In a career dating back to the 1960s he has played with bands including Thin Lizzy, Colosseum II, Greg Lake and Skid Row as well as having a successful solo career.
Moore started performing from a young age and got his first good guitar at the age of 14. In a career lasting over 30 years he has demonstrated that he is a fine musician, and his unique style of playing has adapted to very different music genres, including jazz rock jazz, blues, electric blues, hard rock, celtic rock and heavy metal.
One of his most famous non-blues records is Wild Frontier, his first studio album after a trip back to his native Belfast, Northern Ireland in 1985, this album has several songs about Ireland and even the music itself is steeped in Celtic roots. The title track was intended to be sung by Phil Lynott, however Lynott's death in January 1986 prevented that. The album is dedicated to Lynott's memory, with the words "For Philip" on the rear cover.
Wild Frontier contains the hit "Over the Hills and Far Away", which reached #20 in the UK as well as a cover of the Australian band The Easybeats' hit of the middle of the 1960s, "Friday on My Mind". The Max Middleton-penned "The Loner" was originally recorded by Cozy Powell for his Over the Top album in 1979 (which Moore did perform on, albeit not on Powell's recording of "The Loner"), but was substantially altered by Moore for his own recording, thus he was credited as a co-writer.
For blues fans, Moore's best recorded, live performance on video is "LIVE BLUES" recorded in a small night club in London and was released in 1992 on VHS. It is now available on DVD as well. "LIVE BLUES" also features two songs with B.B. King appearing on stage with Moore. "The Thrill Is Gone" on this recording is probably the best version of this, complete with More's Midnight Horns, female backup singers and dueling guitars. Many of Moore's standard songs are on this 90 minute show and were mixed better than most of the studio versions of the same tunes for a very rich and full sound. Even Moore's voice sounds better than it usually does in the studio. Moore did not seem interested in touring the United States.
Connection with Peter Green
According to numerous interviews he has given to guitar magazines, he was the protege of British Blues pioneer Peter Green, whom he had always admired ever since the Bluesbreakers days. When Green quit Fleetwood Mac and the entire music scene, he sold his famous nasal-sounding 1959 Gibson Les Paul to Moore for the same price that Moore had managed to sell his then guitar (a Gibson SG) for. The nasal sound of the neck pickup on Green's guitar was not, as used to be believed, the result of the pickup having been turned backwards, but instead its two coils had been - perhaps accidentally - reconnected in parallel and out of phase, as per the "in between" positions of a Fender Stratocaster. Moore has used this guitar in the recordings of some songs of his albums Still Got The Blues, After Hours and Blues For Greeny. Green and Moore also reportedly had a disagreement regarding what guitar the former was playing in the song "Albatross". Moore insists it was the Les Paul, because the guitar tone was particularly warm and rich in the bass, while Peter Green maintains he was using a Strat, as the vibrato in that song was not finger vibrato, but subtle tremolo arm vibrato. Up to the day of his death, Green and Moore remained good friends.
Guitars used
Over the years Gary has used numerous guitars. These include: Peter Green's 1959 Gibson Les Paul, Peter Green's 1961 Fender Stratocaster and 1950s Gibson Les Paul Junior. He has also used guitars from Charvel, Ibanez, Hamer, Jackson and Heritage. Amplification has generally come from Marshall, though Soldanos and Fender have also been used, as well as transistor-driven Dean Markley units (especially in the studio). He also has used numerous effects over the years. these include; Delay units such as the Echoplex, Overdrive/Booster units such as the Boss DS-1, Ibanez Tubescreamer variants, Marshall Bluesbreaker and Guv'nor pedals as well as Wah-Wah pedals such as the Vox Wah. He appears nowadays to favour Gibson and Fender Guitars through Marshall amps with any of the above Overdrive pedals and Wah pedals to make his sound.
Solo career
In 1973 he released his first solo album as the Gary Moore Band. In 1979 his solo career started again with help from Phil Lynott, the combination of Gary's blues based guitar and Phil's voice produced "Parisenne Walkways" which reached the UK Top Ten in April 1979 and the no.2 album 'Black Rose'. After a series of powerful rock records Gary returned to blues music with Still Got the Blues, with contributions from B. B. King, Albert King and Albert Collins the album was well received by fans and a huge success. Gary stayed with the blues format until 1997 when he decided to experiment with modern dance beats in Dark Days In Paradise; this left many fans as well as the music press confused. Back to the Blues saw Gary return to the tried and tested blues format.
Albums
* Grinding Stone, 1973
* Parisienne Walkways, 1977
* Back on the Streets, 1978
* Corridors of Power, 1982
* Live at the Marquee, 1983
* Rockin' Every Night - Live in Japan, 1983
* Victims of the Future, 1983
* Dirty Fingers, 1984
* We Want Moore, 1984
* Run for Cover, 1985
* Wild Frontier, 1987
* After the War, 1989
* Still Got the Blues, 1990
* After Hours, 1992
* Blues Alive, 1993
* Ballads & Blues 1982-1994, 1994
* Blues For Greeny, 1995
* Dark Days in Paradise, 1997
* Out in the Fields - The Very Best of Part 1, 1998
* Blood of Emeralds - The Very Best of Part 2, 1999
* A Different Beat, 1999
* Back to the Blues, 2001
* Power Of The Blues, 2004
* Old New Ballads Blues, 2006
* Close As You Get, 2007
* Bad For You Baby, 2008
Singles
* Parisienne Walkways
* Out in the Fields
* Empty Rooms
* Wild Frontier
* Still Got the Blues
The Future (2005-present)
Later on in 2006, Gary will support BB King on his 'Farewell UK Tour'. It unfortunately did not lead to a tour of the United States with BB King.
