Gallagher & Lyle

Gallagher & Lyle - Showdown - 1978 - A&M

Benny Gallagher and Graham Lyle were born in Largs, Ayrshire, Scotland. In 1969 they joined the great McGuinness Flint, and later continued as a duo. They released several good albums, which never sold well commercially, but all their albums contain some beautiful folk-pop melodies. Unfortunately, as a duo, they were nowhere near as successful as their McGuinness Flint days. In 1976 they wrote the great, and very successful ‘Breakaway’, 'I Wanna Stay With You' and 'Heart On My Sleeve' songs, which have been recorded by many artists. By 1979, the duo had split up. There are ten good songs on this sadly, forgotten album. Benny Gallagher, & Graham Lyle never truly got the credit they so richly deserved for their musicianship and brilliant songwriting. Try and listen to the duo's "Seeds" album, which is another neglected album from two of the greatest somgwriters ever to emerge from Britain. Search this blog for more Gallagher & Lyle releases.

TRACKS

A1 Showdown 3:33
A2 In Your Eyes 4:09
A3 You're the One 3:04
A4 Hurts to Learn 3:34
A5 It's Over 3:08

B1 Heartbreaker 3:33
B2 Backstage 3:18
B3 All Grown Up 3:30
B4 Throw Away Heart 2:47
B5 Next to You 3:19
All songs composed by Gallagher & Lyle

MUSICIANS

Benny Gallagher, Graham Lyle - Guitar, Vocals
Alan Hornall - Bass
Billy Livsey - Keyboards
Ray Duffy - Drums
Ray Cooper - Percussion
Jim Horn - Saxophone

BIO

The pop duo phenomenon that spawned such acts as Simon & Garfunkel, Brewer & Shipley and Seals & Crofts was pre-dated by the duo formed by songwriters, guitarists and vocalists Benny Gallagher and Graham Lyle. Initially attracting attention as songwriters of Dean Ford & the Gaylords' single, "Mr. Heartbreak's Here Instead," Gallagher & Lyle went on to record as a duo and members of McGuinness Flint and Ronnie Lane's group, the Last Chance Band. Gallagher and Lyle continued to balance their performances and recordings as staff songwriters for the Beatles' Apple label, writing "Sparrow" and "International" for Mary Hopkin. The title track of their sixth duo album, Breakaway, was later covered by Art Garfunkel. Gallagher & Lyle first played together in Largos, a small town in Argyle, Scotland., near Glasgow. Relocating to London in 1967, the duo became full-time writers at Apple. Three years later, they joined with Tom McGuinness and Hughie Flint to form McGuinness Flint. Although they recorded two successful singles, "When I'm Dead and Gone" and "Malt and Barley Blues," the group disbanded in 1971. Recording their self-titled debut duo album for Capitol, Gallagher & Lyle switched to the A&M label by their second effort. Their first release on A&M, however, was a reissue of their debut album. In the spring of 1974, Gallagher and Lyle joined Ronnie Lane's Last Chance Band, remaining with the group until May 1974. The duo balanced their work with the band with additional duo albums, How Come and The Last Cowboy. They continued to record on their own following the breakup of the group. Breakaway was released in 1975, Love on the Airwaves in 1977 and Show Down in 1978. Switching to the Phonogram label, they recorded their final album, Lonesome No More in 1979. Following a tour to support the album, the duo went their seperate ways. Lyle continued to write, in collaboration with Terry Britten, reaching his peak with "What's Love Got to Do With It," covered by Tina Turner, and "Just Good Friends," recorded by Michael Jackson. © Craig Harris, All Music Guide

BIO (WIKIPEDIA)

