Major Rory fan here. I'm not a completist for any artist, but I'm closer to that with Rory than anybody else I've ordered the vinyl set - it's not yet available in my market, but will be by June 7th. That said, I'm streaming the songs available on Apple Music, and I've got to say that the quality is very good, considerably better than I expected. And a really nice mix of acoustic & electric tunes. I expect I'll buy the CD set too but I'll wait till after I receive the vinyl. So far I'm thrilled with what I'm hearing!
The LP set was delivered today - listening right now, and I am delighted with this! Excellent quality, superb musicianship, nice quiet vinyl. I'm definitely going to order the CD set for the extra tracks. This is the best thing I've bought in some time!
This is worth buying just for "A Million Miles Away"!!!!! But I'm sure not complaining I got all the other killer songs as well! Wow, is this ever a special one...
Picked up the LP this week, black version. This is easily the best 'new' LP I've bought this year. Been into Rory for a while., particularly the S/T & 'Photo Finish'. Acquired the 3CD version for the extra tracks. Just listening to it now. That 'Bullfrog Blues' from '73 to end CD1 is just fantastic. Just over three hours of music, well worth it.
No, 90% of it was previously unreleased. However, I do think it would be a great introduction to him.
Have had this in 3CD form for a couple of weeks now and given it multiple listens. Very pleasantly surprised -- I feared it would be a barrel-scraping exercise after my disappointment with other releases but I'm happy to report this set is a worthy addition to Rory's catalog. My preference is for the live and studio sides rather than the acoustic but all three discs are worthy and they're in constant rotation at the moment. Sonics are generally good (couple of less than stellar live cuts) and the selection of tracks, with the strong thematic tie to blues songs, makes for a very satisfying collection that fits together. Normally I'd be all in for the vinyl but I wanted the full set and no regrets. Of course, one has to resist the temptation to also pick up the LP edition(s) but that's a nice problem to have. If you've been sitting on the fence, I think you'll be happy.
For those interested, there's an interview with Donal Gallagher on the BBC Sounds of the 70s show here: Sounds Of The 70s with Johnnie Walker - Donal Gallagher - BBC Sounds This is active for a few more weeks only, Donal is interviewed around the 1 hour 20 mark if in a hurry. As well as given some account for how the album came about, there are lots of nice stories about Rory giving advice to a young Brian May and seeing Queen's first gig with Freddie, declining to pick up the Melody Maker Guitarist of the Year award in early 70s, playing the IoW festival, jamming with Muddy and Albert King etc (asking Albert's band was key the song was in when he joined them on stage and they wouldn't tell him, just said 'ah...b-natural boy...' Donal seems as much a fan as the rest of us.
Agree with all the other comments here, a wonderful set. One minor quibble - on the LP set there is a track listing with the musicians listed, but no info on the source of the tracks. The track info was announced for the release but they didn’t actually include that info in the booklet. Why? Mind you, they did the same with the ‘Wheels within Wheels’ vinyl issue, no info on the tracks that was in Cd booklet. Oh, and on the inside of the booklet there are photos of album covers “A selection of some of Rory’s favourite blues albums from his personal vinyl collection” ....except one ‘album cover’ is from a CD set issued in 2011!
I too was slightly annoyed/disappointed by there not being track source info. I do remember the press release mentioning the source for all the tracks and don't understand why they didn't just go ahead include it in the notes. Odd. Oh well, still a nice collection.
I would give priority to obtaining the 3CD set of "Blues". The Montreux release is strongly recommended too but less essential. Put that one on your wishlist and get it at a later moment. Or skip 2 meals and get both!
Blues is highly recommended. The way they split it up between acoustic, electric and live works well. Any Rory fans should pick this us up straight away.
Received the 3cd set a few day ago. Played sides 1 and 3 so far and think they are awesome. Bullfrog Blues on side 1, Wow.
Really nice, I just went through these. I especially liked the shot of Rory playing the Coral electric sitar ("Philby", I assume). Don't believe I've seen a pic of him with it before.
Yes, that was for Philby. I can't believe that photobucket stuff is still up there...I 4got all about that (again!).
Ok you guys convinced me. I was afraid this might be a scrapping the barrel type release but it sounds like it’s really good.
Finally put my hands and ears on It, sounding great so far. Rory never dissapoints. My only minor complaint is, where's the recording information for each track in the booklet?
