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.
Wasn't Born In Chicago
Gary Moore Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
But I can play the blues.
I wasn't part of no union,
But I paid my dues.
I never got into a train wreck,
But I went off the rails.
I never went under the hammer,
'Cause I was hard as nails.
I never swam in dirty water,
But my name was mud.
I never knew you was a virus,
But you got into my blood.
I never was a politician,
But I learned to lie.
I never led a delegation,
I was too smart to try.
I wasn't born in Chicago,
But I can play the blues.
I wasn't part of no union,
But I paid my dues.
I never was no kind of prisoner,
But I've been to jail.
And I was never in a train wreck,
But I went off the rails, big time.
I never swam in dirty water,
But my name was mud.
I never knew you was a virus,
You got into my blood, blood.
I wasn't born in Chicago,
But I can play the blues, ah.
In Gary Moore's "Wasn't Born In Chicago," the lyrics deal with a musician who embodies the blues genre despite not having experienced the typical troubles that other blues players may have dealt with. The lyrics of the song express the idea that one doesn't have to be from a certain place or have certain experiences to have the blues ingrained in them. The song highlights the universal feelings that are associated with blues music such as pain, heartbreak, and struggling.
The first verse of the song talks about paying one’s dues which refers to the dues musicians pay to be successful in the music industry. The second verse talks about going off the rails but not experiencing a train wreck while the third verse alludes to the singer being hard as nails. The last verse talks about being imprisoned, going off the rails, and having a virus that the singer wasn't aware of. All these verses show how the singer can identify with the blues, through experiencing troubled times or embodying the genre without necessarily experiencing the problems that others have.
In conclusion, the song “Wasn’t Born In Chicago” is a commentary on the blues, the struggles of musicians, and the need to identify and understand their art without necessarily having to live through the same experiences. The lyrics serve as a reminder that the blues are more than just a type of music, rather, they represent the struggles of life, the desire to overcome obstacles, and the ultimate triumph of the human spirit.
Line by Line Meaning
I wasn't born in Chicago,
Although I am not a native of Chicago,
But I can play the blues.
I am a skilled blues musician.
I wasn't part of no union,
I did not belong to any labor union group,
But I paid my dues.
But I worked hard and earned my right to succeed in the music industry.
I never got into a train wreck,
I never had an accident in a train,
But I went off the rails.
Although I didn't have a train accident, I did have difficulties in my life.
I never went under the hammer,
I never faced public scrutiny or criticism,
'Cause I was hard as nails.
Because I was strong enough to withstand criticisms.
I never swam in dirty water,
I never involved myself in illegal or immoral activities,
But my name was mud.
Despite my clean record, people still talked negatively about me.
I never knew you was a virus,
I didn't realize you were a toxic influence,
But you got into my blood.
But I was influenced by you, and it affected me severely.
I never was a politician,
I stayed away from politics,
But I learned to lie.
But I learned to bend the truth to my advantage.
I never led a delegation,
I never led a group of people on any venture,
I was too smart to try.
I knew what my strengths were and didn't attempt things outside my capabilities.
I never was no kind of prisoner,
I never ended up in jail for a long time,
But I've been to jail.
I still had a stint in jail for a brief period of time.
And I was never in a train wreck,
Although I experienced difficulties in life,
But I went off the rails, big time.
I lost my way in a big way and had some major setbacks.
I never knew you was a virus,
I didn't realize the dangerous impact you had on me,
You got into my blood, blood.
You influenced me deeply and permanently.
I wasn't born in Chicago,
Despite my life's challenges and setbacks,
But I can play the blues, ah.
I persevered through it all and became a highly skillful blues musician.
Lyrics © BMG Rights Management
Written by: GARY MOORE
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind