Legendary guitarist Henry McCullough will release his new album Poor Man’s Moon in Ireland on September 5, 2008 on the Crashed Music label.
In a project that Hot Press has hailed as “a record of real depth, character and emotional weight,” McCullough, who performed with Joe Cocker at Woodstock and with Paul McCartney and Wings, has returned to the Irish music scene after nearly two decades of semi-retirement.
Seven songs on the album feature lyrics from Eamon Carr, drummer of Horslips and author of The Origami Crow: A Journey into Japan, World Cup Summer 2002. Carr and McCullough met at the 2006 Ranelagh Arts Festival, where McCullough headlined. Their collaboration on Poor Man’s Moon represents a major moment in McCullough’s long and distinguished career.
McCullough emerged in the Dublin beat scene with a four-piece group The People. He moved to London in 1967 where the band, renamed Eire Apparent, was signed by Chas Chandler and Mike Jeffries, managers of the Jimi Hendrix Experience. Eire Apparent toured with major groups of the time including The Move, Pink Floyd, Eric Burdon and the Animals and Jimi Hendrix, with Hendrix also producing their first album.
In 1968, McCullough left Eire Apparent and returned to Ireland to join Sweeney’s Men, introducing rock motifs into their folk repertoire.
After Sweeney’s Men, McCullough returned to London to work with Joe Cocker and the Grease Band, touring the US and performing at the iconic Woodstock festival in 1969. He became a member of Wings at McCartney’s invitation, contributing the distinctive guitar solo in ‘My Love’. McCullough also makes a spoken-word appearance in the song Money on Pink Floyd’s Dark Side of the Moon.
Musical differences with McCartney lead to his departure from the band. In 1975, McCullough recorded Mind Your Own Business, a solo album released on George Harrison’s Dark Horse label. During the next few years, he pursued a career of gigs with Roy Harper, Marianne Faithfull, Ronnie Lane, Donovan, Frankie Miller, Eric Burdon, Viola Wills, Spooky Tooth and others.
A domestic accident severing the tendons in three of his fingers nearly ended McCullough’s musical career in 1980 and he remained in Northern Ireland to recuperate and recover the strength of his hand. During those years, he sat in with various Irish musicians including The Fleadh Cowboys and recorded the album Belfast to Boston in 2001 and Unfinished Business in 2003.
As this year’s headliner at Big River International Belfast Blues and Jazz Festival, McCullough received the 2008 Artist Appreciation Award. His work on Poor Man’s Moon demonstrates McCullough’s return to prominence as an artist and a performer.
The album single ‘Too Late to Worry’ is currently receiving airplay on BBC NI and there are plans for a tour. Gerry Anderson’s interview Failed Christian aired Saturday, August 30. ‘Failed Christian’ is a song McCullough recorded in the mid—90s in Poland and later covered by Nick Lowe, Dave Alvin and Over the Rhine.
Live dates from Henry McCullough will be announced shortly.
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