ZZ: What about
your
contemporaries -do you try to keep up with what's going on at the
moment?
Rory: Up to a point.. ..I keep my ears
open. Keith Richard always gives me a kick -he's a good mean guitarist
who doesn't mess about. He always keeps his grit, but still manages to
move on. Martin Carthy. ... Bert Jansch. ...Davy Graham. ...I think
that
the acoustic guitarists in Britain are a little ahead of the electric
ones,
or maybe it's just because we hear the electric ones more often and
we're
used to hearing them play well.
ZZ: What about
singers?
Rory: Well, Muddy again, Dylan, Willie
Johnson, Eddie Cochran. ...so many people I think I probably have a
tendency
to get used to hearing some bands and I don't give them the credit they
deserve... ..their names don't spring to my mind. Let's see. .. I like
Steeleye Span, the Stones, Rod Stewart, Jansch sings nicely. I reckon
the
old blues guys, especially Muddy, are pretty difficult to beat.
ZZ: Let's talk
briefly
about Ireland; do you feel that London's your home now?
Rory: I'm domiciled here. ...it's a place
to hang out, but I can't regard it as my home. I'm always thinking
about
Ireland, but I get home fairly often, so it's not too bad. I mean,
that's
not to say I don't appreciate London. ...you'd probably feel the same
if
you came from Derby.
photograph by Barrie Wentzell
ZZ: What about the
group scene over there?
Rory: Well, the troubles in the North don't
help, of course, but it's improving steadily. Skid Row, Thin Lizzy, the
Woods Band and various others have come over here to have a go.
ZZ: I know you
can't
generalise, but it seems that most bands coming over from Ireland have
a Rory type feel to them....as if they're treading the path of a great
pioneer.
Rory: Now come on, you don't think I could
be as presumptuous and pompous as to
agree to a statement like that. There are
all sorts of different bands. ...a wealth of
music from hard rock to the folk scene,
which is particularly rich. I think that most rock musicians have the
urge
to make it,and that usually involves coming to England, but recently
the
gig scene has improved and bands aren't so anxious to leave Ireland...
they're taking their time and getting more experience before stepping
out
too far. The scene where you~had-to-make-it-before- you-were-twenty has
been superceded by a much more relaxed state of affairs where musicians
are musicians and age is unimportant. It's a much more pleasant and
satisfactory
state of affairs.
ZZ: What about
your
recent pioneering tour of America -did you manage to see anything
except
the insides of hotels and dark auditoriums? Like, did you see the seamy
side of America at all ?
Rory: Well, Detroit was probably a tough
area, but the odd days that we did have off were usually in milder
cities
where the violence wasn't so evident. We played five nights at the
Whiskey
in LA, two sets a night, and that was good. ...then we moved back to
the
east coast for a while, and on to Chicago.
ZZ: Did you get to
see any bluesmen there, or was it too perilous for a white kid to
penetrate
the clubs?
Rory: I saw Hound Dog Taylor -he was just
great... played and sang through a little Fender amp. That was at
Peppers
Lounge, which is apparently the only blues club you can safely go to
these
days, what with all the tension, and that seemed to be pretty much of a
borderline case as far as safety went. Then we had a blow with awhite
band
called Siegal Schwall, whichwas nice. They're a nice folkie, acoustic
blues
band.. ...great harmonica player.. .. and they showed us around, took
us
to the pawn shops and so on. Then we went back to New York and off home.
ZZ: Was it a well
promoted and organised tour?
Rory: It wasn't the best tour as far as
promotion went, but I can't really complain because we were only third
on the bill.Like, a typical bill was Frank Zappa, Mylon, and then us.
but
maybe it'll be a bit better the next time.
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