Gary Moore, Tribute to a Fallen Hero
Alastair Green has recently toured as far as Russia, Israel and Poland with the Alan Parsons Live Project. And, working with Alan has allowed Alastair to rethink and redo some of his guitar playing. Alastair shares there are times to be a guitar artist, and there are times to respect the original versions of a song. It is important to wear both hats-artist and interpeter.
Read on as Alastair shares the impact that Gary Moore had on his guitar playing:
One of my heroes,….Irish Blues Rock guitarist and vocalist Gary Moore passed away at the age of 58 while on vacation in Spain.
I was aware of Gary in the 80s as he was well known as a hard rock guitarist who I heard had spent time in the great Irish rock band Thin Lizzy. I didn’t gravitate to his music at this time but knew he was a force to be reckoned with.
In 1990 (the same year Stevie Ray Vaughan passed away) Gary released the now classic album “Still Got The Blues” with the hit ballad of the same name being a rock radio staple for years.
It was a return to the music that originally inspired him to pick up the guitar and he spent most of the following 2 decades recording his unique and blistering brand of hard rocking blues.
I saw him on the David Letterman show at this time in what must have been 1990 or 1991 and have been a fan ever since, buying CDs, DVDs, cassettes, vinyl, and VHS tapes.
As with many of the great blues rock players he always pointed the way back to the pioneers of the genre and brought in his heroes to play with him on records and at concerts including Albert King, Albert Collins, and B.B. King.
Gary in large part was an aggressive guitarist and vocalist and I imagine he didn’t appeal to those that don’t dig the loud and sometimes bombastic style of blues rock that he was known for. I loved it. He had the quintessential Gibson Les Paul plugged into a cranked up Marshall amp tone that many seek and few attain. As a guitar player he had an amazing feel, vibrato, and his phrasing was impeccable. He was also capable of incredible speed and precision which when mixed with his sense of melody was breathtaking. Gary was also known for his ballads in which he would simply make the guitar weep beautifully. Not only was Gary a big inspiration and influence to me but he was an integral part of turning me onto and appreciating the great music and guitar playing of Peter Green (who founded the English blues band Fleetwood Mac).
Gary even recorded an entire album of Peter Green songs called “Blues for Greeny” (using Green’s famous Les Paul which he had sold to Moore many years prior) which helped inspire me to record my own version of the Green composition “Merry-Go-Round” for my “Walking in Circles” CD.
A few other CDs that I would highly recommend would be Thin Lizzy’s “Blackrose” album, Gary’s own live CD called “Blues Alive”‘ and a collaboration with Cream alumni Ginger Baker and Jack Bruce called BBM (Bruce, Baker, Moore) whose “Around the Next Dream” album is a clinic in pure power trio blues rock guitar playing and singing. Seriously, that album is one of my favorite blues rock records of all time.
I never got a chance to see Gary Moore perform live as he didn’t tour the States much recently but there are tons of great videos on DVD and YouTube. I’d like to share with you the very moment I became aware of his power and became a fan,…from the David Letterman show,…I give you the incomparable, the burning, the blazing, the late great Gary Moore.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qZvUILqFqcw&feature=youtube_gdata_player
It is with a heavy heart that I find myself saying,…thank you for all the wonderful music you passed our way Gary. You will be missed.
Thanks for reading,
-Alastair
For more info on the life and career of Gary Moore you can go here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gary_Moore
AG Links:
AG live music videos on YOUTUBE
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