teeth, kicking it up the arse and rocking out like there's no tomorrow.

Another cover next in Percy Mayfield's "Hit the road Jack", where she really turns on the tomboy image; this ain't no shrinking violet you're listening to! While Suzi would never be identified with the harder singers of the punk era, she in some ways advanced the cause for women in rock by simply refusing to just fade into the background as a bass player. Up till she arrived no female bassist had ever achieved solo fame --- in fact, I don't even know if there were any female bass players --- but she changed all that, paving the way for the likes of Sheryl Crow, Joan Jett and a whole host of others. Her version of this song is slower than the more recognised ones, more based around a stuttering guitar from Tuckey and her own clean bass lines. One more cover version then in "Trouble", a watchword for Suzi Q if ever there was one! Surely the woman your mother warned you about, and that your father secretly lusted after! A real blues shuffle this one, with Suzi channelling the ghost of Muddy Waters (yes I know he was alive at the time, but you know what I mean!) with one of her most compelling and powerful performances on the album yet. Janis who?

It sort of descends into a fast frenetic jam there at the end, as Suzi goes completely crazy on the vocals, MacKenzie matching her on the piano, then another of her own songs, and the first ballad on the album, in "Cat size", with a lovely lilting piano line from Alastair with what sounds like violin joining in and setting a completely different mood. Very passionate, and shows Suzi could sing gently as well as belt out the rockers. Super little guitar solo from Tuckey, kind of his first real chance to take the spotlight, and he doesn't waste it. Back to the rockin' then with a storming "Shot of rhythm and blues", big growly guitar and pulsing bass, electric piano giving the song a certain progressive rock feel, though I could live without the bad Elvis impersonation by one of the band, don't know who. The last song on the album on which she has a writing input is "Friday", and though it's okay I have to admit it's not up to too much. Still, the album ends powerfully on that big hit single, again a Chinn/Chapman composition which you may know if you're as old as me. "Devil Gate Drive" was one of her huge hits (I said HITS!) and it just punches your face in and takes your breath away with its raw energy and power, Suzi jumping all over the place and screaming at the top of her voice, she and the band obviously having a great time. The song actually reached number one, being one of her two singles to do so, and it's a storming way to close the album.

TRACKLISTING

1. The wild one
2. Keep a-knockin'
3. Too big
4. Klondyke Kate
5. Savage silk
6. Move it
7. Hit the road Jack
8. Trouble
9. Cat size
10. Shot of rhythm and blues
11. Friday
12. Devil Gate Drive

Think of all the female rockers you love; those who front bands, those who have come out from bands to make a solo career, even all-girl bands like The Bangles and No Doubt. I'm not saying these people would not have achieved fame without Suzi blazing the trail for them, but there's no question that she was a trendsetter and a woman who took on the male-dominated music world to push the bass guitar front and centre for women, and prove that girls could be more than just pretty backing singers, and could rock just as hard, loud and long as the boys! God bless 'er!

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Brothers in Arms

Rod De'Ath
Position: Drummer
Joined: 1972
Left: 1978
First album played on: "Blueprint", 1973
Last album played on: "Calling card", 1976
Born: 1950

The strange thing is, that actually is his name! You'd think it would be made up: sounds like something a heavy metal drummer would concoct to sound cool, doesn't it? But the story of Rod De'ath is stranger even than his name. Joining Rory as a temporary drummer in 1973 to replace the departing Wilgar Campbell, he ended up being signed permanently and was one of the mainstays of Rory's music through the seventies. When he left the band in 1978 he joined a band called Ramrod and then later moved to the US. When he returned to Europe in the mid eighties many strange stories circulated about him, some of them claiming he had died. His non-appearance at Rory's funeral seemed to prove that to many people: if Rod were alive, considering the times they had had together, surely he would have been there to pay his respects to his friend?

