Taste: I'll Remember (4CD Compilation) 2015

July, 1967, and Taste are settling into their residency at Belfast’s Club Rado in The Maritime Hotel. Already the Cork trio have picked up a loyal local following, and the ballroom is packed with students,

sailors, working girls, local bands and music fans from across Northern Ireland. Some are merely curious, wanting to check the hot new ‘southern’ guitar-slinger in town; other are already converts and spreading the gospel that proclaims: “Taste are the best Irish band since Them!” The Rado’s atmosphere is thick with cigarette smoke and excitement as youths pack themselves against the stage, spilling beer as they cheer on the band.
                                                          

The three teenagers who make up Taste are enjoying themselves immensely. They play a dynamic

mixture of blues covers and original songs, sounding raw and dynamic. Their 19-year-old guitarist and vocalist Rory Gallagher blazes up front, his T-shirt soaked in sweat while he caresses great rips of sound from his beloved Fender Stratocaster. Taste slow things for Catfish. Youths punch the air as Gallagher channels feedback into his solo, while sailors whoop with joy and hug the ladies they call “shore relief”.
                                                         

Before becoming a solo star, Rory Gallagher fronted the blues-rock trio Taste, which experienced

reasonable success in the U.K. in the late '60s and early '70s. Taste was molded very much on the model of Cream, adding some folk, pop, and jazz elements to a blues-rock base, and featuring a virtuosic guitarist. They weren't in the same league as Cream, particularly in the songwriting department, and were (like Cream) prone to occasional blues-rock bombast. But they weren't a bad band in their own right, exhibiting a lighter touch than most British blues boom outfits.
                                                 

The focus of Taste was always upon Gallagher. In addition to playing accomplished and versatile lead

guitar, he sang in a gentle but convincing fashion, and wrote the band's original material. Much of Taste's repertoire was more restrained and balanced than the territory Gallagher would explore on his '70s outings, which placed more emphasis upon him as guitar hero. Gallagher also played occasional saxophone and harmonica with the group.
                                              

Gallagher formed the first version of Taste in his native Ireland in 1966, with bassist Eric Kittringham and drummer Norman Damery. In May of 1968, he relocated to London and, still months shy of his

20th birthday, formed a new version of Taste with bassist Charlie McCracken (who had played bass with Spencer Davis, though not at the peak of Davis' hit-making days) and drummer John Wilson (who had been a drummer with Them, likewise not during one of their well-known incarnations). Two studio albums followed in 1969 and 1970, the second of which made the British Top 20. Taste was still virtually unknown in the States when they broke up shortly afterwards, although a couple of live albums were released in the early '70s to keep some product on the shelves.
                                             

In the early 1990s, the most unlikely of events almost happened: a Taste reunion. “Rory and John Wilson got friendly again after John turned up for a few of Rory’s Belfast concerts. We were

considering a Taste reunion being held in Belfast’s Titanic dry dock as part of the Northern Ireland peace process, but then Rory got sick. Anyway, by now we were all talking again and I explained to John and Richard that we had gone after Eddie for the Taste royalties. At around the same time, Polydor announced it was reissuing the Taste albums on CD and I pointed out to them that they did not own the digital rights. We sorted this out and an agreement regarding Taste was finally signed by all parties in 1999. Better late than never.”
                                  

Then, in 2000, Wilson and McCracken revived the Taste name (with Sam Davidson doing Gallagher’s guitar and vocals) and went out on the road. If the Gallaghers and the rhythm section had put their

differences behind them in the 1990s, this ‘reunion’ again proved divisive. “It upset me that Richard and John went out on the road again as Taste,” says Donal. “That was an abysmal decision and not in the spirit of the agreement. When I heard about it, I said to them, ‘Why don’t you go out as Stud?’” Donal shakes his head in quiet disbelief, then says, “The synergy of Taste was great. Rory loved playing with the band, the way Richard understood jazz really worked for him. But Taste without Rory… it’s not right.”
                               

What Donal has done is get Taste right. The I’ll Remember box set and Live At The Isle Of Wight

DVD (“I contacted director Murray Lerner and said, ‘I don’t want my descendants talking to your descendants so let’s get this done’”) capture one of the most remarkable bands of their era. They only existed for a few brief years but the music they created then touched many. And now, treated with the respect Taste deserve, it will continue to do so.

FORMER MEMBERS

 
              

Rory Gallagher – guitars, vocals, saxophone, harmonica (1966–1970; died 1995)
Norman Damery – drums (1966–1968)
John Wilson – drums (1968–1970, 1996–2018)
Eric Kitteringham – bass (1966–1968; died 2013)
Richard McCracken – bass (1968–1970, 1996–2010)
Alan Niblock – bass (2017–2018)

Taste – I'll Remember
Label: Polydor – 472 269-7, Universal Music Catalogue – 472 269-7
Format:    4 x CD, Compilation, Remastered, Stereo
Country: Europe
Released: Aug 28, 2015
Genre: Rock, Blues
Style: Blues Rock

DISC ONE - TASTE (APRIL 1969)

                                                   

