How Gary Moore recorded his biggest blues hit, “Still Got The Blues”

“Still Got the Blues” is the name of a Gary Moore song and album, which became a huge success and was a return to the blues sound that Gary Moore gravitated towards in his youth.

The History of the Creation and Meaning of the Song Still Got The Blues by Gary Moore

The history of the song Still Got The Blues by Gary Moore

The meaning of “Still Got The Blues” is clear from the lyrics. The composition conveys deep sadness and sadness about the loss of love and the painful experience of disappointment. The lyrics reflect the realization that love has a price and can cause pain. The memory of love remains and continues to hurt. All you need to understand is that love is the main feeling in the Universe, and the opportunity to love is given to every person by God.

In 1989, Gary Moore felt that his "metalhead" image was beginning to become burdensome to him. At the same time, he acquired a new Les Paul brand guitar, which was not suitable for metal, but was ideal for blues. While on tour in Germany, Moore, playing his Les Paul, wrote the song “Still Got The Blues,” the title of which plays on the ambiguity of the word “blues” (can be translated as “Still sad” and “Still playing the blues”).

Speaking about his 1959 Les Paul Standard guitar, Gary Moore spoke about purchasing it in London in 1989:

“I put it aside because I was still playing hard rock at the time and it wasn't right for that. But when it came time to record 'Still Got The Blues', I brought it into the studio to test the sound. On the first day we played 'Still Got The Blues' in one go, from start to finish, it was truly an exciting day and I will never forget it.”

Gary Moore says:

“In 1980 I left Lizzy and started my own group called G-Force and then focused on my solo career. When I was in my dressing room getting ready for a concert, I started playing blues and felt attracted to it. Around '89 I got back into playing the blues."

The idea of playing blues fascinated Moore so much that he decided to change his direction and record a full-length album in the blues style. It is believed that among those who encouraged him to take this bold step was George Harrison himself, Moore's neighbor with whom he lived in London.

“In a pub on the Thames at a party I met Harrison. He approached me and expressed his admiration for my playing style and also suggested some creative ideas for the song “Still Got The Blues.”

“When I was in my thirties, I realized that I didn’t want to play the same music at forty and fifty, that would be ridiculous. The blues, on the other hand, was much more elegant. I wanted something new, completely impulsive. I told my manager that I wanted to make a blues album because I started playing blues music as a child and it has always been close to my heart.”

Over time, there will be those who will say that the reason for the change in style was Moore's commercial cunning. And the guitarist himself claimed that he was guided by purely intuitive inspiration. At the beginning, it even seemed to him that the blues album would simply be a kind of “musical retreat” - for the soul.

“Listeners were screaming, 'Where is the real Gary Moore?' And I thought: “Damn it, is this going to continue?” After I went on the “Still Got The Blues” tour, I lost some fans, but I gained even more. True, I had no idea that this would happen.”

Sales of the album “Still Got The Blues” soon surpassed the sales of the previous “metal” album “After The War”. However, criticism came not only from old fans, but also from defenders of the purity of the blues. The latter believed that Moore's blues were too commercial, smooth and lacking the necessary “rawness”. Gary didn't mind this much, although in order to give the album credibility, he invited such prominent bluesmen as Albert King and Albert Collins to record it.

“This job was the easiest in my life. And not because I suddenly decided to become B.B. King by wearing a new hat. It's clear on this album that I'm playing with the usual rock intensity and passion I always have. When I started working on the “Still Got the Blues” album, it started out quite subdued and not very loud. But then it became more and more like a rock album with inappropriate musical excesses, and when we went on tour with it, it sounded even more like rock and roll.”

In 2008, a small scandal arose. German band JUD'S GALLERY filed a lawsuit against Moore in a Munich court, claiming that "Still Got The Blues" is a plagiarism of their 1974 song "Nordach". The fact that the song “Nordach” was never released on physical media did not bother the court - after all, Moore could hear it at concerts and on the radio. Gary, of course, swore that he had never heard the song, but the court pointed out that copyright infringement does not depend on outright theft. Like this. Although, according to this principle, at least half of the composers of the past and future can be accused of plagiarism. The court ordered Moore and his record company to pay unspecified damages to Jud's Gallery frontman Jurgen Winter.

Still Got the Blues peaked at number 83 on the Billboard 200 on February 16, 1991, and was certified gold by the RIAA in November 1995. This album became Moore's most successful in terms of sales and position on the US charts.