Henry McCullough had the distinction of being the only Irish musician to play at the legendary Woodstock Festival in 1969.
As Joe Cocker’s guitarist, he featured in one of the most memorable performances of the entire event – Cocker’s mighty rendition of A Little Help From My Friends.
I had the pleasure of doing a lengthy interview with Henry on the 40th anniversary of Woodstock.
To my dismay, however, he remembered very little about it, other than being helicoptered in and out and that there were an awful lot of people. It was just another gig, albeit a pretty big one.
Henry later enjoyed his own personal Beatles connection; for two years he played alongside Paul McCartney as a member of Wings.
In a hugely varied career, he played on the original recording of Evita and contributed the spoken word parts that weave their way through Pink Floyd’s Dark Side Of The Moon.
Unfortunately, Henry was also a chronic alcoholic, a condition that he spoke very frankly about when he eventually succeeded in picking up the shattered fragments of his life and returned to the recording studio and the stage.
I like to think that this picture shows a man reflecting on a life of huge musical achievement and profound personal redemption. Henry passed away in 2016.