''Defender'' is the thirteenth album and tenth studio album by Irish musician
Rory Gallagher
William Rory Gallagher ( ; 2 March 1948 – 14 June 1995) was an Irish musician, singer, and songwriter. Regarded as "Ireland's first rock star", he is known for his virtuosic style of guitar playing and live performances. He has sometim ...
. Coming after a five-year hiatus from the recording studio, it was his first album released on the Capo label.
The song "Continental Op" was inspired by
the nameless fictional detective created by
Dashiell Hammett
Samuel Dashiell Hammett ( ; May 27, 1894 – January 10, 1961) was an American writer of hard-boiled detective novels and short stories. He was also a screenwriter and political activist. Among the characters he created are Sam Spade ('' The Ma ...
, and was dedicated to Hammett.
Track listing
All tracks composed by Rory Gallagher except where indicated.
Side one
#"Kickback City" - 4:49
#"Loanshark Blues" - 4:27
#"Continental Op" - 4:33
#"I Ain't No Saint" - 4:58
#"Failsafe Day" - 4:23
Side two
#"Road to Hell" - 5:32
#"Doing Time" - 4:06
#"Smear Campaign" - 4:47
#"
Don't Start Me Talkin'" (
Sonny Boy Williamson II
Alex or Aleck Miller (originally Ford, possibly December 5, 1912 – May 24, 1965), known later in his career as Sonny Boy Williamson, was an American blues harmonica player, singer and songwriter. He was an early and influential blues harp s ...
) - 3:35
#"Seven Days" - 5:14
CD bonus tracks, also included as a bonus 7inch single on some issues of the LP
#"Seems to Me" - 4:52 (Bonus)
#"No Peace for the Wicked" - 4:09 (Bonus)
Personnel
*Rory Gallagher –
vocals
Singing is the art of creating music with the voice. It is the oldest form of musical expression, and the human voice can be considered the first musical instrument. The definition of singing varies across sources. Some sources define sing ...
,
guitar
The guitar is a stringed musical instrument that is usually fretted (with Fretless guitar, some exceptions) and typically has six or Twelve-string guitar, twelve strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming ...
,
harmonica
The harmonica, also known as a French harp or mouth organ, is a free reed wind instrument used worldwide in many musical genres, notably in blues, American folk music, classical music, jazz, country, and rock. The many types of harmonica incl ...
*
Gerry McAvoy
John Gerard McAvoy (born 19 December 1951) is a Northern Irish blues rock bass guitarist. He played with blues rock musician Rory Gallagher between 1970 and 1991, and then with Nine Below Zero until 2011.
Biography
McAvoy was born in Belfas ...
–
bass guitar
The bass guitar (), also known as the electric bass guitar, electric bass, or simply the bass, is the lowest-pitched member of the guitar family. It is similar in appearance and construction to an Electric guitar, electric but with a longer nec ...
*Brendan O'Neill –
drums
The drum is a member of the percussion instrument, percussion group of musical instruments. In the Hornbostel–Sachs classification system, it is a membranophones, membranophone. Drums consist of at least one Acoustic membrane, membrane, c ...
Invited guests
*John Cooke –
keyboards
*
Lou Martin –
piano
A piano is a keyboard instrument that produces sound when its keys are depressed, activating an Action (music), action mechanism where hammers strike String (music), strings. Modern pianos have a row of 88 black and white keys, tuned to a c ...
on "Seven Days"
*
Bob Andrews – piano on "Don't Start Me to Talkin'"
*
Mark Feltham – harmonica on "Don't Start Me to Talkin'"
;Technical
*Alan O'Duffy – production associate
*Dónal Gallagher – executive producer
References
External links
Rory Gallagher's Official Site
{{Authority control
1987 albums
Rory Gallagher albums
Albums produced by Rory Gallagher