Rory Gallagher: Best of at the BBC 3LP Vinyl

Why you'll love it

This 3LP set is mastered at Abbey Road and brings 11 previously unheard BBC session tracks, in a trifold jacket with a 12-page booklet. Gallagher was at his fiery best on the radio, and the Venue concert catches him in full flight.

This edition

3LP set
Mastered at Abbey Road Studios
Trifold jacket
Printed inner sleeves
12-page booklet
Pressed in Germany
Lyrics included

About the album

Rory Gallagher was a regular guest of the BBC for the best part of two decades, from Sounds of the Seventies in the early 70s to Paul Jones's blues show on Radio 2 in 1986. The Irish guitarist played those sessions the way he played everything, flat out and with a battered Stratocaster that sounded like no one else's.

The first three sides gather the radio sessions, with "Cradle Rock," "Tattoo'd Lady," "Walk On Hot Coals" and a fierce "Messin' with the Kid." The rest is the BBC In Concert set from The Venue in London on September 20, 1979, with "Shin Kicker," "Bought and Sold," "Hellcat" and "Cruise On Out" at full volume. His nephew Daniel Gallagher produced the set. The radio sides stretch from a 1971 Sounds of the Seventies session to a Radio 1 date in 1984, so you hear him across his whole career.

The Venue show leans on the then-new Top Priority songs, "Philby" and "Wayward Child" among them. Six sides of Rory live is roughly the right dose; we'd suggest warning the neighbours.

Also at Kops: more Rory Gallagher on vinyl · browse Rock