Rory Gallagher ‘All Around Man – Live In London’ A brand new live album from an undocumented era of Gallagher’s exhilarating career

Rory Gallagher ‘All Around Man – Live In London’ is a 23-track live album of unreleased material taken from a previously undocumented period of one of the greatest guitarists of all time.

 

To be released on the 7th of July as double-CD and triple-LP sets, this exhilarating album is pulled from two nights at the Town & Country Club (now The O2 Forum) in London in December 1990.

 

Pre-orders are available now from here.

 

‘All Around Man – Live In London’ was recorded from the shows that supported Gallagher’s eleventh, and sadly, last studio album ‘Fresh Evidence’ that was released in May 1990. This album features captivating live versions of tracks from that album as well as songs from the 1987 ‘Defender’ album plus other career favorites.

 

This new album has been mixed from the recently found multi-tracks and mastered at Abbey Road Studios, and the album’s cover is a painting by Irish graffiti artist Vincent Zara who has stenciled Rory’s image across his home country.

 

Tracklisting:

CD1

Continental Op

Heavens Gate

Don’t Start Me Talkin’

Kid Gloves

Mean Disposition

The Loop

Tattoo’d Lady

The King of Zydeco

Moonchild

Out On The Western Plains

Ride On Red, Ride On

Walkin Blues

Empire State Express

 

CD2

Shadow Play

I Wonder Who

Shin Kicker

Middle Name

When My Baby She Left Me

Ghost Blues

Messin’ With The Kid

Keep A Knockin’

Bullfrog Blues

All Around Man

 

Rory Gallagher’s live performances are a thing of legend, he was an artist that came alive when onstage and as a result some of his most successful albums are his live ones, such as ‘Live! In Europe’ and ‘Irish Tour ’74’. In advance of these shows, in which this album’s recordings were taken, Gallagher had spent an unprecedented six months in the studio making ‘Fresh Evidence’ (he was known for recording albums rapidly, sometimes in as little as two weeks!) and as a result Gallagher was at his live best, demonstrating his love and hunger for live performance and the recordings on ‘All Around Man – Live In London’ are testament to that raw energy.

Rory Gallagher was an Irish musician, songwriter, and producer. He formed the blues rock trio Taste in 1966, which experienced success in the UK and Europe before he pursued a solo career, releasing music throughout the 1970s and 1980s and selling more than 30 million records worldwide. Gallagher is known for his virtuoso guitar playing, which strongly influenced other guitarists such as Sir Brian May and Slash. Rory was listed as the 57th greatest guitarist of all time by Rolling Stone magazine and the Greatest Irish Music Artist by Irish Radio.

 

Some words from fellow guitarists:

 

Johnny Marr “The man who changed my musical life was Rory Gallagher, I picked up a guitar because of him.”

 

Slash “Rory didn’t sound like anybody else…He had a very individual, independent kind of tone and approach and everything. He’s always been a big hero to me.”

 

Brian May “He was just a magician, he’s one of the very few people of that time who could make his guitar do anything it seemed. It just seemed to be magic. I remember looking at that battered Stratocaster and thinking “how does that come out of there?”

 

Ritchie Blackmore “Rory was probably the most natural player I’ve ever seen. In all the gigs we did together I don’t think I ever heard him play the same thing twice… He was the ultimate performer.”

 

Ed Sheeran “’A Million Miles Away’ was the first song I learned on guitar. The story goes that when Jimi Hendrix was asked how it felt to be the greatest guitarist in the world, he answered, “I don’t know. Go ask Rory Gallagher.”

 

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

 

Jimmy Page “I really liked Rory, he was fine guitarist and singer and lovely man”

 

Peter Frampton “When I was with Humble Pie and we were all just beginning to feel like we were getting it together, Rory was the one to measure yourself against. To be able to play like that with such intensity was awesome and really the only other guitarist that had that ability was Hendrix.I could never get a sound like that from my Strat no matter how hard I tried.He was a real credit to music and pushed it to another level altogether.”

 

Alex Lifeson “It is truly remarkable how many guitarists over the years have cited Rory Gallagher as an influence.  I was introduced to his playing during the Taste years but it was during one of Rush’s early tours opening for Rory in the fall of 1974 that left the greatest impression.  He oozed passion in his playing and I envied his ability to transcend the moment.  I learned a lot from him as a guitarist but it was his character that touched me most.”

 

Ace Frehley (Kiss) “Rory Gallagher he was a great player. I’ve seen him perform several times he just used to use a little Fender amp and that beat-up old Strat, but boy, he could make that guitar talk. He was another guitar player who never got the credit he deserved, it’s incredible.”

 

Joe Bonamassa “As soon as I heard Cradle Rock, I was hooked. I thought, ‘This is what I want to be when I grow up.’”

 

Bill Wyman “There’s very few true blues people. Rory stood out because he did it all the way through his life, that’s what he did. Who else is there? I can’t think of anyone that stands out as a real true honest follower of the blues and singer of the blues as Rory was.”

 

Larry Coryell “I see a strong similarity between the approach to improvising over the blues between Rory and Jimi Hendrix. They were both virtuosos who were able to manipulate even the minutest aspect of the blues and do things that had never been played before.”

 

Bob Geldof “It’s not too much to say that what like Hendrix did for the electric blues, Rory did in an Irish context. You know Hendrix was the great originator, he sought of did field hollers for the pace age you know. But Rory absolutely injected some Irish thing into it.”