GALLAGHER AT WAR

He is one of those musicians who doesn’t need  to amuse the crowds with spectacular exploits because his music speaks for itself. Rory Gallagher is a name who got into music for music’s sake and this man only cares about a job well done and with pure emotion. His language is that of a man who lives, who does not pose…

Are you tired of the music business and why did you set up your own record company (CAPO Records) with your brother and manager?  

I had been with Chrysalis for a long time and they left me in peace in terms of my musical vision, which is vital for me. However, all around this or that artist, there are always people, advice, that are not credible and, in the long term, it becomes irritating. The reason for setting up CAPO Records that I can truly control everything and this new album (Fresh Evidence) is a true baby that I have to look after day and night… It demands a lot of effort and a lot of attention, but at least, everything belongs to you and the source of pleasure is enormous!

Mark Feltham (ex-Nine Below  Zero) plays harmonica on Fresh Evidence. What do you think of the British pub rock scene (led by Nine Below Zero, but also the gallant Doctor Feelgood and The Inmates)?

Mark is an incredible harmonica player who is able to play alongside anybody and I mean anybody!  The British pub rock scene is funny, it’s true, because on the outside, it looks like some sort of hunting party organised by ancient veterans of rock. However, I have always had a lot of respect for a group like Doctor Feelgood and both Wilko Johnson and John Mayo are very good guitarists. The only bit of discomfort I have with the pop rock scene is that these groups have too much of a tendency to systematically execute their covers in the same style without focusing on the rhythm. I don’t mean to be disheartening, but I prefer to compose more myself and venture further into time in terms of soaking up the blues.

How do you explain the use of an accordion on the very lively ‘King of Zydeco’? You cite Clifton Chenier, but who – amongst young people – even knows this great musician? 

My problem is that I have an unending list of idols. Clifton Chenier died a few years ago, unfortunately, in obscurity. Without wanting to seem pretentious, every time that one of my heroes passes away, I try to do a little homage to them, which explains the accordion on ‘King of Zydeco’. For me, this song  evokes a certain ambience, almost depressing, and I conceived it like a little film where I have the image of a depressed man driving into the night, who doesn’t know if life is worth living… but he keeps going. When melancholy leads to something positive, the blues perfectly fits one of these roles!

Your new album is very blues, a pure return to the roots. Are you more satisfied with this music than the music you made during your hard rock period? (e.g. Calling Card, Photo Finish, Top Priority, Stagestruck) 

Fresh Evidence simply contains all the sounds and emotions that I am currently experiencing in my life. This album is truly personal and I really needed to do it. Now, I am feeling broken as it was like having given birth to my own child! I am in no way denying the hard rock that was on some of my albums, but it is not what motivates me at the moment! But who knows? Human nature being what it is, I might go back to it at some point in the future. Cross sword with hard rock? To tell you the truth, I just don’t know.

Do you listen to and appreciate new groups, regardless of the music they are playing?    

To tell you the truth, my preferences are clearly towards the old masters and the only new groups that I find interesting are the Irish ones: The Pogues, Hothouse Flowers and the Black Velvet Band. I know that they are not truly rock, but for me, it’s all about feeling! In terms of hard rock and metal, I am not too worried because the genre now only feeds off a bunch of cliches (lavish stage sets, dubious lyrics, over-amplification), which doesn’t thrill me. There are some good talents like Joe Satriani or Yngwie Malmsteen, but, for me, they lack a certain feeling, and that is precious to me!

Do you make career plans or do you work on instinct?      

Currently, and for Fresh Evidence, instinct clearly took over. I believe that it is stronger than me and is part of my personality. I don’t have any long-term plans drawn up, but I know what I am going to do in the next few months. Beyond that, I don’t really know. That has a frightening side, but it is equally a source of motivation and incentive.

Do you think that TV and the video universe have killed the mystery once inherent in rock?

As a lover of everything around cinema, I find that, from a technical point of view, video is very interesting. However, in terms of the music itself, I find that it is a now a vehicle for a series of images that all have a tendency to intersect. The cliches take over and everything has a tendency to sink into the easy option. Video clips today rely too much on visual extravagance on all levels, and the music in itself then seems tarnished. I think therefore that the mystery of rock is lost somewhere, but that is the law of rock commercialism and progress…

As a musician, who would you have the most fun playing with?

My preferences would go, or would have gone, towards Big Bill Broonzy, Django Reinhardt who is a genius, Martin Carthy, John Hammond for his perfect re-establishment of the history of the blues, John Lee Cooker, Eddie Cochran who totally understood raw and minimalist rock, Johnny Burnette and his rock and roll trio or even John Coltrane. But I have also had the chance to work with some phenomenal people like Jerry Lee Lewis, Muddy Waters, Albert King, Albert Collins, Jack Bruce and Charlie Watts. I hugely appreciate all these people and amongst the new ones, while let’s say the least old, I enjoy listening to Jeff Healey, Bonnie Raitt, Billy Gibbons, Stevie Ray Vaughan, Johnny Winter and the wonderful rhythm playing of George Thorogood. He understood, but his last few albums have been too modified, in terms of their sound, by a production that is far too meticulous! A few years ago, I brought out an album called Jinx, which wasn’t particularly well produced, but it didn’t get any airplay on American radio. The reason given was that only a certain sound is suitable. The tragedy is that it is a single person who makes these unbelievable decisions. It’s equivalent to fascism and it’s truly sickening. What right does that person have to decide what should be played on the radio or not?!? It’s pointless to tell you about all the prejudices that I have suffered from the non-media exposure of this album! But me, like a lot of other true musicians, always have faith and as long as I have faith, nothing can stop me!!!