Rory Gallagher remembered by Alvin Youngblood Hart, Rush not so much

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      Memphis bluesman Alvin Youngblood Hart's affinity for underrated '70s-rockers Thin Lizzy is well documented, as his 2005 album Motivational Speaker was partly meant as an homage to former Lizzy mainman Phil Lynott. Hart saw Thin Lizzy perform three times as a kid, including the lineup that boasted Gary Moore, who would invite Hart's band to open for his on a tour of Germany in 2009.

      But Hart's fondness for Irish rockers doesn't end with the members of the Emerald Isle's finest band. As he explained on the line from New Orleans last week, he was also huge into Rory Gallagher.

      "I was born on the same day as Rory, so it's mandatory," he said. "I got to see him once too, when I was a teenager. I was living in the Chicago area at the time, and it's funny—it was like he was only doing a few limited shows here in the States. At the venue where he was doing his show you had to be 21 to get in, and I couldn't get in, so we actually had to go see him open for Rush. We had to go see Rory Gallagher open for Rush, and that's all I'm gonna say to the Canadian press."

      At his peak in the '70s, Gallagher was known to blow headlining bands off the stage. He famously did this to Aerosmith in Central Park in '74. So did he do the same thing to Geddy Lee and Co. when Hart was in attendance? We'll never know.

      "We left after Rory was done, to tell you the truth."

      For more from Hart—including his thoughts on Vancouver roots great Steve Dawson, who he'll share the stage with at the Electric Owl on April 29—see this week's Georgia Straight. Read it on paper for that old-school Gallagher vibe.

      You can follow Steve Newton on Twitter at twitter.com/earofnewt.

      Comments

      1 Comments

      Ian G62

      Apr 26, 2012 at 2:47pm

      Hey Steve - come see my Thin Lizzy/Gary Moore influenced band play sometime

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