- 15
- Tracks
- 80 min
- Runtime
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15 tracks · 80 min
The late Irish blues rocker Rory Gallagher would have been pleased to see the Chess logo embossed on the three-disc Blues, a box of rare, unissued, acoustic, and live recordings. Issued to mark what would have been his half-century as a recording artist, 90-percent of the material here is previously unreleased. The discs are divided thematically: Electric, Acoustic, and Live. The booklet is wonderfully annotated with an authoritative essay from journalist and music historian Jas Obrecht; it places Gallagher in his rightful historical place as an electric blues rock pioneer alongside admirers Eric Clapton, Johnny Winter, Jimi Hendrix, and Peter Green. The set opens with a raucous cover of Sonny Boy Williamson's "Don't Start Me Talkin'," an unissued cut from the sessions that begat the excellent 1982 offering Jinx. Gallagher is in full Chicago house-rocking mode with his wailing harmonica and nasty slide guitar, accompanied by pounding piano and a barely contained rhythm section shuffle. His songwriting is showcased to fine effect, too, with the slow-burning "Off the Handle" from a live BBC appearance in 1986, "Should've Learnt My Lesson," an outtake from the Deuce sessions in 1971 (…