By Jim Rowland
Fifteen years after the Belfast guitarist’s untimely death, this week sees another four reissues from the legendary Gary Moore catalogue, concentrating on the final chapter of his illustrious career. Studio albums ’Old, New, Ballads, Blues’ (2006), ‘Close As You Get’ (2007), and ‘Bad For You Baby’ (2008), along with the live album ‘Live at Bush Hall’ (released in 2014, three years after Moore’s passing, but recorded in 2007) are all rooted firmly in the blues and get a CD and double vinyl revamp.
Featuring Don Airey on keyboards, 2006’s ‘Old, New, Ballads, Blues’ was Gary Moore’s 15th solo album and continued his exploration of the blues with a mix of classic blues tracks written by legends such as Otis Rush and Willie Dixon and his own original compositions.
Doing what it says on the tin, ‘Old, New, Ballads, Blues’ features blues ballads such as ‘Midnight Blues’, ‘Gonna Rain Today’ and ‘No Reason To Cry’ alongside more up-tempo Moore originals such as the hard funky blues of ‘Ain’t Nobody’ and the grooving instrumental ‘Cut It Out’. The four old blues classics included also mix it up between blues ballads like Albert King’s ‘I’ll Play The Blues For You’ and the heavy blues interpretation of Elmore James’ ‘Done Somebody Wrong’.
One year later, ‘Close As You Get’ was released, reuniting Moore with his former Thin Lizzy bandmate the one and only Brian Downey on drums, who performed on every track. Stripped down and raw, the album finds Moore delving as close to purist, traditional blues as he had ever ventured.
Following a similar format to the previous album, ‘Close As You Get’ mixes five originals with six old classics, and balances slow blues ballads with raw, up-tempo blues rockers. Highlights include the raw, slinky blues shuffles of ‘If The Devil Made Whisky’ and ‘Hard Times’, the beautiful soulful epic ballad ‘I Had A Dream’ and the stripped vintage blues of Son House’s ‘Sundown’.
Two cracking Sonny Boy Williamson compositions feature, the first being ‘Eyesight To The Blind’, perhaps more familiar to many for The Who’s version, and the explosive ‘Checkin’ Up On My Baby’ which features one of those classic jaw-dropping, mesmerising Moore solos that remind you he really was one of the best in the business.
On the back of ‘Close As You Get’, in 2007 Moore performed a special intimate, invite-only show at London’s ornate Bush Hall with the same band, captured here on ‘Live at Bush Hall’. With a set leaning heavily on material from ‘Close As You Get’, it’s a pretty electrifying performance that includes Thin Lizzy’s ‘Don’t Believe A Word’ and big hitters like ‘Still Got The Blues’ and ‘Walking By Myself’.
Gary Moore’s blues always lent itself to the stage, and here it is in all its raw glory. With top sound quality, this is quite possibly the pick of the bunch here, and testament to Moore’s incredible ability on the guitar.
Released in 2008, ‘Bad For You Baby’ was Moore’s 17th solo album and the final studio album released during his lifetime. It leans toward the hard rock-infused blues style he had embraced in previous years and features a greater number of original compositions.
Once again it mixes slow blues tracks like ‘Did You Ever Feel Lonely?’, ‘Trouble Ain’t Far Behind’ and the epic ‘I Love You More Than You’ll Ever Know’ with raw, heavy blues bangers like ‘Bad For You Baby’, ‘Walkin’ Thru The Park’ and ‘Mojo Boogie’, and the heavy groove rock of ‘Umbrella Man’. ‘Bad For You Baby’ sees Moore in fine form, is a well-rounded album, and, although nobody knew it at the time, a fine way for Gary Moore to sign off.
These four albums are as good a place as any to explore the blues side of Gary Moore, and illustrate what a master craftsman he was in that sphere.
- ‘Old, New, Ballads, Blues‘, ‘Close As You Get‘, ‘Live At Bush Hall‘ and ‘Bad For You Baby‘ all will be released tomorrow (Friday 24 April).