Thin Lizzy

Thin Lizzy
Thin Lizzy live at the Manchester Apollo, 1983
General information
origin	Dublin , Ireland
Genre (s)	Rock , hard rock
founding	1969, 1999
resolution	1983
Website	www.thinlizzyband.com
Founding members
Vocals , bass , guitar	Phil Lynott (until 1983), † 1986
guitar	Eric Bell (until 1973)
Keyboard	Eric Wrixon (until 1970)
Drums	Brian Downey (until 1978, 1979–1983, 2010–2015)
Current occupation
guitar	Scott Gorham (1974–1983, since 1999)
Keyboard	Darren Wharton (1981–1983, 1999–2000, since 2010)
bass	Tom Hamilton (since 2016)
singing	Ricky Warwick (since 2010)
guitar	Damon Johnson (since 2011)
Drums	Scott Travis (since 2016)
former members
guitar	Gary Moore (1974, 1978–1979), † 2011
guitar	Brian Robertson (1974-1978)
Drums	Mark Nauseef (1978–1979)
guitar	Snowy White (1980-1982)
Vocals, guitar	John Sykes (1982-1983, 1999-2009)
Drums	Tommy Aldridge (1999-2000, 2007-2010)
bass	Marco Mendoza (1999–2000, 2005–2006, 2010–2016)
Drums	Michael Lee (2004-2006)
bass	Randy Gregg (2004-2005)
bass	Francesco DiCosmo (2007-2010)
guitar	Vivian Campbell (2010-2011)
guitar	Richard Fortus (2011)

Thin Lizzy is an Irish rock band . Her background is closely linked to the life of Philip Lynott , the band's founder, longtime composer , bassist and singer .

history

The first years

In December 1969, the band, emerging from the Dublin duo Orphanage of school friends Phil Lynott and Brian Downey, and the cover band Shades of Blue of the Belfast guitarist Eric Bell, was founded. With this line-up Thin Lizzy had their first appearances in Ireland. In early 1970, Decca Records , who had previously signed Van Morrison's band Them , in which Bell had played, became aware of the band. Thin Lizzy signed and moved to London . In January 1971 they recorded their first LP Thin Lizzy , which was released in the spring. In June 1971 an EP was released that was later referred to as "New Day" EP. The three composers' diverse musical influences resulted in a mixture of Irish folklore , blues , rhythm and blues , pop , rock and hard rock . The second LP Shades of a Blue Orphanage from 1972 remained largely commercially unsuccessful like its predecessors, but brought them a tour in the opening act for Slade .

Whiskey in the Jar , a version of a well-known Irish folk song , was recorded rather casually and released as a single by Decca at the end of 1972 . The song reached sixth place on the British charts in early 1973 and was also successful in other countries. The follow-up single Randolph's Tango was unsuccessful, and also the third LP Vagabonds of the Western World in the late summer of 1973 was only sold moderately. Although the lyrical references to Ireland and mysticism were retained on the album, the band now increasingly emphasized hard rock , and the folkloric elements of their early days faded into the background. Also worth mentioning on this record is the style-defining psychedelic cover by Irish painter Jim Fitzpatrick , who designed a total of six LP covers for the band.

Thin Lizzy with Gary Moore on the set of a music show, 1974

At the end of the year followed the last release with Eric Bell on guitar, the single "The Rocker". The guitarist left the band on December 31, 1973 after a concert due to commercial reorientation and alcohol problems. He was replaced the following day by Gary Moore , who was a member of the Dublin band Skid Row with Phil Lynott in 1969. After the single "Little Darling" from 1974 and during the recording of the album Nightlife , Moore left the band in May due to differences within the band. In the same year he was replaced by Brian Robertson from Glasgow and Scott Gorham from California , who - with the exception of the song "Still In Love With You" - re-recorded Gary Moore's guitar tracks. From the time of the second trio in the band's history, only the songs “Sitamoia” and “Little Darling” contained on various samplers were preserved for a long time in addition to “Still In Love With You”. It was only with the re-release of the album Vagabonds of the Western World in 2010 and the album Night Life in 2012 that further songs from 1974 with Moore came to the light of the public. In the same year, Thin Lizzy separated by mutual agreement from Decca, who had meanwhile lost interest in the band, and switched to Vertigo Records .

