Treasure trove sheds light on fledgling Gallagher

A “lost” early recording of Rory Gallagher is among a vast collection of the blues legend’s memorabilia which has emerged after almost half a century.

The remarkable audio tape is part of previously unknown archive material dating from Gallagher’s fledgling career. It was stored in a box in a house in Cork for 46 years.

The collection also includes a photograph of the teenage Gallagher with his first electric guitar, and a biography from his time with his first group — the Fontana Showband.

In it, the then 16-year-old, who would go on to become one of the giants of world music, described leather as his favourite clothes, orange juice as his favourite drink, and his hobbies as art, girls, and record collecting.

He was also described as “the vision” (ie, good-looking one) in the band.

The collection was presented to Tim O’Leary, from Riverstick in Co Cork, by Sarah Prendergast, the widow of Philip Prendergast, who managed the Fontana Showband in the 1960s.

Mr O’Leary went public with it yesterday in the hope it would be put on display.

“I would love to see it displayed properly for music fans, and Gallagher fans in particular. And I would love to see it stay in Cork,” he said.

The material was amassed by Mr Prendergast during Gallagher’s time with the showband.

He placed the material — which includes newspaper clippings, magazine reviews, and a range of photographs of Gallagher in action — in a box in his Cork home.

However, it lay undiscovered for almost 46 years. Mr Prendergast died some years ago.

When his widow, Sarah, was packing up to move house some time later, she found the material and handed it over to Mr O’Leary, a Gallagher fan, just over two years ago.

He said he believes the audio tape is from Gallagher’s first recording studio session, when he was just 16.

The showband recorded five songs — with Gallagher on vocals for two — one of which, ‘Slow Down’, he wrote.

Gallagher went on to record ‘Slow Down’ as an established solo artist in 1982.

“The voice is the same on the 1982 recording, but the guitar playing has improved over time,” said Mr O’Leary.

Donegal-born Rory Gallagher was raised in Cork and bought his first Stratocaster guitar in the city’s famous Crowley’s Music Store. He shot to fame with his band, Taste, in the 1960s, before embarking on a solo career.

He was voted Melody Maker’s international top musician of the year in 1971, ahead of Eric Clapton, and sold about 30m records.

However, he struggled with alcohol abuse for decades and died in a London hospital in 1995, aged 47, from complications after a liver transplant.

He is buried in Cork.

Gallagher is commemorated throughout Ireland, with a bronze statue in Ballyshannon, a mounted guitar in Dublin, and a plaque in Belfast.

His famously battered paint-stripped Sunburst strat has been marketed by Fender in a tribute model. There is also a Rue Rory Gallagher in Paris.

Cork City has, in recent years, honoured Gallagher’s memory. A tribute sculpture to Gallagher was unveiled in the newly renamed Rory Gallagher Place off Paul St in 2007.

In 2004, the Rory Gallagher Music Library was opened in the city’s central library.