Rory Gallagher

krizon

krizon

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May 2, 2003
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I've just found out that a life-size bronze statue of this beautiful, incredibly talented musician/singer has been placed in his home town of Ballyshannon (June 2nd). A wee bit surprised that none of our Irish friends on here have mentioned this, so I'll address the oversight. I was late to appreciate his talents, in fact, I'd only seriously started to do so shortly after he'd died, following contracting getting MRSA in a London hospital, after a liver transplant. It was a friend who played some of his stuff one evening and I thought there was a fluidity to his playing that, with perhaps two exceptions, even Eric Clapton couldn't quite match. Too sad to think he could still be playing, like Slowhand, were it not for a bloody hospital bug.
 
krizon said:
I've just found out that a life-size bronze statue of this beautiful, incredibly talented musician/singer has been placed in his home town of Ballyshannon (June 2nd). A wee bit surprised that none of our Irish friends on here have mentioned this, so I'll address the oversight. I was late to appreciate his talents, in fact, I'd only seriously started to do so shortly after he'd died, following contracting getting MRSA in a London hospital, after a liver transplant. It was a friend who played some of his stuff one evening and I thought there was a fluidity to his playing that, with perhaps two exceptions, even Eric Clapton couldn't quite match. Too sad to think he could still be playing, like Slowhand, were it not for a bloody hospital bug.
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I never really got into Rory - recently I have got some of his live stuff though..pretty good stuff.

Are you real Gearoid? :D
 
Used to follow Rory around in the 70's and saw him play many times in the US and in Europe. He worked very hard on stage, would play for hours. He was a natural musician, was always singing, humming or working out some tune, was lost without his guitar. He loved music, his hero was Lonnie Donegan who inspired him, and of course the old blues masters.

Rory was asked to join the Stones before Mick Taylor, a fact not that well known. He was horrified! Not his scene at all, he could not imagine having to play the same tunes all the time, or playing to thousands of people. He loved dodgy clubs and expected to be playing them well into his 80's. Money never came into it for him and he was not a wealthy man at all.

I'd lost touch with him and just found him again just as he became very very ill. He was playing at an infamous club in Campden Town and he was so ill he could not finsih the set, which upset him a lot, and the management were horrible to him. Understanding I guess, but it was just such a sad situation. His brother Donal managed him and did his studio work, Donal was totally lost when he died.

He was a lovely, talented person, I still miss him.

There is a tribute website run by those close to him.

http://www.rorygallagher.com/
 
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