Limerick Post spoke to singer/songwriter Johnny Duhan about his friendship with guitarist Gary Moore who passed away last weekend
โI was deeply shook when I heard of his death last night. Memories came flooding back,โ was songwriter Johnny Duhanโs 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 Spainโs Costa del Sol last weekend. He is best remembered for his work with Phil Lynott and Thin Lizzy on songs such as โParisian Walkwaysโ and on the Lizzyโs โBlack Roseโ album.
He also had a successful solo career with hit singles โOut in the Fieldsโ and โStill got the Blues (For You)โ 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 Shieldโs Skid Row. A little later Limerick band The Grannies Intentions drafted in the young guitarist to complete the recordings of the Granniesโ LP โHonest Injunโ.
Singer with The Grannies Intentions, Johnny Duhan remembers, โGary Moore, Phil Lynott, and I shared a flat in Donnybrook back in โ67 or 68. Originally it was my flat. Then one night Phil appeared and I put him up, just after heโd 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.โ
โNone 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.โ
The Grannies Intentions completed what was to be its one and only album at Decca Studios in London with Moore on guitar and โHonest Injunโ was released in 1970. Though the band broke up, Johnny and Gary remained good friends, โGary 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 musicianโs musician and deeply respected all over the worldโ.
Gary Mooreโs 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 โParisian Walkwaysโ 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.