Hi, I have been listening to a lot of Rory Gallagher's music lately and feel the urge to draw some strong comparisons with his music and Queen's, especially their early(ish) material.
I remember reading years ago a quote from Brian stating his adoration for Gallagher's guitar playing and just recently read Gallagher's Wiki in which this is also stated. I also remember reading an article about "Tie Your Mother Down" and how Brian thought up the riff under the heavy influence of Gallagher's playing.
The song, "Banker's Blues" reminds me very much of "Dreamer's Ball" but this could be ignorance on my behalf regarding this genre-specific sound (New Orleans-style decdending third chords).
A performance of this song from around 1975 can be watched here: link
(song begins at ca. 1:15)
And the link to Queen's "Dreamer's Ball": link
I just played both pieces at the same time for fun and the similarities are quite interesting! Same sort of tempo, timing, chording and key.
Another song by Gallagher, "Bullfrog Blues" reminds me somewhat of Brian's guitar solos. link
(39 seconds in) link
(7.10 into the video)
This one seems rather tenuous but no doubt interesting.
Hope this is as interesting an exploration for you as it is currently for me.
Thanks
Vin
Apparently it was after seeing a Rory Gallagher gig that a young Brian asked him backstage how he got his sound and he replied "Its the Vox AC30" and Brian's association with the amp was born.
Taste's "Morning Sun" is the song you're thinking of. I believe there's a quote from a retrospective on Rory Gallagher where Brian "Hairold" May states that the TYMD riff was inspired in part by it.