Rory Gallagher

Rory Gallagher (1948-1995) was an Irish blues/rock guitarist, born in Ballyshannon, County Donegal, and raised in County Cork. He is regularly credited as one of the most influential Irish rock and blues musicians of all time.

Rory Gallagher (1948-1995) was an Irish blues/rock guitarist, born in Ballyshannon, County Donegal, and raised in County Cork. He is regularly credited as one of the most influential Irish rock and blues musicians of all time.

His first bands were showbands which played the popular hits of the day. In 1965 he turned the showband The Impact into an R'n'B group which played gigs in Ireland and Spain. He formed Taste in 1966, but the line-up which became legendary was formed in 1967, featuring his guitar and vocals, the jazz-tinged drumming of John Wilson and intricate bass playing of Richard McCracken. Recordings of the earlier version of Taste are still available and it's interesting to compare Rory's rudimentary guitar playing to the virtuosity that became evident fairly soon after in the later Taste. This was the group who released two studio albums, Taste and On the Boards, and made two live recordings showing the band at its incendiary best, Live at Montreux and Live at the Isle of Wight. The latter appeared a long time after the band broke up, famously, at that same Isle of Wight Festival in 1970. A legend of blues music, Rory had the fortune to play with many of the genre's biggest stars, and some of his best work was in collaboration with Muddy Waters on tracks recorded in London in the early '70s.