But it turned out that De'Ath was alive. He had apparently fallen down a flight of steps while running to catch a train, in the process injuring himself so badly that he ended up losing the sight of one eye and also hitting his head so hard that he had brain damage. He was given a maximum of four years to live, but is still around today, having beaten the odds. His eyesight returned mostly, but he was never again able to play. He cleared up the mystery about his missing the funeral in an interview in "Classic Rock" magazine only last year, when he explained that when he had been told by the doctors he had only four years at best left to live, he withdrew from public life, as he had been away for some time already and did not want to reacquaint himself with friends, only to tell them he wouldn't be around in a few years. He was afraid therefore that if anyone he knew saw him at Rory's funeral it would shock them and cause too much consternation, and perhaps detract from the importance and solemnity of the occasion. He did however attend a later memorial service for Rory, squashing once and for all the rumours of his death, and also was present at the funeral of both Rory's and his bandmate Lou Martin when he died in August last year.

Surely then, Rod De'Ath is one person who can confidently and accurately state: rumours of my death have been wildly exaggerated!

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Breaking away --- Jaki Graham -- 1986 (EMI)

You could go through my album, CD or digital music collection and probably not come across another soul or disco album --- unless you count Tina Turner --- but this album for some reason made its way onto my record shelf back in the eighties. Maybe it was that I was on the radio with a late-night show at the time, and her single, which was also the title track, was in the charts. This album I do remember getting cheap, so cheaply in fact that it made sense to buy it on the assumption other singles would be released from it (they were) and as I recall although it didn't make me a fan of Jaki Graham or have me heading down to my local disco, it surprised me as being not totally crap. I haven't listened to it since the radio station closed down, and I do wonder now if I will still feel the same about it, a quarter of a century later?

Before we get into the actual music though, I must point out that it's almost not a Jaki Graham album, as the pawmarks of Derek Bramble are all over it. I originally believed him to be married to Graham, but I see now I am incorrect: she's married all right but to someone else. In that case I don't know why he has such an overbearing presence on the album, but he writes almost every song, produces, arranges, engineers the album and plays guitar and keyboards as well as providing backing vocals. Oh, and he arranges the strings and programmes the drum machines too. Bloody Hell! As I say, it's only short of having his name on the cover instead of hers! Talk about creative control being taken out of your hands. But then, as I mentioned, I don't know the background behind these two, and maybe he was and is a great friend of Graham's and was helping her out. Or maybe he's just huge in disco/soul circles and she was glad to have his input. I really don't know, but if you look at the back of the album and count the number of times Derek Bramble's name appears, well, it's a lot is all I'll say.

So what about Jaki then? Can she sing? Well yes she can, and right from the start she shouts then sings the title of the opener, the perhaps appropriate "Set me free". It's got that upbeat brass so typical of soul records of the late eighties, with good backing vocals and digital piano with funky guitar and bass, and it bops along nicely. Stabs of sharp synth are added throughout the melody, again another thing common in music of this genre at the time. It's not the worst start to an album though it's really not my kind of music. Good sax solo halfway through from --- well, I don't know: there are three or four guys credit with "brass" in the liner notes, so I couldn't tell you who is responsible for the sax, but he's pretty good. The song itself is, not surprisingly, a little repetitive: I always found disco, soul and funk to be somewhat pedestrian in its structure, though the title track opens with a nice low sax and piano line before bright synth and much more upbeat and happy brass kicks the song up a few notches.

Graham has a great voice, of that there's no doubt; she's not of the school that believes you shout, roar or drag out every syllable a la Mariah Carey, Whitney or Leona Lewis. She sings strongly but doesn't warp or twist her singing and it's quite pleasant to listen to. "Breaking away" is another uptempo song but slightly slower than the opener, with another fine sax break and some sort of samply synth work running through it. Again, you'd have to wonder: two tracks both with the theme of escape or getting away from something. Are we being given a message here? Or is that too deep for what is essentially a soul pop album? Whatever the case, "Still in love" has a beautiful strings opening, and if Derek Bramble is indeed responsible for their arrangement then he did a fine job. A happy, bubbly synth and some Rose Royce-style drum pads then takes the song in a semi-balladic direction, and Jaki's voice is clear and soft on the vocal. Nice backing vocals too, sprinklings of piano and keyboard running through the song like a meandering stream, with a really nice guitar solo in there, while "Love under moonlight", despite its ballad-like title, ramps up the tempo again.