Classic time

With the new line-up, Thin Lizzy experienced their most successful period until 1978. The 1974 album Nightlife was still very calm and soul- heavy, but with “It's Only Money” and “Sha-La-La” it already contained the typical hard rock with two lead guitars , which became a trademark in the following years the band should be. Even so, occasional excursions into Irish folklore remained. Lyrically, Lynott dealt more and more often with masculinity and semi-world issues and on Nightlife a split relationship to the Catholic tradition of his homeland emerged. In texts from other records, too, he dealt with conflicting feelings and questions of faith. In 1975 Thin Lizzy released the album Fighting , which was significantly harder than the previous discs and on the cover of which the band members posed as street fighters.

Thin Lizzy in Bradford, 1977

In 1976, Thin Lizzy's most successful production to date was released with the album Jailbreak and the singles "The Boys are Back in Town" and "Jailbreak" that were extracted from it, which considerably increased the group's profile. Worldwide celebrated concerts were the result. The record Live And Dangerous is a testament to their work as a live band at that time . In the same year as Jailbreak , the LP Johnny the Fox was released . Brian Robertson injured his hand while touring the US in 1977, which meant that he could not play the guitar from January to March. During this time he was replaced by the returnees Gary Moore, who was not yet an official band member, although Phil Lynott would have liked to replace the unreliable Robertson with Moore, but who had other commitments. On the 1977 LP Bad Reputation , in addition to the usual hard rock, influences of punk and disco music were processed. Most of the guitar tracks on the album were recorded by Scott Gorham. Brian Robertson only returned to the band shortly before the Bad Reputation recordings were finished.

In late 1977 Gary Moore worked again with Phil Lynott and Brian Downey. As a trio they played revised versions of songs from the period 1970 to 1974 using the original recordings with Eric Bell, which were released in 1979 under the album title The Continuing Saga Of The Aging Orphans . T. on the remastered editions of the first three albums in 2010 were re-released. Midge Ure , a friend of Phil Lynott's, appeared on guitar on two songs . In 1978 Gary Moore became a permanent member of the band for the now definitely dismissed Robertson. In the same year, drummer Brian Downey was temporarily replaced by Mark Nauseef due to health problems .

With this line-up, the recordings for the next album Black Rose began in the same year . During the recording, Downey also rejoined the band and recorded all the songs. Black Rose contained distinct Irish traditional influences, especially in the epic title track. The album also featured some of Thin Lizzy's greatest hits: “Do Anything You Want To”, “Sarah”, “With Love” and “Waiting For An Alibi”. In 1978 Phil Lynott and Brian Downey also recorded several songs from the Black Rose sessions from Moore's solo album Back On The Streets with Gary Moore , including the hit "Parisienne Walkways" written by Lynott and Moore and the slower version Thin Lizzy classic "Don't Believe A Word". Back On The Streets can therefore be considered a Thin Lizzy album. After the three had recorded the song "Spanish Guitar" written by Lynott and Moore in 1979 and the Lynott track "Jamaican Rum", Gary Moore left the band in July 1979 during Thin Lizzy's US tour. After Thin Lizzy had given four concerts as a trio, Midge Ure was recruited as a replacement for Moore alongside Scott Gorham for the rest of the tour. During the subsequent tour of Japan, Ure only played the keyboards, while Dave Flett (including Manfred Mann's Earth Band ) became the second guitarist, but also not a permanent member of the band.

The late phase

1980 Snowy White , who had previously been active as a tour musician for Pink Floyd , was hired as the successor to Gary Moore. Phil Lynott released his solo album Solo In Soho that same year . With Snowy White, Thin Lizzy recorded the album Chinatown in 1980 with the hit single "Killer On The Loose" and in 1981 Renegade . White added more elements of the blues to the band's music. The single "Trouble Boys / Memory Pain" even features two covered blues classics, the selection of which can be traced back to White's predilection for the blues.

