| Irish Tour 1974 | |
|---|---|
| Directed by | Tony Palmer |
| Produced by | Donal Gallagher |
| Starring | Rory Gallagher, Gerry McAvoy, Lou Martin, Rod de'Ath |
| Music by | Rory Gallagher |
| Cinematography | Les Young |
| Distributed by | Eagle Vision |
| |
| 57 min. | |
| Language | English |
Rory Gallagher: Irish Tour '74 (1974) 1 hr 27 min. The iconic concert performed by Irish blues rocker Rory Gallagher in Ireland at a time of peak turmoil there between Protestants and Catholics. The original Irish Tour ’74 was a two-record set with three sides dedicated to the soundtrack of the Irish Tour ’74 film by Tony Palmer the tour, and a fourth side that featured jam sessions. The Special Edition features the full Cork show, while the boxset has six CDs of live material recorded in Cork, Dublin, and Belfast, a seventh disc. Irish Tour ’74 40th Anniversary Edition. October 20th 2014 will see the 40th anniversary expanded deluxe edition release of one of Rory Gallagher’s most celebrated recordings. Sony Music / Legacy Recordings is proud to announce the release of Rory Gallagher’s legendary Irish Tour ‘74. The most expansive edition to date, of this landmark.
Irish Tour '74 is a film directed by Tony Palmer. It documents Rory Gallagher's tour of Ireland in 1974. Gallagher toured at a time of great political turmoil and violence. Gallagher's band at the time was Gerry McAvoy on bass guitar, Lou Martin on keyboards and Rod de'Ath on drums.[1]
Background[edit]
Tony Palmer was a founder of BBC Four's Kaleidoscope radio programme.[2] Palmer first came into contact with Rory Gallagher when he filmed Cream's Farewell Concert in 1968. Gallagher was the front man for the band Taste at the time and Taste opened for Cream at that concert. Palmer decided to film the concerts on Gallagher's next Irish tour. He originally planned to use the footage for a television special, but he later found it so good that he released it as a theatrical motion picture. Gallagher also released a double album that was considered the soundtrack of the film.
Gallagher's 1974 tour of Northern Ireland coincided with one of the most tumultuous times in the region. Violence from Irish Republican Army terrorists was erupting throughout the region at public events such as rock concerts. In this environment most groups didn't tour the region but Gallagher continued his tour as planned to BelfastUlster Hall, Dublin Carlton Cinema, and Cork City Hall. The day before Gallagher's scheduled concert in Belfast ten bombs went off at various locations around the city. Everyone expected Gallagher to cancel as all the other big names had but he went on with the concert. A local Belfast journalist writing to describe the concert said:
'I've never seen anything quite so wonderful, so stirring, so uplifting, so joyous as when Gallagher and the band walked on stage. The whole place erupted, they all stood and they cheered and they yelled, and screamed, and they put their arms up, and they embraced. Then as one unit they put their arms into the air and gave peace signs. Without being silly, or overemotional, it was one of the most memorable moments of my life. It all meant something, it meant more than just rock n' roll, it was something bigger, something more valid than just that.'[3]
Overview[edit]
Irish Tour 74 Rare
The film opens with large waves crashing against a rocky Irish coast. Rising up in volume eventually over powering the waves is the sound of Gallagher's guitar as he leads into the first song Walk on Hot Coals. The camera cuts to concert footage of Gallagher and the band playing the song. The film then alternates between various interviews backstage and in locations around Gallagher's home town with performances. Each song is performed complete. Gallagher and the band perform Tattoo'd Lady, Who's That Coming?, and A Million Miles Away. For the next song, a traditional blues number Goin' to My Home Town Gallagher performs mostly on his own with a mandolin. He calls out to the audience 'do you want to go?' and they reply enthusiastically. During that song the film cuts between the concert footage and footage of British army trucks rolling through Belfast and British soldiers clashing with local residents. After that song the film cuts to footage of Gallagher in his native Cork. He walks the streets, signs autographs and talks with people about music and guitars in a local music shop. The next song Cradle Rock is back to blues rock then Gallagher performs an acoustic folk number As The Crow Flies. The finale of the film (as it often was for Gallagher's concerts at the time) is the hard driving Bullfrog Blues with virtuoso guitar playing from Gallagher and a chance for each member of the band to solo as well.
Scene listing[edit]
All songs composed by Rory Gallagher unless stated
- Intro of waves crashing on Irish coast
- Walk on Hot Coals – 1:07
- Backstage interviews with Gallagher and band – 7:32
- Tattoo'd Lady – 15:18
- Gallagher demonstrates slide guitar techniques - 20:15
- Who's That Coming? - 21:48
- Gallagher in his home town – 30:05
- A Million Miles Away – 30:58
- Goin' to My Home Town (Traditional arranged by Gallagher) – 38:00
- Gallagher in a music store – 43:12
- Cradle Rock – 46:00
- Jam session with Gallagher and band – 52:02
- Gallagher demonstrates blues guitar techniques – 54:50
- As the Crow Flies (Tony Joe White) – 57:50
- Hands Off – 1:02:11
- Backstage with Gallagher and band – 1:06:40
- Jamming in the pub – 1:11:44
- Bullfrog Blues (William Harris) – 1:15:17
- End of concert and credits – 1:22:39
Personnel[edit]
- Rory Gallagher – vocals, guitar, harmonica
- Gerry McAvoy – bass guitar
- Lou Martin – keyboards
- Rod de'Ath – drums
- Tony Palmer - director
- Donal Gallagher - producer
References[edit]
- ^Thompson, Dave. 'Rory Gallagher Irish Tour 1974 (DVD)'. Allmusic.com. Retrieved 21 June 2013.CS1 maint: discouraged parameter (link)
- ^Connaughton, Marcus (2012-09-07). Rory Gallagher: His Life and Times. Collins Press. p. 86. ISBN9781848891531.
- ^HOLLINGWORTH, ROY. 'MM MAN REPORTS FROM ROCK-STARVED BELFAST'. rorygallagher.com. Retrieved 18 June 2013.CS1 maint: discouraged parameter (link)
Irish Tour 74 Cradle Rock
Google uses cookies and data to:- Deliver and maintain services, like tracking outages and protecting against spam, fraud, and abuse
- Measure audience engagement and site statistics to understand how our services are used
- Improve the quality of our services and develop new ones
- Deliver and measure the effectiveness of ads
- Show personalized content, depending on your settings
- Show personalized or generic ads, depending on your settings, on Google and across the web
Click “Customize” to review options, including controls to reject the use of cookies for personalization and information about browser-level controls to reject some or all cookies for other uses. You can also visit g.co/privacytools anytime.