VIA PRESS RELEASE | Rory Gallagher The BBC Collection is the definitive collection of Rory Gallagher’s recorded performances at the BBC. A 20 disc set that includes eighteen CDs containing radio concerts and sessions from 1971 to 1986 and two Blu-Ray discs of BBC TV concerts and studio performances from 1973 to 1984.
With over three quarters of the audio recordings having never been officially released before, and the concerts on the Blu-Ray discs being officially released for the first time, this all encompassing set is a must-have for Gallagher fans and is the perfect demonstration of his raw power and energy live. In addition, 2CD and triple-LP The Best of Rory Gallagher at the BBC sets will be released featuring eleven of Gallagher’s best BBC studio recordings and a thirteen track (twelve on 3LP) 1979 BBC In Concert Live from The Venue performance. It will also be made available digitally. All three versions will be released on 11 October and are available to pre-order HERE.
These releases celebrate the importance of Rory Gallagher, who was possibly the most recorded musician of the 1970s by the BBC. This set was amassed from the BBC archives and Rory Gallagher’s own transcription discs and off-air cassette recordings. The boxset spans 16 years of his career (1971–1986), taking in highlights such as the 1977 dual television and radio broadcast Sight & Sound concert, Gallagher’s headlining set at the Reading Festival in 1980 to the emotional At Midnight concert live from the Ulster Hall in Belfast, 1984.
Recently announced, auction house Bonhams will be auctioning The Rory Gallagher Collection which consists of an exceptional selection of guitars, amps, and accessories from Rory Gallagher’s life and career, and is led by his iconic 1961 Fender Stratocaster which has been described as “the most recognisable Strat in rock history” because of its worn appearance.
This guitar was originally purchased by Rory in 1963 for £100 on credit from the owner of Crowley’s Music Store in the southern Irish city of Cork and is thought to be the first Stratocaster to make it to Ireland. Gallagher famously played it throughout his career and extensively on the recordings in this BBC package. Previews are in London from 11 – 17 October and the auction will take place on 17 October 2024 and more information can be found at Bonhams.com.
Nick Hornby: That was the first song I ever heard played…It’s a BBC recording of Rory Gallagher playing at the Paris Theatre in London in July 1972. And I was in the audience, aged 15, and those opening bars were enough to make me realise that this was something I wanted to do again and again… “Tore Down” was my introduction to live, loud, amplified blues and when Gallagher had finished, my 15-year-old self could not contain his excitement. He ran down to the front to shake Rory’s hand…When the BBC did eventually broadcast the concert, I taped it by leaning the microphone from my clunky cassette recorder against the speaker of our old transistor radio and I listened to that tape over and over again.”