Thin Lizzy in the Manchester Apollo, 1983

Following the Renegade tour in 1982 White left the band and was replaced by John Sykes , who had previously played with the Tygers of Pan Tang . In addition, Lynott's second solo album The Philip Lynott Album came out in 1982 , which received poor reviews. In addition, Lynott supported U2 in their early stages. In 1983 the hardest album in the band's history Thunder And Lightning was released. John Sykes brought strong heavy metal influences to the music. At the same time, the album also contained keyboards for the first time to a considerable extent, which were recorded by the previous tour keyboardist Darren Wharton, a permanent member since Renegade . The band achieved a small hit with the single "The Sun Goes Down". The album sold well despite the many personnel changes.

In 1983 Phil Lynott broke up the band after an extensive farewell tour and a big farewell concert in London with the former guitarists Eric Bell, Gary Moore and Brian Robertson as guest musicians. The performance was recorded on the album Life: Live . The band's last appearance for the time being took place on September 4, 1983 in Nuremberg .

A little later, Phil Lynott founded the band Grand Slam, with whom he wrote the songs "Dedication" and "Military Man", among others. But after a short tour the group disintegrated again. In 1985 Lynott also released the single "Out In The Fields / Military Man" with Gary Moore as 'Gary Moore & Phil Lynott' with the B-side co-composed by him, which reached fifth place in the UK charts. His own single "Nineteen" was less successful. That same year, Lynott tried to revive Thin Lizzy with Downey on drums and Gorham and Sykes on guitars. A studio was even booked for January 1986, but the band was never reformed.

Phil Lynott died on January 4th, 1986 in Salisbury / Wiltshire from the consequences of his longstanding drug and alcohol abuse. On May 17th of the same year there was a one-time reunion of Thin Lizzy as part of the Irish 'Self Aid' Festival in Dublin with the cast of Gary Moore, Scott Gorham, Brian Downey, Bob Daisley and - as a guest on "Cowboy Song" - Bob Geldof . Thin Lizzy only became more popular again when Metallica covered “Whiskey In The Jar” with a video clip in 1998 and was successful with it.

Reform and Black Star Riders

Bronze statue of Phil Lynott in Harry Street, Dublin

In 1999, thirteen years after the death of Phil Lynott, there was a tribute concert with the line-up of John Sykes (guitar and vocals), Scott Gorham (guitar), Marco Mendoza (bass), Darren Wharton (keyboards) and Tommy Aldridge ( Drums). Under the leadership of John Sykes, he and Scott Gorham played concerts with changing musicians in loose succession under the name 'Thin Lizzy' until 2009. The live album One Night Only , released in 2000, testifies to the European concert series in 1999 .

In 2005 Gary Moore organized another tribute concert to commemorate Phil Lynott to unveil a Phil Lynott statue in Dublin. Mainly Thin Lizzy songs were performed at the concert. In addition to Gary Moore, many former Thin Lizzy musicians took part in the concert. In 2007 Thin Lizzy were the main group at the Rock Hard Festival in Gelsenkirchen . In 2008 they toured as supporting act for Uriah Heep .

For 2009, Thin Lizzy were booked as a support band for AC / DC's European tour . Shortly before the beginning of the first concerts, however, the drummer Tommy Aldridge injured himself, which meant that some appointments had to be canceled. On June 30, 2009, Scott Gorham announced the exit of John Sykes on the Internet.

After a period of temporary "paralysis", Scott Gorham reactivated the band in 2010 with a different line-up. First there were the former band members Brian Downey (drums), Darren Wharton (keyboards) and Marco Mendoza (bass) as well as the newcomers Vivian Campbell (guitar, Def Leppard ) and Ricky Warwick (vocals, ex- The Almighty ). The first appearance of the newly formed band took place on January 4, 2011, the 25th anniversary of Phil Lynott's death, and was also the start of a tour. After Vivian Campbell returned to Def Leppard and Richard Fortus ( Guns N 'Roses ) gave a brief guest appearance on Thin Lizzy, Damon Johnson (ex- Alice Cooper ) became the new guitarist in 2011 alongside Scott Gorham.

In 2012 the band went to the studio to work on a new album. In October of that year it was announced that this album would be released out of respect for Phil Lynott under the band name Black Star Riders , as all Thin Lizzy works were closely related to Lynott. Both concerts under the name Black Star Riders and Thin Lizzy were announced. However, Wharton and Downey left the band, with the latter being replaced by drummer Jimmy DeGrasso ( Y&T , Megadeth , Alice Cooper ). The album All Hell Breaks Loose was released on May 24, 2013.

