Quotes from Rory Gallagher

I think rock should always stay a little bit outside the pale; I think it should remain a little bit dangerous - a little bit ornery, as the Americans say.

I was just fascinated by the blues.

In the first band I was ever in, we all had to wear a matching grey suit. I hated that.

Audiences aren't that different for my show from area to area. Other acts, I think, experiences differences, but not me.

One of the things that was crucial for me I got from Rory Gallagher, which was the idea of, like, being a guitar player for life and living it.

The strange thing is I can't play jigs or reels or any of that traditional Irish stuff as well as I ought to, whereas I think I have got a good ear for blues, the tonality of it and so on.

I could bear being in the charts and being on everyone's car radio 10 times a day. I'm just terrified of... a lot of people I respect have done it with a real little 'ditty' and that was the end of it - that was all they were ever known for.

The difficulties people have with me are purely musical things, never personality things. But, you know that's just the way it goes. I like to get things right!

Basically, I like anything with guts - Lead Belly, Bill Big Broonzy, Johnny Winter, the Stones.

Even though I was a rock 'n' roll fan, hearing the raw blues was like listening to music on a much deeper kind of level.

I've been playing a Fender since 1963, and before that it was my dream guitar. I can't endorse it more than that.

If somebody needed a guitar player for a tour and I was free and it was the right situation, I'd do it and it would be good fun. There would be much less pressure if I just had to stand there and play leads.

The first songs I learned were 'It Takes a Worried Man' and Woody Guthrie's 'Grand Coulee Dam,' 'Rock Island Line' - those kind of American folk songs that were probably on the edge of blues. After that was Eddie Cochran and Chuck Berry songs. And then I heard Muddy Waters, Jimmy Reed and Big Bill Broonzy on the radio.

When I listen to something, I like to be taken out of my seat and thrown across the room. If it sounds good and feels good, that's it.

Playing live is my natural element. It's too hard to relax in the studio because there are too many options. It's just not as exciting.

I've never commercialized my music. I've seen that ruin too many people who think two-minute ditties are the answer.

Playing live is much more natural for me. The instant reaction and the feedback from the audience is great for me. I really relish it. And if you play blues-based music, it's not really academic music or recital music. It really needs a bit of atmosphere and a bit of interplay and a bit of roughness, and you really get that with an audience.

Touring doesn't have to be a harried, cliched way of life.

I didn't grow up working on 24-track - the first two Taste albums were eight-track and we always had tracks left over - we couldn't believe it, either!

I spend most of my time in London but I come back to Ireland whenever I can.

There was nobody in the city I came from - Cork, Ireland - that I could link up with to teach me the guitar.

Basically, I try to treat the electric guitar like an acoustic guitar. What you have to do is attack the instrument and know that your feelings aren't controlled by the controls of your guitar.

In my opinion, the P-90 is the best pickup for slide - it has the right overtones.

The best slide guitar, unless you're playing the Muddy Waters-style, is the old '52 Goldtop Les Paul.