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Rory Gallagher Biography
Born
Ballyshannon, Co. Donegal, Republic of Ireland, 2 March, 1948.
Family moved to Cork
in the 1950s.
Age 9
Bought first acoustic guitar and taught himself to play.
Age 10
Began to play in public in local amateur shows.
Age 12
Won talent competition at Cork City Hall. Bought first electric
guitar.
Age 13
Formed first band.
1963
Bought (secondhand) the famous '61 sunburst Fender Stratocaster,
for 100 pounds, in
Cork (reputedly the first such guitar in Ireland). (The 'battered
Strat' was to be Rory's
most notable trademark over the next 31 years.)
Age 16
Joined Fontana Show Band (later renamed The Impact) while still
at school, and played in
the evenings, in and around Cork.
1964
Toured in Britain with Fontana.
1964/5
Fontana's name changed to The Impact. Played a stint at an American
airforce base near
Madrid.
1965
The Impact returned to London. Stint in clubs in Hamburg before
the band split.
1965
Rory formed a 3-piece group with The Impact's former bassist and
drummer. Played in
clubs in Hamburg.
1966
Rory formed new trio - Taste - in Cork with Eric Kitteringham
(bass) and Norman Damery
(drums).
1967
Taste played in Hamburg; also in Cork, Dublin, and elsewhere in
Ireland. Secured a
regular booking at the Maritime Hotel, R&B club in Belfast.
1968
Rory formed new version of Taste with Richard McCracken (bass)
and John Wilson
(drums). Taste moved to London; played in England and Germany.
1969
Taste toured US and Canada as support to British group Blind Faith.
1970
Taste toured Europe and Scandinavia. Taste's final appearance
at the Isle of Wight Festival.
1970
Rory goes solo with his own band.
Line up of Rory Gallagher Band: Rory Gallagher (guitar, vocals)
with:
1970 - 1972: Gerry McAvoy (bass), Wilgar Campbell (drums)
1972 - 1976: Gerry McAvoy (bass), Lou Martin (piano), Rod De'Ath
(drums)
1976- 1981: Gerry McAvoy (bass), Ted McKenna (drums)
1981- 1991: Gerry McAvoy (bass), Brendan O'Neil (drums)
1992- 1994: David Levy (bass), Jim Levaton (keyboards), John Cooke
(keyboards),
Richard Newman (drums). Regular guest: Mark Feltham (harmonica).
1972
"Live! In Europe" earned Rory platinum sales and Melody
Maker's "Musician of the Year"
Award.
1976
Rory became the first artist to perform on a Eurovision television
transmission to over one
hundred million people. He also embarked on his 10 th American
tour.
Late 1994
Rory falls seriously ill while touring in Europe.
14 June, 1995
Rory dies in King's College Hospital, London, from complications
following a liver
transplant in April. He lived in Chelsea, London. He never married,
and had no children.
16 June, 1995
Rory receives ovation from the people of Cork who line the streets
as his funeral cortege
procedes to the Church of the Descent of the Holy Spirit.
19 June, 1995
Thousands attend Requiem Mass and funeral in Cork. Rory is laid
to rest in St. Oliver's
Cemetery, Cork.
For more info about Rory's life there exist two books that contain
sections about Rory
(unfortunately, both of these are hard to get)
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Compiled by Sergio Seghetti, S.M. Donnarde and Kimmo Hagelberg
of the
Rory Gallagher Home page.
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The first concert In Holland
I had the pleasure of meeting Rory as a photographer and went
to a Taste concert
in Amsterdam. Taste was the support act for Fat Mattress and Taste
became the "Taste
of Holland "after all the hippies walked out on Noel Redding's
Fat Mattress.
I went to many more concerts over the years and the last time
I met Rory
was in Auckland, New Zealand in the early 1980's
"Thanks for the memories"
WE'LL ALWAYS REMEMBER YOU
Joh Lang
The last concert in Holland
To complete this: he gave his last concert in Rotterdam-Holland on
the 10th of january 1995 in Nighttown-theatre.
My girlfriend Steffy and I were there. The concert started too
late, because Rory was very ill. I knew this, because I accidentelly
met him at the toilets, while he was held up by roadies. The band
played at that moment to keep the fans calm. After I got back,
he entered stage after a short while. The audience whistled,
because they were angry and Rory got mad. He stopped playing his
second song and started to offend his public. And THAT was so
unreal to us! I met him once in 1980 and learned to
know him as a very kind and shy person. Immediately all the
concerts of him I ever saw (since 1973 every time he was somewhere
in Holland or nearby in Germany, Loreley f.i) flashed through
my mind. Steffy got tears and we agreed that, though he
was loaded, he didn't deserve this. We left the place at the moment
Rory was taken off of stage by Mark Feltham and some
roadies. Mark and the band kept on playing, but not for long because
people who called themselves Rory fans didn't accept what in fact
happened at that moment. The real fans were "updated"
and felt sorry (and ashamed for the rest of ther audience). It
was a strange atmosphere outside Nighttown, and Steffy and I and
some others had the idea we had seen a very special
moment: his last performance. But we didn't want to remember Rory
by that concert. When he's the subject of chats, we often speak
about the great earlier concerts we saw and often avoid that
historical night in Rotterdam. His CD's only go into the stereo
when there's the opportunity to play it loud and we and our friends
then flow to Pinkpop festival-'74, Tegelen-bluesfestival '80
and '83 Loreley Rockpalast festival-'86 and some other concerts,
but never to 10th of January 1995. It would'nt give him the honour
he deserves (please, mention that if you take it in your biography).
Two months later he was taken to hospital and on Steffy's birthday
he died. And since 95, every 14th of June we and our friends
raise a glas.
Many greetings from Dennis in Holland (clearly a RG-fan)
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