In January 2016, Mikkey Dee was announced as the new drummer, until December 2015 he was a member of the band Motörhead , which broke up due to the death of frontman Lemmy Kilmister . Micky Dee, however, had to cancel his participation in the Thin Lizzy concerts in 2016 and 2017, so that in his place Scott Travis of Judas Priest was hired as the new drummer. In April 2016 the band announced the signing of new bassist Tom Hamilton from Aerosmith .

useful information

• The name "Thin Lizzy" comes from the British comic magazine The Beano , in which a female robot named "Tin Lizzie" appears, and is at the same time an allusion to the first car built in series: the Tin Lizzy from the Ford Motor Company . Slightly modified (and alluding to the Irish accent, in which "thin" is pronounced like "tin") the name was adopted as the band name.

• The band's distinctive logo was created in 1973 from the title lettering on the poster for "The Rocker". Lynott was enthusiastic about the picture and when its artist Jim Fitzpatrick suggested a permanent logo for the band, he wanted lettering in the style of the letters on the poster. The finished logo was then used for the albums Nightlife (1974) and Fighting (1975) and was then mainly used as an illuminated stage prop. It only found its way onto a record cover in 1983 with the farewell album Life: Live .

• Thin Lizzy's songs have been covered by numerous rock and metal bands such as Anthrax , Metallica , Dropkick Murphys , Motörhead , Gamma Ray , Running Wild , Sodom , Skyclad , Celtic Legacy , Glyder , Vader and the Smashing Pumpkins . In addition, the two-part lead guitar sound of Thin Lizzy was also the template for the metal band Iron Maiden , which can still be found in many of their songs today.

Occupations

Lineups until the dissolution in 1983

Discography

Albums

Studio albums

year	title	Top ranking, total weeks, awardChart placementsChart placements (Year, title, rankings, weeks, awards, notes)		Remarks
		UK	US
1971	Thin Lizzy	-	-
1972	Shades of a Blue Orphanage	-	-
1973	Vagabonds of the Western World	-	-	last album on Decca
1974	Nightlife	-	-	first album by Vertigo
1975	Fighting	UK60 (1 week) UK	-
1976	Jailbreak	UK10 gold (50 weeks)UK	US18th gold (28 weeks)US
	Johnny the Fox	UK11 gold (23 weeks)UK	US52 (11 weeks) US
1977	Bad reputation	UK4th gold (9 weeks)UK	US39 (11 weeks) US
1979	Black Rose - A Rock Legend	UK2 gold (21 weeks)UK	US81 (12 weeks) US
1980	Chinatown	UK7th silver (7 weeks)UK	US120 (10 weeks) US
1981	Renegade	UK38 (8 weeks) UK	US157 (11 weeks) US
1983	Thunder and Lightning	UK4th silver (11 weeks)UK	US159 (5 weeks) US

More albums

year	title	Top ranking, total weeks, awardChart placementsChart placements (Year, title, rankings, weeks, awards, notes)				Remarks
		DE	US	UK	IE
1978	Live and Dangerous	DE41 (2 weeks) DE	US84 (12 weeks) US	UK2 platinum (63 weeks)UK	IE23 (14 weeks) IE	Live album, recorded in November 1976, October 1977 and March 1978 in London and Philadelphia
1981	The Adventures of Thin Lizzy - The Hit Singles Collection	-	-	UK6 (13 weeks) UK	-	Singles compilation
1983	Life	-	US185 (3 weeks) US	UK29 (6 weeks) UK	-	Live album, recorded in London in March 1983
1987	The Best of Phil Lynott and Thin Lizzy: Soldier of Fortune	-	-	UK55 gold (10 weeks)UK	-	Best of album contains solo pieces by Phil Lynott and Gary Moore
1991	Dedication - The Very Best of Thin Lizzy	-	-	UK8 (17 weeks) UK	-	Best of album
1996	Wild One - The Very Best Of	-	-	UK18th gold (11 weeks)UK	IE9 (183 weeks) IE	Best of album in Ireland placements from 2000
2001	Vagabonds, Kings, Warriors, Angels	-	-	-	IE61 (2 weeks) IE	4 CD box compilation
2004	At Rockpalast	DE78 (1 week) DE	-	-	-	DVD with the appearance at Rockpalast 1981
	Greatest hits	-	-	UK3 platinum (17 weeks)UK	IE2 (138 weeks) IE	Best of album
2009	Still Dangerous: Live at the Tower Theater Philadelphia 1977	-	-	UK98 (1 week) UK	-	Concert compilation
2011	Waiting for an Alibi - The Collection	-	-	UK- gold UK	IE5 (97 weeks) IE	compilation
	At the BBC	-	-	-	IE50 (2 weeks) IE	Live compilation (as a double CD or 6 CD box + DVD)
2019	Black Rose - A Rock Legend	-	-	-	IE58 (1 week) IE	Double LP with a 40th Anniversary Remaster of the 1979 album and further demo versions on the occasion of Record Store Day
2020	The essential	-	-	UK16 (4 weeks) UK	IE88 (... weeks) IE

