Rory deserves better

[RobertaSparrow]

Last night while surfing internet-sourced T.V. I came across a documentary, Antone's Home of the Blues- released in 2004. It was a documentary about the blues club founded in the mid-70s in Austin TX. Founded by blues aficianado Clifford Antone, (Oct. 27, 1949 - May 23, 2006), he was of the same generation as Rory, and, like Rory, he was so taken with the earlier generation of blues musicians and music it dominated his life. Antone opened his club with his focus primarily on the original blues musicians, the same legendary players who influenced and inspired Rory- the film features so many of Rory's heroes, his favorites: Albert King, Muddy Waters, Albert Collins, Eddie Taylor, Sunnyland Slim, Hubert Sumlin, Jimmy Rogers, Buddy Guy, so many others, and the makers of the film refer to many of the "young" players- Stevie Ray Vaughn, Jimmie Vaughn, and even mention Eric Clapton, Jimmy Page, ZZ Top, and so many others. The older musicians all praised Mr. Antone for his promotion of the genre, and how much they owed him for "keeping the blues alive." Now I know, when it comes to American blues fans, the contributions of non-Americans tends to get overlooked, and that is not right, not fair. But in this case, there was at least a cursory nod to the British blues artists of Rory's generation.

But once again, any mention of Rory Gallagher and his contribution to blues, his respect and recognition of those who came before, his tireless promotion and devotion to the genre were absent. I watched the whole program, hoping and waiting for one word about him, and there was nothing. It made me sad, when I think about how much Rory thought of those same artists, praised them to the crowds of fans who came to see him play, how he kept his old Ford automobile because Muddy had ridden in it once, and how he always credited and promoted their music, even crediting his own music to others-

I don't begrudge people like Mr. Antone the recognition that they have received, but isn't there enough room, and goodwill, for Rory- the young Irish musician who seized upon the blues as a young kid, thousands of miles from where the blues originated, who had no one to teach him about it, whose passion for that music spurred him on to learn and master the blues through sheer desire, hard work, and God's gifts- he was self-taught, and look what he achieved, look how he spread the word, inspired others. Where is his recognition?

I thought about it all day, puzzled over it, and found it disheartening.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clifford_Antone

[Tibbierocks]

Sounds like my experience with BBC Four's blues night. It's not on, is it? If Rory did get the praise, attention, mentions etc, then I wouldn't of been a fan for two years - I could have grown up listening to him as I did with Jimmy Page. I could be saying I've been a Rory fan for 23 years - which is how long I've liked Zep. I don't know what we can do to change things. one girl messaged me to say since I've started my Rory tumblr page, she's been listening to his music and I've gotten 2 ex boyfriends into him, but it's very much a word of mouth thing.

[Annie Elliott]

100% agreed. Also really annoyed when a friend sent me a link to young Irish 'R&B' band, The Strypes http://thestrypes.com/bio, and I noticed their Bio has no mention of Rory. Grrrrrrrrr.