Live In Europe

iTunes Review

Live In Europe just might be the best-recorded artifact of Rory Gallagher’s otherworldly prowess as a live performer. Though the quasi-murky sound quality of the original pressing left much to be desired, a tasteful 2011 remix makes for an astonishing difference as it plays like you’re listening to the show from the sound engineer’s mixing booth. The songs here were culled from various stops along Gallagher’s 1972 European tour starting with an octane-boosted version of Junior Wells’ “Messin’ With The Kid.” “Laundromat” from his 1971 eponymous debut dwarfs the studio version in attack and tone, while an eight-and-a-half minute reworking of the traditional tune “I Could Have Had Religion” mellows out with some rootsy harmonica and gorgeous slide-guitar. Following this with an acoustic cover of Blind Boy Fuller’s “Pistol Slapper Blues” reveals Gallagher’s flat-picking talents before he closes with a full-throttled take on “Bullfrog Blues.”