gray hatching : no chart data available for this year

More live albums

• Live Tapes (1980, limited mini-LP with the tracks Bad Reputation , Chinatown , Got to Give It Up and Dear Miss Lonely Hearts )
• Live for Ireland (1986, live sampler with the 1985 song Don't Believe a Word )
• BBC Radio 1 Live in Concert (1992, recorded August 1983 in Reading )
• The Peel Sessions (1994, appeared on the BBC radio broadcast by John Peel between 1972 and 1977)
• One Night Only (2000, former Thin Lizzy members play Thin Lizzy songs)
• The Boys Are Back in Town: Live in Australia 1978 (2003, recorded October 1978 in Sydney, with Gary Moore)
• UK Tour 75 (2008, recorded November 1975 in Derby, with Brian Robertson)
• Still Dangerous (2009, recorded October 1977 in Philadelphia)
• Live in London (2011, recorded January 2011 in London)
• High Voltage (2011, recorded July 23, 2011 in London)
• Live 2012 (2012, recorded on November 29, 2012 at O ₂ Academy, Bournemouth)

More videos

• Greatest Hits (2005, UK:gold Gold)
• The Thunder and Lightning Tour - Live 1983 (2006)
• Live and Dangerous (2007, UK:gold Gold)
• Up Close and Personal (2007)
• The Rocker: A Portrait of Thin Lizzy's Philip Lynott (2007)
• Live at the National Stadium Dublin 1975 (2012)

More compilations

• Remembering Part 1 (1976)
• The Continuing Saga of the Aging Orphans (1979, reworking of songs from 1971 to 1974, with Gary Moore)
• Lizzy Killers (1981, released in Europe only, UK:silver Silver)
• The Collection (1990, UK:silver Silver)
• Dedication (1991, the demo song Dedication by Lynott was completed posthumously by Gorham and Downey)
• Rockers (1993)
• Whiskey in the Jar (1996, UK:silver Silver)
• Thin Lizzy & Phil Lynott, The Boys Are Back in Town (2001)

