Moore’s Still Got the Blues: Green and Gear

Here’s part 2 of a look back at when Gary Moore first got back into the blues and, in some ways, Les Pauls. Excerpts are from an October 1990 Guitar Player interview, and all quotes are Gary’s.

Before getting into the gear and gear approach he took on Still Got the Blues, here’s a bit on his favorite blues guitarist: Peter Green.

> On the album, “Born Under a Bad Sign” [no YouTube vid of this tune] “is Alberts, of course, but my fat tone and emotional approach to the solos are sort of a tribute to Peter Green. In fact, I dedicated the whole album to Peter.”

> “I remember when he originally replaced Eric Clapton in John Mayall’s Bluesbreakers and was like the new kid in town for a while. I saw him play with them in this club in Belfast, Ireland. The Bluesbreakers opened with ‘All Your Love,’ which I cover on the album, and I remember the floor just shaking like mad. I’d never heard a Les Paul sound like that, and Peter was just using an old rented amplifier which most people couldn’t get a decent sound out of – but still he got the most amazing tone and bass end I had ever heard. So I thought, God, one day I would love to have a guitar like that. And I now actually own that guitar he was playing that night.

> “A few years later my first band, Skid Row, was opening for Fleetwood Mac in Dublin, and he liked my playing so much that he helped get us a deal and brought us to England. So you could say that he actually discovered me. I got to know him, and he lent me his Les Paul for a while and eventually just about gave it to me for nothing. I’ve got a lot to thank him for, and to me he’s still the greatest blues guitarist ever. Black or white, he’s the best.”

Gear

> “I’ve had to cut down on my onstage volume and just be careful not to go over the top and play too much. So there’s a lot more control needed.”

> “I favor using Les Pauls on the album and, as you know, they’re not a real toppy guitar like a Strat is, so I had to really consider how to cut through. I didn’t want to go back and use Stratocasters because there are so many good blues-based guitarists in America who use them, like Stevie Ray Vaughan, Robert Cray and Jeff Healey. I wanted to sound a bit different from those guys. You’re going to sound different just by the way you play, but I thought it would be nice to use Les Pauls and come from a more traditional British blues rock vibe – that rawness and Les Paul/Marshall sound, but with a definite 1990s rock aggression. I guess if I bring anything new to blues guitar, it’s probably just a lot of volume!”

> For the sessions, he did away with all the rack gear and floor effects he’s used for years, choosing instead two 1959 Gibson Les Pauls (including Peter Green’s original) and the combination of Marshall, Fender and Soldano amplifiers. “That was it, really. I just plugged in and played. I used to have a lot of effects and stuff between my guitar and the amp, but now there’s just one long cord.”

You can clearly see the backline of Soldanos in this 1990 live clip.

More: Albert King’s Influence

> Is this a big reason, along with sales and following his muse, Gary turned to the blues? Talking about Albert King: “As you can imagine, the more he encouraged me to play the blues, the more confident I felt about what I was doing. Apart from anything else, it was just an honor to work with the guy.”

Category: Fender, Gary Moore, Les Paul, Marshall, Peter Green, Soldano