John
Sykes - Vocals, Guitar Scott Gorham - Guitar, Vocals Darren Wharton
- Keyboards, Vocals Marco Mendoza - Bass, Vocals Tommy Aldridge - Drums
THIN LIZZY's new thirteen track CD "One Night Only",
featuring live versions of classic tracks such as "The Boys Are Back
In Town", "Jailbreak", "Cowboy Song", "Waiting For An Alibi", "Don't
Believe A Word", "Cold Sweat", "Sun Goes Down", "Black Rose", "Are You
Ready", "Bad Reputation", "Still In Love With You", and "Rosalie" is
due for UK release on SPV via Koch on August 29th. "One Night Only",
the first live album under the Thin Lizzy moniker in close to seventeen
years, was recorded on the band's 1999 European tour. On "One Night
Only",Thin Lizzy, currently setting up a full scale UK tour for November
2000, pay homage to their celebrated past with a new fire and prove
their songs have stood the test of time in no uncertain terms.
Thin Lizzy were formed in 1969, when Eric Bell, formerly
with The Dreams, joined forces with Philip Lynott and Brian Downey of
Orphanage. The band took their name from Tin Lizzie, a robot maid in
The Beano comic. Lizzy signed to Decca and released three albums but
it is for the 1972 single 'Whiskey In The Jar' that this line up is
best remembered. The reworking of a traditional Irish folk song was
a departure from their usual style and the band later had to work hard
to win back their rock audience. As a result of the incredible pressure
the band were under, Eric Bell left Thin Lizzy in December 1973.
Gary Moore joined the band in January 1974 for the
first of his three stints with Lizzy, but left only three months later.
Lynott and Downey started a long search for a new guitarist and in the
end they recruited two - Brian 'Robbo' Robertson from Scotland and American
Scott Gorham - and the famous Thin Lizzy 'Twin Guitar' sound was born.
Robbo & Scott gelled immediately and their work gave
the band's music a new depth and style. The fans loved the new line
up and their gigs turned into real parties both on stage and in the
crowd. This was to be the band's most prolific and successful line up,
releasing such all time classic albums as 'Jailbreak' 'Johnny The Fox'
and 'Live and Dangerous'.
Then, in early 1977, on the eve of a US tour promoting
'Johnny The Fox', Robbo's hand was slashed defending a friend from a
bottle in a fight. Whilst he was out injured, Gary Moore returned for
his second stint with Lizzy and the band went to America to support
Queen and went down a storm, earning rave reviews, but on their return
to England Gary Moore walked out once again to form Coliseum II.
The recovered Robertson rejoined Lizzy for 1977's 'Bad
Reputation' and 1978's 'Live And Dangerous' album before departing to
join Wild Horses. Gary Moore then returned as Robbo's replacement for
his longest stretch with the group, recording 'Black Rose' in 1979,
but during the band's 1979 US tour walked out of Lizzy for the final
time in San Francisco.
The band then drafted in former Slik and the Rich Kids
guitarist Midge Ure as an emergency replacement so that they could complete
their tours of America & Japan. Whilst Midge would not have appeared
to be a natural choice as guitar front man for a band like Lizzy, he
fitted in right away, although he never quite got into the studded belts
and leathers and regularly appeared on stage in makeup…set to find fame
later in Ultravox, Ure now recalls his time with Lizzy as 'Every schoolboy's
fantasy come true'.
Guitarist Snowy White was invited to join Lizzy in
1980 after Scott & Philip saw his live work with Pink Floyd. Keyboard
player Darren Wharton joined at the same time. Snowy was perhaps the
least flamboyant guitarist ever to play with Thin Lizzy and the two
albums featuring his work - 'Renegade' and 'Chinatown' - were the band's
least successful releases in commercial terms for some time, although
from an artistic viewpoint they contain some outstanding tracks; 'Renegade'
itself is a classic. Snowy wasn't a natural showman, however, never
seemed comfortable with his role in Lizzy and by mutual consent left
the band in 1982. Darren, meanwhile, had flourished with Lizzy and become
a major contributor to the band's work.
