The Taste AKA Taste

• Rory Gallagher - guitar, harp, vocals
• Eric Kitteringham - bass
• Norman Damery - drums
  
  
  Taste Mk.I im 1967, LR: Norman Damery, Rory Gallagher, Norman Damery.

• Rory Gallagher - guitar, harp, vocals
• Richard McCracken - bass
• John Wilson - drums

Bio:

The Taste formed in August 1966. The roots of the band can be traced back to Rory Gallagher's tenure with the Impact and Fontana Showbands. More details to follow. The band gigged solidly across for two years, including stints in Hamburg, and The Taste eventually became just Taste. They were particularly popular in the Maritime Hotel in Belfast.

The original trio disbanded in mid-1968 due to a combination of factors, including what appears to have been record company meddling and management mishandling, the exact details now lost in the mists of time. The new rhythm section was John Wilson and Richard McCracken (sometimes called Charlie McCracken) from Belfast. Both had played with numerous earlier outfits - more details to follow - most recently The Cheese. The band signed to Polydor (after a single on Major Minor), re-located to London, and began to be conquer the world. They released two excellet studio albuns Taste [1969] and On The Boards [1970], but split at the end of 1970, playing their final gig in Belfast on New Years Eve. Two ropey live albums followed in 1971, Live Taste and Live At The Isle of Wight. More archive recordings emerged over the years including studio recordings by the original trio in 1967 which first came out as Taste First [1972] (see discography below for other variations), and October '68 recordings at the Marquee in London released as In Concert [1976].

When Taste split, Rory Gallagher went solo while Wilson and McCracken formed Stud ex Blossom Toes with guitarist Jim Cregan.

Wilson and McCracken revvied the Taste name in 2000 with new guitarist Sam Davidson and have played intermittently ever since.

A: What's Going On
B: Same Old Story
C: Blister on the Moon
D: Born on the Wrong Side of Time

side one:
Blister on the Moon
Sugar Mama

side two:
Catfish
On The Boards

side one:
Blister on the Moon
Leaving Blues
Sugar Mama
Hail
Born on the Wrong Side of Time

side two:
Dual Carriageway Pain
Same Old Story
Catfish
I'm Moving On

side one:
What's Going On
Railway and Gun
It's Happened Before, It'll Happen Again
If the Day Was Any Longer
Morning Sun

side two:
Eat My Words
On the Boards
If I Don't Sing I'll Cry
See Here
I'll Remember

side one:
Sugar Mama
Gamblin' Blues
I Feel So Good (Part One)

I Feel So Good (Part Two)
Catfish
Same Old Story

side one:
What's Going On
Sugar Mama
Morning Sun
Sinner Boy

side two:
I Feel So Good
Catfish

 

side one:
Wee Wee Baby
How Many More Years
Take It Easy Baby

side two:
You've Got to Pay
Worried Man
Norman Invasion
Pardon Me Mister

side one:
Introduction / Movin' On / Pontiac Blues / Baby, Please Don't Go
Blister on the Moon

side two:
Sugar Mama
First Time I Met the Blues
Catfish

"Top Gear" 5 Aug 1968
Same Old Story
Blister On The Moon
Dual Carriageway Pain
Norman Invasion

"Top Gear" 17 Feb 1969
I'm Movin' On
Sugar Mama
Leavin' Blues
Hail

Marquee Club London, 25 Oct 1968
I'm Movin' On
Baby Please Don't Go/Bye Bye Bird
Blister On The Moon
Sugar Mama
First Time I Met The Blues
Catfish

Notes: Excellent quality BBC recordings. The second half of this disc (last 6 tracks) was recorded live at The Marquee on 25 October 1968 and was given an official release on Ariola Records [205 366] in 1978 as "Taste in Concert".

Live at the Marquee 25/10/1968
Introduction
Movin' on / Pontiac Blues
Baby Please Don't Go
Blister on the Moon
Sugar Mama
First Time I Met the Blues
Catfish

Live UK - July 1967
Wee Wee Baby
How Many More Years
Take It Easy Baby
You've Got to Pay
Worried Man
Norman Invasion
Pardon Me Mister

 

tracklisting:
01. Morning Sun
02. Sugar Mama
03. I'll Remember
04. Walkin' Blues
05. Eat My Words
06. Railway And Gun
07. I Feel So Good
08. What's Going On
09. Catfish
10. Same Old Story
11. Pontiac Blues

1-10: Basel Or Bust CD
1-6+8+10+11: Irish Werewolf CD

Notes: Excellent quality soundboard recording issued at least three times, with slightly different track listings.

tracklisting:
Sugar Mama
Railway And Gun
I'll Remember
She's 19 Years Old
Catfish
Same Old Story

 

side one:
Sugar Mama
Get Your Railway And Your Gun
I'll Remember
Just Blues

side two:
Catfish Blues
Same Old Story

Notes: One of the rarest 70s bootlegs, certainly the first Taste bootleg, and a very desireable item despite the average sound quality. Violet System were shut down after the first pressing of 500 and no further copies were made. The A and B side tracklistings on the back cover are swopped on the actual disc. Also the song titles on the side two label (side one on the back cover) are incorrectly listed as 'Storm' and 'Daughter of the Fireplace' on some copies. These come from another Violet System bootleg from 1970, Man's 'To Live For To Die'.

Taste Live in the Stadhalle, Basel, Switzerland on February 1970
I Feel So Good
Catfish

Rory Gallagher live at the Concertgebouw, Amsterdam 5 June 1972
Laundromat
Hands Up
For The Last Time
Wave Myself Goodbye
Just The Smile

Hands Up [Amsterdam]
I Feel So Good [Basel]
She's 19 Years Old [Hamburg]
Laundromat [Amsterdam]
Just The Smile [Amsterdam]
Railway And Gun [Basel or Hamburg]
Catfish [Basel or Hamburg]

Notes: Italian CD in a series titled "Il dizionario del Rock. miti di ieri e di oggi" - "The Dictionary of Rock. Myths of yesterday and today". This collects tracks from three shows already issued separately: Basel 1 February 1970, Hamburg February 1970 and ROry Gallagher solo on 5 June 1972 in Amsterdam.

tracklisting:
What's Going On
Sugar Mama
Sinner Boy
At The Bottom
She's Nineteen Years Old
Morning Sun
Catfish
Gamblin' Blues

Notes: A 14-track version of this concert is also in circulation

Help!: We need your help to complete this entry. If you can tell us more about this band then please do! We welcome any corrections, missing details, connections to other bands, where are they now, etc. We also need photos, scans, copies of releases or live or demo recordings, and any other memorabilia gathering dust in the attic. If you can help, then please get in touch.