Built on a solid little bassline, it reminds me of early Judie Tzuke in many ways, particularly "Sportscar" and "I am the phoenix", and is probably the funkiest of the tracks on the album up to this point. Nice to hear the guitar (yes, played by Bramble --- Derek Bramble appears by kind permission of Derek Bramble!) get its chance to shine and take the spotlight, and though it's relatively restrained it's a break from the synth-heavy material we've heard up to now. Nice blast of brass, which I admit could be sax or trumpet or even trombone: I'm not great with identifying brass instruments. I do remember not having much time for "Let's get blue", which returns to the digital piano melodies, with those drum pads again echoing and bursting out, this time with a male vocal duetting with Jaki. I think I remember it being credited as, you'll never guess, Derek Bramble, but I can't confirm this at the moment. I'd say it's him though. It's a fairly simple and banal song and I don't like it now any more than I did twenty-five years ago when I first heard it. It does have some Stevie Wonderesque harmonica, though I have a feeling it's synth-created.

"Luv 2 much" starts on a sort of electronic noise then jumps into an almost Art of Noise/Janet Jackson/Prince hybrid, with a staccato guitar, pulsing bass and running synth line. It came across to me then, and it still does now, as a poor ripoff of the sort of songs made popular by the likes of the Purple One and Michael's sister: it just doesn't sound like something I would have expected from Jaki Graham, given what I'd heard up to then. I think it was a shamless attempt to cash in, but don't think it worked. Lots of synthy trickery to try to pad out what is a pretty dull and ordinary song; just did nothing for me. The first of two songs on which Bramble collaborates with another songwriter, "The love of your life" is a good bit better. Maybe he needed someone to channel his creativity or just push him in another direction. Quite similar in ways to some of the material Phil Collins was putting out around that time, it has some nice peppy horns, a decent hook and a great vocal from Jaki, as well as some funky guitar from Bramble.

And he teams up with the great David Grant for "The closest one", which certainly has some punch in it, almost veering into rock territory on occasions. Big heavy powerful drums drive the rhythm and the synth line is frothy and sprightly, with good backing vocals from again Bramble, whose final songwriting effort, "Step right up", was the last single taken from the album, all four of which got into the UK top twenty. It's okay but nothing special: big honking synths and a snarly bass pull the song along in a marching dance rhythm, but it does feature one of Graham's most powerful and decisive vocal performances. The album then ends on what was the big hit single, and the only one not written by Derek Bramble. "Mated" features Grant again but not in terms of songwriting; he duets with Jaki on this song which became something of the signature of the album, even though of the four singles released this one was out before the album and reached the lowest chart position. It's a twee little love song but the voice of David Grant does add a lot to it. It has an almost boyband hook in the chorus, and you could certainly hear Westlife, One Direction or any of that lot singing it. It's the sort of song that doesn't have to be a duet, thought it does work better as one. For a closer I've heard worse, but I've also heard better.

TRACKLISTING

1. Set me free
2. Breaking away
3. Still in love
4. Love under moonlight
5. Let's get blue
6. Luv 2 much
7. The love of your life
8. The closest one
9. Step right up
10. Mated

I think when I was listening to this the first time I was trying to convince myself that I hadn't wasted my money, because only looking at it from the viewpoint of "Ah it's not that bad!" makes this album worth listening to at all, certainly now in my almost fiftieth year. I wouldn't say it's a terrible album --- it certainly has a few okay tracks --- but it's not the sort of thing I would listen to of choice. Of course, as I said in the opening section I'm not a fan of this sort of music, so maybe I'm missing something really great about it. Some of you may enjoy it: some of you probably will enjoy it. But for me it's just a pretty generic pop/disco album that had I not needed to satisfy the endless requests of my three radio listeners back in the eighties I would never have considered buying.

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