Gary Moore

[GuitarGeek]

Returning back to the original point of this thread, I listened to more of Gary's albums today:

G-Force: one of the first things he did after he left Thin Lizzy the third time, released in 1980, I believe. This was actually meant to by Gary's new band, but the group fizzled pretty quickly. Former Ian Gillan Band/Thin Lizzy Mark Nauseef is behind the drumkit, and the other two guys are named Willie Dee and Tony Newton. A decent record, but some of the tunes are a bit on the MOR side, to the point of even having strings on a couple of them. But at the same time, there's a couple bitchin' rockers, and he also had a bad ass cadenza on this record called White Knuckles.

Victims Of The Future: this is actually the first Gary Moore album I owned, but paradoxically, in my little survey, it's the last one I've listened to (until I get around to picking up the three solo records I haven't gotten yet, I think I'm gonna skip the blues records, at least for now anyway). This is probably his most hard rockin' album. Empty Rooms is the only real ballad (rendered much better than the rerecorded version that would appear on Run For Cover), though I suppose The Law Of The Jungle also sort of fits into that mold too. The rest of the record is bad ass, high energy rock n roll. Great cover of Shapes Of Things (though the live versions on We Want Moore! and Emerald Aisles are even better). Murder In The Skies and Victims Of The Future itself are also pretty awesome too.

I think maybe the reason none of these records made much of a mark on the Stateside market, again, I think comes back to the issue of being pigeonholed. You've got this mix of very MOR-ish pop songs with decidedly not MOR-ish hard rockers. These records must have been a nightmare for the promo team at his label to push (assuming of course that the label even bothered letting the promo team know about them).

[kid_runningfox]

See, I remember reading a brief reference that Gorham had a heroin problem, but the two times I've seen him talk about the band breaking up, he doesn't mention that. I suppose it's his business if he doesn't want to talk about his (hopefully) former habits. But if that was a factor in the band's breakup, it would make sense to at least acknowledge he had problems that he couldnt' deal with properly if he stayed in the band. I mean, he doesn't have to say "Oh yeah, I was a full blown junkie, I wouldn't be sitting here if I had stayed in that band". He could just say "Yeah, I had some health issues that I couldn't deal with if I stayed in the band", ya know, like the talk of Bill Ward's early 80's "health problems" (which I believe I read were of the alcoholic variety).

As for Sykes, it's interesting that Coverdale was willing to pay him so much money to join Whitesnake, but then just a couple years later, he fires the guy (along with the rest of the band that made the 1987 album).

Gorham talks about his problems and decision to quit Lizzy in Mark Putterford's biography of Lynott, The Rocker, originally published in the early 90s. It's an interesting read, and covers quite well Lynott's post-Lizzy activities, as well as the TL years.

[kid_runningfox]

Returning back to the original point of this thread, I listened to more of Gary's albums today:

G-Force: one of the first things he did after he left Thin Lizzy the third time, released in 1980, I believe. This was actually meant to by Gary's new band, but the group fizzled pretty quickly. Former Ian Gillan Band/Thin Lizzy Mark Nauseef is behind the drumkit, and the other two guys are named Willie Dee and Tony Newton. A decent record, but some of the tunes are a bit on the MOR side, to the point of even having strings on a couple of them. But at the same time, there's a couple bitchin' rockers, and he also had a bad ass cadenza on this record called White Knuckles.

Victims Of The Future: this is actually the first Gary Moore album I owned, but paradoxically, in my little survey, it's the last one I've listened to (until I get around to picking up the three solo records I haven't gotten yet, I think I'm gonna skip the blues records, at least for now anyway). This is probably his most hard rockin' album. Empty Rooms is the only real ballad (rendered much better than the rerecorded version that would appear on Run For Cover), though I suppose The Law Of The Jungle also sort of fits into that mold too. The rest of the record is bad ass, high energy rock n roll. Great cover of Shapes Of Things (though the live versions on We Want Moore! and Emerald Aisles are even better). Murder In The Skies and Victims Of The Future itself are also pretty awesome too.

