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Gary Moore : I Can't Wait Until Tomorrow - The Official Biography
Three years in the making, I Can’t Wait Until Tomorrow is the official Gary Moore biography written by acclaimed music writer Harry Shapiro, who was given exclusive access to Gary’s family, friends and musicians.
Spanning Gary’s five decades as a professional musician, the story begins with his early, troubled life in Belfast which he dealt with by honing his extraordinary talent in private, becoming recognised as one of the city’s best guitarists even while still at school. Leaving home at 16, the guitar prodigy began a tumultuous career first in Skid Row then, aged only 19, an abortive attempt at running his own band and then on through the Seventies switching with consummate ease between the hard rock of Thin Lizzy and the complex jazz rock of Jon Hiseman’s Colosseum II.·
But even as a kid, Gary was telling his friends that he always wanted to be the frontman, never a guitar for hire. His solo career finally took off in 1979 with the chart single “Parisienne Walkways”. Throughout the 1980s, Gary moved up the rock hierarchy, but turned his back on what he regarded as the empty flash of metal and reverted to his heart music – the blues – where ironically he scored his biggest commercial success with the 1990 album, Still Got The Blues, selling over 3 million copies worldwide.
As well as running his own bands, Gary mixed with the best that rock and blues could offer, playing live and on record with George Harrison, Jack Bruce, Ginger Baker, Greg Lake, Cozy Powell, B.B. King, Albert King, Albert Collins and many others. Gary was the guitarist many looked up to not just for the terrifying speed of his fretwork, but for the passion, fire and honesty in his playing. Yet Gary never found life easy. He had demons to battle, could be his own worst enemy and made quite a few extra ones on the way. But when he suddenly died in 2011, the outpourings of admiration and grief from fellow musicians and fans around the world was heartfelt. As Harry Shapiro says “I would never have written a simpering hagiography. Hopefully this account will come across as honest as the man himself”.
Spanning Gary’s five decades as a professional musician, the story begins with his early, troubled life in Belfast which he dealt with by honing his extraordinary talent in private, becoming recognised as one of the city’s best guitarists even while still at school. Leaving home at 16, the guitar prodigy began a tumultuous career first in Skid Row then, aged only 19, an abortive attempt at running his own band and then on through the Seventies switching with consummate ease between the hard rock of Thin Lizzy and the complex jazz rock of Jon Hiseman’s Colosseum II.·
But even as a kid, Gary was telling his friends that he always wanted to be the frontman, never a guitar for hire. His solo career finally took off in 1979 with the chart single “Parisienne Walkways”. Throughout the 1980s, Gary moved up the rock hierarchy, but turned his back on what he regarded as the empty flash of metal and reverted to his heart music – the blues – where ironically he scored his biggest commercial success with the 1990 album, Still Got The Blues, selling over 3 million copies worldwide.
As well as running his own bands, Gary mixed with the best that rock and blues could offer, playing live and on record with George Harrison, Jack Bruce, Ginger Baker, Greg Lake, Cozy Powell, B.B. King, Albert King, Albert Collins and many others. Gary was the guitarist many looked up to not just for the terrifying speed of his fretwork, but for the passion, fire and honesty in his playing. Yet Gary never found life easy. He had demons to battle, could be his own worst enemy and made quite a few extra ones on the way. But when he suddenly died in 2011, the outpourings of admiration and grief from fellow musicians and fans around the world was heartfelt. As Harry Shapiro says “I would never have written a simpering hagiography. Hopefully this account will come across as honest as the man himself”.
352 pages, Paperback
Published January 1, 2017
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
July 31, 2022
Interesting and needed insight on the life and circumstances of a one of a kind guitar player and musician, that could have benefited of the addition of some nice pictures here and there, a better text layout and overall composition, apart from some much needed proof reading, as there are plenty of typos here and there that you wouldn't expect in an official release.
Overall, the whole thing feels like it has been put together in a hurry.
Four stars for the content plus two stars for the presentation, averaged to three stars.
Still, a recommended reading for any Gary Moore fan out there.
Overall, the whole thing feels like it has been put together in a hurry.
Four stars for the content plus two stars for the presentation, averaged to three stars.
Still, a recommended reading for any Gary Moore fan out there.
December 28, 2018
Excellent insight into one of the finest guitarists the world has ever heard and the complex man behind the guitar. The only drawback for me was the many typos and spelling mistakes littered throughout the book. Definitely would've benefitted from a proofreader
July 23, 2018
Excellent insight into one of my favourite guitarists, just a shame nobody proof-read it before it went to the publishers as it's full of spelling mistakes, typos, missing words etc.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews