“I was deeply shook when I heard of his death last night. Memories came flooding back,” was songwriter Johnny Duhan’s reaction last Monday to the passing of his old pal Gary Moore.
One of the great guitar players of his generation Gary Moore died in his sleep while on holidays on Spain’s Costa del Sol last weekend. He is best remembered for his work with Phil Lynott and Thin Lizzy on songs such as ‘Parisian Walkways’ and on the Lizzy’s ‘Black Rose’ album.
He also had a successful solo career with hit singles ‘Out in the Fields’ and ‘Still got the Blues (For You)’ among others in a career that saw him release 20 studio albums.
Born in Belfast, the guitarist moved to Dublin in 1967 aged just 16 and joined Brush Shield’s Skid Row. A little later Limerick band The Grannies Intentions drafted in the young guitarist to complete the recordings of the Grannies’ LP ‘Honest Injun’.
Singer with The Grannies Intentions, Johnny Duhan remembers, “Gary Moore, Phil Lynott, and I shared a flat in Donnybrook back in ‘67 or 68. Originally it was my flat. Then one night Phil appeared and I put him up, just after he’d left Skid Row. A few weeks later Gary came knocking looking for a place to stay. There were only two single beds, so he slept on the floor.”
“None of us, I remember, owned a watch but Phil was good at reading the time from the slant of the sun on the wall above his bed. Phil and I were early risers, Gary slept on on the floor. They were tough times but soft to look back on. We lived on pipe-dreams and porridge. Music was constantly in the background. Gary always had a guitar in his hands, head down, fingers flying up and down the fretboard. A wizard on the instrument. He was only 15 or 16 then. I was two years older. Phil a year older than me.”
The Grannies Intentions completed what was to be its one and only album at Decca Studios in London with Moore on guitar and ‘Honest Injun’ was released in 1970. Though the band broke up, Johnny and Gary remained good friends, “Gary and I grew very close. He took me to meet his family and friends in Belfast. He asked me to be the Godfather of his daughter. We lost contact when I drifted off on my folk journey, but I always kept a warm spot for him. He was a genuinely nice fella. A musician’s musician and deeply respected all over the world”.
Gary Moore’s passing at the young age of 58 has come as a shock to all music fans. He was a bluesman with a stunning technique and ability to attack a guitar solo. But he will probably be most remembered for one of his tenderest moments on the live version of ‘Parisian Walkways’ where one single note sustained and held for what seemed like ages during his solo would send his audience into raptures. Gary Moore, Rest in Peace.
