Gary Moore: The Official Biography

by Harry Shapiro

"Gary Moore is definitely in my list of top five guitar influences, right up there with Jimi Hendrix, Eddie Van Halen, Stevie Ray Vaughan and Michael Schenker. He just blew me away from the first time I heard him." Kirk Hammett


"The most powerful, genuine, authentic blues-rock guitarist of his day." Jack Bruce


"Gary opened the door for me and a lot of other blues-rock guitarists. He was a legend, a musical titan and a very nice man." Joe Bonamassa




Gary Moore delighted entire generations with his passionate guitar playing, from the driving rock of Thin Lizzy in the 1970s to his explorations in subsequent decades of jazz fusion, heavy metal, hard rock, blues rock, and more. Throughout that time, he could be seen on the world’s biggest stages, yet the real Gary Moore was always hidden in plain sight, giving little away. Now, however, through extensive and revealing interviews with family members, friends, and fellow musicians, acclaimed rock biographer Harry Shapiro is able to take readers right to the heart of Gary’s life and career.


Despite his early death in 2011, Moore still has legions of devoted fans across the world who will be enthralled by this unique insight into the life of a guitar genius who did it his way and whose music lives on. Beginning with Gary as a teenage guitar prodigy in war-torn Ireland and continuing through the many highs and lows of more than forty years in rock, Shapiro paints an intimate portrait of a musician widely hailed as one of the greatest Irish bluesmen of all time.

Genres: Music, Biography, Nonfiction

520 pages, Kindle Edition

Published September 27, 2022

Reviews

[Tony Lewis · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is what I would say is probably a pretty good account of this talented stars life give the material that the author had to work with. It jumps around a bit and it is hard to keep up with the characters as there are quite a few names of people in here I’ve never heard of and trying to put into context of who is actually describing a situation is sometimes frustrating.
What is not excusable however, is that whomever edited this book should not be allowed near the editing desk again. This is littered with very simple mistakes that I would not expect to see in a published text. It’s the kind of basic errors that you see in the simple online news articles every day. Very frustrating. So my rating is mainly due to the editing and not the content.

[Peter · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent biography of an amazing musician who is often overlooked. Warts and all life story of a kind, private man who took his music seriously but made some poor life choices but as we are all flawed this is something we can all relate to.
In depth look at his career, friends and musicians along the way with a great overview of his gear, guitars and albums.

[Elleanor Baker · Rating 3 out of 5]

Editing appalling ends strangely no photo inclusions

I briefly knew GM back in the time of Blues for Greeny through the fan club but I always loved his guitar and whether rock or blues he was unique and one of a kind. I was there at Blues for Greeny that night it was a great show and one of many I attended starting from 1980's up to just a few years before he left us so suddenly and tragically.

I guess this probably the best book your gonna get and many of those included in it are no longer with us either but I still don't think it really does him true justice. There is something missing, maybe that missing declined inclusion but missing still means the jigsaw is incomplete. No Peter Green for a start and he didn't pass until 2020 and his input would have made a big difference I think. Very little from Greg Lake too and nothing from Keith Emerson at all.

Gary never got the credit he deserved a bit like Jeff Beck my other absolute hero who also passed too soon. How you can have lists of "best guitarist" and not feature either of them? All that shows is how pointless and purile such voting systems are and how clueless so called readers and guitar "lovers" actually are which is sad.

This book has a lot of spelling mistakes, typos and words omitted which says nothing for the editor and publisher. If you can get past that it's a sad read about a real genius and like Jeff was a person never satisfied always searching NEVER EVER really finding and trying to excel even more setting an impossible bar to himself that left him feeling unsatisfied and unfulfilled when anyone else would be happy with their amazing talent.

"How Blue Can You Get" released after his death should never have been allowed. It was clearly done just to cash in and the demo sounding and quality of the inclusions show they were not ready and in any case Gary was not going to release another blues album he was going to do another Celtic rock for his next album, two tracks of which were played I think at Montreux in 2010. This is last recorded performance that I own and can find but he looked ill performing there and wasn't at his best. Someone close to him should have picked that up too if they are his so called friends and musical family because that recording shows so clearly he wasn't Gary Moore.

Do I recommend buying and reading this? It depends. If you can get past the errors and accept it feels unfinished like Gary's life was then I'd say read it, ditto if your a guitar freak and want to know all about guitars played and strings used it's all here. It's now as good as your likely to get anyway but be aware there are no photos or personal touches and family input feels quite minimal.

