On January 23, 1975, Mick Jagger stood in Rotterdam airport on the look-out for a long-haired Irishman in a checked shirt. He eventually spotted Rory Gallagher, the 26-year-old guitar wizard, fresh off a flight from Heathrow. Gallagher walked slowly through arrivals, carrying a suitcase, his battered 1961 Fender Stratocaster and an amplifier.
He and Jagger went outside to a taxi rank. Jagger and a driver haggled over the price of the 15-minute drive back to De Doelen Concert Hall, close to Rotterdam Centraal train station. Bombed during World War II, the 2,200-capacity venue had been rebuilt in 1966.
Now it was playing host to a different kind of conflict, as the Rolling Stones rehearsed for their upcoming tour. This was to be their first since the surprise departure that December of guitarist Mick Taylor (who had in turn replaced founding member Brian Jones in 1969).Gallagher was in the Netherlands to audition for the berth vacated by Taylor.
Later that evening, he stepped on to the De Doelen stage, his footsteps echoing on the floorboards. There to meet him were the rest of the Stones, except Keith Richards, who was missing and presumed to be off his face somewhere. Stones manager Marshall Chess stepped forward and offered a hand.
“Hi Rory, welcome to the band,” he said. “You’re the guy for the job.” Opinions are divided about how well Gallagher would have got on with Mick Jagger and Keith Richards.
Photo: Getty This was just one extraordinary chapter in the l.