Jud's Gallery vs. Gary Moore
The claim to fame that Jud's Gallery (or rather Jürgen Winter of Jud's Gallery) has, is their court case and on the other end Gary Moore of "Still Got The Blues" fame. I don't have the latter's album and I don't intend to buy it. When the track was released, I thought "Well, not bad, catchy tune and all, but when I want Blues, I listen to Blues". These days I believe that the "Still Got The Blues" song has overstayed its welcome period. It's not the only one, by far not and tracks being pushed for decades leave a bad taste and one wishes for a track to be lost forever. The list of tracks that you can chase me with, but were welcomed back in the day, is extensive, but these days you can chase me around the block with these staples of entertainment offers. Be it Blues, Jazz, Rock('n'Roll) or whatever. Anyone for "Take Five" by The Dave Brubeck Quartet? Yes, great tune. I've this in LP and CD in my collection. Do I want to hear it again. Not in this life. And so it is with Gary Moore's signature track.
But the story is another one. Jud's Gallery is a band from Offenburg (Germany) and started off in 1971. They never released a recording during their original lifetime, that is until 2001 when Long Hair, the label, released their SWF session tapes. SWF radio station from Germany (Südwestfunk - literally Southwestbroadcast). I was and still am a hardcore fan of German Rock during the most important period (1969 up to 1975) and then it all went downhill, but that's another story. But I had no idea that a band named Jud's Gallerty existed back then. That is, until I became aware of the court case that Jürgen Winter brought against Gary Moore and was aimed at "Still Got The Blues" (the song). And my interest was picqued.
Now, we've heard of court cases here and there, Led Zeppelin the most prominent one, but also George Harrison and may a zillion others. Of course, I had to buy the CD, just to hear it for myself. This is about the song "Nordrach" and the guitar solo towards the end of the track. Quite a similar one used by Gary Moore on his hit record. To make a long story short, Jud's Gallery won the case and a German court ruled in favour of the band (or rather in favour of Jürgen Winter, who happens to be the composer and lyricist of all of Jud's Gallery tracks). The court ruled that the similarities were not a concious effort by Gary Moore to copy another track, but that it was a case of unconcious plagiarism.
The case was settled and Gary Moore's estate was to participate Jürgen Winter in the sales and use of the solo (which you can listen to on "Nordrach" at the 8:20 mark). And, yes, it absolutely sounds like the one used by Gary Moore. Shorter maybe, but that's not the point. There are a few questions I have, why did Jürgen Winter bring the case to court at such a late stage. Just to remind you, Jud's Gallery 1974 (no recordings), Gary Moore's use of the solo 1990 and the decision by the German court 2008. To put in perspective, Gary Moore couldn't have heard the track "Nordrach" at the time: No version was released as there were no commercially available LPs/CDs at that time. It smells a bit, doesn't it?
That is, untoil you find the part about a technician who worked for Gary Moore had previous connection to Jud's Gallery. The piece where I read this, didn't specify what the connections were, but I assumed that he was doing some work for them. Gary Moore might well have gotten this idea from this guy, probably not even aware that the sequence had been used before. Also, and I have to believe this, the way the solo is built, the chords are in use long before Jud's Gallery used this on a track. Same goes for Led Zeppelin, I believe it was for "Staîrway To Heaven" were they face a court action.
QUOTE AI
Led Zeppelin famously defeated a high-profile copyright lawsuit over the opening guitar riff of "Stairway to Heaven." The estate of Randy Wolfe (from the 1960s band Spirit) claimed Jimmy Page stole the riff from Spirit's 1968 instrumental "Taurus". In October 2020, the US Supreme Court declined to hear the case, cementing a previous appeals court victory for Led Zeppelin.
UNQUOTE
The sequence of this opening riff has apparently been used, well, not since time began, but certainly 200 years ago, in what is now called Classical music. The Jud's Gallery vs. Gary Moore case is a topic in many dissections regarding lawsuits with regards to plagiarism. Most important seems to be that Jürgen Winter got his 15 minutes of fame. Don't get me wrong, accountability is something that's needed, but this here smells of greed and opportunity.
To close this, what about Jud's Gallery's "(SWF) Sessions Volume 1" (there is no Volume 2 or counting for Jud's Gallery - seems like a series by the radio station). If you're interested in Rock from Germany during the first half of the 70s, this one is for you. If I buy CDs or LPs from this period in time, I'm more than not disappointed. I realize why bands were not played on the radio and had no place in yesterday's music papers. But the fact that Jud's Gallery didn't have a release back then must be a joke that went wrong. Maybe there wasn't any support or the band was satisfied noodling away in their rehearsal space. I will not list them at numer xxx on my imaginary list, but to me, they're probably among my favourite bands from the era in Germany. It's exactly what I liked about the scene and what I was looking for. There was this vibe and a lot of bands followed through. It was an original music scene and no band sounded like another (and those who did were not worth talking about). Jud's Gallery sound at time grandiose and also well aware of their proficiency. The band should have had a career in their lifetime.
Also the fact that the release on Long Hair shows the band to be more of an instrumental outfit with extremely little vocal duties (the few instances when they use vocals, don't count as highlights of this release). You'll find very few bands who rely on their instrumental ideas and keep it exciting. Jud's Gallery delivers the goods where most bands fail. This has to be my discovery of the year. And I thought I knew the German scene from back then quite well.
Cheers
Roland
P.S.: I completely forgot a fun fact. During research, I came across a few statements claiming, that Jud's Gallery (rather Jürgen Winter) changed the solo (live at gigs) from the original recording to one much closer to the Gary Moore one. Apparently to match the two versions and bolster his claim (and probably hoped that noone would notice). The ruse worked and Jud's Gallery found the proper "experts".
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