"GuitarPlayer" - Masters Series
Heroes Of The Electric Blues

Ausgabe vom August 2004
Display until 10-19-04

.

.

.

Rory Gallagher

Ireland´s Impassioned Guardian Of The Blues

As if fated to live the blues he studied so deeply, Rory Gallagher was beauftiful, talented, and doomed. He was just 46 years old when he died after liver transplant surgery in 1995. But in a career that spanned from 1969 until his death, Gallagher compiled one hell of a legacy. The Irish guitarist was a prolific music maker, recording 17 albums with his early blues-rock trio, Taste. He also appeared an two seminal blues recordings: Muddy Waters´ The London Sessions in 1972, and Albert King´s Live in 1977.
Whenever he stepped outside of the studio, Gallagher delivered some of the most thrilling and ferocious live performance in blues-rock history. It didn´t hurt that he looked like a rock star, with his long, flowing locks, groovy sideburns, and Greek god visage. But even serious musicians who hated pretty boys couldn´t help but be entranced as Gallagher unleashed raw and beautifully phrased notes flurries from a battered-to-hell Fender Stratocaster. In addition, his extreme devotion to blues music drove him to seek a broad intimacy with electric stylist and acoustic fingerpickers, slide players, alternate turnings, down-home country blues, folky blues, and raucous big-city blues. Gallagher devoured everything, and as a result, his own blues style was miles deep, and he could easily shift from traditional music to pop-inflected, rock-oriented tunes. And despite his rough-and-ready technical prowess, he totally got the concept of seeking that one transcendent note that fills the heart with bliss or pain or absolute wonder. The man was truly gifted, and his interpretation of the blues should be missed. -MICHAEL MOLENDA-

Influences

"I startet out on the proverbial Lonnie Donnegan skiffle-music trail, and what´s when I heard Lonnie doing Leadbelly songs such as eRock Island Line´ and eBring Me a Li´L Water Silvy´. Bu at the same time, I was also interested in rock and roll through Buddy Holly, Eddie Cochran, Chuck Berry, and Fats Domino. I was listening to both of these strains, because, at lots of points, they´d cross. Once you get beyound the Chuck Berry/Eddie Cochran thing, you begin to figure out that you´ve got Bill Broonzy at one end ot the scale - and that goes right back to the old tradition of Charley Patton - and the John Lee Hooker evolving his electric style from his accoustic roots.
"This is why all young rock and blues players should dig deeper - back beyound the obvious big blues stars like B.B. King and Buddy Guy. You have to listen to a lot of records! My favorite artists include some main sources like Robert Johnson, Lemon Jefferson, Willie McTell, and Leadbelly. Blind Boy Fuller ist another favorite of mine, as are Muddy Waters, Howlin´Wolf - especially his sides with the great, underrated Hubert Sumlin - Elmore James, Earl Hooker, Robert Nighthawk, Buddy Guy, and Blind Blake.
"But, even though the blues embraces the folk-musik tradition of passing on, picking up, and stealing, I never started out to become a strict recreator of the blues, or even a modern young bluesman. I wanted to be me. I´m a huge blues fan, but I´ve always strived to forge ahead, an I hope that when I´m 40 or 50, I´ll have a very distinct sound. It´s a thin line between studying blues records by the old masters, and developing your own style. I think both shoud be done at the same time, because if you forget the old masters, you miss out on a whole heritage. But you should never get clogged up with the old stuff to the point where you won´t move forward. I write a lot of my own stuff, so, for me, it´s always a cross between ego and the heritage thing!"

Stratocaster Lust

"Buddy Holly had a Strat, and, as a child, you go after the appearance of a guitar. I don´t care what anyone says - you look at the shape of the thing, and that´s it. But, having said that, I love the metallic clarity you can get from a Strat. I like a good, bright, clangy tone. And a Strat can really hit the back wall (in a auditorium or club)! Even with a small amp in a huge band with brass, the Strat may not be loud enough, but it always peeks through. I also love the syncopated rhytmic things you can do with a Strat - again, that´s the clarity. I´m obviously so much a Fender musician. I don´t feel that much at home with Gibsons."

