Brian Robertson
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| Brian Robertson | |
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| Born | February 12, 1956 in Clarkston, Glasgow, Scotland |
| Alias(es) | "Robbo" |
| Genre(s) | Heavy metal Hard rock |
| Affiliation(s) | Thin Lizzy Wild Horses Motörhead |
| Notable guitars | Gibson Les Paul |
| Years active | 1974—Present |
| Official site | robbo.info |
Robertson was born on February 12, 1956 in Clarkston, East Renfrewshire. He learned cello[1] and classical piano for eight years before switching to the guitar and drums. He played in gigs around his local area with bands like Dream Police, who later evolved into the Average White Band.
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[edit] Career
In June 1974, Thin Lizzy were auditioning for a new guitarist and a try-out for Robertson was arranged. Still a teenager, Robertson was taken on - and with Scott Gorham on the other lead guitar, formulated the twin-guitar harmony that made Thin Lizzy one of the most influential "guitar bands" in the music industry. During his time in the band Thin Lizzy scaled the heights of success releasing albums such as Jailbreak, Johnny the Fox, Bad Reputation and the brilliant Live and Dangerous. Robertson was fired from the band twice, he finally left the band in 1978 being replaced by well known rock/blues guitarist Gary Moore.
Brian's blues-influenced, classic rock style is distinctly melodic. In Thin Lizzy, the unique twin, harmony lead guitar sound, provided by Brian Robertson and Scott Gorham, contributed much to the distinctive sound of the band and influenced subsequent bands, such as Iron Maiden, Metallica and the Darkness. Brian Robertson's unconventional use of the wah-pedal as an extension of the instrument during soloing rather than as a purely rhythmic effect, as described in the Total Accuracy video "Still in Love with the Blues" (featuring Brian Robertson & Stuart Bull), is generally regarded as a pioneering, perhaps unique use of the effect. The video includes Brian's explanation of his approach to guitar playing, along with a mixture of classic Thin Lizzy lead solos, blues licks and some sublime blues improvisations.
Following his dismissal, Robertson formed Wild Horses along with another big name outcast, ex-Rainbow bassist Jimmy Bain. Achieving only partial success in the UK, the band split up after releasing two albums, 1980's the First Album and 1981's Stand Your Ground.
Robertson appeared on stage for a night during Thin Lizzy's final tour in 1983, alongside most of their former guitarists.
After this brief appearance with Thin Lizzy he was telephoned to see if he was interested in replacing Motörhead's "Fast" Eddie Clarke, who had left the band during their US tour. After five days rehearsing, he appeared with them on May 21, 1982, at Harpo's in Detroit. He appeared with the band on the King Biscuit Flower Hour and recorded the Another Perfect Day album with them, staying until 1983, his last last gig with them was at the Metropol, Berlin on Nov 11.[2] In this time he was almost killed by a Hells Angels bike meet, as he wore a pink tutu and ballet shoes to the gig. Refusing to play the classic numbers the band replaced him with Phil Campbell and Würzel.
After this time, he joined Statetrooper. This lasted up until their breakup. He was allegedly well-liked by his bandmates, thus not responsible for the breakup.
Robertson made a special guest appearance with the band Ash at the Oxegen music festival in Ireland, 2004, playing guitar on the song "The Boys Are Back in Town".
In August 2005 Brian was reunited with his old Lizzy band mates, under the leadership of Gary Moore, for a tribute show in memory of Phil Lynott. Brian and Gary played along with Lizzies Brian Downey, Scott Gorham, Eric Bell and Jethro Tull bassist Jonathan Noyce on a number of Gary and Thin Lizzy classic cuts.
Brian's more recent work with the Clan shows a glimpse of a harder, more modern, metal rock tone & style. While contemporaries such as Gary Moore have mellowed back into the blues, Brian continues play hard rock - albeit with a distinctive melodic blues flavour.
[edit] Influences
Brian's influences include American blues giant Freddie King (Freddy King), English guitar legends Jeff Beck, Eric Clapton & Peter Green. ZZ Top's Billy Gibbons is also mentioned as a later influence.[3]
[edit] Guitars
On joining Thin Lizzy, Brian Robertson & Scott Gorham received new equipment, including Gibson Les Paul Deluxe guitars. Despite the Deluxe moniker, these were actually the least expensive Les Pauls available at the time. Still a highly prestigious guitar, the Les Paul Deluxe was unusual in having the smaller mini-humbucker pick-ups. Although very much a Les Paul in sound, the Deluxe has a slightly more treble biased, flutely tone than the normal PAF (patent applied for)-style Les Paul pick-ups. Another contributing factor to the unique Thin Lizzy harmony guitar sound.
Brian is often associated with the Black 1973 Les Paul Custom, with white/"parchment" (rather than black) coloured pick guard, featured heavily in photographs on the Live and Dangerous album and subsequent video. However, in an interview with Stuart Bull on the video "Still in Love with the Blues", Brian explains that his main guitar remains his original Thin Lizzy Sunburst Les Paul Deluxe, albeit re-fretted (from wear) and with rare and highly desirable original 1959 Gibson Seth Lover PAF Humbucker pickups fitted roughly by his guitar technician. The pickups are sans the normal German-silver pick-up covers, a popular modification. The worn, bracelet scarred and character-rich guitar features throughout the aforementioned video.