I think maybe the reason none of these records made much of a mark on the Stateside market, again, I think comes back to the issue of being pigeonholed. You've got this mix of very MOR-ish pop songs with decidedly not MOR-ish hard rockers. These records must have been a nightmare for the promo team at his label to push (assuming of course that the label even bothered letting the promo team know about them).

Ironically, Moore toured pretty heavily in the US during that period - not least as support to Rush on the Grace Under Pressure tour (I think). I always got the impression he went down pretty well on those dates, and certainly got on very well with the guys in Rush.

[iguana]

wow, four pages in and no mention of gary moore’s sizable contributions to greg lake’s first two post-ELP solo albums (“gl” & “manoeuvres”) …

to me GM was one of the defining guitar heroes of the 1980s before and besides the GIT/shred genepool … a glorious player but often verging on the border to juvenile posering. his so-called blues albums are among some of the whitest music that i know. he had a few albums out in the 1990s when his profile became slightly lower where he experimented with some of the trip hop and drum&bass stuff that was so in vogue then. i rather liked these … he actually charted new depths to his vocals and guitar approach without the slightly obnoxious overachiever attitude that he often cultivated. a shout-out for these from me. RiP.

[GuitarGeek]

Gorham talks about his problems and decision to quit Lizzy in Mark Putterford's biography of Lynott, The Rocker, originally published in the early 90s. It's an interesting read, and covers quite well Lynott's post-Lizzy activities, as well as the TL years.

I'll have to look for that book. I know there's been a couple books written about the band over the years, but I've never read any of them. I'll have to check what Amazon has available.

[SteveSly]

I'll have to look for that book. I know there's been a couple books written about the band over the years, but I've never read any of them. I'll have to check what Amazon has available.

It has been a long time since I read it, but it is a very good book.

[SteveSly]

Not really true in the 70s. In 1976, they had a hit album on their hands with Jailbreak, which was all over FM radio. The record company put a lot of support behind them, both on behalf of Jailbreak and the follow up, Johnny The Fox. Their momentum faded after that, and things went tits up, but for a year or so in the mid-70s, they were quite visible.

I agree, Quo never really had a hit in the U.S. that I ever remember anywhere close to the level of "Jailbreak".

[Mythos]

I am a fan of "Vagabonds" and think it is a really solid Lizzy album.

I knew sooner or later we would agree on something...Cheers..!

[GuitarGeek]

I agree, Quo never really had a hit in the U.S..

Ahem! This went to number 12 in Billboard, in 1967:

[kid_runningfox]

G-Force: one of the first things he did after he left Thin Lizzy the third time, released in 1980, I believe. This was actually meant to by Gary's new band, but the group fizzled pretty quickly. Former Ian Gillan Band/Thin Lizzy Mark Nauseef is behind the drumkit, and the other two guys are named Willie Dee and Tony Newton. A decent record, but some of the tunes are a bit on the MOR side, to the point of even having strings on a couple of them. But at the same time, there's a couple bitchin' rockers, and he also had a bad ass cadenza on this record called White Knuckles

Not a bad album - and it contains some of Moore's most ferocious playing. However, the sound quality (on my cd copy at least) is atrocious and some of the guitar sounds like it was recorded straight into the desk with the channel gain maxed out. Not a pleasant sound. At all.

[SteveSly]

Ahem! This went to number 12 in Billboard, in 1967:

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I guess I was talking more about a hit album than a single. True, "matchstick" was a big hit single for Quo, but that was about the extent of it in this country. Lizzy had been building an audience as an opening / club act through the 70's, and "Jailbreak" was a pretty big album in rock circles. "Boys Are Back In Town" was a huge hit and several other tracks like "Cowboy Song" got significant airplay on rock radio. It just seemed like Lizzy were poised to really hit the big time, but it never happened. I never had that feeling with Quo. Other than 'Matchstick Men" I am not sure that I have ever heard a Quo song on the radio. Lizzy got at least some AOR airplay off of most of their albums up to the end.