Rory Gallagher - Blues - 2 x Vinyl LPs

2019 release

In what would have been the 50th year of Rory Gallagher's recording career comes Chess/UMe's LP release of a new career-spanning collection, BLUES. Drawn from the vaults of the Gallagher estate's tape archive, the collection presents rare and unreleased recordings of Rory playing his favorite blues material. Ranging from previously unreleased tracks to special guest sessions with legendary blues artists (Muddy Waters, Albert King) and lost radio sessions, BLUES uncovers Rory's love of the blues throughout his solo career, from 1971 right through to 1994.

Rory Gallagher was a self-taught virtuoso who forged a musical revolution in his native land, shunned the trappings of fame and stardom yet became a universally acclaimed international folk hero. In the years that have passed since his death, aged 47 on June 14, 1995, his true stature has become ever clearer. This soft-spoken Irishman, characterized by his flowing locks and trademark working man stage clothes, was far from ordinary.

Rory's rock-solid devotion to his calling never wavered and the respect of his musical peers was universal. Eric Clapton credited Gallagher with "getting me back into the blues," and The Rolling Stones tried to get him to replace Mick Taylor. Rory's influence spread through the generations -- from Slash to Johnny Marr, from U2's The Edge to Queen's Brian May and on to The Manics' James Dean Bradfield -- any aspiring player who encountered him was bound to be energized or transformed.

Features:

• Double LP
• Triple gatefold jacket
• Made in Czech Republic

Selections:
Side A:
1. Don't Start Me Talkin' (Unreleased track from the Jinx album sessions 1982)
2. Nothin' But The Devil (Unreleased track from the Against The Grain album sessions 1975)
3. Tore Down (Unreleased track from the Blueprint album sessions 1973)
4. Off The Handle (Unreleased session Paul Jones Show BBC Radio 1986)
Side B:
1. A Million Miles Away (Unreleased BBC Radio 1 Session 1973)
2. Leaving Town Blues (Tribute track from Peter Green "Rattlesnake Guitar" 1994)
3. I'm Ready (Guest guitarist on Muddy Waters "London Sessions" album 1971)
4. As The Crow Flies (Unreleased track from Tattoo album sessions 1973)
Side C:
1. Who's That Coming (Acoustic outtake from Tattoo album sessions 1973)
2. Should've Learnt My Lesson (Acoustic outtake from Deuce album sessions 1971)
3. Prison Blues (Unreleased track from Blueprint album sessions 1973)
4. Secret Agent (Unreleased acoustic version from RTE Irish TV 1976)
Side D:
1. What In The World (Unreleased track from Glasgow Apollo concert 1982)
2. Garbage Man Blues (Unreleased track from Sheffield City Hall concert 1977)
3. Born Under A Bad Sign (Unreleased track from Rockpalast 1991 w/Jack Bruce)

"As soon as I heard Cradle Rock, I was hooked. I thought, 'This is what I want to be when I grow up.'" - Joe Bonamassa

"The man who changed my musical life was Rory Gallagher, I picked up a guitar because of him." - Johnny Marr

"I really liked Rory, he was fine guitarist and singer and lovely man." - Jimmy Page

"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." - Slash

"The man who got me back into the blues." - Eric Clapton

"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?'" - Brian May

"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." - Ritchie Blackmore

"'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.'" - Ed Sheeran