Artist: Gallagher, Rory
Label: RCA Records
Released: 1973
Rating: 3.5/5
In mid-1972, Gallagher’s rowdy band of blues troubadours grew almost overnight from a trio into a foursome of razor-sharp warriors. As far as Rory was concerned, the lineup shake-up couldn’t have come at a better time. After six years of intense sweating it out in a trio, where the mischievous Irishman’s guitar wizardry was always the main driving force, the arrival of drum master Rod de’Ath and, above all, the excellent ex-Killing Floor keyboardist Lou Martin was an increasingly welcome breath of fresh air. Gallagher was once again facing a challenge of a special kind. This time he was going up against a tight-knit musical unit for the first time, one that had not just listenability but also plenty of unbridled creative drive and, most importantly, the right dose of courage and headstrong ruthlessness, which alone lets a musician freely lay bare his own ideas and notions. The result of this overture to a five-year odyssey, which we can today undoubtedly call the guitarist’s most prolific period, is Blueprint, a surprisingly focused record despite all its pioneering enthusiasm, and for a musician like Gallagher perhaps even a little too reserved in mood.
True to its title, Blueprint is an album with a strongly “bluish” stamp, presenting Rory in his traditionally excellent form. It’s opened by a potential favorite, in what we might call the early phase of the guitarist’s solo career, of an already colorful live repertoire. Walk On Hot Coals brims with Rory’s typical humor and the astonishing sensuality of the man’s guitar playing. It’s more than a fitting moment to debut Rod’s wily delivery of his unique rhythmic patterns, whose finesse, intensity and, above all, independent character squeeze an avalanche of colorful riffs of Gallagher’s best playing out of him right from the start. With the fantastic Baker’s Blues, Rory’s curt, cutting take on bluesy motifs, in his exploration of the roots of this unpredictable genre, takes him far away from the conventionality of the opening track. Thanks to the humor and, above all, the good-natured chatter of Rory’s harmonica, the old Big Bill Broonzy tune gives Gallagher’s musical image a new dimension, which is then crowned by the brazen, this time more rock-flavored Hands Off. Rory stays faithful to tradition with the country-minded stretching out of Race The Breeze and the melancholic, slide-driven If I Had A Reason, while the high point of this endearingly carefree wandering across the endless Texan plains is the brilliantly capricious acoustic instrumental Unmilitary Two-Step, another vivid display of Rory’s musical humor.
Following the example of its predecessors, Blueprint again can’t avoid a focused flirtation with tender themes. One of them is Daughter Of The Everglades, which is among Gallagher’s most melodic creations, and where Lou Martin, in exceptionally good “keyboard” spirits, makes a stronger mark for the first time. Daughter Of The Everglades offers a melancholic glimpse into the torn inner world of the young Gallagher, and after the “daughter’s” shattering emotional outpouring, its contrasting nature is somewhat roughly underlined by the blunt Seventh Son Of A Seventh Son, by far the most aggressive piece on what is probably the most appealing of all Gallagher’s albums for mere mortals and other anti-blues “cowards”, though with a more substantial production and a more rational use of the undoubted qualities of both “apprentices”, it could have sounded a lot better!
Lineup
Rory Gallagher: vocals, guitar, harmonica, mandolin
Gerry McAvoy: bass
Lou Martin: keyboards, guitar
Rod de’Ath: drums
Production
Rory Gallagher
Track list
1.Walk On Hot Coals
2.Daughter Of The Everglades
3.Banker’s Blues
4.Hands Off
5.Race The Breeze
6.Sevent Son Of The Seventh Son
7.Unmilitary Two-Step
8.If I Had Reason
