Even in the late 1980s, when blues-rock was thoroughly out of kilter with music trends, he could still sell out two nights in London. But his hardcore audience never deserted him. He is definitely aware of the situation.” I don’t think he’s thinking he’s going to pass away five years ahead. The tracks off this record such as 'Heaven’s Gate' – they’re very foreboding. “A dodgy doctor in London had started giving him all sorts of stuff. “It had started out as medication to help overcome his fear of flying which had hit its peak in the 1980s,” says Daniel. But he had reached that age where he realised he would not be going on forever. He had no clue he had so little time left or that he would die after a liver transplant – a consequence of years of overuse of medications. The ill-health that would eventually claim his life was becoming an issue, and songs such as 'Heaven’s Gate' (“You’re feeling haunted/See those shadows on the shades?”) and 'Walkin’ Wounded' confirm he was increasingly concerned about his mortality.
Picture: John Minihanįresh Evidence caught Gallagher at his most introspective.
Rory Gallagher on stage at the Town and Country club in London in 1990. Recording the concerts might have been a test – to try out a new sound desk, as a favour to someone. “He must have figured they were on a good roll. These were the last two dates,” says Daniel. They were in Manchester the night before. There was no indication who had recorded them or why. In the case of All Around Man, the tapes were unmarked except for the letters T&C – “Town and Country”. Fans are always eager for fresh material, and Daniel and Dónal work hard at finding music that brings a new perspective to the Rory story. The recordings came from the trove of 1,000 tapes making up the Gallagher archive. Rory Gallagher, All Around Man – Live In London There are still incredible bursts of speed and technique that you would expect with a Rory album. That’s definitely where Rory is at on the record. With having a simpler, catchier riff rather than, ‘I just threw 30 notes out in a second’. They were quite similar in their love of the blues. It’s similar to what Billy Gibbons does with ZZ Top. Tracks like Ghost Blues are about sitting in a groove, seeing where that goes. “At this point, it’s a lot more groove-based.
It wasn’t that he had slowed down as much as begun to explore a different way of dazzling his audience. In his early 40s, Gallagher had progressed as an artist, says Daniel. To come across 24 tracks recorded at a London show was a great find for us.” Even the Defender album, which came before, there’s not a lot of live material, even visually. “It is a very undocumented time of him playing live. “Fresh Evidence was his last studio record sadly,” says Daniel. The sun was going down – but Rory Gallagher was still raging for all he was worth. Gallagher laid down a blistering set over two nights in December 1990 at the end of a UK tour promoting his swan song, Fresh Evidence. The double album was recorded at the Town and County Club in London, a storied venue also headlined by David Bowie, Ozzy Osbourne and Eric Clapton (today it is the 2,300-capacity O2 Forum). That’s the motivation behind the new live LP All Around Man – Live In London. Daniel and Dónal hope to shed new light on the fascinating period of Gallagher’s career, five years before his death at age 47. But while that phase of life is extensively documented, the same cannot be said for Gallagher’s later years, around his final two long players, Defender (1987) and Fresh Evidence (1990).Īt least until now. Throughout his career, Gallagher liked to pair studio and live LPs – his 1973 tour-de-force, Tattoo, was followed 12 months later by the live disc Irish Tour 74. Top Priority came out in 1979 and was followed by the live record Stage Struck. So he’s always had a huge, huge following in Greece.” If you break it down and get into cities, you have places such as Athens, because of a concert he performed in 1981 which led to a huge riot,” says Daniel who, along with his father Dónal (Rory’s brother and former manager) has served as custodian of Gallagher’s recording legacy since he died in 1995. “The UK and US are the top for streaming.
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