Gary Moore: Dead, Yet He's Still Got the Blues for Us

Gary Moore died last night while being on vacation in Spain. The Irish guitar master passed away too young at the age of 58. He was a legend alive so, indisputably, he will stay a legend after his death also. While probably not the greatest guitar player ever, Gary Moore had developed an immediately recognizable guitar playing style and had proved to be amongst the most influential rock instrumentalists many years before his death. He undeniably has kindled many young people to start playing guitar and he has left a good number of memorable rock tunes in his recording catalogue.

Gary Moore timeless influence started with the band Thin Lizzy and continued with his solo career. His roots were in the blues and this had been apparent throughout his whole musical life. Thus, not surprisingly, his most renowned and successful release was Still Got the Blues. In spite of his masterful skills of a bluesman he had also some decent heavy metal tunes showing his technical and compositional qualities as well. He built a large following around the world with an exception of the United States where he remained relatively unknown.

So now Gary Moore is dead. We don't know if his death will increase his popularity in the USA as often happens with other performers or whether his sale numbers around the world will grow for the time being. But what we may say for sure is that Gary Moore's music will remain in the hearts of his countless fans and his influential works will continue pushing some young boys and girls into direction of learning how to play a guitar.

If you've ever listened to Parisienne Walkways it's hard to forget the sound of Gary's guitar, his soul is singing through his instrument and it's easy to get enchanted by the charm of the melody. His collaboration with the late Phil Lynott (Gary's long time friend and founder of Thin Lizzy) Out in the Fields or Over the Hills and Far Away show Moore's skill to craft not so bluesy tunes as well. And then, Still Got the Blues stays as his signature recording, both technically impressive and full of soul. It's not possible to ignore this song if you've encountered it once.

If you've had the chance to attend a Gary Moore's live performance you should already know how magical his fingers were. How the audience was looking fixedly at his instrument and how even not so famous tunes were sounding familiar and fascinating.

So, although Gary Moore's dead he will remain in our minds because of his natural ability to occupy them, once and for all, in the very first minute we've heard some of his immortal melodic creations. The musical and especially the guitar world will remember him long after his death and let's pray to the God of music to shape more divine performers like Gary Moore.

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