Blueprint

by Rory Gallagher

Overview

Kicking off with the furious "Walk on Hot Coals" where Rory Gallagher's stinging guitar and Lou Martin's insistent piano pounding spar within the context of one of Rory's classic rockers, the album presents a well rounded picture of Gallagher's eclectic influences. A jaunty, acoustic run through Big Bill Broonzy's "Banker's Blues" (oddly credited to Gallagher), the ragtime "Unmilitary Two-Step" as well as an unusually straightforward country tune "If I Had a Reason" with Rory on lap-steel and Martin doing his best honky-tonk, effectively break up the blues-rock that remains the soul of the album. The album's centerpiece, a brooding "Seventh Son of a Seventh Son" finds the band locked into a swampy groove for over eight minutes as Gallagher abbreviates his own solo providing room for Martin's aggressive piano. On "Hands Off" the guitarist even picks up saxophone, and he shows off his spooky Muddy Waters' inspired slide on the train chugging "Race the Breeze," one of the guitarist's best tunes. The final two bonus tracks tacked on for this reissue don't add much of interest; an early, shuffle version of "Stompin' Ground" lacks the tension of the song that later showed up as the only studio tracks on the live Irish Tour 1974 album, and Roy Head's "Treat Her Right" sounds like a soundcheck warm-up, which it probably was. Concise track-by-track liner notes from Rory's brother Donal provide useful background information, and the remastered sound taken from the original tapes is a revelation, with Gallagher's guitar parts and especially vocals, clear and precise in the spiffed up mix. ~ Hal Horowitz

Product Details

Release Date:	03/23/2018
Label:	Universal
UPC:	0602557971309

Tracks

1. Walk on Hot Coals
2. Daughter of the Everglades
3. Banker's Blues
4. Hands Off
5. Race the Breeze
6. Seventh Son of a Seventh Son
7. Unmilitary Two-Step
8. If I Had a Reason
9. Stompin' Ground
10. Treat Her Right

Album Credits

Performance Credits

Rory Gallagher   Primary Artist,Guitar,Vocals,Mandolin,Harmonica,Saxophone
Lou Martin   Guitar,Keyboards
Gerry McAvoy   Bass
Rod De'Ath   Drums,Percussion,Drums (Snare)

Technical Credits

Phil Dunn   Engineer
Rory Gallagher   Composer,Producer
Roy Head   Composer
Mark Jessett   Art Direction
Andrew Pearce   Mastering
Tony Arnold   Remastering
Andy Stephens   Engineer