Irish Tour

Irish Tour '74 is a blues rock double-album by Rory Gallagher. The album was compiled from live recordings made at concerts on an Irish Tour in January 1974 at Belfast Ulster Hall, Dublin Carlton Cinema and Cork City Hall. "Back on My Stompin' Ground (After Hours)" was taken from a jam session during the tour on the Lane Mobile Unit. Irish Tour has sold in excess of two million copies worldwide.

An article in a Belfast daily newspaper stated: "Rory Gallagher never forgot Northern Ireland, he returned throughout the '70s when few other artists of his calibre dared not come near the place."^[2]

Background

Gallagher's 1974 tour of Ireland coincided with one of the most tumultuous times in Belfast. Violence was erupting throughout the city even at rock concerts. As a result, many rock acts refused to play in the city. Nevertheless, Gallagher included a stop in Belfast on the tour and was rewarded with one of his best shows.

Additionally, rock film director Tony Palmer filmed many of the concerts on the tour. He originally planned to use it for a television special, but he later found the footage so good that he released it as a theatrical motion picture. The accompanying album would be considered the "soundtrack" of the film.

Track listing

All tracks composed by Rory Gallagher unless stated.

1. "Cradle Rock" – 7:38
2. "I Wonder Who" (Morganfield) – 7:52
3. "Tattoo'd Lady" – 5:04
4. "Too Much Alcohol" (J. B. Hutto) – 8:30
5. "As the Crow Flies" (Tony Joe White) – 6:02
6. "A Million Miles Away" – 9:29
7. "Walk on Hot Coals" – 11:13
8. "Who's That Coming?" – 10:05
9. "Back on My Stompin' Ground (After Hours)" – 5:18
10. "Maritime" – 0:33

On the re-released (in a digital remastered) CD-version in 1998 there was the song "Just a Little Bit" as number 10 before "Maritime". This track is available as a bonus track on the remastered CD-version of Gallagher's 1973 album Tattoo. It is written by Rosco Gordon.

Personnel

• Rory Gallagher – vocals, guitar, harmonica
• Gerry McAvoy – bass guitar
• Lou Martin – keyboards
• Rod de'Ath – drums, percussion

Charts

Album

External links

• Information at the official page of Rory Gallagher
• Information at allmusic.com
• Information at cdUniverse.com

References

1. ^ Allmusic review
2. ^ rorygallagher.com
3. ^ allmusic.com