Graham Lyle (born Graham Hamilton Lyle, 11 March 1944, Bellshill, Lanarkshire, Scotland). Benny Gallagher (born Bernard Joseph Gallagher, 10 June 1945, Largs, Ayrshire, Scotland). Gallagher and Lyle was the Scottish pairing of singer-songwriters Benny Gallagher and Graham Lyle. They joined forces in 1959, initially as members of the local Largs based band, The Bluefrets. They began writing original material for the band and also wrote "Mr Heartbreak's Here Instead" for Dean Ford and the Gaylords (later to become Marmalade). Their first recognition came in 1968, when they were signed by The Beatles to write for Apple Records' musicians such as Mary Hopkin ("Sparrow", "The Fields of St. Etienne", "International", "Heritage", and "Jefferson"). There was a rare one-off single issued on UK Polydor 56093 in 1967; "Trees" b/w "In The Crowd" issued under the name Gallagher-Lyle, which preceded their success as songwriters at Apple. By 1970, they had joined McGuinness Flint, and penned the UK Singles Chart Top 10 hit singles "When I'm Dead and Gone" and "Malt and Barley Blues", both produced by Glyn Johns. In the wake of the singer-songwriter phenomenon, they formed the duo Gallagher and Lyle in 1972, recording four albums: Benny Gallagher and Graham Lyle, Willie and the Lapdog, Seeds, and The Last Cowboy again under the auspices of Glyn Johns. But it was not until their fifth album, Breakaway, in 1976, that they charted again, with the hits "Heart on My Sleeve" and "I Wanna Stay with You", both of which reached Number 6 in the UK Singles Chart. Art Garfunkel's cover of "Breakaway" was also a hit at the time, and Don Williams took "Stay Young" to No. 1 on the U.S. country chart, which saw the song receive in excess of one million airplays on American radio. The duo also penned and performed "A Heart in New York", which was later performed by both Simon & Garfunkel and Garth Brooks in their concerts in Central Park, New York to audiences of 500,000 and 750,000, respectively. Their mellow sound was only briefly in vogue, and elusive further success (another minor hit in the UK was "Every Little Teardrop") prompted their split in 1979. Lyle formed a new songwriting partnership with Terry Britten, and their hits included "What's Love Got to Do with It?" and "We Don't Need Another Hero" for Tina Turner; and "Just Good Friends" for Michael Jackson. He also recorded an album with Tom McGuinness, credited to Lyle McGuinness: Acting on Impulse (1983). Gallagher spent nine years as a founding director and the first chairman of the Performing Artists Media Rights Association (PAMRA), which saw £20 million of equitable remuneration paid through to UK performers under his stewardship. He has been deemed a companion of LIPA, Sir Paul McCartney's school of performing arts in Liverpool, and spent a brief spell as bassist and vocalist of The Manfreds, which included five of the original members of Manfred Mann, featuring both lead singers, Paul Jones and Mike D'Abo, in the same band for the first time touring the UK, Europe, the Middle and Far East, Australia and New Zealand. Gallagher is currently a featured artist and co-owner of OnSong (an internet based record label) with Derek Wilson. Gallagher has released two albums as a solo artist - Benny Gallagher on Stage and more recently, At the Edge of the Wave. Gallagher and Lyle sang and performed as members of Ronnie Lane and The Slim Chance Band on the hit single "How Come" and the ensuing album, Anymore for Anymore, and they have worked, jointly and individually, on records with Mary Hopkin, Paul McCartney, Eric Clapton, Pete Townshend, Ronnie Lane, Ronnie Wood, Elkie Brooks, Arthur "Big Boy" Crudup, Champion Jack Dupree, Joan Armatrading, Ralph McTell, Sandy Denny, Fairport Convention and Jim Diamond. In addition to those already mentioned, artists who have recorded and released Gallagher and Lyle songs include: Bryan Ferry, Colin Blunstone, Donavon Frankenreiter, Elkie Brooks, Fairport Convention, Fury in the Slaughterhouse, Joe Brown, Judith Durham, Little Anthony & The Imperials, Phil Everly, Ricky Nelson, Ringo Starr, Rita Coolidge, Status Quo, The Fureys, Lemon Jelly and Jim Capaldi.