Talk:Rory Gallagher

Old posts

The fact that Rory was born in Ballyshannon,Donegal means that he is from Donegal.If this is correct then the 'Cork people' category should be removed.--Fenian Swine 02:14, 20 August 2005 (UTC)

rory gallagher is about as cork as you can get my friend

Tributes

Someone needs to provide a source for every quote in this section. TheRingess 22:35, 24 December 2005 (UTC)

The quotations all come from the inlay for the posthumous "Blue Day for the Blues" compilation as far as I am aware. I will verify and update with references.

Singles

Sorry haven't got the time or skill to edit the entry however Rory did release several singles. This link gives a discography http://www.geocities.com/nm96020/ including the singles. I personally have a clear vinyl version of Philby with Hellcat and Country Mile on the B side. The Chrysalis i.d. is CHS 2364.

Free time's not on my side, but POV, unless backed up?

'He is regularly credited as one of the most influential Irish rock and blues musicians of all time.'

thewastedsmile10:49 EST 31 Jan. 06

Beef Up

I'm going to add sources for all of the quotes I can, delete the quotes I can't source and maybe add a few more. I'm also going to add some information on his main instruments and some information about his legendary stratocaster. This is my first edit so please let me know how I do.

I'm also thinking about reworking his biography. His brother Donal has recently revealed that Rory became addicted to medication he took to alleviate his fear of flying. Should I include this or is it too "gossip"-y?

---

I heard this "medication" had a big part in his liver's destruction, along with a salty sweat and alcohol. I was told the doctor gave it to Rory knowing it was not yet commercialized and bad for the liver, I can try to find reliable sources (and sorry for my clumsy english, I'm french). 81.255.220.67 21:47, 7 March 2007 (UTC)

Infobox

I originally added just the image but I thought it looked odd so I did up an infobox. Hopefully there are no objections or errors. The first active date was chosen for the year he joined his first showband according to http://www.rorygallagher.com/ . -I also added specific birth and death dates.

HeartOfGold 15:12, 26 June 2006 (UTC)

RoryOn Link

Hello unregistered user, I added this link on the recommendation of several fans on the official Rory Gallagher website when I showed them the wiki article and they said that the page suffered for the lack of the link. If you have any objections please express them here. --RadioElectric 14:39, 5 July 2006 (UTC)

I just cleaned the links a bit. I took out "loads of information" because it didn't sound very encyclopedia-like, I took out a link to an article on the German fansite already listed and made the links a little clearer. RoryOn should definitely stay, it does have a lot of information. HeartOfGold 22:54, 5 July 2006 (UTC)

Thank you HeartOfGold, you know you do have a... well, you do. :D --86.20.223.168 23:19, 5 July 2006 (UTC)

Argh! I'm FOREVER making edits when I'm not signed in. Hey, would you mind hopping over to the "ghost" talk page and having a look at a dispute? It's the "Magore" bit at the bottom. At the moment it's just me and this one guy in disagreement and I'm not sure whether EITHER of us are doing what we should.--RadioElectric 23:21, 5 July 2006 (UTC)

Sorry, I'm kind of new to Wikipedia and am only reasllly editting a few subjects I have interest in, I don't think I could help out in a discussion that involves all the policies. You chould try to take it up with an administrator or something. HeartOfGold 18:11, 6 July 2006 (UTC)

P.S. Whoever's reverting my edits, please either stop or rewrite what you're adding. The descriptions hardly make sense. HeartOfGold 18:11, 6 July 2006 (UTC)

I agree. The link text is being changed to "hp for the late great RORY GALLAGHER"; I can only guess that "hp" is supposed to be "home page" but it's a fan page. The other "tribute" link being added is from the same site, 2 clicks off the main page, not hard to find. Has there ever been an explanation why this link is so necessary? Gimmetrow 13:54, 22 July 2006 (UTC)

I have a feeling whoever's doing it doesn't speak English myself, they haven't responded to or said anything so far, the links they add are for German sites, and the descriptions seem like broken English. I would have tried to get them blocked but they have no account and the IP address keeps changing, can something still be done about that? I'll keep reverting it for now and hopefully they'll get tired or changing it back.  HeartOfGold  ^(Searching) 18:51, 23 July 2006 (UTC)

Guitar

"It was reputedly the first in Ireland, ordered by a showband member who changed his mind about the colour and then sold to Rory for just shy of £100."

