JACKIE McAULEY – IRISH BLUES ROCK LEGEND

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Guitarist and keyboard player Jackie McAuley has had one of the most varied and creative careers of any of the great musicians who emerged from Belfast in the 60s…London What’s On.

 

THE HISTORY:
- As a member of THEM he recorded and toured with Van Morrison behind hit records like ‘Baby Please Don’t Go’ ‘Here Comes The Night’ and “Gloria” sharing the Wembley stage with The Beatles, The Rolling Stones The Kinks and others. 
Later when Van Morrison went solo McAuley joined Paul Brady in Dublin blues band The Kult.
- As leader of The Belfast Gypsies he recorded an album, ‘Them Belfast Gypsies’ produced by infamous L.A. scene-maker Kim Fowley, which has been hailed as one of the rawest and most powerful to emerge during the 60s blues boom.

- McAuley’s psych-folk duo Trader Horne, with ex-Fairport Convention singer Judy Dyble, only released one album, ‘Morning Way’ in 1970 (a favourite at the time of Robert Plant of Led Zeppelin) but the album, much played then by John Peel, has astonishingly been reissued at least seven times since.
- Throughout  the 70s and beyond McAuley recorded and worked with dozens of artist from the weird and wonderful Viv Stanshall (Bonzo Dog) to Clodagh Rodgers, Jamaican reggae giants The Heptones, to keyboard wizard Rick Wakeman and also with the Legendary Lonnie Donegan as guitarist and musical director. He has jammed with the best. Johnny Winter and Joe Cocker. During this period he had already worked on over forty albums.

- In 1982 McAuley’s songwriting came to fruition when he wrote the world-wide hit record ‘Dear John’ for Status Quo.
Meanwhile he formed the short lived but potent ‘Rowdy’ with Roxy Music bassist, John Gustafson,  The Pretenders Guitarist, Billy Bremner and Judas Priest drummer, Les Binks.
- In the late 80s McAuley for many years led the critically acclaimed Celtic rock band ‘Poor Mouth’ recording one album. ‘Gael Force’ After a terrible accident almost severing his finger McAuley during recovery, began to write more solo- driven material  
- Since breaking up Poor Mouth he has released several well-reviewed albums under his own name. His songs have featured in two Hollywood movies.
- Recently McAuley and Dyble reformed Trader Horne (after forty five years!) for a one-off London gig which was awarded four stars in a review in The Times.
- McAuley has just released the album Them Good Old Songs in 2015, revisiting some of the songs he had first played in the mid-60s with Them. He is currently gigging in Ireland and beyond with The Jackie McAuley Band.
- In 2017 he  has recently finished writing his memoirs. ‘I, Sideman’…

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Trevor Hodgett