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.
The Blues Is Alright
Gary Moore Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
That the blues is back,
And it's here to stay.
I wanna tell you a story,
A story all about the blues.
I want you to listen to me baby,
While I sing it to you.
That the blues is back,
And it's here to stay.
I used to have me somebody,
She meant the whole world to me.
But she left me for someone else,
Left my heart in misery.
Yes, she did!
But I knew the day she left me
That the blues was gonna be a part of me.
Yes, it was.
Since you left me with the blues,
It was the last thing I thought I could use.
But I'm glad that you left me,
Left me with the blues.
If you hadn't given me the blues,
I wouldn't find myself someone sweet as you.
And I'm gonna tell you.
I said hey, hey, the blues is alright.
Hey, hey, the blues is alright.
I said hey, hey, the blues is alright.
Hey, hey, the blues is alright.
Alright (alright),
Alright (alright),
Every day and night.
Here we go Albert!
One more time!
Since you left me with the blues,
It was the last thing I thought I could use.
But I'm glad that you left me,
Left me with the blues.
If you hadn't given me the blues,
I wouldn't find myself someone sweet as you.
And I'm gonna sing it.
Hey, hey, the blues is alright.
Hey, hey, the blues is alright.
I said hey, hey, the blues is alright.
Hey, hey, the blues is alright.
Alright (alright),
Alright (alright),
Every day and night.
I said hey, hey, the blues is alright.
Hey, hey, the blues is alright.
I said hey, hey, the blues is alright.
Hey, hey, the blues is alright.
Alright (alright),
It's alright (alright),
Every day and night.
One more time!
I said hey, hey, the blues is alright.
Hey, hey, the blues is alright.
I said hey, hey, the blues is alright.
Hey, hey, the blues is alright.
It's alright (alright),
It's alright (alright),
It's alright (alright),
It's alright (alright),
It's alright every day and every night.
Yes, it is!
Want you to hear me when I say
That the blues is back,
And it's here to stay.
The blues is alright!
The lyrics of Gary Moore's song The Blues Is Alright express the idea that despite the pain and heartache that the blues can represent, it is a music genre that endures and persists. Moore sings about his personal experience of having been left by someone he loved, which left him with feelings of despair and sadness. However, he believes that the blues was always going to be a part of him, and in a way, it helped him find someone new who is "sweet" to him. He uses the repetition of the phrase "hey, hey, the blues is alright" to emphasize the point that the blues is a music genre that not only reflects pain but also celebrates its perseverance.
The lyrics also suggest that the blues has a universal appeal and can be a unifying force. Moore invites his audience to share in his experience of the genre as he sings to them, "I want you to listen to me, baby, while I sing it to you." By doing so, he is reaching out and creating a connection with his listeners, acknowledging that the blues speaks to all of us at some point in our lives.
Overall, The Blues Is Alright is a song that not only celebrates the enduring quality of the blues but also speaks to its listeners on a personal level, connecting them through shared experiences of heartache and perseverance.
Line by Line Meaning
Want you to hear me when I say
That the blues is back,
And it's here to stay.
I want to share a story about the blues with you, and for you to understand that the blues is not going anywhere. It's here to stay.
I wanna tell you a story,
A story all about the blues.
I want you to listen to me baby,
While I sing it to you.
I want to share my own personal experience with the blues and sing to you a story about it.
I used to have me somebody,
She meant the whole world to me.
But she left me for someone else,
Left my heart in misery.
Yes, she did!
But I knew the day she left me
That the blues was gonna be a part of me.
Yes, it was.
When the love of my life left me, I was devastated, and I knew that the blues would become a part of me from that day on.
Since you left me with the blues,
It was the last thing I thought I could use.
But I'm glad that you left me,
Left me with the blues.
If you hadn't given me the blues,
I wouldn't find myself someone sweet as you.
Although I didn't think I needed the blues after my heartbreak, I'm grateful for it now because it led me to someone sweet like you.
And I'm gonna tell you.
I said hey, hey, the blues is alright.
Hey, hey, the blues is alright.
I said hey, hey, the blues is alright.
Hey, hey, the blues is alright.
Alright (alright),
Alright (alright),
Every day and night.
I want to show you that the blues is something to be celebrated and enjoyed, not just something to mourn, and that it's perfectly alright to feel the way the blues makes you feel.
Here we go Albert!
One more time!
Let's keep the music and the celebration of the blues going. One more time!
It's alright (alright),
It's alright (alright),
It's alright (alright),
It's alright (alright),
It's alright every day and every night.
The blues is always there and always alright, no matter the time of day or night.
Yes, it is!
Want you to hear me when I say
That the blues is back,
And it's here to stay.
The blues is alright!
I want to reiterate that the blues is back and here to stay, and it's always a good thing. The blues is alright!
Lyrics © BMG Rights Management, Peermusic Publishing
Written by: MILTON CAMPBELL
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind