Best Of Rory Gallagher At The BBC: "Irish Tour '74 is often cited as the definitive Rory record, but this collection more than matches it"

What a man Rory Gallagher was. And for confirmation, look no further than this extraordinary new collection of recordings. His legendary Fender Stratocaster – a supernatural piece of maple and Brazilian rosewood – is extensively played on what is the definitive collection of Rory Gallagher’s recorded performances at the BBC. The 20-disc set includes 18 CDs, containing radio concerts and sessions from 1971 to 1986, and two Blu Ray discs of TV concerts and studio performances from 1973 to 1984.

Over three quarters of the audio recordings here have never been officially released before; and the concerts on the Blu Ray discs are also being released for the first time, making this a must-have for Rory fans.

Or if you want to treat the Rory-nut in your life, but don’t love them enough to shell out for the massive box-set, fear not. There are ‘highlights’ editions, featuring either a 2CD or triple-LP The Best Of Rory Gallagher At The BBC, featuring 11 of Gallagher’s best BBC studio recordings and a 13-track (12 on 3LP), 1979 BBC In Concert Live from The Venue performance.

These releases celebrate the extraordinary importance of Rory Gallagher, who was possibly the single most recorded musician of the 1970s by the BBC. This collection was amassed from the BBC archives and from Rory Gallagher’s own transcription discs and off-air cassette recordings. The big box includes a 2005 radio documentary narrated by Gary Moore, and a booklet with a 5,000 word essay, written by Colin Harper. The latter boasts new interviews with BBC producer Jeff Griffin; with Rory’s long-time bassist Gerry McAvoy; and with ‘70s peers Andy Roberts (Plainsong, Liverpool Scene), Barry Devlin (Horslips), Jake Burns (SLF) and Dave McLarnon (Shock Treatment). The ‘best of’ editions, meanwhile, include a 2,000-word edit of that essay.

Irish Tour ’74 is often cited as the definitive Rory record, but this collection more than matches it. Indeed, mastered at Abbey Road by Frank Arkwright and produced by Rory’s nephew and archivist, Daniel Gallagher, the sonic fidelity is sacrilegiously superior. And at this mammoth scale, there is so much added beef. Some choice cuts include the savage live version of Deuce’s ‘Used To Be’; Rory on wicked harmonica on ‘Banker’s Blues’; the masterful tone control on ‘Walk On Hot Coals’; the playful acoustic on ‘Out on the Western Plain’ (its call and response with a game audience is marvellous) ; a previously unreleased version of ‘Cradle Rock’ is superb, but getting to compare it to the wondrous live version from Golders Green in 1974, is simply mighty.

Taken in its entirety, the live collection is a vast cornucopia, stretching across a rake of BBC Radio shows including Sounds Of The Seventies 1971-73, The Paul Jones Blues Show 1986 and John Peel Sunday Concerts 1971. Elsewhere, live shows include the Paris Theatre in 1972 and 1973; the Golders Green Hippodrome in 1974; an Old Grey Whistle Test Special Live at The Shepherd’s Bush Empire from March ’74; and a BBC Sight & Sound In Concert Live at The Hammersmith Odeon January ’77.

For good measure, there’s also BBC Rock Goes to College, Live at Middlesex Polytechnic, December ’78; BBC in Concert, Live at The Venue, September ’79; BBC Live at the Reading Festival, August ’80; and BBC NI Rory at Midnight from 1984.

Back in the day, Rory fans often taped these shows by pressing their cassette recorders against the radio speaker during their broadcast. The BBC Collection is an exhaustive catalogue of those transcendent performances, which appeared to be beamed from another galaxy. All told, it is an extraordinary, rich and hugely impressive tribute from one of the greatest broadcasters in the world to one of the greatest guitarists.

• Rory Gallagher: The BBC Collection (Universal Music) is out now.