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This
was a short interview on Irish radio from London (12 April 1989) and the
following is part of it (unfortunately I missed part of the beginning).
Anyway, Dave Fanning interviewed Rory Gallagher in Irish Radio from London
12th April 1989.
Ed
Casey IRL Dublin
DF What are your ambitions for
the future?
Do you think you will still
be playing at an old age?
RG If you feel at the age of
"X", you have had enough, then that's it, but a lot of the old Mississippi
Blues artists had actually retired until the Blues revivalists discovered
them again the 60's - os I would like to be a cross between Eddie Cochran,
Chuck Berry and B.B. King.
DF But Eddie Cochran is dead
and Chuck Berry hasn't recorded since the 60's.
RG Well, you have a point, but
it's still my dream to be a cross of all these great artists.
DF So might there come a time
when you just won't like the road anymore and as I was in Dublin last Monday
night and I missed the gig at the Mean Fiddler. I heard it was a
brilliant show and someone said you prefer the smaller venues.
RG Oh, it was great. And for
a start, the band was on form, they were really cooking and I was really
coasting with them, and without sounding corny. Raymond Chandler
once said when you start analyzing what you do, you get away from simplicity
and I'm trying to work at it, and with luck, I'll get there. Plus you see
I write a lot of material also. And I take these songs very seriously.
They are not just vehicles to me and the band to get off on, like the rockers
and the last album was really the Van Gough album. You know, the cutting
of the ear job, so the next one is sounding good and will heal all that.
So once that's out of the way, I feel that I'll be on top again.
DF You call it your Van Gough-
Defender-
would you take it one step further and call it your masterpiece in terms
of success. Was it your most successful album of the '80's? I mean,
last year, 1988, in Sounds, you were listed as one of the best musicians
and you hadn't been there for ages, so it brought you back into the limelight.
RG Yes, it was my most successful
and it did bring me back into the Reader's Poll, but I have never believed
in Ronnie Delaney was the best guitarist, etc, etc, etc. It's bad luck
for me to comment, but it is a morale boost for me when you see your name
in with guys like Prince, etc. And unlike the polls of the 70's when it
was XYZ as the best guitarists or drummers- nowadays in terms of achievement,
it seems to be who is just in front and have the edge in communication-
the usual rock and roll termination.
DF What is the scene with the
Rory Gallagher band at the moment - I mean that was a one-off gig on Monday,
but are you going to be touring this year?
RG Oh yes. We have enough work
out there to keep us going. There is a tour of Australia and Japan, New
Zealand, but the priority is really the next album. I want to get this
out of the way, the followup to Defender. Not as son of Defender,
but very much an independent project, but we will be doing some festival
on the continent, some major ones and we are also doing one behind the
iron curtain, if one exists in Estonia at Talon and we're doing some dates
in Ireland and some festivals here. But in terms of long drawn out back-to-back
tours, I think we will keep these for the winter months 'cause the next
album is priority for me even though we learned a lot - we got a lot of
good things on Defender- I think we can go on better on the new
one and we are going to use a lot of primitive equipment! I'm just hooked
on the old classics ie: songs from the 40's, 50's,60',70's. Even though
I like modern music- it's the oldies I prefer.
DF So we are going to see a followup
to Defender, when? The end of the year?
RG Oh yes, definitely as it's
been nearly two years since Defender. So this year, the new one
is out.
DF Well great! Rory, I'm afraid
we are falling behind on time, so we have a few more people to interview
also. SO I think we will just play another track from Defender-
Once again, Rory thanks for coming in to talk to us tonight for RTE2 Radio.
RG It was my pleasure, Dave.
DF That was the great Rory Gallagher,
ladies and gentlemen, thanks again for talking to us Rory.
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