Gary Moore - RIP

On Sunday we lost another rock legend. Gary Moore, one of the world’s greatest guitarists died of a heart attack while on holiday in Spain.

He was 58 years old.

As well as playing guitar for Thin Lizzy on the momentous Black Rose album, he had a wonderful solo career, first as a rock guitarist and later, returning to his beloved blues.

I was fortunate enough to see Gary live in 1990 when he toured with his first blues album called “Still Got The Blues”. Initially I was disappointed because I expected him to play some of his rock classics, but as the concert progressed I was struck by how good a guitar player he was – in fact, one of the best I have seen.

It is a sad loss to the world of music and at such a relatively young age.

To help his memory live on in my own small way, I present to you my favourite songs featuring Gary Moore.

10. Led Clones – Gary Moore and Ozzy Osbourne

“After the War” is one of my favourite albums and features heavily in this top ten. “Led Clones” features the vocal talents of Ozzy Osbourne and one of my favourite drummers, Cozy Powell. The song bemoans the number of bands at the time who sounded like Led Zeppelin – hence the title. A great tune.

9. Thunder Rising – Gary Moore

“Wild Frontier” is my favourite album by Gary Moore and “Thunder Rising” is a magnificent rock anthem featuring Gary at his best. A wonderful excuse to get out your guitar.

8. After The War – Gary Moore

This is the title track to “After the War” and once again demonstrates that Gary could write a fabulous tune. Again it features the talents of Cozy Powell on the drums and offers you yet another excuse to haul out your air guitar.

7. Waiting For An Alibi – Thin Lizzy

This song is taken from the album “Black Rose”, one of the best albums by Thin Lizzy.

6. Midnight Blues – Gary Moore

When Gary Moore turned to the blues I was quite shocked but the album, “Still Got The Blues” is a superb album. My favourite song is “Midnight Blues” and is so solemn and tuneful that it brings a tear to my eyes, particularly given his passing. This is a superb song.

5. Take A Little Time – Gary Moore

Another powerful rock song from “Wild Frontier”. Time to get out that air guitar again.

4. Out In The Fields – Gary Moore and Phil Lynott

This was one of the last songs recorded by Phil Lynott and was quite sad just because of that fact. Nevertheless, it is a wonderful song featuring two absolute legends.

3. Friday On My Mind – Gary Moore

I love “Friday On My Mind”, particularly the version from “Pin Ups” by David Bowie. Gary Moore covered the song on “Wild Frontier” and turned it into a cracking rock song that surpassed both Bowie’s version and that of the Easybeats.

2. Blood Of Emeralds – Gary Moore

“Blood of Emeralds” is a masterpiece. It has a very Celtic feel to it, as you can probably guess from the title of the song. One of the best rock songs of the 1980’s. Sadly it nestled on the album “After the War” and, in my opinion would have made a superb single.

1. Over The Hills And Far Away – Gary Moore

“Over The Hills…” was the song that got me into Gary Moore. It was a single and I loved it from the moment I heard it. It is the first and best song on “Wild Frontier”. The album contains a longer version of this song with some blistering guitar.


Rest in peace , Gary – we’ll miss you.

Guitar Heroes - Alex Lifeson

In 1982, a friend of mine handed over a cassette tape labelled “Signals” and said “Listen to this! You will love it”. At the time I was willing to listen to all sorts of music so I popped it into my cassette player and pressed “play”.

I was hooked from the first note of the first song. “Who is this?” I asked incredulously.

“Rush,” he replied. “Good aren’t they?”

That was an understatement; they were and still are brilliant. I rushed out (if you’ll pardon the pun) and bought as many Rush albums as I could find. I couldn’t get enough of the band – I still can’t. I was lucky enough to see them at Birmingham NEC shortly afterwards and they left a lasting impression.

The Canadian trio have been my favourite band ever since.

Just about every milestone in my life since that point has a Rush song associated with it. When I listen to the Rush back catalogue, shivers run down my spine – even today. I have every album, including live ones, and have seen them four times in total. I would have seen them more often had they visited our shores more often. The last time was the tour accompanying their latest album “Snakes and Arrows” a year or two ago, and they were as good then as they were in the early 80’s.

All three members are musical geniuses:

Geddy Lee sings, plays a mean bass guitar as well as keyboards.

Neil Peart is one of the greatest drummers I have seen and writes all of the lyrics.

Alex Lifeson is the guitarist and one of the greatest I have seen. He has a unique style and complements the other band members perfectly. Obviously he plays guitar but he has also played bouzouki, mandolin and mandola on some of the more recent Rush albums. He has been responsible for some of the best solos I have heard or seen live. Apparently he is the joker of the band and has been known to have a rant during live performances of the classic “La Villa Strangiato”.

There are too many Rush songs to even begin to select a bunch of favourites – I love them all, every single one of them. So instead I will list my favourite Rush albums (in chronological order):

(1) 2112 (1976)
(2) Hemispheres (1978)
(3) Permanent Waves (1980)
(4) Moving Pictures (1981)
(5) Signals (1982)
(6) Power Windows (1985)
(7) Hold Your Fire (1987)
(8) Counterparts (1993)
(9) Vapor Trails (2002)
(10)Snakes And Arrows (2007)

I also love the remaining albums they have released.

I can’t wait for the next album and the next time the band tours – I really hope they come to Manchester again.

If you have never heard Rush I urge you to do so. I hope their music has the same effect on you as “Signals” had on me 27 years ago. I will leave you with Alex Lifeson and the band, performing “La Villa Strangiato” in 1978, a song that highlights just how brilliant Alex, Geddy and Neil are.

Guitar Heroes - Angus Young

I have decided to pepper my usual inane drivel with a few posts about my favourite guitar players. I would like to start with Angus Young, mainly because I went to see AC/DC at the Manchester Evening News Arena last night.

As incredible as the band were, I was particularly awestruck by Angus Young, a man who is in his fifties yet runs around the stage like a twenty year old and plays the guitar in an amazing way.

AC/DC have been a constant companion from my teenage years until now, yet bizarrely, last night was the first time I have seen them live. They delivered everything I expected and more. There I was singing along with Brian Johnson as he belted out a series of classic and new songs. I felt like a kid again. The man standing next to me kept glancing over, presumably because occasionally he heard my wailing out of tune voice. I didn’t care one jot.

Angus was in fine form and has inspired me to post about those axe men who have given me so much pleasure over the years.

I love most songs by the band but here are my favourite AC/DC songs in no particular order:

(1) Thunderstruck
(2) Let There Be Rock
(3) Whole Lotta Rosie
(4) For Those About To Rock (We Salute You)
(5) Dirty Deeds (Done Dirt Cheap)
(6) Touch Too Much
(7) Fire Your Guns
(8) Highway To Hell
(9) Safe In New York City
(10)Stiff Upper Lip

Here is a very young Angus Young in 1977 performing “Let There Be Rock” with the legendary Bon Scott on vocals. It doesn’t get much better than this.