Irish Tour '74 | ||||
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Live album by | ||||
Released | July 1974 [1] | |||
Recorded | 2–4 January 1974 | |||
Genre | Blues rock | |||
Length | 79:27 | |||
Label | Polydor 2659 031 (UK) Polydor 9501 (USA) Buddha 99650 (CD reissue) | |||
Producer | Rory Gallagher | |||
Rory Gallagher chronology | ||||
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Alternative cover | ||||
Review scores | |
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Source | Rating |
Allmusic | [2] |
AllAboutJazz | [3] |
Uncut | 8/10 [4] |
Irish Tour '74 is the sixth album by Rory Gallagher. It is a live album compiled from performances during Gallagher's Irish Tour in January 1974. The source concerts were recorded at Belfast Ulster Hall, Dublin Carlton Cinema and Cork City Hall using Ronnie Lane's Mobile Studio. "Back on My Stompin' Ground (After Hours)" was recorded from a jam session during the tour. Irish Tour '74 has sold in excess of two million copies worldwide.[ citation needed ] An article in a Belfast daily newspaper stated: "Rory Gallagher never forgot Northern Ireland, he returned throughout the '70s when few other artists of his calibre dared come near the place." [5]
Gallagher never enjoyed going into the studio to make records. Playing to a live audience was essential, he thought, to get the real energy needed for the kind of music he wanted to play. The members of his band felt the same way. Speaking about the Irish tour album keyboardist Lou Martin said "Albums were always done in a rush because we were on the road so much, and then we’d come back to London and it could be two weeks – like Blueprint was done in two weeks – and that is ridiculous,... but Irish Tour was an absolute highlight,... the band came to fruition in the Calling Card days, by that time we were well seasoned … everybody knew everybody else’s style of playing... The studio was not the best environment for recording. He wasn’t at his most comfortable or happiest, I mean a lot of people really adapted to it really well like The Allman Brothers or Little Feat. With Rory, if he didn’t have somebody to look at then he couldn’t feed off the energy. That’s why Irish Tour is such a good bloody album because it was recorded live, he got the crowd there with him singing along and sort of like urging him along… without the presence of an audience the recording process for Rory was a bit of a strain." [6]
Gallagher's 1974 tour of Ireland coincided with one of the most tumultuous times in Belfast. Violence between the IRA and British Army was erupting throughout the city even at rock concerts. As a result, most rock acts refused to play in the city. [7] The day before Gallagher's scheduled concert in Belfast ten bombs went off at various locations around the city. Everyone expected Gallagher to cancel as all the other big names had but he went on with the concert and was rewarded with one of his best shows. A local Belfast journalist writing to describe the concert and the feeling said:
I've never seen anything quite so wonderful, so stirring, so uplifting, so joyous as when Gallagher and the band walked on stage. The whole place erupted, they all stood and they cheered and they yelled, and screamed, and they put their arms up, and they embraced. Then as one unit they put their arms into the air and gave peace signs. Without being silly, or overemotional, it was one of the most memorable moments of my life. It all meant something, it meant more than just rock n' roll, it was something bigger, something more valid than just that. [8]
Additionally, rock film director Tony Palmer filmed many of the concerts on the tour. He originally planned to use it for a television special, but he later found the footage so good that he released it as a theatrical motion picture. The accompanying album would be considered the "soundtrack" of the film.
All tracks composed by Rory Gallagher unless stated.
Side One
Side Two
Side Three
Side Four
On 20 October 2014 Sony Music and Legacy Recordings released a deluxe, 7-CD/1-DVD box set to commemorate the album's 40th anniversary. [9]
Discs 1 & 2
Cork (3 & 5 January 1974)
Cd 2
Discs 3 & 4
Dublin (2 January 1974)
Discs 5 & 6
Belfast (29 December 1973)
Disc 7
Cork,City Hall in Session (3 January 1974)
(*previously unreleased)
Disc 8 (DVD)
Irish Tour '74 (film)
Year | Chart | Position |
---|---|---|
1974 | Billboard Top 200 Albums | 110 [10] |
2014 | Billboard Top Blues Albums | 7 [10] |
William Rory Gallagher was an Irish musician and songwriter. He is known for his virtuosic style of guitar playing, and is often referred to as "the greatest guitarist you've never heard of". A number of guitarists, including Alex Lifeson of Rush, Brian May of Queen, and Eric Clapton, have cited Gallagher as an influence. He was voted as guitarist of the year by Melody Maker magazine in 1972, and listed as the 57th greatest guitarist of all time by Rolling Stone magazine in 2015.
Taste are an Irish blues rock band formed in Cork in 1966. They were founded by songwriter and guitarist Rory Gallagher who left the band in 1970.
John Gerard McAvoy is a Northern Irish blues rock bass guitarist. He played with blues rock musician Rory Gallagher between 1970 and 1991, and then with Nine Below Zero until 2011.
Live! in Europe is the third album by Irish blues guitarist Rory Gallagher, released in 1972. It is a series of live recordings made during his European tour that year. Unusual for a live album, it contains only two songs previously recorded and released by Gallagher. The other songs are either new Gallagher songs or Gallagher's interpretation of traditional blues songs.
Tattoo is the fourth studio album and fifth album overall released by Rory Gallagher, in 1973.
