Conference napalm::guitar

    
    
    I saw Rory Gallager in the late 70's, opening for Dave Mason.  Rory
    blew Dave away (or perhaps Dave was already blown away...).  Great
    player, good show.  I do have one album, I think it's the one with
    Moon Child(?) on it.
    
    Right on the Strat, beat all to hell when I saw him.
    
    Kevin
    

	Heard him with his power trio 'Taste' in the early 70s...
	..(memories)... have to LPs, 'Taste' (1969) and 'On The Boards'
	(1970). One of the wellknown songs was 'What's Going On'...

	Rory Gallagher on stage was amazing, at least this trio worked
	for me, on that particular evening (there was so much smoke
	from funny tobacco that you almost couldn't see the band ;)

	Poul

    The album with 'Moonchild' on it is "Calling Card".  This had snuck
    back into occasional rotation at my house several months ago, and has
    gotten steady play since the news of Rory's death.  A fine record,
    immensely enjoyable; I both miss him and feel lucky to have known his
    talent when I listen to it.
    
    /rick

    
    	I saw Rory open for Rush once in the early '80's. No one knew who
    the hell he was, as is typical for opening bands, and no one seemed to
    care. I can't say he was an appropriate opening act for Rush, but he
    knew how to play that English blues-rock thing to a tee. 
    
    	He was a good player; sad to see him go. I'm curious as to what
    "broadcast" you saw with the news of his death. This is the first I've
    heard of it. 
    
    	I guess Rory just didn't have Mickey Mantle's luck...
    
    
    	Brad

    
    Apparently, Rory didn't hit enough homers... :-)
    
    -b

    Made his name in a group called Taste circa '65-'70.
    
    Richard
    Reading, UK

    I guess the news of Rory's passing has hit me harder than I would have
    thought.  I've been listening to and thinking about him a lot in the past
    few days.  Read a short Buddy Guy interview last night (Musician mag).
    One thing that always strikes you about Buddy is his direct, almost
    childlike honesty.  It comes across in his words and in his music,
    and I got to thinking that's the same way I feel about Rory.  Long ago,
    a review of one of Rory's records proposed that Cream, the Jimi Hendrix
    Experience, and Taste were in fact the first "power trios" and defined
    that genre.  The others went on to fame and glory, but Rory attained
    only a moderate amount of success by comparison.  Yet he stuck to his
    roots and carved out a respectable lifetime career as a unique, gifted
    guitarist and perhaps the definitive blues-rocker.
    
    Rory's trademarks were a flannel shirt with rolled up sleeves and an
    incredibly battered old Strat; these are cliches nowadays that no-doubt
    can largely be traced directly back to him.  For Rory, these weren't
    poses, just the logical extensions of the man and his art; direct,
    unpretentious, from the soul.  He was (and remains) a true original.
    The more I reflect, the more I come to realize how much he influenced
    me in my own musical pursuits and ideas.
    
    Rest easy, Rory
    
    /rick
    

    RE.4
    
    I got that info from Canadian MTV---Much Music on thier "FAX"
    update.(kinda like a mini industry news brief.)
    I'm gonna look into tracking down some TASTE this weekend,poer trio's
    are what i'm all about!
    
    -kev

    There's a retrospective "The Best of Taste" available on CD; sample
    cuts from all the Taste LPs and includes some live tracks.  To be
    honest, I tend to like Rory's post-Taste work better (e.g., "Calling
    Card", also on CD) but the Taste sampler is definitely worth having.
    
    On some of the later Taste cuts, Rory switches to saxophone for
    some extended soloing.  While not at the technical level of the best
    pro players, he comports himself quite well on the horn; he was
    obviously a fan of Coltrane.  I've heard some Rory purists disagree,
    but I find these experiments fascinating and enjoyable.  His playing
    is very creative within (and despite) the limits of his technical
    ability.
    
    /rick
    

    Thanks for the pointer rick.

	Another of his trademarks was the use of split harmonics. I don't know
who first used them, but he was the first I heard. Minor nit re a few back;
Rory Gallager was Irish, the obit I heard on the radio credited him with 
starting the Irish rock genre.

		Ian G.

what is a split harmonic?

Jim

Re -1
>what is a split harmonic?

It *may* be another name for a forced harmonic (whatever that is). Basicaly you
touch the string with a fingernail or the the side of your palm at the same time
as you pluck it. The result is a high pitched squeel if you get it right, and
a muffled plunk if you don't.

		Ian G.

    
    Rory was buried in his home town of Cork in Ireland on 19 June. Several
    Irish musicians attended, including two U2 members, Gary Moore, Ronnie
    Drew (of the Dubliners folk group). Bob Dylan had sent a "get well
    soon" telegram which was read at the funeral Mass.
    (Above info from the "Cork Examiner" newspaper).
    
    Rory spent a lot of time touring in continental Europe rather than in
    Britain or the US. He was to do a concert in Cannes (near the Digital 
    Valbonne office) in April this year but it was cancelled, presumably
    because of his health. I read with surprise that he sold 14 million
    records in his career. 
    
    I was in school in Cork when Rory Gallagher was becoming well known,
    first in a band called the Axles, then Taste. His relatives owned a pub
    across the road from the school. This was in the late sixties, a
    generation ago. Rock music and long hair had not gained the degree of
    acceptance that they have now, to put it mildly: in fact it is hard to
    believe the degree to which rock music in general was hated and feared
    as a corrupting influence by anyone over 30. 
    
    In an era of ceili dancing, country and western, and showbands, Rory
    was a symbol for us: a world-class blues musician who had come from the
    same conservative and isolated environment as us schoolkids, showing
    that it could be done - you didn't have to be from London or San
    Francisco. He was the first internationally known Irish rock musician,
    perhaps paving the way psychologically for those who have appeared
    since.
    
    John