Rory Gallagher Tab and Video


Welcome!


Update 2011. This site has been up since 1999 solely as a free living tribute to Rory with both video and tabs. However, now this is readily available on the market I've decided to offset over 12 years of of out of pocket expenses, I've decided to offer Rory's recorded music and tablature via Amazon. I have personally selected the best items, for those fans who are new to his music and must make a choice of their hard earned dollars. Please support and buy his videos and audio cd's commercially.
In fact, the cost of operating this page has never been recouped, and if I make back few penny's (But not "Bad Penny's"), then that would be nice of you. This webpage with tab was here FIRST way....way.... before Youtube, before his official website, before guitar pro tablatures and most people don't realize how many people learned about Rory right here. YES, RIGHT HERE WAS THE FIRST SITE FOR VIEWING FREE RORY VIDEOS!!!!! These were from European Television which fans sent to me. We have had over a 3 million visitors since 1999 and the videos introduced Rory to more and more people around the world and his guitar and energy level that is hard to capture only on audio. However our old tab remains here and we have this page as a living tribute to him. We love Rory and his music and this page is nothing compared to the official website.

Well everybody knows the British Blues Guitarists- Clapton, Beck and Page.

Most people don't realize however that the best Blues Rock Guitarist of that era was not from England!

Rory Gallagher who died at age 46 in 1995 was the Irish Guitar genius that had it all- the riffs, the chops, the songs, the technique, awesome slide!!! This page is dedicated to his memory and to keep his music alive and done free of charge for your enjoyment. I have received thousands of visits from fans worldwide and glad that you enjoy it. One of the main reasons of course is that I wanted to share my Tab for his guitar work since there is so little of it anywhere. There was one out-of-print music book published and a few magazine articles and that is it.
Rory playing his battered 1961 Strat...the leader of one of the first power trios "TASTE" in mid 60's, played at the famous Isle of Wight festival along side The Who and Jimi Hendrix...the guy who was invited to join the Stones but left in a hurry to meet his Japan Tour commitments, voted in the U.K. in Melody Maker "1972 Musician of the Year"- beating out BOTH Eric Clapton and Jimmy Page in the process, played on Muddy Waters London Sessions and recorded with Albert Collins, David Coverdale wanted him to join Deep Purple when Ritchie Blackmore left, Roger Glover however produced one of his albums- "Calling Card" at a later date. Rory is publically admired by Bono of U2, Slash of Guns and Roses, Gary Moore, Van Morrison, Bob Dylan, ZZ Top, Judas Priest Guitarists K.K. Downing and Glen Tipton and Ace Frehley of Kiss among others yet to be discovered. However many others non-publically (those that ripped off his licks!) acknowledge his genius in their playing. None of that matters though- as Rory felt- let the music speak for itself. Those of us truly into his music want him to be remembered always- so this page is dedicated to keeping his memory and music alive. Listen to his soloing and dynamics, emotion and pure choice of notes and you will agree. Play one of the videos and see for yourself!
Thanks!

 
 
 
 

 #1 Live Album: Irish Tour 74'

By far the most intense live Blues Rock Guitar performance album of the 70's- this is material that live- Led Zep NEVER could match- I saw Zep in 1974 and watched Jimmy Page play his sloppy riffs while he was strung out. Unfortunately these excellent performances ended with the 1982 Rockpalast concerts. Rory had lost his energy from constant touring. However, Rory blasts away on this album- this is a MUST HAVE for the first time guitar student to get inspired and wailing on a Strat. This album is why Joe Bonamassa- took Rory's song "Cradle Rock" and put it on his first album, as a tribute to Rory.


Irish Tour 74 Live on DVD is a story documenting the tour, however it is NOT exactly like the album and the energy is broken up with commentary. This was finally released commercially in early 2000's.


