Gary Moore
Belfast's fiery virtuoso who made every note cry, from metal to blues
Gary Moore was born in Belfast in 1952. Although he was left-handed, he learned to play right-handed, and by his teens he was playing Belfast's beat clubs, inspired above all by Peter Green and Eric Clapton. In 1968 he moved to Dublin to join the blues-rock group Skid Row, which Phil Lynott had sung with earlier. Moore recorded two albums with Skid Row and began a lifelong, sometimes stormy friendship with Lynott. By the early 1970s he was already known across Ireland and Britain as a startlingly fast and passionate young player.
Moore's 1970s career was restless. He briefly joined Lynott's Thin Lizzy in 1974 and cut the ballad Still in Love with You with them. He then played jazz-fusion with Colosseum II before returning to Thin Lizzy for tours and the 1979 album Black Rose. His solo single Parisienne Walkways, sung by Lynott, reached the UK top ten in 1979 and became his signature tune. After the short-lived G-Force and a spell in Greg Lake's band, he launched a solo career in hard rock with Corridors of Power in 1982.
Through the mid-1980s Moore was a hard-rock guitar hero, especially in Europe and Japan, with albums such as Victims of the Future and Run for Cover. His duet with Lynott, Out in the Fields, was a major British hit in 1985, only months before Lynott's death. Wild Frontier (1987) mixed Celtic melodies into rock as a tribute to his friend. In 1990 Moore surprised the industry by releasing Still Got the Blues, a straight blues album that became his biggest seller, with more than three million copies sold worldwide.
The blues success changed the rest of his career. After Hours reached the UK top five in 1992, and he recorded with heroes such as Albert King, Albert Collins and B.B. King. He formed BBM with Jack Bruce and Ginger Baker and paid tribute to his first idol with Blues for Greeny in 1995. He tried out more modern sounds in the late 1990s, then went back to blues-rock in the 2000s. Moore died of a heart attack while on holiday in Estepona, Spain, in February 2011, aged 58.
The 10 greatest Gary Moore solos
- 1Gary Moore · solo by Gary Moore · 1978
- 2Gary Moore · solo by Gary Moore · 1990
- 3Thin Lizzy · solo by Gary Moore & Brian Robertson · 1974
- 4Gary Moore · solo by Gary Moore · 1987
- 5Gary Moore · solo by Gary Moore · 1983
- 6Thin Lizzy · solo by Gary Moore · 1979
- 7Gary Moore · solo by Gary Moore · 1982
- 8Gary Moore · solo by Gary Moore · 1990
- 9Gary Moore · solo by Gary Moore · 1987
- 10Gary Moore & Phil Lynott · solo by Gary Moore · 1985
The sound
Moore played with overwhelming intensity. His vibrato was wide and urgent, his bends pushed sharp for emotional effect, and his sustained notes seemed to scream. He could pick blindingly fast in the metal and fusion idioms, but his real signature was the long, crying melody, often a minor-key theme that climbs to a peak held with feedback. His tone was thick and singing, from Les Pauls through loud Marshalls or a Soldano. His blues work kept that same fire, so his treatment of the traditional twelve-bar form was far more aggressive than most.
- 1959 Gibson Les Paul Standard "Greeny" (guitar) Bought from his hero Peter Green. Its reversed neck pickup magnet gave a unique out-of-phase tone, and he used it for much of his career.
- 1959 Gibson Les Paul Standard "Stripe" (guitar) Acquired in 1989 and his main guitar from the 2000s on.
- 1961 Fiesta Red Fender Stratocaster (guitar) Once owned by Tommy Steele, it was used on Corridors of Power and Victims of the Future.
- Marshall stacks (amp) The backbone of his live sound throughout his career.
- Soldano SLO-100 (amp) The amp behind the thick, singing tone on Still Got the Blues.
- Marshall Guv'nor and Ibanez Tube Screamer (effect) Drive pedals used to add sustain and push his amps.
- Roland Space Echo (effect) Tape echo that added depth to his ballad and blues leads.
Covers
- Oh Pretty Woman, originally by Albert King A brassy, supercharged version with Albert King himself as guest guitarist.
- Walking by Myself, originally by Jimmy Rogers A driving Chicago shuffle played with rock-level power.
- All Your Love, originally by Otis Rush He revisits a tune his heroes Clapton and Mayall had recorded, and gives it a fierce edge.
- Shapes of Things, originally by The Yardbirds A heavy-metal makeover of the 1960s psychedelic classic.
- Friday on My Mind, originally by The Easybeats A synth-heavy pop-rock take on the 1960s anthem.
- Need Your Love So Bad, originally by Little Willie John He honours Peter Green's famous version, playing on Green's own former Les Paul.
Timeline
- 1952 Born on 4 April in Belfast, Northern Ireland
- 1968 Moves to Dublin and joins Skid Row
- 1974 First spell with Thin Lizzy; records Still in Love with You
- 1975 Joins the jazz-rock band Colosseum II
- 1979 Parisienne Walkways reaches the UK top ten; plays on Thin Lizzy's Black Rose
- 1982 Corridors of Power launches his hard-rock solo career
- 1985 Out in the Fields with Phil Lynott is a British hit
- 1990 Still Got the Blues becomes his best-selling album
- 1994 Forms the power trio BBM with Jack Bruce and Ginger Baker
- 2011 Dies of a heart attack in Estepona, Spain, on 6 February
Facts
- He was naturally left-handed but played guitar right-handed.
- He bought Peter Green's famous 1959 Les Paul from Green himself.
- That guitar, Greeny, later ended up with Metallica's Kirk Hammett.
- Phil Lynott sang with Skid Row before Moore became the band's guitarist.
- Still Got the Blues sold more than three million copies worldwide.
- He recorded with blues legends Albert King, Albert Collins and B.B. King.
- A mid-1970s bar fight left him with facial scars.
- He was an early adopter of pedalboards, using a Boss BCB-6.
- The Soldano amp he used on Still Got the Blues was later bought by Joe Bonamassa.
- He is buried at St Margaret's churchyard in Rottingdean, near Brighton.