''Top Priority'' is

Rory Gallagher William Rory Gallagher ( ; 2 March 1948 – 14 June 1995) was an Irish guitarist, singer, songwriter, and producer. Due to his virtuosic playing, but relative lack of fame compared to some others, he has been referred to as "the greatest ...

's eighth studio album and tenth album overall. It was his fourth and final studio album for

Chrysalis Records Chrysalis Records () is a British record label that was founded in 1968. The name is both a reference to the pupal stage of a butterfly and a combination of its founders' names, Chris Wright and Terry Ellis. It started as the Ellis-Wright Ag ...

both in the UK and USA. The album was the second with his revised

power trio A power trio is a rock and roll band format having a lineup of electric guitar, bass guitar and drum kit (drums and cymbals), leaving out a second rhythm guitar or keyboard instrument that are often used in other rock music bands that are quartet ...

band. Like the previous album ''

Photo-Finish A photo finish occurs in a sporting race when multiple competitors cross the finishing line at nearly the same time. As the naked eye may not be able to determine which of the competitors crossed the line first, a photo or video taken at the finis ...

'', ''Top Priority'' is a return to

hard rock Hard rock or heavy rock is a loosely defined subgenre of rock music typified by aggressive vocals and distorted electric guitars. Hard rock began in the mid-1960s with the garage, psychedelic and blues rock movements. Some of the earliest hard ...

. The ballads, acoustic and folk influences that were seen on albums such as '' Calling Card'' are replaced by more conventional but powerful

blues rock Blues rock is a fusion music genre that combines elements of blues and rock music. It is mostly an electric ensemble-style music with instrumentation similar to electric blues and rock (electric guitar, electric bass guitar, and drums, sometimes w ...

. The album title reflects the pressure that Gallagher often felt regarding the business end of making music. After the release of ''Photo-Finish'' Gallagher's band had a successful tour of the United States that resulted in good press both in the states and at home. Chrysalis was eager to keep the momentum going and encouraged Rory to release another studio album quickly, telling him they would make it their "Top Priority" and actively promote it. To remind the executives of their promise Gallagher used the phrase for the album title. The song "Philby" was based on

Kim Philby Harold Adrian Russell "Kim" Philby (1 January 191211 May 1988) was a British intelligence officer and a double agent for the Soviet Union. In 1963 he was revealed to be a member of the Cambridge Five, a spy ring which had divulged British secr ...

who was a famous cold war British double agent for the Soviets. The song is an example of Gallagher's fascination with men on the outside of society. For the guitar solo Gallagher utilized a Coral

electric sitar An electric sitar is a type of electric guitar designed to mimic the sound of the sitar, a traditional musical instrument of India. Depending on the manufacturer and model, these instruments bear varying degrees of resemblance to the traditional ...

that he borrowed from

Pete Townshend Peter Dennis Blandford Townshend (; born 19 May 1945) is an English musician. He is co-founder, leader, guitarist, second lead vocalist and principal songwriter of the Who, one of the most influential rock bands of the 1960s and 1970s. Townsh ...

to give a feeling of the Eastern Bloc. Today the legacy of Rory Gallagher's "Top Priority" lives on. On 4 June 2021, Cork band "Ash Red" released a cover of "Philby" on Spotify, Apple Music, etc. proving the lasting impact this record had in the minds of outsiders.

Track listing

All tracks composed by Rory Gallagher. Side one #"Follow Me" – 4:40 #"Philby" – 3:51 #"Wayward Child" – 3:31 #"Key Chain" – 4:09 #"At the Depot" – 2:56 Side two #"Bad Penny" – 4:03 #"Just Hit Town" – 3:37 #"Off the Handle" – 5:36 #"Public Enemy No. 1" – 3:46 re-released CD bonus track #"Nothing But The Devil" (Capitol Radio broadcast - 18 March 1980) – 3:41 remastered CD bonus track #"Hell Cat" – 4:50 #"The Watcher" – 5:46

Personnel

*Rory Gallagher –

vocals Singing is the act of creating musical sounds with the voice. A person who sings is called a singer, artist or vocalist (in jazz and/or popular music). Singers perform music (arias, recitatives, songs, etc.) that can be sung with or without ...

guitar The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected stri ...

dulcimer The word dulcimer refers to two families of musical string instruments. Hammered dulcimers The word ''dulcimer'' originally referred to a trapezoidal zither similar to a psaltery whose many strings are struck by handheld "hammers". Variants of ...

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 inclu ...

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, electric bass or simply bass (), is the lowest-pitched member of the string family. It is a plucked string instrument similar in appearance and construction to an electric or an acoustic guitar, but with a longer neck and ...

Ted McKenna Edward McKenna (10 March 1950 – 19 January 2019) was a Scottish drummer who played with The Sensational Alex Harvey Band, Rory Gallagher, The Greg Lake Band, and The Michael Schenker Group. He also toured with Ian Gillan for a short period o ...

–

drums A drum kit (also called a drum set, trap set, or simply drums) is a collection of drums, cymbals, and other Percussion instrument, auxiliary percussion instruments set up to be played by one person. The player (drummer) typically holds a pair o ...

References

External links

Rory Gallagher's Official Site
1979 albums Rory Gallagher albums Albums produced by Rory Gallagher Buddah Records albums {{1970s-rock-album-stub