He conducted a successful solo career, with increasing emphasis on his own material. He toured regularly in the U.S., Britain and Europe; he carved a niche for himself as a no-frills, no-nonsense man of the people. A perennial live favorite, he hauled his battered Stratocaster, a bass player, drummer and minimal road crew round the European circuit, achieving widespread popularity and acclaim during the '70s. A 1974 Irish tour was the subject of a documentary by director Tony Palmer. In America, where he was less well known, Gallagher has mounted no less than 25 full-scale college and theatre tours over the years.

Rory Gallagher "TOP PRIORITY" Press Release

Rory Gallagher is the man who spearheaded the Irish rock movement and as always his direction and musical plans will attract great interest and speculation especially in the light of the current surge of new Irish talent. In 1978, Gallagher disbanded his then current four piece band and pared his sound back to a threepiece to record the hard driving "Photo-Finish" album, with Iong time bassist Gerry McAvoy and former Sensational Alex Harvey drummer, Ted McKenna in support. In addition to recording with a new line up, Rory also was producing with fellow Irishman and engineer Alan O'Duffy (whose previous collaborations have included engineering with Wings and the Rolling Stones) and in a studio new to both, Dieter Dierk's in Cologne, Germany. The results showed him moving away from the jazzier inflections he had explored own "Calling Card" towards a more elemental hard rock sound, and constituted an achievement of remarkable poise and power, especially considering how fresh McKenna was to the band. "Top Priority", his fourth album for Chrysalis, shows Gallagher and band one year on, welded together by the stage, into as fierce and powerful a three piece as has been our pleasure to hear: it also finds them completely at home in Dierks' studio, with Alan O'Duffy at the controls. With the combined skills of Rory and O'Duffy coalescing even more surely on production, never before has the guitarist found such a sympathetic setting for his musical genius. The directions suggested by "Photo Finish" and particularly by tracks like "Shadow Play" is taken to its logical peak here with a whole new collection of Gallagher classics. In addition to being surefire live killers, songs like "Follow Me" and "Philby" are also perfectly suited to radio play and are so littered with hooks and immediately indentifiable choruses that they're potentially major hits in their own right. Utterly without premeditation Rory has captured the mood of the times and made what has the potential to become his biggest seller ever. This is rock music for now and forever: it is both urgent and enduring. There is a poetic justice in Gallagher's realisation of his mighty powers in this, his last LP of the 70's in that blues music from which he has derived much of his inspiration, is more influential and creatively confident than at any time since the turn of the decade. Rory himself has often been acknowledged as one of the finest blues musicians treading the boards: a guitar virtuoso and among the finest slide players in the world, he has received the rare acolade of being invited to play with the people that he regarded as his own seminal influences, like blues master Muddy Waters, rocker Jerry Lee Lewis, and British skiffle pioneer Lonnie Donegan. All his musical passions, from blues and R 'n' B. to rock and roll and country music are fused in the playing on "Top Priority" not to mention more esoteric flourishes such as the Gaelic tinged electric sitar on "Philby". In addition his Iyrics and vocals bear the stamp of authority, making this his most substantial album ever as well as his most exciting. "Top Priority' as the title suggests, is a work of remarkable strength and immediacy. It is Rory Gallagher's distillation of his achievements in the '70s and his manifesto for the 80's. With music like this we'll be coming back for more, every time.

These are just a few images of stage passes I saved over the years. I will add some more as soon as I have time to scan them.

Rory's Discography

The dates in the above table are as correct as I can decipher the scratching out on the itinerary. I remember that this tour had many changes in dates and cities as the tour went on. Part of the dates were in support of Jefferson Starship and everytime we could add a Headlining date for Rory, we did. If there are mistakes in the above table I apologize and hope someone out there can correct my info.