Rory Gallagher Biography

"He suffered a lot. His health was bad. He had a problem with drink. His relationships with women were all messed up because of his work. And he got a lot of hassle from the authorities and the establishment. But still, he stayed true to what he wanted to do and he laid down the definitive rules for what's become known as the hard-boiled school of writing."

This quote is actually not about Rory - it's a quote by Rory on one of his favourites, Dashiell Hammett.

Rory was one of the world's finest bluesmen, but was also one of the people. Many musicians would have no hesitation in bragging that they had sold 30 million albums in their career. Rory never did.

Rory Gallagher was, believe it or not, born LIAM Gallagher in Ballyshannon, Co. Donegal, Ireland on March 2 1948. (He jettisoned the name in favour of Rory, because, as he said 

"There was no saint Rory and I liked the idea of not having a saint's name. Anyway, I think my mother preferred `Rory' to `Liam'  "

 Their were four in the family; mom, dad, Rory, and younger brother Donal (who became Rory's manager)

The Gallagher family stayed in Donegal until 1949, when they moved into Northern Ireland, to Derry. The family remained there until 1956 when they moved as far south as they could, to Cork. The Gallagher's moved into their new home on MacCurtain Hill on the northside of Cork city.  Rory spent his school years in the city too; first at Saint Kieran's on Pope's Quay, and then after that at the North Mon (Monastery).

Rory's musical birth came when he, like so many other musicians, first saw Elvis Presley on TV.

At the age of nine, Rory got his first guitar (an acoustic) and began learning to play. Around this time, an interest in blues music started to form (Rorys influences included including Leadbelly, Buddy Guy, Freddie King, Albert King, Muddy Waters and John Lee Hooker.) This interest came because the Gallagher's had no record player, forcing Rory to scour the wavlenghts with his radio;

"We didn't have a record player when I was growing up," he recalls. "So I spent a lot of time tuning into Radio Luxembourg, BBC and the AFN (Armed Forces Network) from Germany. The first electric blues I heard was Muddy Waters on AFN. It was very late one night and it came across real clear. He was playing a slide Telecaster and that really hit me. So the following weekend, I went into the library in Cork and I got books out on the origins of blues. Then I started getting into Lonnie Donnegan and Ledbelly and Big Bill Broonzy. And then Chuck Berry, Eddie Cochran and all the rock `n' rollers. The more I heard the more I got addicted.

Soon after this, by the age of twelve, Rory was competent enough to enter and win a local talent contest in Cork City Hall. Inspired, Rory got his first electric guitar. Within a year, Rory was picking guitar in his first band.

1963 was a landmark year for Rory, as he discovered the instrument that would become his trademark for the rest of his life, a 1961 sunburst Fender Strat. (serial no 64351) he bought it second hand for £100 from Crowley's Music Centre, (then Merchant's Quay, but mow on MacCurtain Street) in Cork. It is often said to have been the first Strat in Ireland.

Rory was very attached to this particular instrument, especially as in 1963 it was stolen from him. 

"It was the first Stratocaster in Ireland apparently.....for weeks, every morning I'd go over and look at the guitar in the case and treat it like a living being y'know, or some kind of magical thing and even the smell of the case - I mean, I was really standing on my head at that time." ...Rory Gallagher

"We got a call from the showband in Waterford that had bought this guitar, to say that they were changing their uniform in the band and that the manager had suggested that they change the colour of the guitars as well - to a salmon pink colour instead of the sunburst colour that they had. And when that arrived they trading in this particular Stratocaster".....Michael Crowley, Crowleys Music Centre.

" I did actually have the Stratocaster stolen in Dublin in the sixties, and I got it back after two weeks - it was thrown over a ditch, with a few extra scratches from the brambles and things so when I got it back - it had been out in the rain as well - so I mean, I swore I'd never sell it or paint it after that"...Rory Gallagher

As we all know, over the years almost all of the varnish disappeared from the guitar - some of this down to Rory's profuse sweating which stripped much of the finish from the instrument.

1964 saw a very important event in young Rory's life - he saw the Rolling Stones live whilst in London.

When Rory was 16, he joined the Fontana Showband, which later changed it's name to The Impact. In 1965, with Impact, Rory made his first ever TV appearance, performing Larry Williams classic r&b track "Slow Down" on the RTE show "Pickin' The Pops"  They played in Britain as the Fontana, and then (after the name change) got a gig at a US airforce base near Madrid. They then returned to Britain for more gigs, as well as shows in Hamburg prior to the band splitting in 1965. At this point Rory wasn't playing blues to an audience - the Fontana mainly drew inspiration from Chuck Berry styled rock and roll. 

Mick Moriarty (The Baldy Barber) from Cork's northside remembered;

"He was instantly recognisable, with his long flowing locks, walking across Patrick's Bridge with his guitar. At that time he was playing in the evenings after school"

The end of The Impact left Rory without a band to play in, so he formed a trio in 1966 with Eric Kitteringham (bass) and Norman Damery (drums). The called themselves "Taste". They were to be Rory's first experience of fame. Taste played gigs all over Ireland (as well as in Germany) and secured  residencies at both the Maritime Hotel R&B Club in Belfast, and the Marquee Club, Wardour Street, London.

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