GARY MOORE Parisienne Walkways

Combining the original classic with a definitive live performance, Richard Barrett talks and plays you through some vintage Gary Moore – with a specially recorded, extended backing track.

Richard Barrett transcribes 1979’s surprise hit. Full of dynamics, this is the perfect pairing between rock and blues and Richard has added a three-minute live outro to the original track.

Though deservedly remembered by many for his excellent rock and blues recordings, Gary Moore actually had a very wide taste in music and experimented in a variety of genres. Parisienne Walkways was recorded during the 1978 sessions for Gary’s Back On The Streets album and features Thin Lizzy’s often underrated drummer Brian Downey, plus Phil Lynott himself on vocals and upright bass. It captures Gary’s playing at a pivotal stage, making the transition from the jazz-rock style of the Colosseum II albums a couple of years earlier, to his eventual reunion with Thin Lizzy for the Black Rose album in 1979.

Of course, there was never any shortage of fire in Gary’s playing whatever the genre, and he sounded just as at home on his 61 Strat (check out his performance of Red House from the 2005 Strat Pack movie!) as he did on his famous ex-Peter Green ’59 Les Paul. It is this guitar that features on both the original recording and our featured live version.

The original clocks in at just over three minutes – fairly long for a single (it reached number 8 in the UK) but a little short for those wanting to hear Gary stretch out and do what he was best at. In his live performances, Gary would continue the outro section for another three minutes or so – plus, of course, the infamous sustained note before the last repeat of the main melody. To recreate this, you’ll need to be turned up fairly loud and standing in exactly the right position in relation to your amplifier and speaker – more on this later. To get the best of both worlds, our GT version goes with the original track right up where the fade begins (3:03, or bar 45 on the transcription), then continues as Gary would have done live.

The live performance we have chosen as the basis for this is taken from Gary’s inspired encore at Reading Rock on August 28th 1982, featuring the superb line-up of Ian Paice on drums and Neil Murray on bass. Tommy Eyre provided some nice chord variations on keys too, all of which we have emulated to the best of our ability on the extended backing track – which should provide plenty of fun!

Though studio and live performance are very different worlds, Gary’s eloquent phrasing and control remain consistent. He uses a little more gain (and probably volume) on the live versions, so there is more handling noise and feedback evident, partly due to the un-potted PAF pickups in his ’59 Les Paul. Gary would keep this under control by rolling the guitar’s volume down quickly between phrases, or allowing other unused strings to sound briefly (check bar 53 of the transcription for an example of this).

As well as avoiding microphonic squealing, this gives an exciting dynamic ‘cranked to the max’ feel. It’s easier to understand this concept when you’ve seen it in action. Be sure to check out a few of Gary’s live performances and you’ll see how he instinctively reaches down to zero the guitar’s volume control to keep things quiet. You don’t need to be playing loud to use this technique and it will help give your playing that urgent, in-yourface feel. So give it a go!

The solo you hear on The record Was caPTured in one Take. There’s a double Track and a harMony. unbelievable!