 #1 Best Studio Album- "Calling Card"

By far the best mastering, awesome songs like his "Barley and Grape Rag"... the first time I heard this- I was blown away. I love this studio album the most- the production was great, sound was great, energy, mixing, mastering, everything was the best- and done in 1976.


 #2 Favorite Live Album- "Live in Europe".

This has his best version of Blind Boy Fullers "Pistol Slapper Blues"... I have worn the vinyl out just transcribing that song years ago. "Laundramat" finally does justice to the studio version which lacks the energy Rory gave off live. This is one of the best commercially available one CD's. I have heard all the bootlegs and only a couple come close to this chosen material and that on #3 below "Stagestruck".


 #3 Favorite Live Album- "Stagestruck"

This super energized set smokes. I had a cassette of it back in the late 70's that I wore out. I played it, and played it, and played it, and played it over and over and over again and again and again.... absolutely an album to pump up your guitar enthusiasm and get you going when you have had a bad day. I love this album for that energy, I actually owned it BEFORE Irish Tour 74' which I did not discover until later as where I lived Rory's vinyl albums and cassettes were hard to find.


 Notes from San Francisco

This is the latest Offering now many years after his death, it took all these years to release it. Should it have been released? Yes and no. Yes, because diehard fans like me want to buy it and have done so. No, because I don't believe that it meets Rory's quality control had he had the control over this being out now. This album, I ONLY recommend if you have all the other live albums first. This in my opinion is not Rory's best work that is why he actually remixed "Photofinish" and released the other versions of "Overnight Bag" and "Fuel to the fire"- whose versions were much better on the that album- especially his well thought out soloing. These posthumous releases like "Wheels within Wheels", are sort of outtake type stuff by people who claim to be qualified to release this. If Rory were alive, I am sure he would not be that proud, but as us fans that want everything Rory available, we buy them anyway.

Joe Bonamassa is the best Blues Rock Songwriter to emerge in many years. He writes melodic, yet bluesy songs with great riffing. You cannot go wronwith any of the above work if you like Rory Gallagher. He has 3 Tablature books available above as well to study his work. I was fortunate enough to see him live In Reno, Nevada along with like less than 100 other people in a small bar, twice as a matter of fact. Then now 5 years later he plays the Royal Albert Hall- what a great concert and performance. Joe Bonamassa who was influenced by Rory Gallagher, among many others- is my current favorite living guitarist, he is young and energetic and has it all- a prodigy by all rights. He is the most exciting blues Rock Guitarist to emerge in 25 years and is original in his sound, his excellent songwriting, his soloing, his performances. First time I heard him when he did Rory's "Cradle Rock", I knew he was going to be around a long time, I had no idea how great his work was going to become. I have chosen the best of his work above that can be purchased at Amazon. His (3) Guitar Tab books are great, well done and all the albums above are my personal favorites- his studio albums are great as well as his live albums. Warren Haynes (Allman Bros. and Govt Mule) wrote "If heartaches were nickels", on the "New day yesterday live CD, this performance and solo is one Joe's finest live solos recorded in my opinion.

 
 
 

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STREAMING VIDEO FOOTAGE




UPDATED 5-06. I give up, the guestbook is closed for on-line contributions. The spammers ruined my guestbook 4 times and I don't know a simple solution to easily resolve the issue. If anyone has discovered a server side CGI, PHP or Perl Scripted Guestbook that is bulletproof and maintenance free, please email me with your suggestion and URL's. I really appreciate all the wonderful stories and comments over the past 5 years made by the nice people all over the world who contributed to this book. Click on the Tell Your Rory Story links to see the comments.




This is a bootleg single from Thailand. Rory played slide on a Chicago tune (Just you and me) and also overdubbed the guitar on an Engelbert Humperdink Tune just for fun..... Actually this is a joke. Rory never did those songs! It does not contain any songs that Rory did on it. He is just on the cover!!! Weird huh?


