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traditional music. “Martin Carthy called him a folk
musician trapped in a rock’n’roll body,” says Donal.
“There was always an acoustic track on his albums. He
loved the light and shade, the different textures.”
The film captures the obvious excitement Gallagher felt
playing to audiences in Belfast, Dublin and Cork. “This
was 1974; Troubles times,” recalls director Tony Palmer.
“For a guy from Cork to insist on playing in Belfast takes
some guts. That was incredibly courageous. He didn’t
want to make a big thing of it in the film. I asked him to
walk across this desolate landscape and he wouldn’t do
that. He would not be presented as someone he wasn’t.”
The touring party did not go unnoticed. “When my
little film crew arrived at Belfast airport, we were
escorted away by Special Branch and told they were
going to be keeping an eye on us and make sure we
were safe,” says Palmer. “The same thing happened
in Dublin, but it was guys from the IRA. I told Rory
and he thought it was hysterical. He said, ‘Why are
they protecting you and not me!’ But of course they
were protecting him, inadvertently.”G
AllAGHeR was a legend in Ireland and a
respected name in Britain, but America
proved a harder nut to crack. Through the
’70s he toured with Deep Purple, Fleetwood Mac,
The Faces, Jethro Tull and many more marquee
names. “Bit by bit his stature grew, mainly in the
big cities,” says McAvoy. What he lacked was a
breakthrough album. Having switched from Polydor to
Chrysalis, and streamlined his blues and jazz into a more
mainstream rock sound, 1976’s Calling Card was a dedicated
attempt to make a glossier record for the US. Gallagher
usually produced himself, but this time former Deep Purple
bassist Roger Glover was at the helm.
“Calling Card was a bit of a nightmare,” says McAvoy. “Rory
shiedawayfroma producer.Hejustwasn’tcomfortableandatmosphereGallagher created on stage
thatraisedthemusictoanother level.
“That’swhyhestandsthetest of time, that’s
whyfansstillhavelovefor Rory,” says Donal.
“Theysawhimlive;theysaw what he gave.”
ThetotemicLiveInEurope – released in May
1972 – wasGallagher’sonly Top 10 album,
andremainsa firmfan’sfavourite. “I enjoyed
goingtothestudiowithRory, I love all the
albums,butthethingthat defined Rory were
thelivealbums,thatwaswhere he was at his
best,”saysMcAvoy.“They showed him in his
truelight.They’recompletely live, there’s no
trickerywiththosealbums. Rory would never
haveallowedthattohappen.”
Albumssessionsweresqueezed between
endlesstoursinBritain,europe, Japan,
Australia,theStates.Aside from a steady diet
ofalcohol,lifeontheroadwas oddly demure. “He was
a hugemoviebuff,andsowas I,” says McAvoy. “A lot of
timesontheroadwe’dgoto the movies. There are no
rock’n’roll,groupiestories. It just didn’t happen. He didn’t
evenswear.He’dsaytome, ‘Go on, Gerry, you tell that
joke,’astherewasswearing in it. The drug thing was
frownedupon.Obviouslythere were guys in the
crewwholikedtoindulge, and our tour manager
wouldtellthem,‘Puta towel under your door, so
Rorycan’tsmellit.’Hewas very against drugs.”
In1973,WilgarCampbell was replaced by
RodDe’athondrums,and lou Martin joined
onkeyboards.TheIrishTour ’74 double album
andaccompanyingconcert film highlights the
almosttelepathiclevelsof interplay that
developedbetweenthefour-piece, as well as
Gallagher’sdetermination to push his music
beyondblues.Helovedjazz and country; he
appreciateda goodpopsong;hetreasuredRORY GALLAGHER
MicHAel PuTlAnD/geTTy iMAges
“Rory lived
hislife
through
hisguitar”
TedmcKeNNa
In the
studio,
July 1973Live at Leeds, 1971:
(l-r) Gallagher,
Gerry mcavoy,
Wilgar Campbell