The reason: Gallagher had covered Cliff Richard’s chaste 1959 hit, Living Doll. One appearance at a school talent show provoked the ire of the Catholic brothers who ran the establishment.
He was a confident guitarist, albeit one with a rebellious streak. The young Rory got his first guitar at the age of nine, and his listening tastes gravitated from Lonnie Donegan to Leadbelly and Big Bill Broonzy.
His father sang and played accordion in local bands, while his mother had been a member of a theatre company. Rory Gallagher was born in Ballyshannon, County Donegal, in 1948, and raised in Cork.
