airwreck335

Rory Gallagher
Calling Card
(Chrysalis)

I file all my records alphabetically.

I file my Rory Gallagher records under "G" for Gallagher. Even if I filed my records under a system other than alphabetical, such as Good/ Average/Disco, for example, Rory Gallagher would still be filed 'under "G" but under this system it would be "G" for Good and not "G" for Gallagher. But then I like my Rory Gallagher records quite a bit and so I'd always be wasting time debating over whether to create a new classification for them such as "E" for Excellent or "Gr',' for Great. You can see how complicated it all would become. So I file all my records alphabetically. BUT WHO CARES ANYWAY?

Well, no one should care, of course. The only point of the first paragraph was to recreate in your mind a fresh attitude of APATHY.

"WHY BOTHER," is what your mind will shout to itself if my first paragraph actually succeeded in instilling a fresh attitude of APATHY.

Listen, I went to all this trouble to instill a fresh attitude of APATHY because that seems to be the attitude that everybody cops whenever anyone is discussing Rory Gallagher records, or indeed, the topic of Rory Gallagher in general. Exactly why no one seems to give a rat fuck about Rory Gallagher is a puzzle to me, but then that's the magic of mass APATHY; it defies reason.

It seems unreasonable to me that Rory Gallagher isn't a bigger rock star than he actually is. Rory Gallagher was asked to join the god damn Rolling Stones, for crissake! The Greatest Rock 'n' Roll Band In The World cared about Rory Gallagher, cared enough in fact, to ask him to join their band. I mean if the frickin' Rolling Stones can get that excited about Rory Gallagher then why can't you, Mr., Mrs., and Ms. John Q. Public?!

Perhaps instead of passing out swine flu shots the government should administer mass ear inspections to make sure everyone can actually hear all the incredibly scratchy blues licks that Rory Gallagher is picking. But even

mass ear inspections may not be enough to break the wall of APATHY that imprisons Rory Gallagher 'cause people have to want to listen before they can hear anything and it's the nature of APATHY that renders people want-less. Oh, poor poor, L' Rory Gallagher ... better that people hate you than for you to face all this indifference.

What a shame, Rory Gallagher, you can really play that guitar and your voice scrapes the soul with its just finished two pints of Jack Daniel's quality, but no one cares. No one cares. Rory Gallagher is probably crying over a bottle of Guinness' Stout right this minute. He's so alone.

And it wont even do any good for me to write about Rory Gallagher's shiny new disc full of hot blue licks. It won't do any good to write that the album starts with a patter of drum beats that will knock you back to 1953 Chicago. No one cares enough about Rory Gallagher to be knocked back, anyway, so I shouldn't even bother to draw an analogy between Rory Gallagher and J.B. Hutto, and say nice things like Rory Gallagher has taken the blues raunch guitar style to a new destination. Or that Rory Gallagher's composition, "Country Mile," chugs down the tracks like Aerosmith's "Train Kept A' Rollin' " never did.

Why bother to write anything on Rory Gallagher's really funny song called "Secret Agent" about jealous/paranoid/lover type characters. No one will give a poop, probably not even jealous/paranoid/ lover type characters. Yeah, Rory Gallagher cries with more soul on "Edged In Blue" than Clapton ever did, but it seems that nobody cares ... not even Clapton. Rory Gallagher even finishes his album with a comedy number, (which may be an emerging trend in rock albums, cf. Bob Seger's Night Moves), about getting drunk and pissing on your shoes while standing on your head. But what's the use, anyway?

When Rory Gallagher comes calling with his Calling Card, most people won't care enough to get up and open the door. Look, you may be filing this critic under "A" for Asshole, instead of "A" for Air Wreck, but everybody has got to care about something and I happen to care about Rory Gallagher 'cause he's more fun to care about than Guatamalian earthquake victims with their heads pinned under a ton of adobe and chicken feathers, or whatever.
Air Wreck Genheimer

This article comes from the March 1977 issue of CREEM
photo comes from an unknown source
reformatted by roryfan

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added 8/27/06