Phil Lynott

Phil Lynott
Phil Lynott in Oslo, Norway, 22 April 1980.
Background information
Birth name	Philip Parris Lynott
Born	20 August 1949(1949-08-20), West Bromwich, Birmingham, England, United Kingdom
Died	4 January 1986(1986-01-04) (aged 36), Salisbury, Wiltshire, England, United Kingdom
Genres	Hard rock, blues-rock, heavy metal
Occupations	Musician, singer-songwriter, producer
Instruments	Vocals, bass, keyboards, guitar, harmonica, Irish harp, percussion
Years active	1965–1985
Labels	Vertigo Records Warner Bros. Records (US)
Associated acts	Thin Lizzy, Wild Horses The Greedies, Skid Row, Grand Slam, Gary Moore, John Sykes
Notable instruments
Rickenbacker 4001 bass (early) Fender Precision Bass

Philip Parris "Phil" Lynott (pronounced /ˈlaɪnɒt/; 20 August 1949 – 4 January 1986) was an Irish singer, bassist, musician, songwriter and poet who first came to prominence as the frontman of Thin Lizzy. He released two solo albums and also formed and fronted the band Grand Slam, right up until his death on 4 January 1986. He was 36 years old.

Early life

Lynott was born in Hallam Hospital (now Sandwell General Hospital) in West Bromwich (then in Staffordshire), England, and christened at St. Edwards Church in Selly Park, Birmingham. His mother, Philomena (aka Phyllis) Lynott, was Irish, and his father was Cecil Parris, an Afro-South American.^[1][2] Some news and fan-site sources more specifically said that he was an African-Brazilian,^[3][4] but in an August 2009 interview Parris's wife said that he was from Georgetown, British Guiana,^[5] and this was confirmed by Philomena Lynott in July 2010.^[6] Lynott's mother met Parris in Birmingham in 1948, and they saw each other for a few months until Parris was transferred to London. Shortly afterwards Philomena found she was pregnant, and after Philip was born she moved with her baby to a home for unmarried mothers in Selly Oak, Birmingham.^[7] When Parris learned of Philip's birth, he returned to Birmingham and arranged accommodation for Philomena and Philip in the Blackheath area of the city. Philomena's relationship with Parris lasted a further two years although he was still working in London and they did not live together.^[7] The Lynotts subsequently moved to Manchester and Philomena stayed in touch with Parris, and although she turned down a proposal of marriage from him, he agreed to pay towards Philip's upkeep.^[7] Parris's wife revealed in 2009 that after Philip's birth Philomena had a daughter and a second son who were both given up for adoption.^[5] Philomena's autobiography did not refer to any other children,^[7] but she finally spoke of them in July 2010, almost twenty-five years after Philip's death. She said that her three children all had different fathers, and that her daughter was white. She had met both of Phil's siblings, but they had kept quiet about their relationship to him.^[6] Philip Lynott did not meet his father again until the late 1970s.^[1][5] He knew about his sister, but not his brother.^[6]

When Philip was four years old, he went to live with his grandmother Sarah in Crumlin, Dublin, while his mother stayed in Manchester.^[7]

Music career

In the mid 1960s, Lynott began singing in his first band, the Black Eagles.^[4] Around this time, he befriended Brian Downey, who was later persuaded to join the band from the 'Liffey Beats'. Before long the Black Eagles broke up and Lynott joined 'Kama Sutra' before settling into a short stint singing in Skid Row (not to be confused with an American band of the same name), a band that featured guitarist Gary Moore, bassist Brendan 'Brush' Shiels and drummer Noel Bridgeman. Lynott was let go by Skid Row following a temporary absence to have his tonsils removed. Lynott had acquired a bass guitar and Shiels gave him some lessons to help him on his way. Lynott and Downey quickly put together a new band titled 'Orphanage' with guitarist John Stanton and bassist Pat Quigley. At the end of 2006 a number of Skid Row and Orphanage demo tapes featuring Phil Lynott were discovered. These were his earliest recordings and had been presumed lost for decades.^[8]

In 1969, Lynott and Downey quit Orphanage to form Thin Lizzy with guitarist Eric Bell and keyboard player Eric Wrixon (both ex-Them, but from different line-ups).^[4] Lynott was the main songwriter for Thin Lizzy, as well as the lead singer and bassist. Their first top ten hit was in 1973, with a rock version of the traditional Irish song "Whiskey in the Jar",^[4] featuring a cover by Irish artist and friend, Jim Fitzpatrick.^[9] Their biggest international hit, the 1976 song "The Boys are Back in Town", featured Lynott's lead vocals. The song reached the top 10 in the UK, Ireland and Canada, and peaked at #12 in the US.

