Noel Gallagher once tricked Liam Gallagher into believing in ghosts
While the calls for an Oasis reunion rumour continually resurface amid desperate pleas from their fans, the warring Gallagher brothers have continually poured cold water on such talk. The estranged musicians might have avoided direct contact for years, but that hasn’t stopped comical stories from coming to the fore.
In what is undoubtedly one of the most infamously fractious relationships in rock ‘n’ roll, one particular story taken from the more hedonistic and narcotic-fuelled days of Oasis stands out. While during the recording of their album Be Here Now, the Gallagher brothers display the more lighthearted, sibling-friendly days of their rivalry.
After years of barbs, it’s nice to look back at the relationship in a more brotherly state. Big brother Noel Gallagher, enjoying himself and deciding to play on his brother’s childish paranoia, attempted to make him believe in ghosts. A few years ago, Noel spoke to The Mirror and recalled that during the recording process of the LP at The Farm in Surrey’s Chiddingfold, the group took it upon themselves to channel their inner practical joker with Liam being the butt of the gags.
Noel revealed: “Because it’s on a farm, there’s lots of farm people knocking around, we’d always be suspiciously looking out their window, admittedly high as a fucking kite thinking, ‘sheep’s got a camera. Don’t like the look of that pig’.”
One day during the recording, the band’s joking around escalated further at a paranoid Liam’s expense, with his older brother fondly adding: “We convinced him his bedroom was haunted, so when he’d get up in the morning and go and have his breakfast, someone would go in and turn the pictures back to front, or fucking move a lamp beside his bed across the other side of the room.”
Any big brother would know the delight Noel expresses when he remembers: “He’d arrive pale: ‘Have you been in my fucking room?’ ‘No, why?’ ‘You’ve been in my room because now the fucking lamp is in the toilet.’ ‘No way, fucking hell.’ Wow.”
He added, fondly: “That was amusing, that was worth it.”
It’s a reminder of the relationship the pair had enjoyed prior to the more serious state of affairs. Although the practical jokes may have played a part in its deterioration, it’s a show of what made Oasis so alluring in the first place — they were just like you and your annoying big/little brother.
Take a look at their incendiary live performance at Glastonbury in 1994 to remember the good old days.