Singles

year	Title album	Top ranking, total weeks, awardChart placementsChart placements (Year, title, album , rankings, weeks, awards, notes)				Remarks
		DE	US	UK	IE
1972	Whiskey in the Jar	DE7 (24 weeks) DE	-	UK6 (12 weeks) UK	IE1 (17 weeks) IE	Traditional
1973	Randolph's Tango	-	-	-	IE14 (6 weeks) IE	Author: Philip Lynott
	The Rocker Vagabonds Of The Western World	-	-	-	IE11 (4 weeks) IE	Authors: Eric Bell, Brian Downey, Philip Lynott
1976	The Boys Are Back in Town Jailbreak	-	US12 (17 weeks) US	UK8th gold (10 weeks)UK	IE1 (10 weeks) IE	Author: Philip Lynott # 499 of Rolling Stone 500 (2004) Republished in 1991, see below
	Jailbreak Jailbreak	-	-	UK31 (4 weeks) UK	-	Author: Philip Lynott
	Cowboy song jailbreak	-	US77 (8 weeks) US	-	-	Authors: Brian Downey, Philip Lynott
1977	Don't Believe a Word Johnny The Fox	-	-	UK12 (7 weeks) UK	IE2 (6 weeks) IE	Author: Philip Lynott
	Dancing in the Moonlight Bad Reputation	-	-	UK14 (8 weeks) UK	IE4 (8 weeks) IE	Author: Philip Lynott
1978	Rosalie / Cowgirl's Song (Medley)	-	-	UK20 (13 weeks) UK	IE14 (3 weeks) IE	live Original / Author of Rosalie: Bob Seger (1972)
1979	Waiting for an Alibi Black Rose (A Rock Legend)	-	-	UK9 (8 weeks) UK	IE6 (6 weeks) IE	Author: Philip Lynott
	Do Anything You Want To Black Rose (A Rock Legend)	-	-	UK14 (9 weeks) UK	IE25 (2 weeks) IE	Author: Philip Lynott
	Sarah Black Rose (A Rock Legend)	-	-	UK24 (13 weeks) UK	IE26 (3 weeks) IE	Authors: Philip Lynott, Gary Moore
1980	Chinatown Chinatown	-	-	UK21 (9 weeks) UK	IE12 (6 weeks) IE	Authors: Philip Lynott, Scott Gorham, Brian Downey, Snowy White
	Killer on the Loose Chinatown	-	-	UK10 (7 weeks) UK	IE5 (5 weeks) IE	Author: Philip Lynott
1981	Killers Live ( EP )	-	-	UK19 (7 weeks) UK	IE11 (4 weeks) IE	contains live recordings of Are You Ready , Dear Miss Lonely Hearts , Bad Reputation
	Trouble boys	-	-	UK53 (4 weeks) UK	IE30 (1 week) IE	Author: Billy Bremner
1982	Hollywood (Down on Your Luck) Renegade	-	-	UK53 (3 weeks) UK	-	Authors: Philip Lynott, Scott Gorham
1983	Cold Sweat Thunder And Lightning	-	-	UK27 (5 weeks) UK	IE23 (2 weeks) IE	Authors: Philip Lynott, John Sykes
	Thunder and Lightning Thunder and Lightning	-	-	UK39 (2 weeks) UK	IE22 (1 week) IE	Authors: Brian Downey, Philip Lynott
	The Sun Goes Down (Living It Up) Thunder And Lightning	-	-	UK52 (3 weeks) UK	-	Authors: Philip Lynott, Darren Wharton
1991	Dedication	-	-	UK35 (3 weeks) UK	IE2 (5 weeks) IE	Authors: Laurence Archer, Philip Lynott
	The Boys Are Back in Town	-	-	UK63 (2 weeks) UK	IE16 (1 week) IE	Re-release of the 1976 song

More singles

• The Farmer (1970)
• Dublin (1971)
• Little Darling (1974)
• Philomena (1974)
• Showdown (1975, USA)
• Rosalie (1975)
• Wild One (1975)
• Rocky (1976)
• Johnny the Fox Meets Jimmy the Weed (1977, USA)
• Don't Believe a Word (live, 1983)

literature

• Alan Byrne: The Adventures of Phil Lynott & Thin Lizzy ; Berlin: IP Verlag Jeske / Mader, 2006; ISBN 3-931624-38-2 .
• Irwin Stambler: The Encyclopedia Of Pop, Rock And Soul . 3rd Revised Edition, New York City, New York: St. Martin's Press, 1989; ISBN 0-312-02573-4 ; Pp. 677-678.

Individual evidence

1. ↑ http://www.metal-hammer.de/news/mommunikations/article354199/hard-rock-legend-thin-lizzy-haben-zu-black-star-riders.html
2. ↑ Jim Fitzpatrick on the creation of the band logo
3. ↑ List of covered Lizzy songs (incomplete)
4. ↑ ^{a b c} Chart sources: DE UK US Ireland Singles / Albums (from 2000)
5. ↑ Gold / platinum awards: UK (BPI, database search) - US (RIAA)
6. ↑ Black Rose - A Rock Legend (Album, 2019) at Discogs

Web links

Commons : Thin Lizzy  - collection of pictures, videos and audio files

• Official website
• http://www.thinlizzy.org/
• Thin Lizzy Guide
• www.thinlizzyfan.com ( Memento from December 16, 2006 in the Internet Archive )
• Home of Rock Archive
• Thin Lizzy at Discogs (English)
• Thin Lizzy at laut.de
• Thin Lizzy on MusicBrainz (English)
• Thin Lizzy Artwork (Gallery by artist Jim Fitzpatrick)