01. Blister On The Moon    3:27
02. Leavin' Blues  (Written-By – Huddie Ledbetter)  4:16
03. Sugar Mama  (Arranged By – Rory Gallagher/Written-By – Traditional)  7:16
04. Hail    2:36
05. Born On The Wrong Side Of Time    4:01
06. Dual Carriageway Pain    3:12
07. Same Old Story    3:32
08. Catfish  (Arranged By – Rory Gallagher/Written-By – Traditional)  8:04
09. I'm Moving On  (Written-By – Hank Snow)  2:29

BONUS TRACKS       

    
10. Blister On The Moon (Alternate Version)    3:21
11. Leavin' Blues (Alternate Version)  (Written-By – Huddie Ledbetter)  4:31
12. Hail (Alternate Version)    2:37
13. Dual Carriageway Pain (Alternate Version)    3:13
14. Same Old Story (Alternate Version - No Vocals)    3:26
15. Catfish (Alternate Version)  (Arranged By – Rory Gallagher/Written-By – Traditional)  6:55

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DISC TWO - ON THE BOARDS (JANUARY 1970)

                                                          

          
01. What's Going On    2:47
02. Railway And Gun    3:36
03. It's Happened Before, It'll Happen Again    6:31
04. If The Day Was Any Longer    2:08
05. Morning Sun    2:38
06. Eat My Words    3:45
07. On The Boards    6:00
08. If I Don't Sing I'll Cry    2:38
09. See Here    3:03
10. I'll Remember    3:00

BONUS TRACKS       

    
11. Railway And Gun     4:26
12. See Here (Take 1 - Alternate Version)    3:13
13. It's Happened Before, It'll Happen Again     10:56
14. If The Day Was Any Longer    2:34
15. Morning Sun    3:36
16. It's Happened Before, It'll Happen Again    9:46

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DISC THREE - LIVE IN KONSERTHUSET (1970)       

                                       

  
01. What's Going On    6:14
02. Sugar Mama  (Written-By [Uncredited] – Sonny Boy Williamson)  6:48
03. Gamblin' Blues  (Written-By – Melvin Jackson)  6:41
04. Sinner Boy    6:23
05. At The Bottom    3:19
06. She's Nineteen Years Old  (Written-By – Muddy Waters)  3:57
07. Morning Sun    4:18
08. Catfish  (Arranged By – Rory Gallagher/Written-By – Traditional)  6:33

BBC LIVE IN CONCERT (1970)       

    
09. I'll Remember    6:14
10. Railway And Gun    4:58
11. Sugar Mama  (Written-By – John Williamson)  7:19
12. Eat My Words    9:21
13. Catfish    5:27

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DISC FOUR - THE BELFAST (EARLY) SESSIONS (1970)       

                                        

  
01. Wee Wee Baby
(Written-By – Joe Turner)  2:43
02. How Many More Years  (Written-By – Chester Burnett)  3:23
03. Take It Easy Baby  (Arranged By – Rory Gallagher/Written-By – Traditional)  7:07
04. Pardon Me Mister    2:41
05. You've Got To Pay    3:53
06. Norman Invasion    2:58
07. Worried Man    2:29
08. Blister On The Moon    3:31
09. Born On The Wrong Side Of Time    3:22

LIVE AT WOBURN ABBEY (1968)       

10. Summertime  (Composed By – George Gershwin/Lyrics By – DuBose Heyward, Ira Gershwin)  1:29
11. Blister On The Moon    3:36
12. I Got My Brand On You  (Written-By – Willie Dixon)  7:23
13. Medley:     10:58
13a. Rock Me Baby  (Written-By – Melvin Jackson)
13b. Bye Bye Bird  (Written-By – Sonny Boy Williamson , Willie Dixon)
13c. Baby Please Don't Go  (Written-By – Joe Williams)
13d. You Shook Me Baby  (Written-By – Willie Dixon)

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MUSICIANS

                                      

Alto Saxophone – Rory Gallagher (tracks: 2-3, 2-7, 2-13)
Bass Guitar – Eric Kitteringham (tracks: 4-1 to 4-13), Richard McCracken (tracks: 1-1 to 1-3, 1-5 to 1-15, 2-1 to 2-8, 2-10, 2-11, 2-13 to 3-13)
Drums – John Wilson (3) (tracks: 1-1 to 1-3, 1-5 to 1-15, 2-1 to 2-8, 2-10, 2-11, 2-13 to 3-13), Norman Damery (tracks: 4-1 to 4-13)
Executive-Producer – Dónal Gallagher
Harmonica – Rory Gallagher (tracks: 2-4, 2-8, 2-14, 4-1, 4-3, 4-4, 4-13)
Lead Guitar – Rory Gallagher
Producer – Tony Colton (tracks: 1-1 to 2-16)
Vocals – Rory Gallagher
Written-By – Rory Gallagher (tracks: 1-1, 1-4 to 1-7, 1-10, 1-12 to 1-14, 2-1 to 3-1, 3-4, 3-5, 3-7, 3-9, 3-10, 3-12, 3-13, 4-4 to 4-9, 4-11)