The Guitar Album is a 1974 double compilation album featuring live performances of popular guitarists. It features eighteen tracks from artists Eric Clapton, Roy Buchanan, Rory Gallagher, T-Bone Walker, Ellen McIlwaine, Link Wray, Stone the Crows, John McLaughlin and Area Code 615. The album was issued by Polydor in a gatefold pressing. Though it was originally released in the United States it was later reissued in the United Kingdom.
Rory Gallagher is the debut solo album by Irish blues rock musician Rory Gallagher, released in 1971. It marked his departure from the first band he formed, Taste. After disbanding Taste, Gallagher auditioned some of the best musicians available at the time. Noel Redding and Mitch Mitchell, the bassist and drummer for the Jimi Hendrix Experience, were among those considered for the new combo. He decided on two Belfast musicians, drummer Wilgar Campbell and bass guitarist Gerry McAvoy, to be the core of his new power trio band.
Blueprint is the third studio album and fourth album overall by Irish guitarist Rory Gallagher, released as a vinyl record in 1973. It entered the UK album charts on 24 February, and reached No. 12. With his first band Taste and with his solo band up to this point Gallagher was one of the first guitarists to lead a power trio lineup. With Blueprint Gallagher included a keyboardist for the first time.
Photo-Finish is the seventh studio album and ninth album overall by Irish musician Rory Gallagher, released in 1978. It marked a turning point in Gallagher's career. Most of the songs on Photo-Finish were initially recorded on what was to be an earlier album, but Gallagher was unhappy with the recordings. He fired the drummer and keyboardist from his current band and replaced only the drummer changing the band to a power trio as his original bands had been.
Calling Card is the sixth studio album and eighth album overall by Irish singer and guitarist Rory Gallagher. Released in 1976, it marked the second of four albums he released on Chrysalis Records during the 1970s. The album was co-produced by Gallagher and Roger Glover, the bassist for Deep Purple and Rainbow. This collaboration was notable as it was Gallagher's first experience working with a high profile producer and remains his only successful partnership of such collaboration.
Louis Michael Martin was a piano and organ player from Belfast, Northern Ireland. He was an original member of the London-based band Killing Floor, and also worked with fellow Irish musician Rory Gallagher.
G-Men Bootleg Series Vol.1 was Rory Gallagher's last official release before his untimely death in 1995.
The discography of Rory Gallagher, an Irish guitarist and singer-songwriter, consists of 11 studio albums, 6 live albums, 13 compilations, and 5 singles. Gallagher was a solo artist for much of his career and collaborated with artists such as Muddy Waters and Jerry Lee Lewis. Before his career as a solo artist, Gallagher was the guitarist, vocalist, and saxophonist for the Irish rock trio Taste.
Wilgar William Campbell was an Irish blues rock musician, best known for his role as drummer with Rory Gallagher in the early 1970s.
Roderick Morris Buckenham de'Ath was a Welsh musician, best known for his role as drummer with Irish guitarist Rory Gallagher in the 1970s.
Wheels Within Wheels is a blues and folk-influenced acoustic rock album by Rory Gallagher. Featuring a range of acoustic styles including flamenco, skiffle and traditional Irish music, the album was compiled from lost recordings and outtakes by Gallagher's brother Dónal and released posthumously. A number of notable musicians appeared on the album, and the songs were recorded in various locations all over the world between 1974 and 1994.
John Wilson is a Northern Irish musician. He has had a prolific career, playing drums with bands such as Them, Taste and Stud. Previously with 'The Misfits', Wilson became a member of one of the numerous line-ups of Them from September 1965 to March 1966. Alongside Van Morrison, Alan Henderson, Jim Armstrong and Ray Elliott, Wilson played on recording sessions for Them's second album Them Again. Visa restrictions meant that he had to be substituted by stand-in drummers for initial live dates abroad, due to his youth. He was replaced by Dave Harvey upon leaving Them, and went on to work with Belfast groups Derek & The Sounds and Cheese.
Notes from San Francisco is a posthumous album by Irish musician Rory Gallagher. Released in 2011, it consists of two CDs. The first disc is a never-released studio album that Gallagher recorded in San Francisco in December 1977; rather than producing this album himself, Gallagher worked with producer Elliot Mazer. However, Gallagher decided to scrap the album, after which he re-recorded and produced some of the songs and released them as the 1978 album Photo-Finish. Shortly before his death, Gallagher reportedly gave his brother Dónal permission to eventually release the original San Francisco versions of the songs if they were remixed. Dónal had his son Daniel remix the songs in 2011. The second disc is a live performance also recorded in San Francisco in December 1979.
Irish Tour '74 is a film directed by Tony Palmer. It documents Rory Gallagher's tour of Ireland in 1974. Gallagher toured at a time of great political turmoil and violence. Gallagher's band at the time was Gerry McAvoy on bass guitar, Lou Martin on keyboards and Rod de'Ath on drums.
Rory and The Island has had 10 top 40 songs in the Irish iTunes rock charts, with "Jimmy's Winning Matches" breaking through to the actual overall Irish top 10 in October 2012. Lead singer Rory Gallagher was the bass player and lead vocalist with Irish Indie/Pop/Punk group 'The Revs' from 2000 to 2007.
The strife between the British soldiers and the patriots of Northern Ireland had reached a violent climax in the 1970's... This was evident in the lack of entertainment. No one played Belfast. The risks were too extreme.