So how did I get into Rory's music? ...I was never into Blues at all in those days- all I listened to was Montrose, Led Zeppelin, Black Sabbath, Peter Frampton's Live album just came out, Deep Purple/Rainbow, mostly all was Hard Rock. One day over at friends, I simply saw Rory's battered Stratocaster photo on the "Against the Grain" LP cover (My friend never played the album for me either) A few weeks later, I spent my hard earned $4.94 as a gamble since I figured if some guy played a guitar that LOOKED like that...well, he must be good! Nobody practices until they wear off all the paint!! Every Band I knew of had nice shiny guitars. I could not find "Against the Grain" in record stores. So the first album I bought instead was his newest: the 1976 album "Calling Card". I loved it. But... everytime I looked, rarely did I see his albums in stores. I feel extremely lucky for that day in 1975- otherwise I would have never had the pleasure of listening to his gritty, bluesy, yet modal guitar soloing and excellent songs all these years. Rest in peace Rory. You are remembered by many of us around the world who will forever listen to your music all our lives. BR> If this is your first exposure to him- go out and buy "Irish Tour 74", "Live in Europe" and "Stagestruck"- his live albums exemplify his guitar mastery, improvisational skills and genius.





RORY LIVE AT THE ROXY 1991

I was fortunate enough to see Rory once, on March 9, 1991 at the Roxy on the Sunset Strip in Hollywood. While I felt extremely fortunate to attend, the Roxy show seemed short and not as "Alive" as I had expected. I expected a performance like "Stagestruck" and "Live in Europe" recordings since that is what I was used to listening to. At the time I had no idea why and it was very unfortunate that his health was starting to deteriorate and was his last show in Los Angeles. I do remember near the end of the show seeing Slash upstairs in the loft/balconey for VIP's.. Later in the show Slash appeared on stage jam with him.



Below is an interview of Slash as he talks about that evening and what an honor it was to be on stage with Rory. Thank you to Slash for keeping Rory's memory alive in your continued comments in magazines when your influences are requested- for the latest Slash info- Click here . Most Rory Fans don't realize the significance that continued press means to Rory. Slash is one of a very few well known artists that grace the guitar magazine columns acknowledging Rory's influence.

I posted a brief MPEG movie interview where Slash talks about Rory and this night.
It is 3mb in size and 2.5 Minutes in length. Rory's appearence at the Roxy was his last ever in Los Angeles.


About the TAB

Thanks Wako for the Logo graphic!

Some tab is in ASCII Text, some in JPG image format, they are also provided here as-is for non-commercial, educational use only.




"Middle Name"
1/13/06 Transcribed by: Ender
Thanks David!!!!!

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"Calling Card"
1/25/02 Transcription by Rob Watson in Tab
Thanks ROB!!!!!!

Rob has contributed a number of tabs to this site, it is much appreciated!

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"For the Last Time"
1/17/02 Transcription by Rob Watson in Tab
Thanks ROB!!!!!!

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"Shadow Play", from Photofinish
Transcription by Rob Watson in Tab

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"Ain't too Good", from Against the Grain
Transcription by Rob Watson in Tab

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"Edged in Blue"
Transcription by Rob Watson in Tab

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"Used to Be" Main Lick
Dave Gaviota Transcription- Guitar Pro format

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"Moonchild" Tab
Transcribed by Electric, Greece, TAB file format- Thanks!!!!!

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"Hands Up" Tab
Contributed by Geoffrey Wilson!, transcribed by M. Furtado, Thanks a bunch Geoff!!!!

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"Walkin' on Hot Coals" Tab (From "Irish Tour 74")
Contributed by Geoffrey Wilson!, transcribed by M. Furtado, Thanks a bunch Geoff!!!!

