Phil Hilbornes A-Z of Great Riffs - G: Rory Gallagher

Rory Callagher began playing guitar back in County Donegal in his native Ireland at age nine and when he was 15 he joined the Fontana showband and then later on an other showband called Impact. His first major international success however was in 1966 with the band Taste, who recorded two albums 'Taste' (1969) and 'On The Boards' (1970). The band reached their peak at the now legendary 1970 Isle of Wight festival - where they shared the billwith Jimi Hendrix and Free.

Taste split up in 1971 and (rom that point right up until his tragic death in June 1995 at the age of 46 Rory followed his own very successful solo career during which he recorded around 14 albums with combined sales in excess of 30 million copies! In terms of style Rory covered more or less every blues approach imaginable - acoustic blues, Chicago blues, ragtime, folk blues, bottleneck blues, Texas blues, boogie woogie. Mississippi Delta blues, Louisiana swamp blues, Appalachian blues, modern blues and blues rock! As well as all of these styles there were also elements of both Irish traditional music and jazz in his approach, particularly regarding his rhythmic phrasing which was often very inventive and instantly recognisable as being his own...

In this month 's examples we will unfortunately only scratch the surface by looking at his blues/rock approaches - you would however, be well advised to check out his albums to hear what a truly versatile, inspiring and creative player he really was. Have Fun!...