Customer Reviews

Rory Gallagher: A Biography

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(9)

 

 

Jean-Noël Coghe's book covers Rory's musical career from purchasing his famous Fender Stratocaster at the age of 14 through to his death at the early age of 47.

The French author concentrates on tours and close friendships built outside the UK, mainly in France and Belgium. There are brief glimpses into Rory's private life showing the friendly easy-going nature of a man totally in tune with his fans and loved by them all. His love of the blues was well known but the admiration accorded him by bigger names in the music world comes as a surprise yet confirms what we all felt towards him.

Jean-Noël shows that outside the UK Rory was just as big in Europe. However the French influence means that although tours and performances elsewhere in the world are mentioned, they are slightly glossed over. The only UK event covered in any detail is Taste's appearance at the 1970 Isle of Wight festival.

The book makes a good reference point and due to its short chapters is easy to pick up and read in small bursts. One full chapter is devoted to each album, giving details of the recording venue, the personnel involved and backgrounds to each of the tracks. Dotted throughout are an interesting collection of photos, both on stage and behind the scenes.

Many of Rory's fans will be surprised at the causes behinds his untimely death, and how his illness was kept from the public for so long. I found it sad that such a warm and friendly person who was so revered by his fans should suffer depression and uncertainty towards the end. This is covered in the last few moving pages, along with details of his funeral in Cork.

Initially I was disappointed at the lack of UK material but looking back, the book achieves what it sets out to do, to show Rory for the warm, friendly character and well-loved musician that he was.

...most of Rory's fans would find the book of interest and a good, value-for-money read. Perhaps not worth the full price though. Since writing this I've read Gerry McAvoy's "Riding Shotgun - 35 years on the road with Rory Gallagher". Check it out, far better all round but this fills in some gaps.

Through Rory Gallagher's ocean of music and talent this so called biography is like a stone skimming across it. It does'nt really get involved to deeply in any aspect of Gallagher's music and for what it's worth in my opinion you would gain more of an understanding of the man by watching one of the DVD's.

This has got to be one of the worse biographies i've ever purchased and it's a shame that after all the talk about the 'definative' book about Rory we have to put up with this badly written crap. Hardly any mention of Taste and you'd think that Rory spent most of his time in France and i really don't care about some guy i've never heard of jamming with him from time to time as if he was that important to Rory's career.The pictures are badly printed and it's not even in any sort of order. Then again who can blame the author for getting this so called biography out first when nothing seems to be happening in the 'official' camp (what happened to the taste at the iow video?). If you really want a good overveiw of Rory's career then check out the 'Marriot/Derringer/Trower/Gallagher' book by Hal Leonard which is an example on how to write a biography because it is based more on fact than supposition. What an insult to the great man!.

This book is badly written, concentrates more on the author's activities (who cares?) than Rory's, and as a die hard fan even I found it dull and turgid. Buy Wheels Within Wheels and listen at first hand to Rory's genius than waste time and money on this.

Thi sbook was a major disappointment. It is a rather poor chronology, dominated by appearances on the continent. It gives virtually no insight into the man, his genius, the acrimonious break up of Taste....
For diehard Rory fans only. The greatest guitar player of his generation deserves a better biog than this.

This is a translation of the original French language biography and is neatly presented in a slim hard back volume that is of a higher quality print than the paperback original. There is a definite slant towards matters on the continent ,as would be expected, but more importantly the book is written with a clear affection for Rory and gives a valuable insight into the life and philosophies of a truly great musician. I would urge anyone with the slightest interest to read it. It only failed to get five out of five not because of any shortcoming of the writing but because it is a very slim volume in relation to the cost and it does not include the unique CD that accompanies the French edition. If you want the CD you will have to buy the French edition as well, I bought my copy from amazon.fr, and I would highly recommend it. Overall a book that all fans should be proud to have on their bookshelves.

I purchased this book some time ago and have only now managed to calm down enough to write a printable review. There are a litany of things I could say about this book, none of them are good (well, one or two things, but I'll get to that). I don't really care what Mr. Coghe got up to, I bought this book to read about Rory Gallagher, who you'd think after reading this tripe lived somewhere on the continent. Without wanting to turn this review into a complete rant, I'll say the following.

The book stumbles awkwardly through part of the life of one of the finest guitar players known. This journey is supposedly embellished with photos, which, in short, are generally crap. The prose is dull, soulless, with a detached feel, offering no insight into the man or his music. In addition to these and other literary mishaps, Mr. Coghe also manages to bend the vary fabric of time itself. Nice touch.

I came away from reading this book very angry. I have had the displeasure to read many insipid and dull treatises on all sorts of things, but few have made me so irate. The only redeeming features of this book are that it did at times seem like it was written by someone who clearly had great admiration and respect for Rory. If you as a reader have any however, then do the decent thing......beg Mr. Coghe never to write about Rory Gallagher ever again. The second and most redeeming feature of this book is that it burns well, I never thought I'd see the day when I would burn a book, I hope I never will again, but I've no regrets as regards this so called biography. Only the ramblings of an intellectually incontinent man could produce such reprehensible rubbish.

DC

Maybe something other than the CD bootleg has been lost in translation. This is without doubt the kindest comment I could make on this rather patchy account of what was a rather small portion of Rory Gallagher's life. Coghe concentrates almost entirely on his own short experiences of Rory's European trips and almost anything outside of this should be taken with a large dose of salt. Many of the accounts of incidents appear in what is clearly innaccurate chronology, including the meeting with John Lennon & Jerry Lee Lewis (which must have been some time later than his comments of the imminent break up of the Beatles).

Also, it is clear that he had no real insight into the writing and recording process which is so integral to the story of a recording artist.

Don't waste your money on this book, but look for real truth from those who were closest to Rory throughout his career, such as Mr McAvoy.

For some strange reason, the most valuable part of the book is missing in its English translation (funny, isn't it, that about the first Rory's biography was written by a Frenchman). Most hardcore fans would know what I am referring to -- the most valuable part is, you guess, the CD with a bootleg -- one concert. As a long-term collector, I appreciated this the most. On the other hand, if the book is worth having is highly debatable and not being a collector I wouldn't bother having it at home any more.

A must for all Rory fans. A great insight into his life.Would be nice to see a similar one being written with a more British angle.