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"Overnight Bag" Tab (From "Photofinish")

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"Fuel to the Fire" Tab (From "Photofinish")

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This is transcribed from the "My Fathers Place NYC, 1979 bootleg

I love this version of tattoo'd lady for some reason even though he is out of tune on it, it does not matter since it sounds great. This solo is the coolest.
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"Shin Kicker" Tab (From "Photofinish")

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"Shin Kicker" Live (From "StageStruck")

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"Brute Force and Ignorance" Intro Tab (From "Stagestruck")

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"Wayward Child" Tab (From "Stagestruck") More added 3/11/01

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"Keychain" Intro Tab (From "Stagestruck")

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JackKnife Beat, TXT File, a Big thank you to a contributor!, Vedran Jakovac of Croatia

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Giant 1 mb. Database Listing from various guitar magazines

I created this reference for Guitar Magazines that have guitar tab



Guitar World Magazine tab archive

Guitar World Online, Tab Archives search engine




Judas Priest comments:




NEW COMMENTS!!!!!! "Guitar One, April 2002. "Under the Influence" section page 23- Glen Tipton is quoted: " Without a Shadow of a doubt, the person who inspired me to become a musician, and who I thought was unbelieveable and magical was Rory Gallagher"... WOW!!!!
Thanks Glen for mentioning Rory and help keeping his memory alive for us all. It is great that you mentioned this once again to other guitarists in print. THANK YOU!!! To read the whole article- buy a copy today!!!! I will post the rest of it after a few months and the issue has been out for awhile


I personally grew up with and listen to Hard Rock and some Melodic metal, only because of Rory was I exposed to the Blues. Guns and Roses (Slash), Deep Purple and UFO are excellent but on the really heavy side-my all time favorite is Judas Priest since I like melodic stuff. Very catchy Riff rock, melodies- and song craftsmanship. Their "Unleashed in the East" Live album is one of the most high energy records I have ever purchased... I've seen both Glen and KK do their dual lead work and have always been awed by the power of it all. Over the years I've been to a number of JP concerts and have seen them a number of times including recently at the House of Blues (Wow unbelievable up close).

While reading through a Hal Leonard Tab Book (Judas Priest, Hell Bent for Leads Lick by Nick Bowcott), I was quite surprised when I stumbled on these comments buried in the back of the book where they are both interviewed. Both Guitarists were asked about their influences and Rory was mentioned by both of them. This is the first I have ever read where they mention him.

KK is asked:
Q: Aside from the huge bearing Hendrix had on you, who else shaped you as a player?
A: Loads of people really- Rory Gallagher, Eric Clapton, Ritchie Blackmore in Deep Purple and Paul Kossoff.... etc.

Glen Tipton is asked:
Q: Who were some of your early guitaristic mentors?
A: Well my initial influences were nearly all the blues players- B.B. King, Freddie King, Robert Johnson and Peter Green of Fleetwood Mac. I also used to think that a lot of the old Elmore James bottle-neck stuff was very good. Then, of course, there was Jimi Hendrix, Eric Clapton with Cream and the Beatles, who I loved.

I was Influenced by the playing of Rory Gallagher and used to listen to him so much that I ended up playing just his licks for awhile!!! It was around that time that I realized it wasn't worth listening to anyone in particular and that you should really try and gain your own inspiration from across the board...."


4/28/01- I purchased a copy of the July 1983 Issue of "Guitar Player" Magazine. If you like Judas Priest- this is certainly a great article to read- they talk about alot of subjects.... In the article titled "Double Edged Metal", both KK and Glen mention Rory in the interview on page 96:
Interviewer- Mike Varney asks: Did any specific artists or solo's influence you?
Tipton:"I've always loved melody, and I try to incorporate it in Heavy Metal as much as possible without being too sweet. Here, I've got to refer to the Beatles, who I have always been a fan of. I can listen to them for hours on end. Jimi Hendrix was always a big influence. When I first started out, I listened to him inside out. Rory Gallagher and Peter Green were also influential. Rory Gallagher is the first person I saw who really exploited the harmonic thing. I couldn't understand how he did it when I used to watch him.... I used to play alot of early blues- Robert Johnson and stuff like that. But since that time I've tried to be into original solos. One the keys to success is the ability to to realize that there's a certain point where you drop influences and channel everything into your own style. So I can only point to earlier influences."
Downing:"I was into virtually everything, and everything had to be an influence. I used to put records on and play along to them. I remember when I only owned two or three LP's and wore them out; Deep Purple and Cream were pretty good. As soon as the song started, I'd play a lead to it in whatever key it was in, put licks that should have been there in the first place. Virtually all of Hendrix's music was an influence, and "Free" too- there was so much feeling in "Tons of Sobs". Rory Gallagher was also important, plus some John Mayall Bluesbreakers stuff I used to love. Budgie was also one of my favorite bands; the original band was good live"

