Rory Gallagher – Against the Grain Released (1975)

by Records Facts

Against the Grain is the seventh album by Irish musician Rory Gallagher, released in 1975. It was his first album with his new record company Chrysalis. The album is mostly new songs written by Gallagher as well as some classic blues and R&B numbers. In contrast to previous studio albums by Gallagher it received very favorable reviews.

After releasing two albums in 1973 and a live, contract-fulfilling albums in 1974, Gallagher returned rested and recharged in 1975 with a new record label, Chrysalis, and a band with almost three years of hard touring under their belts. With its attention to detai, Against the Grain sounds more practiced and intricate than most of Gallagher‘s previous studio albums, but still includes some of his most powerful rockers. The supercharged “Souped-Up Ford,” where Rory howls and wails, with his voice and smoking slide, and “All Around Man,” an urgent blues rocker that begins with Gallagher screaming and crying together with just his electric guitar until the band kicks in with a stop-start blues rhythm, are two of the definitive moments.

“Bought and Sold” adds congas to the mix to bring a more rootsy and even jazzy feel to Rory‘s table. But it’s on the acoustic tracks where the guitarist and his band really lay into the groove. Gallagher‘s version of Leadbelly‘s “Out On the Western Plain,” with its combination of Indian chords, American Delta folk and cowboy “yippee-ki-yay” chorus is one of the Irishman’s unheralded highlights, and “Cross Me Off Your List” is affecting in its yearning melody, subtle keyboard and minor key. A playful and forceful romp through Sam and Dave‘s “I Take What I Want” shows Gallagher‘s soul roots.

Not his best album, Against the Grain is still prime period Rory Gallagher. Its well-rounded menu of country, Delta blues, and blues-rock is indicative of his approach; though few of these songs became classics in the guitarist’s extensive catalog, they’re far more mature and eclectic than most blues-rock bands’ best work.

As Gallagher himself described his feelings on this a few years later:

“I see music as a lifetime affair, I’m not in it for the big kill and then get out…We’ve toured the states twenty times now… although we don’t have the big album to show off for it. But I’m not competing on that sort of level anyway. It’s a conscious decision. I know we’re not going to cut it on the smoke bomb/dry ice kick or pull the ridiculous publicity stunts. We’re divorced from that circuit. We have a niche and we’re staying there. I don’t know if we’ve ever even released a single in the states… I’ll never get the regular pop playlists because I don’t churn out music that’s instant and disposable, like a hamburger, I just don’t run that race.”

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