SIDE 1: lizzy chills
Although I have Irish roots, I have few strong musical connections there. Music via Ireland flows through one man, and it’s not Van The Man. It’s Phil The Man. Phil Lynott was actually born in the West Midlands but grew up in Dublin adopted by his grandparents and effectively, by Ireland itself. A statue of Lynott is right there in Dublin’s town centre.
Lynott was a frontman from the age of frontmen – a leader, figurehead, creative force and ultimately, cultural icon. He was a rocker of course, but so much more than that. Growing up as a black Irishman was a rare thing in the 50s and 60s and though it did not define him, it shaped him. His songs very much embody something of the Irish rover, vagabond and charmer. He was a ‘half-caste’, outsider, and a renegade. And a creative, sensitive soul to boot. A writer and a fighter if you will.
I really got into Lizzy via the guitar. I would pitch up to lessons each week with intent to learn this or that Queen or Police riff, but my teacher Mike Bray would tell me every session “I’ve got to get you into Lizzy”, until he finally broke through. Mike, wherever you are, here is almost 40 years of thanks.
As Lizzy’s creative genius, for just over a decade Lynott effectively led two bands, or perhaps more like one band with two distinct flavours. One was a British rock institution, the other something far more…chilled. Sweet ballads, bluesy jams, flirtations with Jazz & folk, mellow pop tunes - he could do them all, threading the songs with easy-on-the-ear melody and vivid lyrical storytelling. He was a poet too after all. His quieter songs would be about troubled relationships, his tough upbringing and a complex, sceptical bond with religion and god. He wrote songs addressing subjects as well as any of his peers and many artists since. When it comes to the ambiguous god stuff, one can place him alongside Nick Cave, Polly Harvey and fellow Irishman Bono. Listen in and hear it for yourself and be surprised and delighted. Did you ever think a ‘rock/metal’ band could sound like this?
I often think if only…if only Lynott had stayed alive. He chose to exit life when (and maybe because) his career was at a low ebb, in 1986 at the age of just 36. It was before the age of catalogue revival and of legacy tours, creative re-assessment and career longevity for any band of decent standing from rock & pop’s golden age. Had Lynott stuck with Lizzy, been called up for Live Aid by his fellow Irishman Bob Geldof and just kept on, Lizzy would now surely be enjoying a revival status similar to that of ELO, Fleetwood Mac, Def Leppard.
It wasn’t to be. But the legacy is right here, possibly still under-appreciated and under-rated. These songs exemplify Lynott’s, and Lizzy’s dexterity and diversity. Maybe that stemmed from Lynott himself being different. He was a rogue and a tough guy who wrote heavy rock bangers but also sweet love songs, and catchy pop tunes (remember, his song Yellow Pearl was adopted as the theme to UK music institution Top Of The Pops). Who knows what St. Patrick would have made of such a man, but Ireland should be, and is, proud. Happy Saint Patrick’s day to Ireland.
Playback notes: However you like, but preferably as scheduled. As ever, no skipping! This playlist is the sister to Lizzy Kills, so watch out!
The new film Phil Lynott: Songs While I am Away, is premiered at the Doc’n Roll film festival in November 2020 here
SIDE 2: LIZZY KILLS
Lynott hammed it up somewhat, with his introductory choice of words to Got To Give It Up (and side two of this playlist) a perfect example of him playing leader-of-the-pack to a rowdy rocker crowd. As Lizzy gigs got under full swing, he would spray audiences with fake ‘bullets’ from his Fender Precision Bass with the signature cheeky Lynott rocker grin, and didn’t the audience just adore him for it.
Musically, as with ‘Lizzy Chills’ on the softer side he could turn his hands and his voice to all manner of rock stylings. He could do a cracking faux Elvis (closing lines of Do Anything You Want To), homage to Hendrix (The Warrior) and towards the latter Lizzy days, a good old fashioned metal growl (try the album Thunder & Lightening).
Another even more famous Irish frontman Bono, described Lynott thus to the UK Daily Telegraph:
“He was an amazing frontman...if lyrical and musical ability has to be matched with showmanship, attitude, style, if that’s your version of rock’n’roll, there’s no way past Phil Lynott. He’s at the top of the tree.”
Still, very occasionally, lyrically, he could be daft as a brush (and somewhat primitive when compared with the Lizzy Chills more sensitive side). In Jailbreak for example: “Tonight there’s gonna be a jailbreak, somewhere in the town” (er, the local prison possibly Phil?). It’s doubtful we’ll hear Killer On The Loose ever again on radio, and Chinatown only rarely. Both remain somewhat unreconstructed, although I could not leave Chinatown out of the mix here because it’s reedy guitar riff is one of the best in the Lizzy catalogue. Both songs were modest radio/chart hits of their time. Of course, Lizzy’s biggest ever hit, The Boys Are Back In Town, is essentially a predictably macho bad boy theme tune of the most cliched kind.
Sadly, Lynott walked the talk when it came to the rocker lifestyle of booze, drugs and bad health - something that quickly and tragically caught up with him.
There was more to Lizzy than Lynott, of course. The muscular drumming of Brian Downey and of course, that signature twin guitar attack - with various pairings across the years. Without question though, Lynott was the leader - and a generous mentor, inviting guitar players of varying styles into the band (Snowy White, Gary Moore, even Midge Ure at one point, alongside the classic rock & metal talents of Brian Robertson, Scott Gorham and John Sykes) to do their career-best work.
It’s easy to think of Lizzy’s brand of melodic rock as unfashionable (it was never cool even at the peak of the band’s popularity) but nonetheless, Thin Lizzy was and still remains a highly influential rock band. Look at the twin guitars of Sheer Mag for example - the Lizzy twin guitar formula to a tee.
After Lynott's death in 1986, various incarnations of the band emerged over the years based around a core of the guitarists Scott Gorham and John Sykes (though Sykes left the band in 2009). Gorham later continued with a new line-up including Downey.
The new box set Rock Legends (Deluxe) is available now