morganflag: ON THIS DATE (47 YEARS AGO) October 24, 1976 – Rory Gallagher: Calling Card is released. # ALL THINGS MUSIC PLUS+ 5/5 # Allmusic 4.5/5 stars Calling Card is a studio album by Rory Gallagher, released on October 24, 1976. It reached #163 on the Billboard 200 Top LP's chart. The sessions for the album began at Musicland Studios in Munich, Germany, in the summer of 1976. Deep Purple/Rainbow bass guitarist Roger Glover co-produced with Gallagher: it was the only time that Gallagher worked with a "name" producer. It also marked the final appearances of longtime Gallagher bandmates Rod de'Ath (drums) and Lou Martin (keyboards); Gallagher would revamp the band after the ensuing tour, retaining only his long time bass guitarist Gerry McAvoy. Calling Card is considered one of Rory's most diverse albums, containing Deep Purple-like hard rock ("Moonchild", "Secret Agent"), jazz-rock (the title track, "Jack-Knife Beat"), acoustic ballads ("I'll Admit You're Gone") and traditional Irish folk ("Barley and Grape Rag") among other genres. ____________________________________ By Donal Gallagher (Rory Gallagher website) Rory’s eighth solo album ‘Calling Card’ was recorded during 1976 at the famed Musicland Studios in Munich. All of Rory’s previous releases had been self produced, for this album he was keen to find a producer who had an affinity with traditional rock values but who was open to new ideas. On his previous release ‘Against The Grain’ Rory had started to shift away fromt eh blues/rock sound he’d made his own, creating a harder sound. He was keen that this progression should continue but needed to find a producer who shared his convictions and could help create the sound he wanted. During the 70’s Deep Purple were one of the most successful rock bands in the world and Rory had toured the U.S. with them. Roger Glover, Deep Purples bassist, offered his services to Rory, seeming to be a perfect candidate to produce the album. They began work on ‘Calling Card’ in the summer of 1976. The band, Gerry McAvoy on bass, Lou Martin on keyboards and Rod De’Ath on drums added the final element to the ‘creative’ mix. In the three yearsthey had been performing together they had grown into a formidable band. As Roger Glover explained “they all seemed very dedicated to Rory, there was an allegiance, born of years of smoky clubs and endless journeys”. This was the fifth and last release featuring this classic line-up. __________ ORIGINAL ROLLING STONE REVIEW Rory Gallagher is the last true journeyman of the Sixties British blues boom, and Calling Card displays the craft that has garnered him a guitar-hungry cult following. Without frills or affectations, Gallagher has remained in solid blues territory while periodically turning up the burners to a rocker's intensity. In terms of the integrity with which he joins these two passions, he recalls Peter Green, whose tasteful guitar defined the original Fleetwood Mac. Calling Card moves deftly through various blues-rock styles, and while neither his vocals nor his lyrics are particularly arresting, they complement the sure craft with which the songs were written. For with Gallagher, it's the sound that counts, and his rhythm and keyboard trio delivers the assured barroom backing he prefers. Tough and tight, they lay down a sound that calls attention to itself only when you find it consistently returning to your turntable. The star of the show, of course, is Gallagher's Stratocaster, and "Do You Read Me" wisely kicks off with a brittle rhythm riff and an equally gruff vocal. Funkier still is "Jackknife Beat," which cuts by virtue of its tasteful simplicity. It's on "Moonchild," though, that Gallagher really opens up. Propelled by a vicious rhythm reminiscent of Hendrix's Ladyland, his guitar is energized with a tone that burns with electricity. In three solo appearances, Gallagher builds the tension with sharp lines that bubble with raw excitement until they burst into flurried notes as the song fades. The tension on the "Moonchild" solo is never completely resolved—good guitarists always leave you hungry for more—and characteristically, Gallagher follows it with a title tune that boasts straight trebly blues figures. Such fluent variety is precisely his Calling Card. (RS 227) ~ John Milward (December 2, 1976) TRACKS: All songs composed by Rory Gallagher. Side one "Do You Read Me" – 5:20 "Country Mile" – 3:18 "Moonchild" – 4:48 "Calling Card" – 5:24 "I'll Admit You're Gone" – 4:25 Side two "Secret Agent" – 5:45 "Jack-Knife Beat" – 7:04 "Edged in Blue" – 5:31 "Barley and Grape Rag"