For the most dedicated of Rory Gallagher fans – certainly, those with deep pockets – there is The BBC Collection, an exhaustive box set comprising 18 CDs and two Blu-ray discs filled with concert recordings and studio sessions dating from 1971 to 1986.
The highlights include previously unreleased versions of early 70s classics Crest Of A Wave and A Million Miles Away, a Reading Festival headlining set from 1980, and a 2005 radio documentary narrated by another legendary Irish guitarist who had a deep connection to the blues, Gary Moore. Other highlights can also be found in The Best Of Rory Gallagher At The BBC, released simultaneously in two-CD and triple-vinyl formats. Of its 24 tracks, 11 are taken from live-in-the-studio sessions.
Even without an audience to feed off, Gallagher delivers electrifying performances of his heavier numbers, Cradle Rock and Walk On Hot Coals, backed by the rock-solid trio of bassist Gerry McAvoy, drummer Rod de’Ath and keyboard player Lou Martin. Most powerful of all is his interpretation of Muddy Waters’s I Wonder Who, a classic blues, played and sung with raw emotion.
The other 13 tracks are all from a single show at The Venue in London in 1979, in which a version of Lead Belly’s cowboy song Out On The Western Plain has Gallagher at his most playful, while his own song Hellcat is as badass as they come. In all of this, a simple truth remains: if ever a musician was the real deal, it was Rory Gallagher.