[Aaron · Rating 4 out of 5]

The ultimate Gary Moore bio because it's wall-to-wall Gary Moore; a must for musician fans, who compose the biggest population of his adoring public, anyway. These include Eddie Van Halen, Kirk Hammett, Greg Lake, Steve Lukather, and others. The legend and his bands, his sound, his songs, his enormous guitar-playing background, these are covered with little time for author Shapiro to breath. A decent amount of pages are devoted to the man, himself, and his often mercurial personality. At least the book profiles just how hard being a rock bandleader is. Luckily, the wives and girlfriends material is most often buried beneath recording sessions and endless musician testimonies, as members travel the merry-go-round of perpetually changing, evolving Gary Moore band lineups. As it's observed at Moore's premature funeral at age 58: "There's not one person here who hasn't had a row with Gary." The sheer amount of music Moore contributed via his rock stints in Thin Lizzy and heavy solo efforts alone is impressive. Once Moore enters the blues-man period in the 90s and onward, regardless of a true fan's taste, it's hard to pick sides. His playing was glorious. On an indulgent yet necessary note (on the author's part), the book's last chapters are unique: it's gear talk and more gear talk. Considering Moore was a gearhead, at least the master does all the talking. His beautiful music quotes include: "A great solo in the context of a poor song means nothing." Keyboardist Don Airey contributes, "If you looked out into the audience whilst Gary was soloing, you'd see blokes so moved by what they were hearing, they'd propose to their girlfriends"

[Titus Hjelm · Rating 3 out of 5]

It took me a long time to realise the full genius of Gary Moore. I was sort of a fan during the hard rock years (and definitely a Thin Lizzy fan) and loved the blues phase. I met Moore in the accreditation queue for the High Voltage festival in London (2008 must have been?) and loved his show. But it was really all the YouTube stuff that opened my eyes. So, it was a shock to hear of his passing. Shapiro's book is a nice posthumous collection of reminisces and media quotes covering everything from 50s Belfast until Moore's last moments. The focus is on the music and musicianship, but a picture of a Janus-faced person also emerges. Confidence and insecurity, caring and obnoxiousness were all part of Moore's personality, if the narrative here is to be believed. The prose is a bit too purple for my taste at times, but among very varying quality music biographies of recent years, Shapiro's is a fine specimen. It caters for the inevitable guitar freaks, like myself, by including details about gear etc.

[Caroline · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is a must read for fans of Gary Moore, one of the greatest guitarists in the world.
This warts-and-all biography takes us back to where it all began.
Until I read this book I didn't know just how much Gary Moore contributed to the music world. Nor did I know what a shy, quiet, kind man he was.
There is quite a roll call of musicans and singers who worked with Moore. Some are well known; Phil Lynott, Huey Lewis, Peter Green. Many are less well known.
There are some amusing anecdotes. Others are harrowing.
When Gary Moore died the world lost an immensely talented guitar player, but his legacy lives on. Thanks to this book I feel as though I understand him a little better.

[I C Douglas · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fascinating Biography on one of rocks (And Blues) most underrated, and talented guitarists ever to have graced a stage.
Really fascinating insight into one of rocks "Quiet men" this is a well written and informative book offering a look behind the life of this legend of the guitar world, the trials and tribulations gathering bands together, the music business and personal life are all played out warts and all.
An excellent read and well worth a look.

[David Dewata · Rating 5 out of 5]

Bintang lima! Detil menceritakan perkembangan karir Moore lengkap dgn “peralatan tempurnya”. Fokus di musik dan tidak terlalu mengulik kehidupan pribadi.

Walau, tahun-tahun terakhir karir Moore sebelum meninggal kurang detil narasinya. Beberapa album terakhirnya seperti sepintas lalu saja menceritakannya dan lebih banyak cerita saat tur —yang juga terlalu singkat.

[Sebastian · Rating 4 out of 5]

I wished the book hadn’t ended so abruptly, and i wish the last two chapters wouldn’t read like written on a deadline, mistakes and all…

[Paul Sparrow · Rating 4 out of 5]

Love all the band and muscician connections.

[Paul Andrew Lewington · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed reading about one of my favourite musicians. The book is full of interesting facts and quotes.
The amount of print errors and the disjointed feeling of the writing style let the book down.