Description
Label Review.
Previously unreleased live recordings from his early 1977 tour. Official. Also available 3LP.
Our Overview.
In the years that have passed since Rory Gallagher’s death, aged 47 on June 14 1995, his true stature has become ever more clear. This soft spoken Irishman, characterised by his flowing locks and trademark working man stage clothes, was far from ordinary. Gallagher was a self taught virtuoso who forged a musical revolution in his native land, shunned the traps of fame and stardom yet became a universally acclaimed international folk hero.
Following on from the highly successful ‘BLUES’ album, Chess/UMC are proud to be releasing ‘Check Shirt Wizard- Live In ‘77’. Rory Gallagher’s most successful albums are his live ones, such as “Live! In Europe” and “Irish Tour ’74”. He was an artist that came alive when onstage and this album covers a previously undocumented live period. This 20-song, previously unreleased, set is culled from four shows (London, Brighton, Sheffield and Newcastle) during an early 1977 tour across the UK in support of Rory’s then latest album 'Calling Card'. Featuring fantastic live versions of tracks from that album as well as songs from the 1975 'Against The Grain' album and other live favourites.
This new album has been mixed from the original multi track tapes from the Rory archive, which were recorded by the Rolling Stones and Jethro Tull’s mobile studios and mastered at Abbey Road.
The cover painting is by a young Irish graffiti artist Vincent Zara who has stencilled Rory’s image across his home country.
His influence has and will continue to be immense. His legacy lives on.
• Johnny Marr “The man who changed my musical life was Rory Gallagher, I picked up a guitar because of him.”
• Slash “Rory didn’t sound like anybody else…He had a very individual, independent kind of tone and approach and everything. He’s always been a big hero to me.”
• Brian May “He was just a magician, he’s one of the very few people of that time who could make his guitar do anything it seemed. It just seemed to be magic. I remember looking at that battered Stratocaster and thinking “how does that come out of there?”
• Ritchie Blackmore “Rory was probably the most natural player I’ve ever seen. In all the gigs we did together I don’t think I ever heard him play the same thing twice… He was the ultimate performer.”
• Ed Sheeran “’A Million Miles Away’ was the first song I learned on guitar. The story goes that when Jimi Hendrix was asked how it felt to be the greatest guitarist in the world, he answered, “I don’t know. Go ask Rory Gallagher.”
• Eric Clapton “The man who got me back into the blues.”
• Jimmy Page “I really liked Rory, he was fine guitarist and singer and lovely man”
• Peter Frampton “When I was with Humble Pie and
we were all just beginning to feel like we were getting it together, Rory was the one
to measure yourself against. To be able
to play like that with such intensity was awesome and really the only other guitarist that had that ability was Hendrix.
I could never get a sound like that from
my Strat no matter how hard I tried.
He was a real credit to music and pushed it to another level altogether.”
• Alex Lifeson “It is truly remarkable how many guitarists over the years have cited Rory Gallagher as an influence. I was introduced to his playing during the Taste years but it was during one of Rush’s early tours opening for Rory in the fall of 1974 that left the greatest impression. He oozed passion in his playing and I envied his ability to transcend the moment. I learned a lot from him as a guitarist but it was his character that touched me most.”
• Ace Frehley (Kiss) “Rory Gallagher he was a great player. I’ve seen him perform several times he just used to use a little Fender amp and that beat-up old Strat, but boy, he could make that guitar talk. He was another guitar player who never got the credit he deserved, it’s incredible.” • Joe Bonamassa “As soon as I heard Cradle Rock, I was hooked. I thought, ‘This is what I want to be when I grow up.’”
• Bill Wyman “There’s very few true blues people. Rory stood out because he did it all the way through his life, that’s what he did. Who else is there? I can’t think of anyone that stands out as a real true honest follower of the blues and singer of the blues as Rory was.”
• Larry Coryell “There’s blues players, you know some guys who play some blues licks but was like improvising with that scale. He was improvising on the quarter tones, improvising on the feedback, improvising on the vibrato. If you close your eyes and take out the rhythm section and hear him playing it’s right up there with avant grade jazz music. I see a strong similarity between the approach to improvising over the blues between Rory and Jimi Hendrix. They were both virtuosos who were able to manipulate even the minutest aspect of the blues and do things that had never been played before.”
• Bob Geldof “It’s not too much to say that what like Hendrix did for the electric blues, Rory did in an Irish context. You know Hendrix was the great originator, he sought of did field hollers for the pace age you know. But Rory absolutely injected some Irish thing into it.” •
Tracklisting:
CD 1: Do You Read Me (Live From The Brighton Dome, 21st January 1977) / Moonchild (Live From The Brighton Dome, 21st January 1977)/ Bought And Sold (Live From Sheffield City Hall, 17th February 1977)/ Calling Card (Live At The Hammersmith Odeon, 18th January 1977)/ Secret Agent (Live From Sheffield City Hall, 17th February 1977)/ Tattoo'd Lady (Live From The Brighton Dome, 21st January 1977)/ A Million Miles Away (Live At The Hammersmith Odeon, 18th January 1977)/ I Take What I Want (Live From Sheffield City Hall, 17th February 1977)/ Walk On Hot Coals (Live At The Hammersmith Odeon, 18th January 1977)
CD 2: Out On The Western Plain (Live From Sheffield City Hall, 17th February 1977)/ Barley & Grape Rag (Live From Sheffield City Hall, 17th February 1977)/ Pistol Slapper Blues (Live From Sheffield City Hall, 17th February 1977)/ Too Much Alcohol (Live At The Hammersmith Odeon, 18th January 1977)/ Going To My Hometown (Live At The Hammersmith Odeon, 18th January 1977)/ Edged In Blue (Live At Newcastle City Hall, 18th February 1977)/ Jack-Knife Beat (Live At The Hammersmith Odeon, 18th January 1977)/ Souped-Up Ford (Live From The Brighton Dome, 21st January 1977)/ Bullfrog Blues (Live From The Brighton Dome, 21st January 1977)/ Used To Be (Live At Newcastle City Hall, 18th February 1977)/ Country Mile (Live At Newcastle City Hall, 18th February 1977)