Thin Lizzy

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Image:ThinLizzyLogo.png
Thin Lizzy circa 1976 - Brian Downey, Brian Robertson, Phil Lynott, and Scott Gorham.
Thin Lizzy circa 1976 - Brian Downey, Brian Robertson, Phil Lynott, and Scott Gorham.
Background information
Origin Ireland
Genre(s) Hard rock
Heavy metal
Years active 1969—1984
1996—Present
Associated
acts		 Skid Row
Gary Moore
Website www.thin-lizzy.info
Members
John Sykes
Scott Gorham
Marco Mendoza
Michael Lee
Former members
Phil Lynott (deceased)
Brian Downey
Eric Bell
Brian Robertson
Gary Moore
Snowy White
Darren Wharton
Tommy Aldridge
Randy Gregg

Thin Lizzy is an Irish hard rock band who formed in Dublin in 1969. The band was originally led by bassist, songwriter and singer Phil Lynott. They are well known for their 1976 song "The Boys Are Back in Town" - a major international hit still played on hard rock and classic rock radio stations.

Critic John Dugan writes that "As the band's creative force, Lynott was a more insightful and intelligent writer than many of his ilk, preferring slice-of-life working-class dramas of love and hate influenced by Bob Dylan, Van Morrison, Bruce Springsteen, and virtually all of the Irish literary tradition."[1] Van Morrison was a major influence as revealed in an interview with Phil Lynott in the movie Thin Lizzy the Rocker: A Portrait of Phillip Lynott. American groups Little Feat and Bob Seger also influenced Lizzy.[1] Their music covered much territory (including hints of country and traditional folk music), but is generally classified as traditional heavy metal[2] or hard rock.

Though others had earlier used similar techniques, Thin Lizzy is widely recognised as one of the first hard rock bands to employ double lead guitar harmony (the twin guitar clash) - a technique pioneered by Wishbone Ash in the UK, whilst independently in the USA by Lynyrd Skynyrd and The Allman Brothers Band. This style was later refined and popularised by bands of the emerging New Wave of British Heavy Metal, Judas Priest and Iron Maiden especially. The latter group in particular has praised Thin Lizzy extensively and even covered the song "Massacre" from Lizzy's popular Live and Dangerous album. Examples of this duel guitar harmony technique include "The Boys Are Back in Town" and "Cowboy Song" from Jailbreak. 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 a distinctive and influential sound.

Lynott is one of the few black men to achieve significant success in hard rock. As well as being a multiracial band, members were drawn from both sides of the Irish border and from both Catholic and Protestant communities.

Contents

[edit] History

The group was founded in late 1969 in Dublin, Ireland, by Lynott, guitarist Eric Bell, electric organist Eric Wrixon and drummer Brian Downey. Wrixon was gone by early 1970, and tiring of the limited possibilities in Dublin, the group relocated to London in 1971.

Signing a contract with Decca Records, Thin Lizzy's first hit came in 1973, with "Whiskey in the Jar", a version of a traditional Irish song. (Metallica scored a major hit with their 1998 cover version, featured on their album Garage Inc., winning them a Grammy in 1999).

However, the group initially had problems matching the success of "Whiskey...", and after a disastrous gig, where a drunken Bell walked offstage, leaving Lynott and Downey alone onstage, Bell left the group by mutual consent. His immediate replacement was Lynott's former Skid Row band mate and guitarist Gary Moore who stayed long enough to record a number of tracks including the single 'Little Darlin' and 'Still In Love With You' (which he co wrote but wasn't credited, although towards the end of his life, after Lizzy's breakup, Lynott was always the first to confirm that 'Still In Love With You' was "Gary's Song") and securing a new record deal with Phonogram Records. After this Lynott and Downey regrouped, recruiting Scott Gorham and Brian Robertson as guitarists to make what was arguably the classic Thin Lizzy lineup.

