Gary Moore-Still Got The Blues (1990)

I want the review of this classic to serve as a tribute to one of the most talented guitarists of all time, who perhaps did not have the impact it deserved throughout his career. Gary Moore debuted professionally in the late 1960s, playing in bands such as Colosseum II or Skid Row (not the band that would make Sebastian Bach's celebrities famous). In the latter he would meet Phil Lynott, another mythical missing from our rock, with whom he would collaborate later (1974) on the Thin Lizzy project and record the album "Black Rose" in 1979. Although Gary Moore has excellent hard rock works which have marked the era, such as their debut "Corridors of Power", "Victims Of The Future", "After The War" or the excellent "Wild Frontier", we will deal here with "Still Got The Blues".

Disc distributed by Virgin Records in 1990, which meant the definitive approach to the beloved blues of the Irish virtuoso, who would not leave until the last days of his life. "Still Got The Blues" is a disc supported by the blues, but rabidly rocky and shameless, away from the sadness and melancholy that is attributed to the style of African American America. So, for sure, he would put his hands on the head of all the staunch defenders of the style in the 1990s. The essence of this work is based on how Moore is able to make his Les Paul speak in each of the cuts that compose it and how he pays tribute to the great bands and soloists that most influenced him in his professional career.

Most themes are versions of well-known authors such as A.C. Williams and his "Oh, Pretty Woman", played for the first time in 1966, by the hand of Albert King, who also collaborates on the six strings with Moore in the one included in "Still Got The Blues." It is a song that gives off sensuality on all four sides. Inevitably drag you into the world of the unconscious, present before you the icon of femininity dancing to the rhythm of this melody.

More versions in "Walking By Myself", by bluesman Jimmy Rogers, with the collaboration of Frank Mead to harmonica; "Too Tired", played by Johnny Watson in 1955; "As The Years Go Passing By", attributed to Dan Malone; "That Kind Of Woman," by Beatle George Harrison, who sings and plays the guitar with Moore; “All Your Love,” by Otis Rush and “Stop Messin’ Around, ”recorded by Fleetwood Mac in 1968 and composed by Peter Green. All of them interpreted perfectly as only Master Moore could do.

As for own compositions; the initial "Moving On". Incredible way to start, at the stroke of slide and piano by Mick Weaver, giving the lace. Homegrown is also what gives the album its name. A tender song in ballad format that includes a string section by Gavin Wright, whose guitar cries have no waste, making "Still Got The Blues" a true delight ... masterpiece.