Crafting Tones

"I´ve never been a fan of 100-watt stacks. Instead of a wall of sound, where you lose your song because it´s spread out among eight speakers, I´d rather see a small combo amp turned up to 8 or 9 and really hopping off the chair. Basically, I just try to get a volume whereby the guitar is still almost of an acoustic nature. I mean, I like to have electronics, sure, but I´m just into the guitar. I´m into getting as much out of the instrument as possible. I´m almost, if you will, into the classical approach like Segovia had of getting everything you can out of the guitar by the use of all your fingers and all the means you can get. There are a million things in there to get our, whether you use electronic devices or not. That´s the beauty of the instrument."

Effects

"There are a million and one pedals around, and they´ve been sort of overused. I like to overdrive the amp - as opposed to using a fuzz box - and I still prefer to get a wah-wah effect by working the guitar´s tone control manually. The Strat is ideal for that, because you can get the crying sound with its volume and tone controls. I think that´s more fun. I´ve just seen so many guys playing boring guitar breaks with this or that effect. They start with a nice, interesting solo, and the they get bored and go over to some wah pedal and say, eOh, to hell with it,´and - bam - ewaaaaah-waaaaaaaah.´ It´s too much of a getaway. I like naked guitar."

Slidecraft

"I use a pick and my fingers when I play slide, and I vary the slides. Sometimes, I use a (glass) Coricidin bottle on my ring finger or my pinky, or I´ll use a brass slide if I´m playing a National. If I´m playing an electric in standard tuning, I´ll use a steel bottleneck. The sound of glass ist smooth and sweet, and brass and copper are very harsh - which is great if you want to get that Son House sort of attack, but it´s almost too harsh. Steel is a good compromise, and socker wrenches are ideal. I use a 5/8 or a 7/8 wrench, because John Hammond and Lowell George used them. They´re fantastic, but you need very heavy strings."

Solos

"I try to split the difference between being fairly clever and technical and still being primitive. I used to always go for live leads - mistakes and all - just for feel. Now, if a certain song needs a very melodic solo, I´m prepared to work on it over and over. But I try not to get in the habit of overdubbing and punching in, because it´s very tempting to go after the e-perfect´solo. As a rule, I try to keep a grip on technology so it doesn´t take the human factor out of a performance.

Getting Startet

"If you want to play electric blues, the best thing to do is get into a band as soon as possible - no matter how bad it is. Get playing with a drummer. That´s essential for electric blues. And don´t be too proud. You have to direct your playing somewhere. That is, unless you want to sit in a room like a painter who won´t show his paintings to anyone.
"You also have to love the instrument, the idea of the instrument, and the whole auro of the thing. That will dictate how much you practice. I don´t think you have to sit down for eight hours a day or anything, but, if you´re really interested, you´ll probably do that anyway."

Keeping It Real

"Even though you develop as a player over the years, and become influenced by different things, you have to keep to the heart of what you started - that initial vision of music. I grew up in Irland where folk and traditional music is very close at hand, but I wasn´t really turned on until I heard American music via Lonnie Donnegan, who was doing Woody Guthrie and Leadbelly songs. Then I heard the early rockers - Elvis Presley, Eddie Cochran, Chuck Berry, and so on - and I just followed, and continue to follow, this mixture of folk, blues, and rock from America."

Guitars: ´61 Fender Stratocaster, Fender Telecaster, Gretsch 6121, Gretsch Corvette, Gibson Les Paul Junior, Martin D-35, National resophonic. Amps: Vox AC30, ´50s tweed Fender Twin, Fender Bassman, ´59 Fender Concert, Magnatone combo, Marshall 50-watt combo, Ampeg VT-44. FX: Hawk treble booster, "uncredited" phase shifter. Strings & Things: Fender Rock and Roll strings (.010, .012, .015, .026, .032, .038), Herco heavy pick.