Nein, mit den in meiner Generation populären Trägern des Namens Gallagher, Liam und Noel, hat der irische Bluesrocker nichts gemein. Doch während die zwei Brüder aus Manchester in Irish-Pubs zum Standardrepertoire gehören, droht Rory unter meinen gleichaltrigen Freunden in Vergessenheit zu geraten. Dagegensteuern lautet die Devise, prägte er doch Legenden wie Eric Clapton, Jimmy Page und Brian May.

Mein Ratschlag lautet demnach: Ab in den nächsten Laden, Alben und DVDs kaufen!
Und da selbst die ausgefeilteste Umschreibung seiner Musik es mir nicht ermöglichen würde, euch die Besonderheit dieses Künstlers näherzubringen, lasse ich ein paar etablierte Institutionen für mich sprechen

Zitate:

“Playing on stage with him in LA was one of the biggest thrills for me ever.” Slash (Guns N’ Roses)

“A beautiful man and an amazing guitar player. He was a very sensitive man and a great musician.” The Edge (U2)

“Rory is probably the single guitarist who meant the most to me.” Tom Guerra, guitarist of Mambo Sons

“It was all about him playing the guitar, it got into your soul.” Cameron Crowe (Writer/Film Director)

“In the 70s he built himself a reputation as a live performer of tremendous vitality.” “He was even headhunted to join The Rolling Stones.” Niall Stokes (Editor, Hot Press)

“One of the things that was crucial for me I got from Rory Gallagher, which was the idea of, like, being a guitar player for life and living it.” Johnny Marr (The Smiths/ The The/ Electronic/ Johnny Marr and the Healers/Modest Mouse)

“Rory’s death really upset me. I heard about it just before we went on stage, and it put a damper on the evening. I can’t say I knew him that well, but I remember meeting him in our offices once, and we spent an hour talking. He was such a nice guy and a great player.” Jimmy Page of Led Zeppelin

“So these couple of kids come up, who’s me and my mate, and say ‘How do you get your sound Mr. Gallagher?’ and he sits and tells us. So I owe Rory Gallagher my sound.” Brian May (Queen)

“Rory’s death is a tragic loss of a great musician and a very good friend.” Van Morrison

“The man who got me back into the blues.” Eric Clapton

“An uncompromisingly serious musician” The Times, 16 June 1995.

Quelle: Wikipedia

Überzeugt? Leider kann ich keinen sauberen Mitschnitt von z.B. den Auftritten im Rockpalast anbieten. “This material is subject to copyright” - Mist! Wenigstens hat unser aller Lieblingsvideoplatform eine, naja, erträgliche Aufnahme meines Favourite-Songs “Calling Card”. Bitteschön:

Rory Gallagher - Calling Card