Lynott performing solo at the Manchester Apollo, 1983
Photo: Harry Potts

In 1978, he was featured in Jeff Wayne's Musical Version of The War of the Worlds, singing and speaking the role of The Parson. In 1979, under the name "The Greedies" (originally "The Greedy Bastards", but shortened for obvious reasons), he recorded a Christmas single, "A Merry Jingle," featuring other members of Thin Lizzy as well as Steve Jones and Paul Cook of the Sex Pistols. The previous year he had performed alongside Jones and Cook on Johnny Thunders' solo album "So Alone".

In 1980, though Thin Lizzy were still enjoying considerable success, Phil Lynott launched a solo career with the album, Solo in Soho: this was a Top 30 UK album and yielded two hit singles that year, "Dear Miss Lonelyhearts" and "King's Call". The latter was a tribute to Elvis Presley, and featured Mark Knopfler on guitar. His second solo venture, The Philip Lynott Album was a chart flop, despite the presence of the single "Old Town". The song "Yellow Pearl" (1982), was a #14 hit in the UK and became the theme tune to Top Of The Pops.

In 1980, he married Caroline Crowther, the daughter of British comedian Leslie Crowther.^[4] The couple had two children - Sarah, for whom the 1979 song of the same title was written, and Cathleen.^[4] Lynott had a son, born in 1968, who was adopted. Macdaragh Lambe learned in 2003 that his biological father was Phil Lynott, and this was confirmed by Philomena Lynott in a newspaper interview in July 2010.^[10]

In 1983, Thin Lizzy disbanded.^[4] Later that year, Lynott recorded a rock'n'roll medley single, "We Are The Boys (Who Make All The Noise)" with Roy Wood, Chas Hodges, and John Coghlan. Phil regularly collaborated with former bandmate blues/rock guitarist Gary Moore on a number of tracks including the singles "Out in the Fields" (a No. 5 UK hit in 1985), his highest-charting single ever, "Parisienne Walkways" (a UK no. 8 hit in 1978), "Back On The Streets" and "Spanish Guitar" in 1979.

In 1984, he formed a new band, Grand Slam - with Doish Nagle, Laurence Archer, Robbie Brennan, and Mark Stanway.

His last single, "Nineteen", released a few weeks before his death, was produced by Paul Hardcastle. It bore no relation to the producer's chart-topping single of the same title some months earlier.^[11] He also recorded some material with Archer, Huey Lewis, and members of Lewis's band the News in 1985, which were not released.^[11]

He also released two books of poetry which were poorly received and have thus become very rare although they are now held as collector items and a signed hardback copy of one of his poetry books may sell for up to €150.

Death

Statue of Phil Lynott outside Bruxelles, Harry Street, Dublin

Lynott's last years were dogged by drug and alcohol dependency leading to his collapse on the night of 25 December 1985 at his home in Kew. After his estranged wife Caroline drove him to a drug clinic in East Knoyle, he was taken to Salisbury Infirmary where he was diagnosed as suffering from a kidney and liver infection.^[4][11] He died of heart failure and pneumonia in the hospital's intensive care unit on 4 January 1986 aged 36.^[4]

In 2005, a life-size bronze statue of Phil Lynott was unveiled on Harry Street, off Grafton Street, Dublin. The ceremony was attended by former band members Eric Bell, Gary Moore, Brian Robertson, Brian Downey, and Scott Gorham, and by Lynott's mother. The attending Thin Lizzy members paid tribute with a live performance.^[12] Many Dublin statues have flattering or derogatory nicknames, and Lynott's is no exception. It is known as "The Ace with the Bass". His grave in St. Fintan's cemetery in Sutton is regularly visited by family, friends, and fans.^[13]

In April 2007, The Rocker: A Portrait of Phil Lynott was released on DVD in the UK.

In August 2010, Yellow Pearl was released.^[14] This is a collection of songs from Phil Lynott's solo albums, B-Sides and album tracks. The album comes with rare pictures of Phil Lynott as well as an introduction to the album written by Malcolm Dome.

Discography

• Solo in Soho (1980)
• The Philip Lynott Album (1982)
• Live In Sweden 1983 (2001)
• Yellow Pearl (2010)

See also

• Black people in Ireland
• List of people on stamps of Ireland
• List of drug-related deaths

References

• Hale, Mark (1993). "1694 Philip Lynott". Headbangers (First edition, second printing ed.). Ann Arbor, Michigan: Popular Culture, Ink. pp. 201. ISBN 1-56075-029-4. 
• Putterford, Mark (2002). Phil Lynott: The Rocker. Omnibus Press. pp. 228. 

External links

• The Roisin Dubh Trust - Official Website
• The Official Vibe For Philo - Rock event honouring Phil Lynott every 4 January
• Rolling Stone article about Phil Lynott, his statue in Dublin, and the 'My Boy' movie
• Some of the last photos of Lynott, along with album artwork and personal memories by his friend, artist Jim Fitzpatrick