Can anyone give a source for this? The only information on rorygallagher.com states that he purchased his guitar for £100 at a certain music store. HeartOfGold 02:06, 11 July 2006 (UTC)

The source is the guitarist magazine in the references at the bottom. Sorry I couldn't get a more readily available one. --86.20.223.168 23:11, 11 July 2006 (UTC)

Gosh-Darnit! Not signed in again!--RadioElectric 23:12, 11 July 2006 (UTC)

Exhumation and reburial

added by 89.124.22.94: he was exhumed due to waterlogging of his first grave and re-buried in another part of St. Olivers Cemetery along the same row as his uncle, John Roche P.C. .

What's your source?

--Cuervo7 20:39, 12 April 2007 (UTC)

Alcoholic

Why does the article ignore his raging alcoholism? — Preceding unsigned comment added by Blue Tie (talk • contribs) (23:17, July 14, 2007)

Do you have any verifiable sources? ww2censor 03:28, 15 July 2007 (UTC)

Well, not so sure about reliable but here are some thing:

"In late 1994, on tour in Holland, he fell seriously ill. At one of his final shows, a clearly ill Rory (who was now suffering badly from his drinking habits combined with the medication he was on)" -http://www.kieran.keegan.btinternet.co.uk/Rory/rory_gallagher_biography_7.htm

" Friends and fellow musicians said that towards the end of his career Rory was drinking heavily to counteract the numbing effect the prescription drugs were having on him.... Friend Rudi Gerlach said he had tried to help Rory with his problems as he had been an alcoholic himself. I couldn't say to Rory stop drinking or stop taking pills. That wouldn't have worked. So by stopping myself I tried to show him that it could be done, that it was possible. So this is how it worked for me. And just being around him a bit more, just to show him that it could work, staying off everything. " --http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qn4161/is_20020414/ai_n12839691

"It is true to say that his star seemed to have faded in recent years — even in Ireland, where he remained an icon and a pioneer to those of his own generation. Business problems going back to the days of Taste and the late Eddie Kennedy had, friends admit off the record, triggered an alcohol problem for a period. Fluctuating health followed, with a large percentage of his income being swallowed up in legal affairs." -- http://pellegrinlowend.com/rgpg.html

He had liver failure due to cirrhosis. His doctor felt he was too young to have gotten it from drinking, but his friends all agreed he drank ALOT. (It takes about a decade for cirrhosis to develop with strong drinking). But he also took some drugs and the combined effects of drugs and alcohol probably did his liver in. But he was an alcoholic at the end and could not quit. Ironically, he did not believe in illegal drugs and was hard against them. --Blue Tie 17:49, 15 July 2007 (UTC)

I have seen most of these references before but they are not verifiable, in fact most are hearsay. So we might think he was an alcoholic, and feel that is correct, so maybe it need to be added in such a way an to indicate some ambiguity or lack of verification, just like some of the web-sites you quote above. Can we confirm what Rudi Gerlach said, or get a better statement from someone who knew him well. If we could do that then a definitive statements could be made. Thanks ww2censor 22:08, 15 July 2007 (UTC)

It is possible that they are not reliable sources but your hearsay reasons would not be not valid. The issue is: Was it published by an editorially reviewed publication that can be found (confirmed) by others if they do a reasonable search in libraries, etc.

There is no doubt he was an alcoholic. He died of results of cirrhosis. This does not "just happen" -- it results from a few things, but overwhelmingly alcohol is the most likely cause of it and his drinking was described by friends. The statements by Rudi do not need to be verified by a second source. There is no rule on wikipedia that says one source is insufficient. Only if that source is contradicted by a second would there be an issue. You ask about a statement by someone who knew him well. Did you actually look at the findarticle thing? It was an article by his brother who confirmed the drinking but was arguing that it was not the drinking but drugs that led to the disease. (It is entirely possible and reasonable that drugs were helpful, but it would have been the combination that were the real issue). In his brother's denial, he confirms the drinking problem. And I would think his brother knew him well.

I know that there was some sort of biography written a few years ago that went into some detail on his drinking and that biography (it might have been a magazine article)rendered a gut-wrenching account of his alcoholism -- showing it to be extreme and dysfunctional. Toward the end, he was not able to even play much of the time because of inebriation. I have not been able to find that article on the net and I do not recall where I read it. However, it was extremely sad. --Blue Tie 13:13, 16 July 2007 (UTC)

Guitar Picture

The picture of Rory's guitar I think is in fact a picture of a copy of it. I could spend a while explaining why, but to get to the point; why isn't there a picture of the origional? - Lewis —Preceding unsigned comment added by 172.200.206.6 (talk) 17:00, 4 November 2007 (UTC)