Taste (Irish band)

Irish blues rock band

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Taste

Taste performing in 1970 in Germany. Left to right: Richard McCracken, Rory Gallagher, John Wilson

Background information
Origin| Cork, Ireland
Genres| Blues rock[1]
Years active| 1966-1970
1996-present
Labels| Verve, Polydor, Major Minor Bad Reputation
Members| Sam Davidson
Alan Niblock
Lyn McMullan
Past members| Rory Gallagher
Norman Damery
Eric Kitteringham
Richard McCracken
Albert Mills
John Wilson

Taste are an Irish blues rock band formed in Cork in 1966. They were founded by songwriter and guitarist Rory Gallagher who left the band in 1970.

## History

[edit]

Taste (originally "The Taste") were formed in Cork, Ireland, in August 1966 as a trio consisting of Rory Gallagher on guitars and vocals, Eric Kitteringham on bass, and Norman Damery on drums.[2] In their early years Taste toured in Hamburg and Ireland before becoming regulars at Maritime Hotel, an R&B club in Belfast, Northern Ireland, in the summer of 1967.[3]

In 1968 Taste began performing in the UK where the original lineup split up. The new lineup formed with Richard McCracken on bass and John Wilson on drums.[2] The new Taste moved permanently to London where they signed with the record label Polydor. In November 1968, the band, along with Yes, opened at Cream's farewell concerts. While with Polydor, Taste began touring the United States and Canada with the English supergroup Blind Faith. In April 1969, Taste released the first of their two studio albums, the self-titled Taste, with On the Boards following in early 1970,[2] the latter showing the band's jazz influences with Gallagher playing saxophone on two tracks.

They performed at the Isle of Wight Festival 1970, alongside Jimi Hendrix and The Who. According to Donal Gallagher (Rory's brother who managed the band) filmmaker Murray Lerner had instructed his crew to shoot just two numbers from the new bands and to save the main film stock for Jimi Hendrix, The Who, Leonard Cohen and the other headliners, but Taste's performance prompted him to change his instructions: "Murray didn't know who Taste were but when he saw the spontaneity of the band and the audience and their interaction, he just told his guys keep filming and they just kept going and captured over an hour of the performance which was quite incredible." In the song "Sugar Mama", a photographer can be seen hurriedly bringing his camera up from a re-load to cover another camera angle.[citation needed]

Later in 1970 Taste toured Europe, then disbanded for numerous reasons, the details of which are still unclear, but are generally acknowledged as being related to managerial disputes, and tensions between Gallagher and the rest of the band, who wanted to be recognised as equals with him (Gallagher having been the sole songwriter in the band). They performed their last show on New Year's Eve in Belfast.[4] Wilson and McCracken immediately formed 'Stud' in early 1971, with Jim Cregan and John Weider, while Gallagher went on to pursue  a solo career. Some years after the break-up, recordings of the original line-up emerged.

A musical homage to Taste and Gallagher was made by Black 47 in their song "Rory", released on 1998's Green Suede Shoes album.

In 1996, Richard McCracken and John Wilson reformed the band with guitarist/vocalist Sam Davidson taking over Rory Gallagher's role as frontman, with Albert Mills replacing McCracken in 2010.[5] The band continued in this formation until February 2017, when it was revealed that the band would tour under the name "Little Taste of Rory feat. John Wilson", and that the line-up now consisted of Wilson, Davidson, and new bassist Alan Niblock.[6] In 2018 John Wilson retired from the band due to ill health but Sam Davidson continues to perform as "Sam Davidson's TASTE" with Albert Mills back on bass and Lyn McMullan taking over from Wilson on drums.[citation needed]

## Personnel

[edit]

### Members

[edit]

Current members

* Sam Davidson – guitars, vocals (1996–present)
* Albert Mills – bass (2010–2017, 2018–present)
* Lyn McMullan – drums (2018–present)

Former members

* Rory Gallagher – guitars, vocals, saxophone, harmonica (1966–1970; died 1995)
* Norman Damery – drums (1966–1968; died 2023)
* Eric Kitteringham – bass (1966–1968; died 2013)
* John Wilson – drums (1968–1970, 1996–2018)
* Richard McCracken – bass (1968–1970, 1996–2010)
* Alan Niblock – bass (2017–2018)

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Timeline

### Line-ups

[edit]

Years  | Lineup

|

1966-1968  |

* Rory Gallagher – guitars, vocals, saxophone, harmonica
* Norman Damery – drums
* Eric Kitteringham – bass

1968–1970  |

* Rory Gallagher – guitars, vocals, saxophone, harmonica
* Richard McCracken – bass
* John Wilson – drums

1970–1996  |

Disbanded
1996–2010  |

* Richard McCracken – bass
* John Wilson – drums
* Sam Davidson – guitars, vocals

2010–2017  |

* John Wilson – drums
* Sam Davidson – guitars, vocals
* Albert Mills – bass

2017–2018  |

* John Wilson – drums
* Sam Davidson – guitars, vocals
* Alan Niblock – bass

2018–present  |

* Sam Davidson – guitar, vocals
* Lyn McMullan – drums
* Albert Mills – bass

## Discography

[edit]

### Studio albums

[edit]

Title  | Album details  | Peak chart positions

|
|

GER
[7] | UK
[8] | US
[9]
Taste |

* Released: April 1969
* Label: Polydor

| —  | —  | 133
On the Boards |

* Released: January 1970
* Label: Polydor

| 33  | 18  | —
Wall to Wall |

* Released: 2009
* Label: Bad Reputation

| —  | —  | —

### Live albums

[edit]

