A few months ago, I received a lovely message on the Rewriting Rory blog from a fan named Paul Deegan, who had recently discovered the site. Paul had seen Rory live many times between 1982 and 1992, and he shared some vivid memories of those concerts, along with his reflections on Rory’s legacy. We struck up a conversation and ended up exchanging messages over the following weeks. It quickly became clear that we had a lot in common beyond Rory, and the conversation flowed easily from there.

So, when I asked Paul if he would like to take part in my Meeting with the G-Fans series, I was delighted when he agreed. What follows are his responses which I think are fascinating, engaging and honest. I hope you do too.

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When did you first discover Rory’s music, and what was it about his style that initially caught your attention?

I had a friend in school, Michael, who started to talk about Rory because he had recently bought Stage Struck in late 1980. We both were in art class in school and students were allowed to bring in records and play them when we had a double period of art. Two brothers, Ian and Leo, were big Led Zeppelin fans and regularly brought in The Song Remains The Same. Although I found the music on the heavy side and I never had any interest in being somebody who followed just chart music, I was fifteen at the time and I mentioned to Michael that I was getting a radio cassette player as a Christmas present from my parents. I must have asked him a few questions about Rory because next thing he said to me was, “I’ll tape Stage Struck for you and you can listen to it on your new radio cassette player and see for yourself.”

I can remember being real excited about putting my first tape into the machine and pressing play. The noise that came out of it was fast loud and at the time too heavy for me. But I kept playing it and ‘Moonchild’, ‘Follow Me’ and ‘Shadow Play’ started to seep into the bloodstream. Then around May time, I was in Woolworths in Henry Street, Dublin and on a carousel were records selling for £2.99. I was mad keen to buy a vinyl as my dad had a High Fidelity 3-in-1 hifi system at home and both my parents records were crooners and liked easy listening stuff. So, I look at the records on the carousel and a Ten Years After vinyl appears and I think, “Who are you? I’ve never heard of you.” I turn it a little more and Rory’s looking at me saying, “Alright, kid, I’m the one. Take me home.” It was a compilation on the Pickwick label of Rory’s first two albums. The song titles meant nothing to me, but it said that Rory had a film called Irish Tour ’74.

Putting it on at home confused me totally. The music sounded nothing like Stage Struck and I found it difficult to get into. My mother passed through the room and looked at me and said, “Blues? Don’t tell me you’re starting to listen to blues.” I can remember replying, “But it’s Rory,” and being even more confused as if listening to blues, which I didn’t understand as a music form, was the worst thing in the world.

By October of 1981, I had added Irish Tour ‘74 and Taste Live (Montreux Casino) as birthday presents and I think I bought On The Boards and Live! In Europe in 1981 also. So, by the end of 1981, I was in my head now a fully-fledged Rory Gallagher fan for life.

When was the first time you saw Rory in concert? What memories stand out from that experience?

I first saw Rory at the Hot Press 5th Birthday party at Punchestown Racecourse in July 1982 which had being advertised with concert posters all around north Dublin where I lived. I went with three other lads, two of whom I had only got to know because I wore a denim jacket with Rory’s name embroidered on the back in big yellow letters in the style of one of the albums logos. Tom was/is also a Rory fan and Mick was his best mate who kicked me up the arse while riding a bike saying, “My mate has heard of you and wants to meet you.” I thought I was being attacked, but a school friend assured me Mick was sound.

The day itself was sunny and we travelled by coach from Dublin city centre to the venue. The stage was set in the middle of the race track in front of the main stand. An iron fence kept people on the concourse of the main stand until they opened the gates latter in the afternoon. Simple Minds didn’t show up, which I was happy about, and although being originally billed as Bono, The Edge and Friends, U2 hit the stage late afternoon. They got a really good reception and you could tell they were a band on the way up, just not to the level they achieved. I liked songs like ‘I Will Follow’, ‘A Day Without Me’ and Out Of Control’ so enjoyed them, although I thought Bono looked a gobshite in his red boots.

I don’t know if I can remember the excitement I felt when Rory hit the stage. I was over to Rory’s left. He had a beige-coloured denim jacket on and black jeans. I was looking forward to hearing the new songs off Jinx. I can remember Paul Brady coming on stage and not being happy when he took over the vocals. I can remember Gerry McAvoy handing Phil Lynott his bass and not being impressed with that either as he entered the stage. I wasn’t a Thin Lizzy fan at that time and Phil had a kind of cocky persona as opposed to Rory’s down-to-earth presence. The rockstar versus the musician, if you get my meaning. Then, of course, Phil takes over the vocals with Rory and Paul Brady in the background so, at this stage of the show, I’m kind of half enjoying it and half getting cheesed off, especially as they were playing songs I didn’t know. I do remember praying Rory would play ‘Shadow Play’, which was my favourite song along with ‘Follow Me’, which he duly did and I braved going more central and closer to the stage. Also a lot of that gig took place early evening time, so the gig took place totally in the bright. It was Lisdoonvarna in 1983 when Rory took to the stage at dusk that I got to see the power of rock ‘n’ roll under lights and, of course, it was all just Rory and The Band. No annoying guests. as I saw it at the time.

