Gary Moore – Blues and beyond

At the end of November, BMG will be releasing “Blues and beyond”, a new collection of songs from Gary Moore. It’s being released following a Pledgemusic campaign and comes in several versions. The most basic is a 2 CD package which contains a selection of songs from his career and has been carefully chosen to show a good variety of styles, so it’s not just the Bluesy numbers, there are some heavier songs in there too. It’s a selection curated by his guitar tech, Graham Lilley, so it’s not just the most popular songs, it includes less well known songs too. In fact the lack of “Still got the blues” is a good indication of the willingness to choose an itneresting selection of tracks that stands apart from the “best of” type compilations.

For the fan who wants more, there’s a 4CD box set (or a vinyl equivalent). That gives you the same two discs as the basic version but adds two more discs of live material plus a book (I can’t wait until tomorrow). The live discs include a couple of new versions of songs, one of which was played live before it was completed and released, so the live version is quite different to the final version that made it onto a studio album. The book is a 200 page (approx) biography of Gary Moore, written by Harry Shapiro who spent several years researching and writing it during which time he interviewed family, friends and other people in Gary Moore’s life.

The basic 2 disc release is a great compilation album and it’s reasonably priced. The box set though is what is going to appeal to the real fans though – they’ll already have the studio tracks on the various albums, but the previously unreleased live material on the other two discs is a big attraction and the book is a nice bonus.

Disc: 1
1. Enough of the Blues
2. Tell Me Woman
3. Stormy Monday
4. That’s Why I Play the Blues
5. Power of the Blues
6. Ball and Chain
7. Looking Back
8. Surrender
9. Cold Black Night
10. There’s a Hole
11. Getaway Blues
12. We Want Love
13. Memory Pain
14. The Prophet

Disc: 2
1. You Upset Me Baby
2. Bring My Baby Back
3. I Can’t Quit You Baby
4. World of Confusion
5. Picture of the Moon
6. Can’t Find My Baby
7. Drowning In Tears
8. Evil
9. My Baby (She’s So Good to Me)
10. I Ain’t Got You
11. Just Can’t Let You Go
12. How Many Lies
13. Torn Inside
14. Parisienne Walkways (Live) [2003 Masters of Rock]

Disc: 3
1. Walking By Myself (Live)
2. Oh Pretty Woman (Live)
3. Need Your Love So Bad (Live)
4. Since I Met You Baby (Live)
5. Surrender (Live)
6. Cold Black Night (Live)
7. All Your Love (Live)
8. Still Got the Blues (Live)

Disc: 4
1. Too Tired (Live)
2. The Sky Is Crying (Live)
3. Further On Up the Road (Live)
4. Fire (Live)
5. The Blues Is Alright (Live)
6. Enough of the Blues (Live)
7. The Prophet (Live)