Fighting (1975) was their first album success, however the following album, Jailbreak, was a smash hit thanks to the singles "Jailbreak" and "The Boys Are Back in Town", their most successful and remembered song.

Robertson quit the group in 1978, and was replaced by Gary Moore, then a succession of guitarists (including Midge Ure at one stage), though the group was sometimes reduced to the core trio of Lynott, Gorham and Downey. They kept their devoted fanbase, but Thin Lizzy was unable to match their earlier successes.

During the late 1970s and early 80s, Thin Lizzy played to a rabid fanbase but was unable to break into mainstream markets. Unlike most established rock musicians, Lynott was a vocal supporter of early punk rock; this endeared him to some punk musicians and fans, but many more punks rejected Thin Lizzy as a useless relic.

Their live shows at this time were no-nonsense, no special effects affairs relying purely on the music and Lynott's rapport with the fans. Encores would feature Lynott seemingly ignoring repeated requests from the crowd for "The Rocker". Eventually, he would say "This is what I want to play... a song called The Rocker" and the band would launch into the crowd favourite. Their critically acclaimed live album Live and Dangerous has been called one of the best examples in the genre of concert recordings, having been voted the best live rock album of all time by readers of Classic Rock (magazine), as reported by the BBC.

One notable highlight for the band in their latter days was headlining the first ever Slane Castle concert in 1981 - and like all Irish dates, the final encore was a crowd pleasing "Whiskey In the Jar". The supporting lineup that day included Kirsty McColl, Hazel O'Connor and U2.

After a farewell tour in 1984, Lynott dissolved Thin Lizzy and focused on his solo career. Lynott continued his solo career, which he had begun while still with the group with the album Solo in Soho, yielding hits in "Dear Miss Lonely Hearts", "King's Call" (featuring Mark Knopfler on guitar), and "Yellow Pearl" (used in the early 80s as the theme tune for the BBC programme Top of the Pops). He also recorded a rock'n'roll medley single in 1983, "We Are The Boys (Who Make All The Noise)" with Roy Wood, Chas Hodges and John Coghlan.

Lynott died in January 1986, a victim of drug abuse. In the summer of the same year the band members reunited for the Self Aid concert in Dublin with Bob Geldof stepping in on lead vocals.

The remaining members of Thin Lizzy (John Sykes and Scott Gorham are the only 'classic' members left, after Brian Downey declined to join the band, describing it as "too disorganised") reunited in 1999 for a European tour and live album. Having toured with Deep Purple in the USA in 2004, Thin Lizzy are currently, as of 2006, touring the UK and Ireland. They will support Deep Purple again in April and May of 2007 for their UK tour. As of this moment there aren't any plans for an album release.

[edit] Origin of the band name

There are at least three versions of the origin of the name Thin Lizzy. Since there do not appear to be any recorded interviews with members of the band confirming any of them, they must remain as speculation.

The most popular version describes how the band's lead guitarist Eric Bell, who was a fan of John Mayall's Bluesbreakers, bought a copy of Dandy comic [3] after seeing Eric Clapton depicted reading a copy of its sister publication The Beano on the cover of the 1966 album Bluesbreakers with Eric Clapton. Bell suggested Tin Lizzie, the name of a robot character from the comic, which became Thin Lizzy (a sly nod to the Irish accent in which "Thin" is pronounced "Tin").

A second version is that the band name was taken from the nickname for the Model T Ford.

