It was way back in 1969 when I heard John Peel play a track called 'Born on the Wrong Side of Time' from the eponymous debut album by Taste. It wasn't long before that album and the January 1970 follow up, 'On The Boards' were in my record collection and I have remained a fan of Rory Gallagher ever since.
This box set 'I'll Remember' brings together those two albums expanded with numerous alternate versions but the point of me purchasing this package when I already own the two aforementioned albums, lies in the content of discs 3 & 4. The final disc mixes up rare early Belfast recordings with some live material from Woburn Abbey in 1968 where Gallagher was so overwhelmed by their reception, he thanked the crowd no fewer than sixteen times. This concert also marked the end of the first Taste line-up.
The cream of this package however is probably disc 3 which features all live material from 1970. Two concerts from London and Stockholm are included and this is where Taste - and Gallagher in particular - really shine. Hearing how he switches between jazz and blues influences, it is easy to see why the Rolling Stones seriously considered Gallagher as a replacement for Mick Taylor in 1974. Incidentally the Stockholm concert includes a scintillating version of 'Sinner Boy' a song which would appear on Gallagher's first solo album a year later. Despite the undoubted quality of the performance at this concert, it was only one week later that Melody Maker would suggest that the band were close to splitting. They weren't too far from the truth.
It seems criminal that Taste only existed for three years and only produced two studio albums and that at the time they were usually in the shadow of Cream and Jimi Hendrix. On the evidence of these recordings, they were easily on a par with both of those fine acts.
It may have taken a while but the wait for this set has been well worthwhile. Four great discs, entertaining and informative liner notes and great photos and all for a little over £30.
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