- Music
- 19 Oct 16
The city has had a special affinity with the bluesman dating back to the '60s...
Belfast City Council’s planning committee has okayed a statue of Rory Gallagher, which will hopefully grace the Bedford Street approach to the famous Ulster Hall, where the legendary guitarslinger regularly performed during the height of the Troubles.
His visit to Belfast to play the Ulster Hall, in a gig promoted by the pioneering music promoter Jim Aiken, on the opening day of the new decade, 1st January 1970, was legendary: no concerts had taken place in Belfast for the preceding six months, but Gallagher insisted on playing in what had, a few years earlier, been his adopted city.
"I see no reason for not playing Belfast," he told Melody Maker at the time. "Kids still live here."
They turned out in force too, on a night when sectarian differences were rendered redundant: Belfast fans were united in the music and the occasion was described, in a Melody Maker report, as "Wondrous, uplifting, joyous."
The pilgrimage became an annual one for Rory. In 1973, 1974 and 1975, he played two shows at the Ulster Hall, on his annual Christmas/New Year tour of Ireland – adding a third gig, in the city's Grosvenor Hall, in '75.
Early in 1977, he did three Ulster Hall shows. And in 1979, he did four – a remarkable statement about the growth in his popularity across what was a decade of extraordinary music, for one of the guitar greats.
Meanwhile, concerned about the violence and often unable to get insurance for their visits, many Irish and international acts bypassed the North – and continued to do so until the Good Friday Agreement came into force.
Rory had first moved to Belfast with his band Taste, who played Sammy Houstons' Jazz Club and the famous Maritime Club – where a young Van Morrison also learned his trade. The definitive, second line-up of Taste included Northern musicians John Wilson (drums) and Richard McCracken (bass). The first incarnation of the Rory Gallagher Band also included two Northerners, Gerry McAvoy on bass and Wilgar Campbell on drums. It was a link that continued for most of his career.
That Rory was one of the true greats, and is thoroughly deserving of the recognition, should not be in doubt.
"No one was more committed to bringing the music to the people than Rory Gallagher," Hot Press editor Niall Stokes says. "And nowhere was that more apparent than in his insistence that he would play Belfast, no matter what was going on during the Troubles. Where others too often shirked or hid, Rory went into a city that was in complete turmoil and played for fans from across all sections of society in the North, giving everything he had, to what became utterly memorable gigs for everyone who attended.
"He loved Belfast and his commitment to playing there was absolute. Which is why the decision to erect a statue in his honour in the city is such an important symbolic one. No one embodies the sense of decency, honesty, integrity and generosity of spirit that is such a vital driving force in rock 'n' roll music at its best, more completely than Rory. He was a true people's champion. To celebrate that legacy, and its connection to Belfast, is a wonderful thing."
Just how highly regarded Rory was among musicians is reflected in the diversity of those who count him as a major inspiration, including Brian May of Queen, Edge of U2, Johnny Marr, hard rockin' axe hero Joe Satriana and Slash, of Guns N' Roses fame.
Indeed when the incomparable Jimi Hendrix was asked "What does it feel like to be the best guitar player in the world?" he responded: "I don't know. Ask Rory Gallagher."
Campaigners for the statue are hoping that the decision will now be rubber-stamped by the full council.
Talking to the BBC, Rory’s brother, manager and keeper of the Gallagher flame, Donal, said: “Belfast was a musical home for him, it was where he left Cork for. He had been to London, toured all over Europe but he was looking for a place where he felt he was at one with the music – and Belfast offered that."
Let's hope now that Rory's commitment to Belfast will be suitably honoured.