A third version is suggested by Jim Fitzpatrick, who was a friend of Phil Lynott and who produced artwork for the band. On his web site, Fitzpatrick suggests that Phil Lynott was inspired to name the band after a girl he met, whose name was Liz Igoe, and that he added the Tin because it "scanned better". [4]

[edit] Personnel

Over the years, membership of the band went through many changes. Below is a comprehensive list of personnel:

Thin Lizzy
1969 - 1973
Thin Lizzy
Early 1974
Thin Lizzy
Mid-1974 - 1978
Thin Lizzy
1978 - 1979
Thin Lizzy
1979 - 1980
Thin Lizzy
1980 - 1982
Thin Lizzy
1982 - 1984
Thin Lizzy
1984 - 1996

Band Split
Thin Lizzy
1996 - 1997
Thin Lizzy
1997 - 1998
Thin Lizzy
1998 - 2000
Thin Lizzy
2000 - 2004
Thin Lizzy
2004 - 2005
Thin Lizzy
2005 - present

[edit] Temporary members

  • Eric Wrixon: keyboards (1969-1970) and featured on the first single, "The Farmer".
  • John Cann (AKA John Du Cann): guitar (1974)
  • Andy Gee: guitar (1974)
  • Midge Ure: guitar (1979), replaced Gary Moore to complete Black Rose tour.
  • Dave Flett: guitar (1979), appeared on Top of the Pops in November 1979 on single Sarah.
  • Mark Nauseef: drums (1978), stood in for Downey during a tour of Australia in 1978. The most notable appearance is Thin Lizzy Live in Sydney.

[edit] Discography

[edit] Studio albums

[edit] Live albums

[edit] Compilations

[edit] As Funky Junction

  • Tribute To Deep Purple (Stereo Gold Award, January 1973)
  • In 1972, Bell, Lynott and Downey took part in a recording session for Decca Records for the Tribute to Deep Purple album. Vocals and keyboards were handled by Benny White and Dave Lennox respectively, both from the Dublin band Elmer Fudd. Thin Lizzy were struggling financially at the time and this project was designed to bring in some money. The makeshift group was given the name Funky Junction and a photo of an entirely different band was put on the cover of the album.

Song List is as follows:

1. "Fireball"

2. "Dan"

3. "Palamatoon"

4. "Corina"

5. "Black Night"

6. "Speed King"

7. "Strange Kind of Woman"

8. "Rising Sun"

9. "Hush"

At the foot of the back sleeve is written: 'Funky Junction - The Sound of Today'

The vinyl version of the album is quite rare.

[edit] Thin Lizzy singles

Their chart peak positions are shown for the following singles in the following territories. Blank spaces indicate either that the single was not released in that territory, or that there is no information available regarding its chart position. Many of these singles were released in other countries, but chart information is not yet available.

Key to chart headings: UK (United Kingdom), US (United States), IRL (Ireland), GER (Germany).

Single UK US IRL GER
"The Farmer" (1970) -
"Whiskey In The Jar" (1972-73) 6 1 7
"Randolph's Tango" (1973) - 14
"The Rocker" (1973) - 11
"Little Darling" (1974) -
"Philomena" (1974) -
"Rosalie" (1975) -
"The Boys Are Back In Town" (1976) 8 12 1
"Jailbreak" (1976) 31
"Cowboy Song" (1976) 77
"Rocky" (1976) -
"Don't Believe A Word" (1976) 12 2
"Dancin' In The Moonlight (It's Caught Me in Its Spotlight)" (1977) 14 4
"Rosalie / Cowgirls' Song" (1978) 20 14
"Waiting For An Alibi" (1979) 9 6
"Do Anything You Want To" (1979) 14 81 25
"Sarah" (1979) 24 26 5
"Chinatown" (1980) 21 12
"Killer On The Loose" (1980) 10 5
"Hey You" (1980) -
"Are You Ready" (1981) -
"Killers Live E.P." (1981) 19 11
"Trouble Boys" (1981) 53 30
"Hollywood" (1982) 53
"Cold Sweat" (1983) 27 23
"Thunder And Lightning" (1983) 39 22
"The Sun Goes Down" (1983) 52
"Dedication" (1991) 35 2

[edit] Notes

  1. ^ See Mark Putterford in "Phil Lynott, the Rocker" and Alan Byrne in "Thin Lizzy, Soldiers of Fortune"

[edit] External links

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
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