You went on to see Rory many times over the years. Which concerts left the most lasting impressions?

SFX Hall, Dublin 1983 – I went both nights in the middle of a bus strike. First night with my pals Tom and Mick, plus a couple of other lads. The second night on my own. During the first night early in the set, I shouted, “Rory!” as loud as I could in between songs. I was just right of centre stage at the front. Rory walked over, stooped down, shook my hand, said hello and I went into an orbit of excitement I had never known. After the show, I couldn’t wait to get home and tell my mum that Rory shook my hand. The most important person to me in the world outside of family had shaken my hand. The high was unbelievable.

Lisdoonvarna 1983: Rory on the Saturday, all energy. Van Morrison on the Sunday, all moody.

Self Aid 1986: Because I had not seen Rory play in three years. It was also the first time I saw Mark Feltham play in the band. What the whole event was about as I was unemployed at the time and Ireland as an island was in a bad place because of a crippling recession and the troubles in the North. It was also only a few months since Phil Lynott’s death and, by then, I was a Thin Lizzy fan. Seeing Rory and the lads gave me hope that things could be better. One year later, I was living in London, but…

Hammersmith Odeon, London 1987: Just four months living in London and Defender has been released and Rory plays one night at the Odeon. A place I had some top FM quality shows from 1977 and 1979 of Rory and Band. I met an English guy I traded tapes with in a pub around the corner from the venue and was surprised to see Gerry and Brendan in the pub having a pint before the show. Got to the Odeon and I bought three Defender t-shirts, which I wore on top of my existing clothes so I didn’t lose them. I remember Rory getting a great reception from the crowd and it was noticeable that he looked a little heavier than at the Self Aid show. ‘Continental Op’, ‘Don’t Start Me to Talkin’, ‘I Ain’t No Saint’ and ‘Keep Your Hands Off Her’, I remember, and it was the first time I heard ‘The Loop’.

Olympia Theatre, Dublin 1988: I got to three nights of the four dates (1,2 and 4). I was still living in London so came home especially for the concerts. Rory got a great reception from the crowd. He looked like he was really enjoying himself. My biggest memory is the cheers when a backdrop of clouds was projected during ‘Out on the Western Plain’. I also enjoyed ‘Want Ad Blues’, ‘The Loop’ and ‘A Million Miles Away’, which might have been the first time I saw Rory play it. I think I also got another handshake on the first night. The second and forth nights are when I first met and chatted to Rory.

Irish Rock Week, Mean Fiddler, London 1989: Probably the best Rory show I witnessed. In a club-like venue with people lining up all down the main street of Harlsden. I skipped the queue along with my pal Mick – something I would normally never do. Rory hit the stage about 10pm and left after 1.00pm. I can remember Rory putting his hands to the side of his head as if to say, “I need to go asleep,” this after three hours of playing and a really enthusiastic crowd shouting for more. I was stage right about 10 feet from the stage. I can’t remember any song in particular, but with Mark on harp, the band was just absolutely cooking. It was probably the most wild crowd I’d seen at a Rory show, really high spirited and full of love for Rory and because it was a one off, it was like winning the lottery knowing you just witnessed pure magic never to be repeated. A pure rollercoaster ride to musical heaven. I would say it was the best concert I have ever been to of any artist. The adrenaline high was that massive.

Temple Bar Blues Festival, Dublin 1992: Another trip home as I was still living in London. A great event taken place right in the heart of a historical part of Dublin City. I remember hoping there would be a good turn out by the public as I wanted to see Rory well supported. By 1992, it was starting to become obvious that Rory was struggling with his health. I had tried to attend concerts in London (Finsbury Park) and Amsterdam (Paradiso), but they got cancelled late in the day. The show itself was excellent. ‘Continental Op’, ‘Tattoo’d Lady’, ‘Ghost Blues’ with Rory pointing at Trinity College when he sang the line, “If I had some sense, I’d tear that building down,” Rory and Ronnie Drew of The Dubliners duetting on ‘Barley And Grape Rag’, ‘The Loop’ and ‘Shadow Play’ all on a lovely summer’s evening. Rory’s confidence grew as the crowd gave him a great response and the more he relaxed into the show, the better it got. It’s estimated 20,000 to 25,000 people attended the show, which I was delighted about. The only thing odd for me was seeing Rory and Mark play and no Gerry and Brendan in the band, but it was a great night. One of my pals, Brian, still reckons it was the best concert he was ever at. I left College Green thinking Rory had still plenty to offer and maybe the press could start to give him the kind of praise Eric Clapton’s blues nights had got in London and Robert Cray and the late Stevie Ray Vaughan had received in the late eighties.

