What a great talent he was that was taken away from us much too soon. Rory died from complications after a liver transplant. Excessive use of alcohol, combined with drugs that had been prescribed to alleviate his anxiety about flying was the cause of his liver failure. He died on June 14, 1995 at the age of 47.
I first became aware of this Irish guitarist way back in 1973 when I bought the Blueprint album just because I liked the cover. I had never heard of Rory Gallagher at the time but it didn't take me long to get hooked. "Walk On Hot Coals" from this album is still one of my all time favorite Gallagher songs. Rory was one of the artists that really fueled my passion for playing the blues. I was never in a band that didn't cover some of his music.
If you're not familiar with Gallagher and his music the 2008 compilation CD The Essential Rory Gallagher would be a good place to start.
Track ListingCD1
1. Follow Me
2. Moonchild
3. Bought & Sold
4. Laundromat
5. Bad Penny
6. Edged In Blue
7. Brute Force & Ignorance (Live)
8. I Fall Apart
9. Loanshark Blues
10. Who’s That Coming
11. As The Crow Flies (Live)
12. Barley & Grape Rag
13. Lonesome Highway Refraining
14. Out On The Western Plain
CD2
1. In Your Town
2. Philby
3. Slumming Angel
4. Continental Op
5. Cradle Rock
6. A Million Miles Away
7. Wheels Within Wheels
8. Crest Of A Wave
9. They Don’t Make Them Like You Anymore
10. Walk On Hot Coals
11. Shadow Play
12. I Could’ve Had Religion (Live)
13. Tattoo’d Lady (Live)
14. Bullfrog Blues (Live)
To put you in the right frame of mind here's "Walk On Hot Coals". Enjoy.
The January issue of Guitar World is already out and replaced the Holiday issue that had the Rory article. I've posted the article on my blog.
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