Then Thin Lizzy decided to call it a day in 1983, to
do one final farewell tour and album and recruited guitarist John Sykes
from the Tygers of Pan Tang. Phil Lynott described John as 'As fast
as Gary Moore, as crazy as Robbo and as blond as Snowy', and the band
produced their best album for several years in 'Thunder & Lightning'.
The 'farewell' tour lasted most of 1983 and included high profile headline
shows at the Reading Festival in August and Nuremberg in September.
Lizzy's 'Live/Life' double album, released late 1983, commemorated four
sell-out nights at Hammersmith Odeon from the farewell tour, which included
the amazing sight of four lead guitarists on stage for the finale -
Scott, Robbo, John & Eric.
After Thin Lizzy broke up, Lynott formed a new band,
Grand Slam, and toured tirelessly with them, but his health was obviously
suffering from the stress his drug oriented lifestyle had created. He
was visibly unwell and his breathing was laboured when he appeared in
a TV interview to promote 'Out In The Fields', his 1985 hit single with
Gary Moore. He collapsed on Christmas Day 1985 and died on 4 January
1986 of a heart attack and liver failure. He was 36 years old.
John Sykes went on to success with Whitesnake, recording
the band's best selling albums "Slide It In" and "Whitesnake 87" before
leaving to form his own band Blue Murder. Scott formed a new band, 21
Guns, and released successful albums in Japan and Europe, while Darren
formed Dare, (whose name was suggested to him by Lemmy of Motorhead!)
Throughout the 1980's and 90's, interest in Thin Lizzy
continued to grow, with younger fans being introduced to the group's
music by older brothers & sisters. Tribute bands were springing up all
over the world, bringing Lizzy's music to new audiences, while an annual
'Vibe for Philo' event was held in Dublin each January, marking Philip's
death with concerts in his honour. Such was the intense passion for
Thin Lizzy and their music that in 1994 Brian Downey, Scott Gorham,
John Sykes, Darren Wharton and bassist Marco Mendoza formed a new lineup
of the band and embarked on a sold out tour of Japan. The tenth anniversary
of Philip's death in 1996 was marked by the biggest Thin Lizzy show
since 1983; they sold out Dublin's The Point, with thousands of fans
from England, Sweden, America and Australia locked outside, unable to
get tickets. Streets were closed because of the crowds.
Since then, there have been further tours of America
and Europe, playing to ecstatic audiences and to great acclaim. Scott
Gorham explained to Classic Rock Magazine in March 2000; 'Doing this
really isn't about money - it was the lure of playing those songs again.
The only thing that really matters to us is playing those songs. Phil
wrote some great shit, and the audience now is made up of a lot of younger
people who have probably never seen the band before. We're just giving
them that chance.'
Scott continues that 'Phil was a big part of our lives;
he and I were best friends for ten years. Every time we go onstage it
feels like he's there with me. We make sure he's mentioned every night
without fail. When we first got back together it was like sticking a
big toe into the water; our intention was to make sure that this show
is as good as the old ones. But several "old Lizzy" fans have said this
is even better than it was in the old days; that's nothing to do with
Phil, I think what they mean is that the whole musicianship thing has
improved. We're all better players now. With a lot of bands they get
stuck in a certain routine, or they never take a break. If you've taken
a while off you're more liable to take a few chances. Which is always
a good thing.' On the absence of Downey and the addition of Tommy Aldridge,
Gorham explains that 'There was nothing we could do about it. At the
end of the last tour, Brian said he'd just had it with being on the
road. He didn't want to play or sit on busses anymore. But he said he
didn't want this to stop, so he suggested we just got another guy in,
kept it going.'
On 'One Night Only' Thin Lizzy really do sound as good
as ever; 'With or without Lynott, there's no doubting the fact that
Thin Lizzy remain an invigorating, hugely entertaining live act. Hang
me by my bollocks and paint me blue if it ain't the truth, Phil fans!'
wrote Dave Ling in Classic Rock March 2000, reviewing a sold out 2000
capacity Cologne E-Werk gig in December 1999. |