VIA PRESS RELEASE | When asked “How does it feel to be the best guitarist in the world,” Jimi replied, “I don’t know, why don’t you go and ask Rory Gallagher.”
Following the commercial and critically acclaimed success of the recent albums Blues (2019) and the three-week running No.1 album on the Billboard Blues Chart Check Shirt Wizard – Live in ’77 (2020), UMe is pleased to present a new Rory Gallagher collection entitled The Best Of Rory Gallagher on Friday, October 9, 2020. The album is now available to preorder here. The comprehensive compilation includes Rory’s most iconic songs compiled from across his recording career, including tracks from Rory’s seminal first band Taste (1969) through to his final studio album Fresh Evidence (1990).
The Best Of Rory Gallagher will be released as a 2CD set featuring 30 tracks, including a previously unreleased collaboration with Jerry Lee Lewis. The album will also be released on 2LP black vinyl, limited-edition 2LP clear vinyl available only at uDiscover Music and The Sound of Vinyl, a 15-track single CD, as well as digital HD and digital standard.
Unearthed from the Rory Gallagher Archives is a special bonus track “(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction [Alternate Version]” by Jerry Lee Lewis featuring Rory Gallagher – a rare outtake taken from Jerry Lee Lewis’ famous 1973 London Sessions featuring Rory singing and playing the Rolling Stones’ classic alongside the legendary Jerry Lee Lewis. The previously unreleased rarity is featured on the 2CD version and digital versions of the album, and as a limited-edition 7” vinyl single available only at uDiscover Music and The Sound of Vinyl online stores.
“(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction [Alternate Version]” is available as an instant grat track today with preorders of the album, and on all streaming and download services, here. The 7” inch picture sleeve features a rare archive photo of Rory and Jerry Lee Lewis from Jerry Lee’s 1973 London Sessions. The B-side features “Cruise On Out” (4:42) taken from Rory’s critically acclaimed album Photo Finish (1978).
If ever there was a “musician’s musician” then that accolade belongs to Rory Gallagher. Renowned for his blistering live performances and highly respected for his dedication to his craft, he died in 1995, aged just 47. His reputation has continued to flourish in the years since. Indeed, some of rock’s most seminal figures, from Jimi Hendrix to Eric Clapton, Joe Satriani to Joe Bonamassa, Queen’s Brian May to The Smiths’ Johnny Marr, Slash of Guns N’ Roses to the Edge of U2, have cited him as an influence. Rory remains a touchstone for all would-be guitar heroes in the 21st Century.
