Onthe DVD What’s Going On: Taste Live at the Isle of Wight, U2’s Edge commentsthat Taste had “taken the world by storm” circa 1970. Nowadays they are little remembered,but the DVD gives reason to give them a new hearing. They were that good.
GuitaristRory Gallagher, Taste’s leader, can rightly be called the Jimi Hendrix ofIreland. Gallagher grew up in Ulster during the 1950s, aware of Elvis Presleyand Buddy Holly but moved more deeply by the blues and jazz programs heard onthe BBC and American Forces Radio. He commented that hearing Muddy Waters changedhis life, and he related the conditions of African Americans to the status ofIrish Catholics in Ulster.
Gallagherbecame a professional musician by age 15, touring Eire and the Irish circuit ofGreat Britain in “show bands,” rock and roll cover acts whoseidentically-suited teenage members were determined to entertain theirgenerational peers with familiar hits. In 1966 Gallagher founded a power trio,The Taste, sporting long hair, black leather and a fiery guitar style steepedin the melancholy determination of the blues. Opening in Ulster for Cream ledto a Tuesday night residency at London’s Marquee Club, home to The Who, TheRolling Stones and Hendrix.
Bythe time of Taste’s self-titled debut album (1969), Gallagher had earned areputation as a guitar magician who, with the aid of a treble booster, could doanything on his Stratocaster, improvising with vibrato and feedback as well aschording. Bassist John McCracken and drummer John Wilson kept apace, anchoringsolos that approached avant-garde jazz with heavy rhythms. The jazz influencebecame more pronounced on Taste’s follow-up, On the Boards (1970). Gallaghertook up alto saxophone in addition to guitar, pushing the sound toward OrnetteColeman and Eric Dolphy.
Tasteentertained the huge crowd that converged for the chaotic Isle of WightFestival (1970), but were never able to build on their success due to managementproblems. What’s Going On is brilliant not just for the concert footage shot byOscar-winner Murray Lerner, but for the introductory material, includingarchival interviews with Gallagher and purpose-gathered comments by Edge, Bob Geldorf,Larry Coryell and others that contextualize the story.