Title  | Album details  | Peak chart positions

|
|

AUS
[10] | BEL

[11] | BEL

[12] | FRA
[13] | GER
[7] | SPA
[14] | UK
[8]
Live Taste |

* Released: February 1971
* Label: Polydor

| 35  | —  | —  | —  | 38  | —  | 14
Live at the Isle of Wight |

* Released: December 1971
* Reissued: September 2015
* Label: Polydor

| —  | 191  | 88  | 181  | 37  | 91  | 41
In Concert |

* Released: December 1977
* Label: Ariola

| —  | —  | —  | —  | —  | —  | —

### Compilation albums

[edit]

Title  | Album details  | Peak chart positions

|
|

BEL

[11] | GER
[7] | NL
[15]
Pop History Vol. 9 [4] |

* Released: 1971
* Label: Polydor

| —  | —  | —
The Best of Taste [4] |

* Released: 1994
* Label: Polydor

| —  | —  | —
I'll Remember [16] |

* Released: 2015
* Label: Polydor

| 118  | 39  | 38

### Singles

[edit]

* "Blister on the Moon" / "Born on the Wrong Side of Time" – UK, April 1968 [a]
* "Born on the Wrong Side of Time" / "Same Old Story" – UK/ EU/ JPN, 1969
* "What's Going On" / "Railway and Gun" – EU, 1970 [b]
* "If I Don't Sing I'll Cry" / "I'll Remember" – ESP, 1970[4]
* "Wee Wee Baby" / "You've Got to Play" – GER 1972
* "Blister on the Moon" / "Sugar Mama" / "Catfish" / "On the Boards" – UK 1982

notes:[17]

* a^ \- re-released in 1970 with the sides reversed.
* b^ \- b/w "Morning Sun" in some countries.

### DVDs

[edit]

* Message To Love – 1995 (Isle of Wight Festival recordings of "Sinner Boy" and "Gamblin' Blues" only)
* What's Going On: Live At The Isle Of Wight \- 2015

## Bibliography

[edit]

* The New Musical Express Book of Rock, 1975, Star Books, ISBN 0-352-30074-4
* Cork Rock: From Rory Gallagher To The Sultans Of Ping by Mark McAvoy. Published by Mercier Press (2009) ISBN 9781856356558

## References

[edit]

1. ^ Taste. AllMusic
2. ^ a b c Roberts, David (1998). Guinness Rockopedia (1st ed.). London: Guinness Publishing Ltd. pp. 168–169. ISBN 0-85112-072-5.
3. ^ Cartwright, Garth (2015). "The rise and acrimonious fall of Rory Gallagher's Taste.". London: Classic Rock/Louder.
4. ^ a b c d Strong, Martin C. (2000). The Great Rock Discography (5th ed.). Edinburgh: Mojo Books. pp. 369–370\. ISBN 1-84195-017-3.
5. ^ "An Overdose Of Fingal Cocoa: ta Taste (aka Taste)". Overdoseoffingalcocoa.blogspot.com. Retrieved 22 July 2017.
6. ^ [1] Archived 29 June 2013 at the Wayback Machine
7. ^ a b c "Discographie von Taste". Offizielle Deutsche Charts (in German). Retrieved 21 July 2021.
8. ^ a b "Taste Chart Full Discography". Official Charts. Retrieved 21 July 2021.
9. ^ "Taste Chart History". Billboard. Retrieved 21 July 2021.
10. ^ Kent, David (1993). Australian Chart Book 1970–1992 (illustrated ed.). St Ives, N.S.W.: Australian Chart Book. p. 305\. ISBN 0-646-11917-6.
11. ^ a b "Discografie Taste". Ultratop Flanders (in Dutch). Retrieved 21 July 2021.
12. ^ "Discographie Taste". Ultratop Wallonia (in French). Retrieved 21 July 2021.
13. ^ "Discographie Taste". Les Charts (in French). Retrieved 21 July 2021.
14. ^ "Taste - What's Going On - Live At The Isle Of Wight". Spanish Charts. Retrieved 21 July 2021.
15. ^ "Discografie Taste". Dutch Charts (in Dutch). Retrieved 21 July 2021.
16. ^ Clayton-Lea, Tony (28 August 2015). "Taste: I'll Remember | Album Review". The Irish Times. Retrieved 21 July 2021.
17. ^ "Taste (2)". Discogs. Retrieved 2 May 2019.

## External links

[edit]

* Has the covers of all singles, complete discography, everything
* Gallagher life timeline
* Taste live at Rodeo Club - Athens (Greek)

Authority control databases

International|

* ISNI
* VIAF

National|

* Germany
* United States
* Czech Republic
* Norway

Artists|

* MusicBrainz

* v
* t
* e

Rory Gallagher

* Gerry McAvoy
* Wilgar Campbell
* Rod de'Ath
* Lou Martin
* Ted McKenna
* Brendan O'Neill
* Mark Feltham
* David Levy
* Jim Leverton
* Richard Newman
* John Cooke

Studio albums|

* Rory Gallagher
* Deuce
* Blueprint
* Tattoo
* Against the Grain
* Calling Card
* Photo-Finish
* Top Priority
* Jinx
* Defender
* Fresh Evidence

Live albums|

* Live in Europe
* Irish Tour '74
* Stage Struck

Posthumous albums|

* Meeting with the G-Man
* Live at Montreux
* Notes from San Francisco

Compilations|

* BBC Sessions
* Wheels Within Wheels
* Blues

Box sets|

* The G-Man Bootleg Series Vol.1

Videos|

* What's Going on – Taste Live at the Isle of Wight
* Ghost Blues – The Story of Rory Gallagher
* Live at Montreux
* Live at Rockpalast
* Live in Cork
* Irish Tour '74

Taste albums|

* Taste
* On the Boards
* Live Taste
* Live at the Isle of Wight

Related articles|

* Rory Gallagher discography
* Taste

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