I was very intrigued that Glen Tipton mentioned about the "Pinch Harmonics" thing- if you notice on this page that was one of the trade mark things that I myself as an early listener to Rory had always associated him doing were his cool harmonic embellishment to his licks and all at such control using them and with great taste and feel. They were never overused as some artists have done.

A big thank you to Glen and KK for mentioning Rory!!!- thanks guys!


Judas Priest Official Website with tabs

Quite a few Judas Priest Tabs here


Pete Townshend comments:


On May 25th, 2000 while stumbing on to a live chat with Pete Townshend- I got to ask him his thoughts on Rory, since they are basically from the same era. This Barnes and Nobles Chat took place at http://www.barnesandnobles.com and you can get the full transcript of it on their website.

I ask:

I find it intriguing why Rory Gallagher (same era as Who, Stones, Beck, Zep, Clapton etc.) never was accepted by the public... great chops and songs, total musician. Did you know him and have any comment on his contribution to music?
Thanks, Dave

Pete Townshend replies:
PT: He was a great man in many ways. I never met him though. You know, some
people don't become HUGE because they are too SMART! They hold back a
little (like my brother Simon?) so they can remain true to themselves, Maybe Rory
was like that?



Ace Frehley of Kiss Comments on Rory

To read complete article here is the link: Excerpt from a Paul Guy Interview for Fuzz Magazine c Paul Guy 1997

This interview took place about two weeks into the 1997 Kiss Reunion Tour. Ace Frehley Interviewed by Paul Guy

Q: Who were your earliest influences on guitar? The Beatles and the Rolling Stones. As I got to my mid-teens, you know, it was the invasion with Led Zeppelin, and Jimi Hendrix, The Who, obviously Eric Clapton, with Cream I mean also, that album he did with John Mayall's Bluesbreakers, there's some great lead work on that Who else? Jeff Beck he's still playing incredibly. I didn't get a chance to see him, but at a concert about a year ago, my bass player from my band went to see him, and he said he cried he said he's that good! He's gotten better over the years. I think he's one of the few guitar players who doesn't get as much recognition as he deserves. He's much better than people know. I saw him play at the Fillmore, with the Rod Stewart group - that was a fucking great band. 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. He either had a bad publicist, or I don't know.





1978-1979 UK Tour Brochure

I uploaded some images to a new webpage. These are the pages from a 1978-1979 Tour Brochure I purchased from Ireland. See the page here: Rory Tour Brochure


---> Tell your Rory Story! <---



Rory Gallagher Thumbnails and Photos Page
Over a period of time I have collected these images from items being advertised and sold on Ebay. Alot of one of kind things that perhaps are difficult to find and some pretty mundane things like album covers. Enjoy- right-click and use them on your Rory page!

These Books were written about Rory. One by Dan Muise tells all about the lives of some of the "2nd Generation", and best electric blues rock guitarists, and the other I recommend can be purchased from Gerry McAvoy, he wrote the book and talks about Rory's energy, his musicianship and the ad-hoc nature of Rory's moment by moment decision making on soloing, jamming and his addictions along with all about the life on the road with him for all those years.



Rory Christmas Cards from around the world- thanks Bert, Pete and Mike!