Tag: Rory Gallagher
1 Rory Gallagher – Notes From San Francisco (2011)
In 1977, legendary guitarist Rory Gallagher went into the recording studio and laid down an entire album that was never released. Unsatisfied with the songs, he scrapped them and went on to record another album (with a lot of the scrapped songs being re-worked). Fans thought that “lost” album was gone forever. In 1995, Rory Gallagher passed away due to liver complications. There was much mourning throughout the rock world over the loss of this guitar God. Earlier this year, an archival recording was released to help further celebrate the musical genius of Rory Gallagher. This two-disc collection contains the “lost” album that fans thought they would never hear, as well as an exceptional live recording.
Boogie-woogie, bar beating, foot stomping, down and dirty, fun rock and roll! Notes From San Francisco is all of that and more. Notes From San Francisco is a 2-disc treat for the fans that mourn the loss of Gallagher. Disc one contains unreleased material recorded in 1977 that never saw the light of day until now. Disc two is a smoking live performance recorded at the Waldorf in San Francisco, CA, back in 1979. This collection is out to help preserve the memory of Rory Gallagher as well as promote his good time rock and roll to a whole new generation of fans.
While most of the songs on disc one have been heard in a different format, the unreleased versions are classic enjoyment. Gallagher lets loose his inner demons on the guitar solos and embraces the hard rocking blues style of these songs. At times it sounds eerily reminiscent of a lost Steppenwolf album, until the guitar solos. Those are unquestioningly Rory Gallagher’s. It’s easy to see why he was named one of Rolling Stone Magazine’s greatest guitarists of all time. The man can play the guitar like few before (or after) have.
Notes From San Francisco is certainly your daddy’s rock and roll, and that’s a good thing. The spirit of the 70s is alive and well on both the disc of unreleased material and the live disc. Rory was a man who knew how to rock and this historic 2-disc set really drives that point home. Close your eyes tight and listen to the live disc at a decent volume, and you will swear that it is Jimi Hendrix in both the sound of the guitar and the lead vocals. Rory Gallagher was a legend that other legends looked up to.
Performing riffs that would make Eddie Van Halen envious, Rory Gallagher was a master of the guitar. His talent truly shows on Notes From San Francisco. Listening to the live tracks, one can’t help but wonder how uniquely awesome it must have been watching him play his six string in a live setting. The way his fingers massaged the guitar and plucked those strings, it was simply astonishing. Blistering solos never sounded better. Hearing the live disc after a disc full of unreleased studio material is a real treat for music fans all over. If you’ve never heard Rory Gallagher live or if you’ve never heard him at all, then Notes From San Francisco would be an excellent introduction to this legendary axe genius.
Rating: 
Out of 10
Track Listing:
DISC ONE
- Rue The Day
- Persuasion
- B Girl
- Mississippi Sheiks
- Wheels Within Wheels
- Overnight Bag
- Cruise On Out
- Brute Force & Ignorance
- Fuel To The Fire
- Wheels Within Wheels (Alternate Version)
- Cut A Dash
- Out On The Tiles
DISC TWO:
- Follow Me
- Shinkicker
- Off The Handle
- Bought And Sold
- I’m Leavin’
- Tattoo’d Lady
- Do You Read Me
- Country Mile
- Calling Card
- Shadow Play
- Bullfrog Blues
- Sea Cruise
Rory Gallagher Band Is:
Rory Gallagher – Lead Guitar, Vocals
Gerry McAvoy – Bass
Ted McKenna – Drums
2 LOST RORY GALLAGHER STUDIO ALBUM FROM 1978 TO FINALLY BE RELEASED!
Two-Disc Set, Notes From San Francisco, To Land May 17 Via Eagle Rock Entertainment
Lavish Package Includes Never-Before-Released 1979 Concert!
The story goes that Jimi Hendrix was once asked what it was like to be the greatest guitarist in the world, to which he replied, “I don’t know, go ask Rory Gallagher!”
Rory Gallagher (1948-1995) is simply one of the all-time guitar greats. Slash, The Edge, Brian May, Johnny Marr, Janick Gers, Ritchie Blackmore, Glenn Tipton and Vivian Campbell have all said it. Since practically inventing the Power Trio format in Taste (both Cream and Taste debuted in 1966), Gallagher’s music has stood the test of time and he’s as popular now as he ever was, his influence gargantuan.
The story of Rory’s lost San Francisco album actually starts in Japan. In November 1977, after a grueling six-month world tour, the band flew straight from their last show in Japan to San Francisco to begin working on a new album with famed American producer Elliot Mazer (who worked on Neil Young’s Harvest, Big Brother & The Holding Company’s Cheap Thrills and The Band’s The Last Waltz). Mazer recalls the sessions grew “tense,” as Gallagher thought the mixing process “too complicated.” By the end of January 1978, he had shelved the whole record and broke up his band of the past five years.
Fast forward to 2011 when Rory’s brother/manager Donal allowed his son Daniel to recover the album from the Gallagher archive and begin the process of mixing it with his engineer. Rory said in 1992 he hoped the album would surface one day but only if it were remixed. Bingo. Hearing this historic never-before-issued studio album from a key period of Gallagher’s career (the album that would have been released between Calling Card and Photo Finish) is the Holy Grail for Rory’s fans.
CD #2 is another fabulous discovery: a blistering live album taken from four December nights in 1979 at San Francisco’s The Old Waldorf. In the audience Van Morrison, on stage Rory Gallagher (guitar/vocals), Gerry McAvoy (bass) and Ted McKenna (drums). Daniel Gallagher chose to add the live side to highlight why Rory chose to shelve the studio album and reduce his band back down to a three-piece. Rory, after seeing The Sex Pistols at Winterland during final mixes for his own album, was struck by the stark drama and blunt primitivism of pure punk. “It was as close to Eddie Cochran as you’re going to get,” he enthused. He had been saying that he wanted to get back to what he called “meat’n’potato rock’n’roll,” a stripped-back primal raw immediacy hearkening back to his Taste days.
A street has been named after him in Paris; a corner in Dublin; a statue in his Ballyshannon birthplace, where The International Rory Gallagher Tribute Festival is held. There’s a Rory Gallagher Place and Rory Gallagher Music Library in Cork. Annual tributes are held in Germany and Japan. The man has sold in excess of 20 million albums. Notes From San Francisco [MSRP $17.98] will be a worthy addition to his canon.
Eagle Rock Entertainment is an international media production and distribution company operating across audiovisual entertainment programming. Eagle Rock Entertainment works directly alongside talent to produce the highest quality programming output covering film, general entertainment and musical performance. Eagle Rock Entertainment has offices based in London, New York, Los Angeles, Toronto, Hamburg, & Paris.
Track Listing:
CD1
1. Rue The Day
2. Persuasion
3. B Girl
4. Mississippi Sheiks
5. Wheels Within Wheels
6. Overnight Bag
7. Cruise On Out
8. Brute Force & Ignorance
9. Fuel To The Fire
BONUS TRACKS
10. Wheels Within Wheels (Alt version)
11. Cut A Dash
12. Out On The Tiles
CD2
1. Follow Me
2. Shinkicker
3. Off The Handle
4. Bought And Sold
5. I’m Leavin’
6. Tattoo’d Lady
7. Do You Read Me
8. Country Mile
9. Calling Card
10. Shadow Play
11. Bullfrog Blues
12. Sea Cruise
