Reviewed by Ian Phillips.
By Bob Daisley and Friends, Sony Music 2018.
From the moment I first heard him play I have been a fan of Irish bluesman Garry Moore and I was deeply saddened when he suddenly passed away a couple of years ago.
Garry Moore was a master guitarist who first came to my attention as a member of Skid Row, but it was his role as one of the super-hot guitarists in the great Irish rock band Thin Lizzy that really cemented his reputation as an extraordinary performer.
What I didn’t know at that time was that Garry was also a fantastic singer, which became evident with the release of his first major hit album, Still Got The Blues.
Bob Daisley, Garry’s long-time bass player, is credited with suggesting to Garry that he should make a blues album, and the rest is history.
Still Got The Blues became a world-wide hit and it’s as beautiful and fresh to listen to today as it was on release back in 1990.
Bob Daisley has assembled a fantastic array of some of Garry’s friends and former band mates to perform on this album.
John Sykes (Thin Lizzy, Whitesnake) and Daniel Bowes (Thunder) provide an emotional rendition of Still Got The Blues and master axeman Steve Morse (Deep Purple, Dixie Dregs) and Ricky Warwick (Thin Lizzy, Black Star Riders, The Almighty) produce some great chemistry and wonderful emotive guitar playing on Garry’s other mega-hit, Parisienne Walkways.
The list of guest performers on Moore Blues For Garry gives some indication of the esteem in which he was held.
International stars such as Steve Lukather (Toto) and Don Airey (Deep Purple, Rainbow) and Glenn Hughes (Deep Purple) lined up alongside a who’s who of rock’s best musicians eager to pay their respects to one of their heroes.
In a lovely touch Garry’s sons, Jack and Gus, are also involved playing guitar and singing on This One’s For You, showing that some of their dad’s remarkable skill has been passed on in the family.
To me, what always stood Garry Moore apart from the other master guitarists of his generation was the way he could wring such powerful, emotion-drenched melodies out of his instrument.
Melody is always present which is not always the case with guitar heroes.
Take a close listen to Still Got The Blues and Parisienne Walkways and I’m sure you’ll understand what I’m talking about.
I highly recommend this album to all Garry Moore fans.
What a great talent he was and how much we miss him.
