Ride on Red, Ride On
Review on ‘Calling card’- A documentary looking back at the life and career of Irish guitar legend Rory Gallagher.
After watching the most recent Rory Gallagher documentary, ‘Calling card’ I had to go back and seek out his full Old Grey Whistle test performance introduced by ‘Whispering Bob Harris’ with Rory gleefully playing his iconic 1961 Fender Stratocaster in his faded Levi jeans and flannel shirt. That’s the thing with a good music documentary, it stimulates the mind and rekindles an interest where you want and need to hear more.
While I thoroughly enjoyed watching ‘Calling card’, it made me feel both happy and sad as it reminds the viewer of his tragic and untimely end with the wonderful guitarist passing away in 1995 aged just 47.
The documentary opens with his brother and former manager Donal rummaging through boxes and boxes of records, artwork, photos and memorabilia. Donal talks us through the Gallagher family journey from Ballyshannon to Derry, his Dad being a notable musician himself and the influence of the the American Forces Network(AFN) radio broadcast service which fed a young Gallagher’s imagination with Blues, Rock n’ Roll to their southbound move to Cork where at only 15 and still at school, he picked up the now iconic 1961 Fender Stratocaster guitar for £100 in 1963 on credit from Crowley’s Music Store, what would turn out to be his life partner.
We learn about Rory playing the show-band circuit, which he didn’t apparently enjoy too much and he wasn’t happy but it was a stepping stone on the musical journey he traveled learning and honing his craft, as he was following in the steps of his music heroes such as Lonnie Donegan, Gary Cochran, Leadbelly, Woody Guthrie, Buddy Holly, Chuck Berry, Muddy Waters and the Delta blues. He would later go on to collaborate with some of these greats including Donegan and Waters.
Moving to Germany in the mid 60s with the show band drummer and bass player, he developed and enhanced his raw and visceral playing style through regular performing on the club scene and he went on to start the band Taste which endured some line up changes before creating their highly regarded studio and live albums. But in true Rock n’ Roll fashion, musical or management differences brought the band to an abrupt end after the 1970 Isle of Wight festival.
However the 70’s were a remarkably productive period for Gallagher, as after he received negotiation assistance from Led Zeppelin’s manager Peter Grant with the Polydor record label, he signed a 6 album record deal which he unbelievably delivered in a three year period from 1971 to 1974.
We were reminded of him being one of the hardest working touring musicians, I also remembered reading an article which mentioned that “In 1973, he played 160 gigs, including tours in the United States in the spring and autumn as well as hitting venues across Europe.”, a just crazy work ethic!
The documentary has contributions from other renowned musicians including Brian May who fell in love with his guitar playing in the Marquee club in London and Johnny Marr who idolised him and more anecdotes from Donal, including a time where Rory spent a few nights rehearsing with the Rolling Stones as they were looking to replace Mick Taylor but in the end it was Ronnie Wood got the gig while Rory was tired waiting around for a decision and headed off to Japan to fulfill more of his touring obligations.
In hindsight, I couldn’t really see that ever working out for Rory, who was he’s own man, a front-man and a band leader, a singer and songwriter who just wouldn’t have been happy as a side player.
I always wondered why he hadn’t received more critical acclaim in the U.S and it is hinted at, that he felt at the time the Polydor label just didn’t do enough in the period to promote him over there and it was one of the reasons he went and signed up with the Chrysalis Records label, where he went on to deliver a further 4 records in that decade.
But bassist Gerry McAvoy also explains that Rory had no real interest in delivering singles or changing song lengths for commercial airtime on the radio, or appearing on TV shows like Top of the Pops, he was purely focused on creating albums both studio and live, and most of all in playing.
At one stage I wanted to be a footballer and a cowboy like any other kid but really I mean since the age of six I wanted to be a musician.
The Eighties brought in the changing musical tides with electronics being the new trend which would prove to be a difficult period for the Blues/Rock focused guitarist, he toured less but still released three further albums and after ‘Defender’ he started to become ill. ‘Fresh Evidence’ would be his last studio album, released in 1990.
Donal poignantly reminds us of Rory’s solitary existence, constant life on the road and the toll of being in the studio constantly, and his deteriorating health brought on from prescription medication for a fear of flying and alcohol abuse would lead to the need for a liver transplant in 1995 and his ultimate demise, with complications after picking up an infection while in hospital.
During those mid 80s to the early 90s years, when you look back now at Rory’s physical appearance in photos he looks noticeably swollen from the side effects of the various medication.
The documentary is also available on the BBC player on Sunday, 9 June.
I never got to experience Rory play live, my older brother was fortunate enough to catch Rory’s show at Leisureland, Galway in 1983 for the princely sum of £6. The first memory for me of his live performance was when RTE broadcast Self-Aid on T.V. in 1986, especially “Messing with the kid” stands out.
Not in the documentary but reading a bit more on other guitarists than held Gallagher in high esteem, included Rush guitarist Alex Liveson who got to know Rory when in their early years they actually opened for him. Also, Gary Moore, Guns n Roses Slash, U2’s The Edge and Adam Clayton and Def Leppard’s Vivian Campbell, Joe Bonamassa. Bonamassa got to play Sloe Gin on Rory Gallagher’s ’61 Fender Stratocaster:
Fender also released The Rory Gallagher Tribute Stratocaster guitar as an exact replica of the revered instrument.
He succeeds not by a magnetic personality, but with the subtle charisma of a devout musician. Such has been Gallagher’s appeal from the beginning. Perhaps through his own quiet nature as well as a general lack of promotional fanfare, he has always maintained an attractively low profile. In concert, the juxtaposition between the man and his music is incredibly effective. —Cameron Crowe
Rory Gallagher has sold over 30 million albums, and I am in no doubt he will sell many more as a new generation of fans rediscover his greatness.
