Rory Gallagher – Ireland’s first rock star remembered by the brother who managed him

You forget how huge and ubiquitous Rory Gallagher was in the ‘70s, just 22 at the Isle of Wight and auditioning for the Stones four years later, an inspiration for Johnny Marr, Andy Partridge, the Edge, Slash and countless others. And for his brother and manager Dónal - “it was a big wide world I wasn’t going to see unless I hung onto his coattails”. He’s just published a memoir, ‘Edged In Blue, A Rock’n’Roll Odyssey with Rory Gallagher’, and looks back here at some of the highlights, these among them …

… watching Six-Five Special through a closed TV shop window at night and adding vocals to entertain the crowd

… hearing jazz, Lonnie Donegan and Big Bill Broonzy on Forces Radio in Ireland

… auditioning for the Stones in 1974

… joining the Fontana Showband aged 15 playing ceilidh, Chuck Berry and Georgie Fame

… Taste on the chaotic Blind Faith US tour when Ginger Baker attacked the security

… when Johnny Marr and Joe Bonamassa asked to borrow his old guitars

… and “the BBC’s most recorded artist of the ‘70s” and managing his expanding legacy.

Order ‘Edged in Blue: A Rock 'n' Roll Odyssey with Rory Gallagher’ here: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Edged-Blue-Rock-Odyssey-Gallagher/dp/1786052539

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