The studio album entitled 'Old New Ballads Blues' was a follow up of 2004's 'Power of the Blues' and it featured new material as well as new versions of fan favourites 'Midnight Blues' and 'All your Love'
Gary Moore has also sold his Les Paul that was given to him by Peter Green to a private owner.
On February 6th 2011, he died from a heart attack in his sleep while on holiday in Spain.
External links
* The Official Gary Moore World Wide Website: http://www.gary-moore.com/
* The Lord Of The Strings - World Wide Gary Moore Fansite: http://www.garymoore.hu/eng.htm Thanks for the music.
Hey Joe
Gary Moore Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
With that gun in your hand?
Hey Joe, I said where you goin'
With that gun in your hand?
I'm goin down to shoot my old lady,
You know I caught her messin' 'round with another man
I said I'm goin' down to shoot my old lady,
You know I caught her messin' 'round with another man
Hey Joe, I heard you shot your woman down,
Hey Joe, I heard you shot you old lady down,
Yes, I did
You know I caught her messin' 'round,
Messin' 'round town
Yes I did, I shot her
You know I caught my old lady messin' 'round town.
And I gave her the gun and I shot her!
Hey Joe, where you gonna run to now,
I said, where you gonna run to?
Hey Joe, I said,
Where you goin' to run
To now, where you, where you gonna go?
I'm goin' way down south, way down South,
Way down south to Mexico way! Alright!
I'm goin' way down South,
Way down where I can be free!
I'm goin' down south,
Ain't no one gonna find me babe!
Ain't no hangman gonna,
He ain't gonna put a rope around me!
You better believe it right now!
Ain't no one gonna find me babe!
Ain't no one gonna find me babe!
You better believe it.
The lyrics to Gary Moore's song Hey Joe are a narrative of a man named Joe who is planning to shoot his old lady after catching her cheating on him with another man. The song is set up like a conversation between Joe and someone who is trying to talk him out of it. The first two stanzas set up the scene where Joe is caught with a gun and he's asked where he's going with it. Joe replies that he's going to shoot his old lady because he caught her messing around with another man. The second verse seems like a recapitulation of the first one, with the person asking Joe if he's really shot his woman down.
As the song progresses, it's evident that Joe doesn't care much about the consequences of his actions. He's portrayed as a man who's lost everything in his life, including his dignity, and he only has one shred of self-respect left. That shred is his ability to act on the emotional turmoil that he has been going through. The chorus drives this point home, with Joe saying that he's going to run away to Mexico, where he can start anew, and he's confident that nobody will come looking for him.
Line by Line Meaning
Hey Joe, where you goin'
With that gun in your hand?
Asking Joe where he is going with a gun in his hand.
Hey Joe, I said where you goin'
With that gun in your hand?
Repeating the question and emphasizing on the gun that Joe is holding.
I'm goin down to shoot my old lady,
You know I caught her messin' 'round with another man
Joe is going to shoot his wife because he caught her cheating.
Hey Joe, I heard you shot your woman down,
Hey Joe, I heard you shot you old lady down,
Yes, I did
You know I caught her messin' 'round,
Messin' 'round town
Yes I did, I shot her
Joe confirms that he did shoot his wife because he caught her cheating.
You know I caught my old lady messin' 'round town.
And I gave her the gun and I shot her!
Joe caught his wife cheating and he gave her the gun which he used to shoot her.
Hey Joe, where you gonna run to now,
I said, where you gonna run to?
Hey Joe, I said,
Where you goin' to run
To now, where you, where you gonna go?
Asking Joe where he is going to run away after killing his wife.
I'm goin' way down south, way down South,
Way down south to Mexico way! Alright!
I'm goin' way down South,
Way down where I can be free!
I'm goin' down south,
Ain't no one gonna find me babe!
Joe is running to Mexico to escape and starting over where he can be free and far away from anyone who might find him.
Ain't no hangman gonna,
He ain't gonna put a rope around me!
You better believe it right now!
Ain't no one gonna find me babe!
Ain't no one gonna find me babe!
You better believe it.
Joe is confident that he won't be caught or punished for killing his wife and he is urging others to believe it too.
Contributed by London P. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
d s s
Alot of guitarists have played this song but Gary Moore nailed it here!
morris heinersz
he Jimied that mo-fo
talis finey
@Poovanen Coonjamalay Popa plays the hell out of it
Edgar Sifuentes
@kevin lloyd SRV only did “voodoo child” and “little wing” and “3rd stone . Gary Moore basically did a whole live album🎸👍🏼
kevin lloyd
SRV
Edgar Sifuentes
The whole album🎸💯
Rob Courtney
I don’t think you can get anyone to do a Hendrix cover better than the great Gary Moore , this is absolutely superb to say the very least.
Scott Roland
Roy Buchanan
Carrie Delbridge Poe
I 3000% agree, bc I have had to more than once look up and see who was playing. Only thing that gives it away is his Irish "Hey Joe" lol absolutely superb perfection
Hassan Cherkaoui
YES