Rory G --- the man from Ballyshannon
 

Anyone like to join me in praising the man who did for the blues what Iron Maiden did for metal? No nonsense from Rory, he was straight down the line, and I don't think you ever saw a tighter, more professional combo than his trio. No frills, no gimmicks, no mad, indulgent solos, just pure bluesy rock and roll, through and through.
A sad loss to the music world. We'll miss ya, bluesman!
Favourite Rory track? Personally, I love Shin Kicker: just the feeling it gives of out-there-dont-care-tooling-along-on-a-hog-wind-in-your-hair is unbeatable, and a real driving song!
There'll never be another Rory Gallagher....

I LOVE Rory. Honestly, who doesn't bust out a mean air guitar to "Tattoo'd Lady"? There's so much energy and life in his playing, and like you said - no frills, just ballsy blues rock. You never get a single pretentious vibe from Rory...he's up there to have the time of his life and just plain rock.

Criminally overlooked and makes blues guitarists like Clapton look like sissypants.

I can't drive to Rory Gallagher...I'd get a ticket for sure.

I keep meaning to check out Gallagher as he has a real cult following and plenty of respect. There is no excuse reallly. Where is the best place to start?

Hi Jack! With Rory, there really is nothing like a bad album, although his more recent stuff, like Defender and Fresh evidence might not be as good as older material.
My own personal preference is for "Top priority", "Photo finish" and the bluesfest "Against the grain". I believe the "Irish Tour '74" live album is a real classic, though sadly I've never managed to lay my hands on it. Another favourite of mine is "Deuce", and of course "Blueprint".
I can do you a playlist if you'd like. There's nothing not to like about Rory, God rest him --- the man was totally without pretension, airs or graces, didn't try to change his music, and didn't chase the charts. He had, and has, a cult following second to no guitarist alive I would think, and if you want to hear rock'n'roll and the blues played like they should be played, Rory's your man!

A playlist would be excellent. Cheers.

Definitely the Irish Tour '74 album. That's where I started when I was trying out different bluesmen, and it hooked me like no other.

Or check out the song "Tattoo'd Lady" on YouTube...

Studio Rory is great, but you haven't had the Gallagher experience until you've seen a live vid. Whenever I watch him play, I can only think over and over, "This is what it's all about - this is a TRUE performer, doing it for all the right reasons." Some musicians unintentionally (or intentionally, I'm not sure) put a gap between themselves and their audience, simply because they know how great they are, and that by playing for us they are almost doing us a favor. You never get that with Rory. There's no barrier, no division between him and his audience. You get the feeling that if he weren't making a cent on it, he'd still be up there every night sweating to the bone and shredding his blues.

I'll be uploading it very shortly. Should see it by the weekend...

Daughter of the Everglades is one of my favorite songs of all time,



its good to see another rory gallagher fan here, because apparently i was the only one for quite a while.

OK then, here we go! Unbelievably, a "taster" of some of the very best of Rory took me SIX files! So here are the links, and the full tracklisting. If after listening to these you don't agree Rory was a Guitar God, then there's no hope for ya! :D

http://www.mediafire.com/file/m1iydiwhwxx/Rory G Taster1.rar

http://www.mediafire.com/file/ynfzzz5o3gz/Rory G Taster2.rar

http://www.mediafire.com/file/yhwylzzjowx/Rory G Taster3.rar

http://www.mediafire.com/file/xgzzyi5dgmg/Rory G Taster4.rar

http://www.mediafire.com/file/hzotyylmdzd/Rory G Taster 5.rar

http://www.mediafire.com/file/d0myvjqfzyz/Rory G Taster 6.rar

TRACKLISTING
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Follow me
Kickback City
Shin kicker
Walk om hot coals
Bourbon
Brute force and ignorance
Philby
Born on the wrong side of time
Daughter of the Everglades
Ain't too good
Calling card
Cruise on out
Double vision
Moonchild
Tatoo'd lady
Wayward child
Calling card
At the depot
Bought and sold
Out on the western plain
Failsafe day
Off the handle
Signals
A million miles away
Bad penny
Bullfrog blues
In your town
Secret agent
Shadow play
Lonesome highway
Seventh son of a seventh son
Back on my stompin' ground
Jack-knife beat
Should've learned my lesson
Walk on hot coals
The last of the independents
Sinnerboy
Back on my stompin' ground (after hours)
Don't start me talkin'
Fuel to the fire
Ride on red, ride on
Crest of a wave
Goin' to my home town
Messin' with the kid

EDIT: Archive 4 seems to be mostly a copy of Archive 3, sorry --- guess I got a little confused!

EDIT: If tracks repeat, the likelihood is that they're live versions (if not, see above!) :)