The sheer length and scope of The Rolling Stones’ decades-long career is all the more impressive when one considers just how rocky things were in the beginning (pun only half intended). By 1975, The Stones had already undergone two significant lineup changes with the band’s loss (and, shortly thereafter, tragic death) of Brian Jones in 1969 and the departure of Mick Taylor five years later in 1974. Meanwhile, Keith Richards was deep in the throes of addiction, and Mick Jagger was wrestling with his own problems.
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In short, the band was in a rough state. And it was during this particularly hedonistic era of the group’s career that they reached out to Rory Gallagher, Irish rock ‘n’ roller, to take Taylor’s place. Ian Stewart, former Stone-turned-road manager, was the one who made the late-night call to Gallagher’s home in Cork. Gallagher’s brother, Dónal, picked up.
“When I woke him, he thought I was winding him up,” Dónal told The Telegraph in 2024. “But he agreed.” So, Rory traveled to Rotterdam, where the band was staying, for a jam session that was also serving as an informal audition. He played with most of The Rolling Stones for multiple days, but guitarist Keith Richards never made the rehearsals.
Rory Gallagher Ran Out of Time Before Keith Richards Came To
Eventually, Rory Gallegher’s time in Rotterdam had to come to a close. He had a string of shows in Japan, and the musician was adamantly opposed to rescheduling, if at all possible. The only problem was that Gallagher hadn’t had a chance to interact with Keith Richards, let alone play with him to see how their styles did (or didn’t) work together. And because no member of The Rolling Stones wanted to approve a new lineup without Richards there, Gallagher was in a holding pattern, waiting for Richards to wake up.
“Rory went up to Keith’s suite. Keith was passed out. Rory stayed up all night and would go up every half hour to see if he’d woken up,” the Irish rock ‘n’ roller’s brother recalled. Gallagher’s time was up. He had to leave, and his chance at being in The Rolling Stones left with him.
For whatever it’s worth, bassist Bill Wyman later questioned whether Gallagher would have been able to work with Mick Jagger and Richards’ tremendous egos. “We had a good time with him, but I think Mick and Keith felt that he wasn’t the kind of character that would have fit. If he’d been in The Stones, he wouldn’t have been signing, and that was one of his strong points. He would have just been playing solos and learning to be subservient to two big egos. I don’t think it would have worked.”
Maybe that’s why Richards wasn’t worried about sobering up before Gallagher left. Or maybe it really was a missed opportunity. In any case, Ronnie Wood would land the gig a couple of years later, which seemed to be the winning lineup for the enduring British rock band.
Photo by Fin Costello/Redferns
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