You were at the ill-fated Town & Country Club gig in 1992. It always makes me so sad to hear about that evening. What was the experience like for you?

One of the worst nights of my life. As simple as that. I went to the show with two friends, one male one female. They had never seen Rory play before and with the Temple Bar Blues Festival show only six weeks or so previous, I got to Kentish Town really looking forward to seeing Rory so soon after Dublin. What unfolded was a fan who loves and met Rory a few times seeing my world fall apart. That pedestal I placed Rory on was kicked from under him as a section of the crowd turned nasty. I was stage left not that far from the front of the stage. Rory came on wearing a light blue checked shirt with a red bandana tied around his neck. Rory had stated in an interview in Hot Press magazine with the journalist Joe Jackson in August (Temple Bar Blues Festival) that he had grown sick of his perceived image as the checked shirted blue jeans guitar player. That it had become like a stigmata to him. So, it was a surprise to see him dressed as he was.

The show starts and, within a couple of minutes, I knew something was wrong. Rory kind of had a glazed look in his eyes like he was stoned, to be honest, and I don’t like saying that. After finishing ‘Continental Op’, somebody near the front of the stage called out ‘Tattoo’d Lady’ and Rory agreed to play it, but in agreeing to the request, Rory’s coordination didn’t seem right. Just the way his body moved as he answered the person. ‘Shadow Play’ came very early in the set, then the acoustic section. It didn’t make much sense to me as someone who knew the ebb and flow of a Rory show. At exactly what point (song) the crowd started to turn against Rory, I can’t remember, but the booing and the jeering and name calling started. Dónal walked on stage, spoke to Rory, obviously asking him to stop, but Rory started answering back to the jeering. I remember him saying something like, “If you want to go see Madonna, go on ahead. If you want to see Rory Gallagher…” Then, or maybe in the middle of Rory speaking, people started throwing objects. I remember a beer bottle hitting Rory high up neck area, maybe even his face. That’s when I lost the plot in my head. There is no doubt whatsoever that had I have been close to the bottle thrower/s and seen who had done it, I would have attacked them myself, regardless of the consequences.

I think Dónal came back on stage a second time to usher Rory off the stage. The band had left the stage a number of minutes earlier. The lights went up and a lot of people had a look of disbelief and I made my way outside hoping to see someone like Dónal or Tom O’Driscoll to ask what was going on. A doorman outside the venue told me that Rory was drunk/pissed. I didn’t believe him. Rory had never done that before at any show I had been at, so why now? I got quite distraught, phoned my pal Mick and he laughed it off saying Rory probably had a couple of pints and was a bit drunk. That didn’t go down well with me either. I was living in Putney at the time and, on the trip back there, I really was in a world of my own absolutely distraught. It also turned out to be the last time I saw Rory alive and left me with a terrible memory of a man who brought me nothing but joy and the friendship of some great people through the power of his magnificent music along the road of life. It took me a long time to get over that night and I haven’t liked writing about it now. The wound may have healed, but there will always be a scar. It should never have been my last living memory of Rory. He was too good for that.

You told me that you used to write letters to Rory via Nomis and that you got a postcard back from him. What was it like to hold a postcard from him and read his words?

I was out in our front garden possibly cutting the grass and it was a nice sunny day. At the time I was busy trading tapes with quite a few people in the UK and mainland Europe. So, when my Mum said I had got a postcard, I thought, “That’s strange.” Anyway, I went to have a look at it and it has a picture of Lightning Hopkins on it, which bamboozled me, and I’m thinking, “What’s this all about?” So, I turn it over and start reading. I had to read it twice and see it signed “Rory G” for the penny to drop. Then the heart gathers pace with excitement because of what Rory wrote and a huge feeling of joy and happiness that Rory had read my letter and replied to me. I really couldn’t believe that he had actually written to me. A life moment to be treasured. I walked on clouds for the few days after that and, of course, I told everyone with great pride.

You met Rory for the first time in 1988 at the Olympia Theatre in Dublin. What was he like in person? Do you remember what you spoke about?

I met Rory the first time on the second night of the four shows. I had attended the show with Hanna (not her real name), who knew Rory going back a few years to the late seventies. Rory made his way to the bar quite sometime after the show had finished. The rest of the band had been in the bar for some time. Hanna met Rory at the entrance of the bar and they spoke together for a little while. Then Hanna ushered me over. We said hello and shook hands. There was a brief conversation and Rory excused himself as he had to meet other people, The Edge of U2 being one of them.