Other guitars seen played by Brian Robertson include a black Fender Stratocaster (Dedication video), 1970's Kramer aluminium neck guitar (Dedication video), red Les Paul with trapeze bridge and soap bar pick ups [Cover of "Still in Love with you video"]. At the time of Scott Gorham's Thin Lizzy audition, Robertson was playing an SG Junior.[1]
Although strongly associated with British Marshall amplifiers (100 watt non-Master Volume Superlead heads & 25W Celestion Greenback speakers), Brian has been known to use Mesa Boogie (100W Dual Rectifier head) and Soundman amplifiers. Brian's original wah-pedal is famously a UK made Colorsound (rather than the CryBaby or Vox, which were more expensive at the time), although he sometimes used a Cry Baby wah wah in the 1990s and a borrowed Vox Wah in the "Still in Love with the Blues" video.[4] Partly because of Brian, the Colorsound wah-pedal is now rare and sought after.
Brian's use of the WEM Copycat tape echo unit was later replaced by a modern rack mounted digital delay unit. Robertson used a Black Les Paul custom and mentions he experimented with "Boss Analog Chorus Delay, an MXR Pitch Transposer, Yamaha analog delays, and MXR 32 band Graphic EQ" during his Motörhead days.[3] Record producer Tony Visconti mentions that for the track "Killer Without A Cause" "... Robertson plays guitar through the strange voice box, the simple gizmo that Peter Frampton made famous on his successful live album."[5]
[edit] Discography
[edit] Thin Lizzy
- Night Life (1974)
- Fighting (1975)
- Jailbreak (1976)
- Johnny the Fox (1976)
- Bad Reputation (1977)
- Live and Dangerous (1978)
[edit] Wild Horses
- First Album (1980)
- Stand Your Ground (1981)
[edit] Motörhead
- Another Perfect Day (1983)
- "I Got Mine" (1983)
- "Shine" (1983)
[edit] Notes
- ^ a b Byrne, Alan Thin Lizzy, Soldiers of Fortune Firefly Publishing, November 2005 pp.51 & 56 ISBN 0-946719-81-0
- ^ Burridge, Alan and Stevenson, Mick The Illustrated Collector's Guide to Motörhead Collector's Guide Publishing, 1994 pp.17 & 40-43 ISBN 0-9695736-2-6
- ^ a b Brian Robertson. Dinosaur Rock Guitar article. Retrieved on April 3, 2007.
- ^ The guitar and bass rig database record for Brian Robertson in Thin Lizzy in 1974.. Guitar Geek article. Retrieved on April 3, 2007.
- ^ Thin Lizzy Bad Reputation. Tony Visconti article. Retrieved on April 3, 2007.
[edit] External links
- A profile of Robertson is featured on the official Thin Lizzy website.
- Photo of Robertson with Soundman amplifier
- Photo of Robertson with his main guitar
- Still In Love With the Blues video
- Brian Robertson's Thin Lizzy era rig
- Alternate Thin Lizzy site with Brian Robertson Biography
| Thin Lizzy |
| John Sykes | Scott Gorham | Marco Mendoza | Michael Lee |
| Phil Lynott | Brian Downey | Eric Bell | Gary Moore | Brian Robertson | Snowy White | Darren Wharton | Tommy Aldridge | Randy Gregg | Midge Ure | Mark Nauseef |
| Discography |
|---|
| Studio albums: Thin Lizzy | Shades of a Blue Orphanage | Vagabonds of the Western World | Nightlife | Fighting | Jailbreak | Johnny the Fox | Bad Reputation | Black Rose: A Rock Legend | Chinatown | Renegade | Thunder and Lightning |
| Live albums: Live and Dangerous | Life | BBC Radio One Live in Concert | The Peel Sessions | Boys Are Back in Town: Live in Australia | One Night Only |
| Motörhead |
| Members |
|---|
| Ian "Lemmy" Kilmister - Phil Campbell - Mikkey Dee |
| Former members: Larry Wallis - "Fast" Eddie Clarke - Brian "Robbo" Robertson - Michael "Würzel" Burston |
| Lucas Fox - Phil "Philthy Animal" Taylor - Pete Gill - Tommy Aldridge |
| Discography |
|
Albums: On Parole - Motörhead - Overkill - Bomber - Ace of Spades - No Sleep 'til Hammersmith - Iron Fist - Another Perfect Day - No Remorse - Orgasmatron - Rock 'n' Roll - No Sleep at All - 1916 - March ör Die - Bastards - Sacrifice - Overnight Sensation - Snake Bite Love - Everything Louder Than Everyone Else - We Are Motörhead - The Best Of - Hammered - Live at Brixton Academy - Inferno - BBC Live & In-Session - Kiss of Death |
| Related articles |
|
Motörhead discography - Joe Petagno - Alan Burridge - Headgirl |
