Gallagher and Lyle

Gallagher and Lyle was the Scottish pairing of singer-songwriters Benny Gallagher and Graham Lyle.

Career

They joined forces in 1959, initially as members of the local Largs based band, The Bluefrets. They began writing original material for the band and also wrote "Mr Heartbreak's Here Instead" for Dean Ford and the Gaylords (later to become Marmalade). Their first recognition came in 1968, when they were signed by The Beatles to write for Apple Records' musicians such as Mary Hopkin ("Sparrow", "The Fields of St. Etienne", "International", "Heritage", and "Jefferson").

There was a rare one-off single issued on UK Polydor 56093 in 1967; "Trees" b/w "In The Crowd" issued under the name Gallagher-Lyle, which preceded their success as songwriters at Apple.

By 1970, they were original members of the newly formed McGuinness Flint, and penned the UK Singles Chart Top 10 hit singles "When I'm Dead and Gone" and "Malt and Barley Blues", both produced by Glyn Johns.

In the wake of the singer-songwriter phenomenon, they formed the duo Gallagher and Lyle in 1972, recording four albums: Benny Gallagher and Graham Lyle, Willie and the Lapdog, Seeds, and The Last Cowboy again under the auspices of Glyn Johns. But it was not until their fifth album, Breakaway, in 1976, that they charted again, with the hits "Heart on My Sleeve" and "I Wanna Stay with You", both of which reached Number 6 in the UK Singles Chart. Art Garfunkel's cover of "Breakaway" was also a hit at the time, and Don Williams took "Stay Young" to No. 1 on the U.S. country chart, which saw the song receive in excess of one million airplays on American radio. The duo also penned and performed "A Heart in New York", which was later performed by both Simon & Garfunkel and Garth Brooks in their concerts in Central Park, New York to audiences of 500,000 and 750,000, respectively.^{[citation needed]}

Their mellow sound was only briefly in vogue, and elusive further success (another minor hit in the UK was "Every Little Teardrop") prompted their split in 1979.

Graham Lyle formed his own publishing company,Goodsingle Publishing,(later to become goodsingle.com), in 1980, chiefly to administer his own copyrights, and began writing for other artists. Graham's songs have been recorded by some of the biggest names in music including Micheal Jackson and Stevie Wonder, Ray Charles, Diana Ross, Etta James, Patti Labelle, Anita Baker, Brian Ferry, Joe Cocker Wyclef Jean, Fat Joe and Ashanti, Rod Stewart, Tom Jones, The Neville Brothers, Hall and Oates, Joan Armatrading, Kenny Rogers, Crystal Gayle, Jim Diamond, The Judds, Wet,Wet,Wet, Paul Young, Eros Ramazotti, Warren G, the list goes on and on, but it is for his work with Tina Turner that Graham is best known.

Lyle formed a new songwriting partnership with Terry Britten, and their hits included, the Grammy winning Song of the Year and Record of the Year "What's Love Got to Do with It?" and the multi Ivor Novello winning "We Don't Need Another Hero" for Tina Turner; and "Just Good Friends" for Michael Jackson. He also recorded an album with Tom McGuinness, credited to Lyle McGuinness: Acting on Impulse (1983). Graham recently performed his composition One Woman at the United Nations in New York,(www.un.org/webcast/) on 24/2/11 to launch their " U.N.Woman" project.

Gallagher spent nine years as a founding director and the first chairman of the Performing Artists Media Rights Association (PAMRA), which saw £20 million of equitable remuneration paid through to UK performers under his stewardship. He has been deemed a companion of LIPA, Sir Paul McCartney's school of performing arts in Liverpool, and spent a brief spell as bassist and vocalist of The Manfreds, which included five of the original members of Manfred Mann, featuring both lead singers, Paul Jones and Mike D'Abo, in the same band for the first time touring the UK, Europe, the Middle and Far East, Australia and New Zealand.

Gallagher is a featured artist and co-owner of OnSong (an internet based record label) with Derek Wilson. Gallagher has released two albums as a solo artist - Benny Gallagher on Stage and more recently, At the Edge of the Wave.

Gallagher and Lyle sang and performed as members of Ronnie Lane and The Slim Chance Band on the hit single "How Come" and the ensuing album, Anymore for Anymore, and they have worked, jointly and individually, on records with Mary Hopkin, Paul McCartney, Eric Clapton, Pete Townshend, Ronnie Lane, Ronnie Wood, Elkie Brooks, Arthur "Big Boy" Crudup, Champion Jack Dupree, Joan Armatrading, Ralph McTell, Sandy Denny, Fairport Convention and Jim Diamond. In addition to those already mentioned, artists who have recorded and released Gallagher and Lyle songs include:

Bryan Ferry, Colin Blunstone, Donavon Frankenreiter, Elkie Brooks, Bucks Fizz, Fairport Convention, Fury in the Slaughterhouse, Joe Brown, Judith Durham, Little Anthony & The Imperials, Phil Everly, Ricky Nelson, Ringo Starr, Rita Coolidge, Status Quo, The Fureys, Lemon Jelly, and Jim Capaldi.

Personnel details

• Benny Gallagher (born Bernard Joseph Gallagher, 10 June 1945, Largs, Ayrshire, Scotland).
• Graham Lyle (born Graham Hamilton Lyle, 11 March 1944, Bellshill, Lanarkshire, Scotland).

Discography

• Gallagher and Lyle (1972)
• Willie and the Lapdog (1973)
• Seeds (1973)
• The Last Cowboy (1974)
• Breakaway (1976)
• Love on the Airwaves (1977)
• Showdown (1978)
• Lonesome No More (1979)
• The Best of Gallagher and Lyle: 20 Beautiful Songs (1980)
• The Very Best of Gallagher & Lyle (compilation album) (1991)
• Live In Concert (live album, recorded by the BBC Radio) (1999)
• The River Sessions (recorded for Radio Clyde 1974) (2004)

External links

• Gallagher and Lyle at Allmusic
• Myspace.com/bennygallagher
• Myspace.com/onsongrecords
• Video interviews and 'fly on the wall' feature with Graham Lyle