The fourth night was the best time I spent in Rory’s company, which probably lasted about an hour. I spoke to him about the song ‘The Loop’ and told him how much I liked it and asked Rory would he put it on the next album which, of course, he did. A good number of fans approached Rory looking for him to sign album covers, each one buying him a pint of Guinness. Quite quickly, Rory’s getting swamped and he asked me would I accept some of his pints, which I did until he put a stop to what was happening by asking the other people to let him have some time to speak with his friends. In the midst of all the album covers and pints of Guinness, Rory received a big bouquet of flowers from a fan and I think a hug. He later presented the bouquet of flowers to a lady working behind the bar. I remember telling Rory I had been at the Hammersmith Odeon, London show in October 1987. He asked me why I did not come backstage and say hello and I replied that at that time I did not know him personally. Rory answered by saying I should still have come backstage and that I was welcome to at future shows I attended, which was a nice feeling. He also asked me why I had not been at the previous night’s show. I told him I had to go out with my girlfriend and she was sitting only a few feet away. Neither of them looked too pleased with my answer. That night was/is one of my fondest memories of Rory other than the concerts. I was able to talk to him without being a bag of nerves and the fact that I had written to him on a number of occasions made me feel he knew I was a true fan and a supporter of the band and the tours. Eventually, Tom O’Driscoll asked Rory what guitars did he want to keep with him for the night and he left soon after.

Did you have the chance to meet him again after that first encounter?

The Town And Country Club, London 1988. Different type of evening in that, upstairs in the bar after the show, Rory stood over on the corner of the bar a lot of the time on his own. I did speak to him, but it was very brief and I don’t think he stayed for as long as the other people. I sat at a table that included Mark Feltham and Brian Robertson, formally of Thin Lizzy.

What do you think set Rory apart from other blues and rock guitarists of his era?

Rory’s energy on stage was a major factor. The lack of gimmicks or the dreaded 20/25 song that some bands overdone. The mix of styles in his music from blues rock to country blues to acoustic Piedmont blues. He was one of the few artists I saw that played a lot of slide guitar, which fascinated me. Also he didn’t rely on an army of effect pedals to get his sound. I loved watching him play when you could see he was totally locked into the zone. Also he was a great educator to someone like me in that he taught you about older blues players when he covered other people’s material. Always doing those songs with his own slant on the material, never a straight like-for-like version.

Can you remember where you were when you heard the sad news of Rory’s passing? Were you able to attend his funeral or requiem mass?

I received a phone call from Hanna about 8-9pm.She got to the point straight away. There had been a very small paragraph in an Irish newspaper a number of weeks previous headlined ‘Rory’s Doing Fine’ detailing his liver transplant. I had a mixture of emotions ranging from sadness to anger to somehow it seemed inevitable. I never thought it looked good for Rory after witnessing the Town and Country Club show in 1992. News of Rory’s liver transplant had added to my fears for him. I travelled to Cork on the Sunday before the funeral, but I had just started a new job so I travelled back to Dublin that evening. I didn’t really want to see Rory’s coffin. I think it would have been too hard to witness.

How do you feel Rory has been remembered (or forgotten) in the wider music world? Is that how you’d like him to be remembered?

Well, at this present time, Rory is more popular now than in the last 10 years of his life, especially in places like Ireland and the UK. Dónal, Daniel and Eoin’s work with some great posthumous releases have kept the flame glowing. I think the likes of YouTube and RG.com have given younger audiences a chance to visualise Rory at a moment’s notice. Top musicians citing Rory as an influence and big media events like the sale of the guitars at Bonhams or Ballyshannon or the Joe Bonamassa shows in Cork bring the spotlight on Rory’s career and life that catches the public’s and media’s attention, so I think that’s good. What’s not good is that when Rory was still alive, he was as good as forgotten by the media, especially in the UK. But artists such as Robin Trower and Alvin Lee got the same treatment. I wish he was here to see how his profile has risen again.

What’s the most treasured Rory item you own and why?

Rory’s albums because of my passion for his music, which lead to the tours I saw and the great memories they have given me. Rory’s music has been the soundtrack to my life for the last 44 years and counting… and my postcard.

Quick Fire Round

1. Live in Europe or Irish Tour ’74?

Irish Tour ‘74

2. Rory with or without keyboards?

With keyboards. Lou Martin was superb

3. Rory’s Martin or National?

I love both guitars

4. Rory at Rockpalast or Montreux?

Rockpalast (Essen 1977, pure magic)

5. Vox or Marshall amp?

Vox

6. Taste Mark 1 or Mark 2?

Taste Mark 2 (because of On the Boards)

7. Rory as guest on Muddy Waters or Jerry Lee Lewis sessions?

Muddy Waters

8. Slide or fingerpicking?

Both (as they’re essential to his style)

9. ‘I Fall Apart’ or ‘A Million Miles Away’

I Fall Apart (my favourite song)

10. Sax or harmonica?

Harmonica