PHIL LYNOTT - A PERSONAL TRIBUTE

Philip Paris Lynott would have been in his 72nd year today. Sadly, one of the first rock stars and iconic figures to influence my teenage years had succumbed to his demons 35 years earlier and passed on January 4th 1986. Looking and listening back it seems both a lifetime and a moment ago. 

Thinking about it, I guess the first song that turned my head was The Rocker. Picked up the Decca single way way back and loved it. Was a long time before I heard the full version complete with Eric Bell's extended wigout solo. Found a copy of Little Darlin' too, which I've always thought was a great song and a move in the right direction. But it was Jailbreak that really did it. Of course, THAT single, with the even more brilliant Emerald on the flip, converted me totally. The album was never far from the old turntable. Was that tour when I first saw Thin Lizzy. Remember only knowing a few of the songs played and being very impressed with Phil's total command of the audience, the show, the experience. 

The next elpee and tour couldn't come quick enough. Johnny The Fox was a slow burner but a real personal favourite, Fool's Gold and Massacre in particular. Phil's lyrics and delivery were the focal point, managing to put the incendiary yet deft twin guitar attack and powerful rhythm section in the shade. I'd missed the support act that first time (was Graham Parker for most of the tour) but at the Kursaal this time got to see Clover, a country tinged outfit soon to morph into Huey Lewis And The News. As their ok set drew to a close Phil joined them for their last song. 

And that night Lizzy were stunning, they'd matured so quickly, were so confident, and boy did they rock. And the crowd was rabid. It was only a few months after the Jailbreak show but seemed like years. Bad Reputation cemented the band at the very top of British Rock, hit singles adding to their public stance and popularity even though us believers knew it was onstage where they really ruled.

There may have been many years to go on this journey with Phil and Thin Lizzy but this was really the top of the mountain. They'd begun to extend overseas touring with all sorts of bands from Queen to Rush to Robin Trower and started to headline as well. It was all coming together. 

Internal strife with Robbo and Phil's hepatitis struck hard and put a lot of the work and momentum at risk. But they were about to deliver their ace card. Recorded at 3 venues almost a year apart, Live And Dangerous was an immediate classic. Iconic front cover image, brilliant photo after photo across the inner and garefold sleeves and the perfect Thin Lizzy track listing. The ultimate live experience, yours for a fiver. 

Up there with Strangers In The Night, Double Live Gonzo, The Song Remains The Same and _____ (insert your own favourite(s) here!), it defined and capped an era. The magic, the sweat, the smiles and the glory. Timeless as all great live albums are. And to many of us Phil Lynott WAS Thin Lizzy. He was the media's dream too, utterly charming and sweet yet still live and dangerous. His poetry, unashamed romanticism and disarming nature were all facets loved by one and all. 

But Thin Lizzy were unstable. Robbo had gone. Gary Moore had returned for Black Rose, a fantastic set of powerful tunes sprinkled with Moore's lightning histrionics but still full of classic Phil tunes an hit singles. The title track followed Soldier Of Fortune as an epic with historical and home roots sympathies, and Sarah was a beautiful ode to his daughter. But, right in the middle was Got To Give It Up, a warning to himself and co-writer Scott Gorham, both falling into the clutches of addiction and decay at the heart of the machine.

My own Thin Lizzy live experiences were few and far between by now, they pulled out of Reading 79 to finish the Black Rose elpee and I missed the June 1980 shows amid a huge flurry of other bands that summer. Think I saw Rush at Hammersmith when they played the Rainbow. And the next elpees were less focused and inspired. Guitarists changed both on record and on tour. Midge Ure, Snowy White, keyboards onstage, it all seemed a bit messy and destructive and Phil was either unable or willing to rise above the chaos. 

Thunder & Lightning was the shot in the arm and return to form they needed. With new hot shot John Sykes poached from NWOBHM outfit The Tygers Of Pan Tang shredding the strings, Thin Lizzy were back. A much more consistent elpee than the last few, their first since Black Rose to be frank, a sterling BBC Sight And Sound In Concert in January 1983 bode well. A long tour was set up as they got set to go again. Then Phil announced it was to be their farewell tour. Ticket sales went through the roof, and well over 40 shows were played to largely sold out audiences desperate to see Thin Lizzy one more time. There were 4 shows at Hammersmith Odeon, including an all star jam on the final night March 12th when all former guitarists (except Snowy White) took part in a mad last half hour. 

Europe and Japan (the 'Sayanara tour') followed before a version of Lizzy without Scott but with Doish Nagle toured Sweden as a replacement for Dave Edmunds under the monicker The Three Musketeers (there were five of them?!). After that trip Thin Lizzy rounded off the tour and their career with 4 festival gigs, Reading plus 3 Monsters Of Rock shows. The final gig was Nuremberg on September 4th.

I remember Reading as being a good but not great show. They closed the 3 days event and the sound wasn't that good and there was a whiff of sadness in the air. It was broadcast on the BBC and later released on CD. I recall Phil's heartfelt version of A Day In The Life Of A Blues Singer among the expected classics, and am so glad I got to see Lizzy one more time. Even then I think he regretted announcing it was the end, but couldn't backtrack and so it was done.

It didn't take long for him to form Grand Slam with Laurence Archer and Mark Stanway in tow. I saw them a handful of times, notably at 2 maybe 3 marquee shows. They were a good band with some very good songs, but Phil could not get a deal. His addiction problems had sadly made companies very wary of putting their all behind his new project, especially one perhaps too close to Thin Lizzy in line-up and sound without performing any of the songs. It was a difficult time and sad to see him declining health wise onstage. But he never lost that twinkle in his eye and that disarming smile. 

I feel very sad how things ended for Phil, with no help from those around him when he for once really needed them. But above all else he was a brilliant musician who was a unique and very talented man. His music and legacy remain and I can honestly say the very best of Phil Lynott - those albums from Jailbreak through to Black Rose timeless classics - are among the finest records I've had the pleasure of hearing.