Gig pulls on heart strings for guitarist McCullough

Henry McCullough is one of Ireland’s great musicians. He was the only Irishman to play Woodstock, as a member of Joe Cocker’s Grease Band.

He was the lead guitarist in Paul McCartney Wings. He replaced Andy Irvine in seminal Irish folk group, Sweeney’s Men, and his signature electric guitar created an early folk-rock sound. His spoken word can be heard on Pink Floyd’s Dark Side of The Moon and he played on the Jesus Christ Superstar album.

A heart attack last November left the 69-year-old critical, so a tribute gig, Salute To Henry, is being held on Sunday, Mar 3, in Dublin’s Vicar Street.

The line-up includes Christy Moore and Declan Sinnott, Sweeney’s Men, Mick Flannery, The Fleadh Cowboys, John Spillane, Johnny Duhan, The Ed Deane Band, Honor Heffernan, Philip Donnelly, Victor McCullough, Ronan Collins and BP Fallon.

One of the organisers of the event, Frank Murray, former manager of The Pogues and Thin Lizzy, says “Henry’s a great musician and a great guitar player. He’s in some serious trouble at the moment and all everybody’s trying to do is help him.” Paying tribute to his friend and Co Derry native, Murray says: “Henry is one of those musicians who seems to be ego-less. He did a stint with Joe Cocker — he was in Wings. People talk about him for his great solo on ‘My Love’, but Henry always played great guitar.

“He played with Hendrix and, after leaving Wings, George Harrison signed him to his Dark Horse label. So you had two Beatles chasing him. Any other guitar player in the world would be crowing about that forever — trying to live off it. But you’d never hear that from Henry.”

Murray says McCullough is unassuming. “Henry gets on with making his own records in a very humble way. So, to me, that’s the key to Henry — he’s a journeyman musician who might be playing with Paul McCartney or George Harrison one day, and then playing with Ed Deane or Nick Lowe or Frankie Miller. That’s the heart and soul of Henry.”

McCullough began his career in the early 1960s, during the showband era, in groups like The Skyrockets, Gene & The Gents and The People.

Songwriter and long-time friend, Johnny Duhan, recalls his initial meeting with McCullough, a Portstewart native. “I first met him in The Go-Go Club, in Limerick. I went along and saw The People.” Duhan was a member of local group, The Intentions. “When we moved to Dublin, we got to rub shoulders with the guys in The People and, after that, when we went to London, they moved there at the same time. Both bands changed names around that time, because we got in with big record companies — The People became Éire Apparent and we became Granny’s Intentions.”

Later on, Granny’s Intentions shared the same London hotel as Joe Cocker’s Grease Band and it was then that McCullough joined the group. Duhan says: “I always found Henry to be one of the nicest people you could meet in the business — a very genuine kind of a man. One time, Gary Moore and I were invited by him to see Wings in London. Afterwards, we were brought back stage and introduced to Paul McCartney and Linda — it was just very nice and typical of Henry to do that.”

*Vicar Street, Dublin, will host Salute To Henry on Sunday, Mar 3. Tickets available from www.ticketmaster.ie and usual outlets.