CHEERS to Bill and Michael in PWM, our Wyoming-based friend Irish Patti and ...... well, each of you at Cheers and Jeers. Have a fabulous weekend … and week upcoming.
ART NOTES — an exhibition entitled Monet and American Impressionism will be at the Telfair Museum of Art in Savannah, Georgia through January 24th.
HAIL and FAREWELL to the legendary New Orleans songwriter and producer Allen Toussaint - who will have a final album release next year — who has died at the age of 77 …. and to the professional wrestling veteran Nick Bockwinkel - who has died at the age of 80.
MUSIC NOTES — at a major fundraising event at Harlem’s Apollo Theater, Keith Richards performed to benefit the singer Merry Clayton - who sang the female background vocals on the Rolling Stones classic tune Gimme Shelter — after both of her legs were amputated in an automobile accident.
THURSDAY's CHILD is named Camden the Cat — a four-week old North Carolina kitteh who was extricated out of a storm drain … but appears to be in good shape.
Camden the CatPOLITICAL NOTES — while we think of rural, white counties as being right-wing, a University of New Hampshire study finds that some rural counties are more accurately described as recreational counties - with a more politically diverse population of active retirees.
THE OTHER NIGHT yours truly hosted the Top Comments diary with a look at the recent death of an early role model for myself ….. and how I’m glad that I had a chance to see him last year, even with early onset of Alzheimer’s restricting our conversation. (I hope it’s an encouragement to seek out those who helped shape your life).
FRIDAY's CHILD is named Fanny the Cat — an English kitteh who hangs out at a rail station south of London …. and makes many a commuter’s day a little brighter.
Fanny the CatBRAIN TEASER - try this Quiz of the Week's News from the BBC.
THIS COMING SUNDAY I will feature Odds & Ends - a wrap-up diary of my postings, circa noon Eastern (9 AM Pacific). I hope you'll vote in the "Who Lost the Week?!?" poll (a mirror image of the one Bill posts here). Dang, there are already bushel baskets of misfits lined-up for your review (such as the University of Missouri president, Officer Michael Szeliga, the New Haven police department and the Russian athletic Federation) .... and the week's not over yet.
SEPARATED at BIRTH — Sen. Claire McCaskill (D-MO), and the right-wing newly-elected president of the North Carolina public university system, Margaret Spellings.
Sen. McCaskill Margaret Spellings...... and finally, for a song of the week ...........................… it took the 2011 of the nonpareil Northern Irish guitarist Gary Moore to remind me that he had been a on-again-off-again member of Thin Lizzy during the 1970's. And while the band's revolving-door personnel ultimately brought them down, they had a unique sound blending both hard rock and Celtic influences, and had a membership from across the British Isles and the US that only added to its musical stew.
The genesis of the band took place at the end of 1969 in Dublin, Ireland when two musicians from Northern Ireland (guitarist Eric Bell and keyboardist Eric Wrixon) - who were previously members of Van Morrison's band Them - had discussed forming their own band when they attended a show by the band Orphanage, featuring vocalist Phil Lynott and drummer Brian Downey. After the show they introduced themselves and suggested they form a band - and since Lynott and Downey knew Bell by reputation, they agreed provided that Lynott handle the bass and use some of his songs.
They released a single the next summer, before which Wrixon left to rejoin Them - and thus Thin Lizzy carried on as a trio for the time being. Their self-titled first album recorded on a shoestring budget sounds comparatively mellow for what was to come later. But they were improving technically as well as as songwriters, and in March, 1971 they relocated to London. They had limited success with their next two albums, but scored a surprising hit single with - of all things - a souped-up version of the traditional Irish tune Whiskey in the Jar - that sounds nothing like what you'd hear in your typical Irish bar (though in fairness, the Grateful Dead and Metallica also have noted renditions). Although the band was gaining fans due to extensive European touring as an opening act for bands such as Slade and Suzi Quatro, their album sales lagged and Eric Bell left the band towards the end of 1973 due to exhaustion.
He was replaced by the aforementioned Gary Moore (his first stint) although he only lasted for a few months, and by the summer of 1974 the band was seeking new blood. It should be noted how much of a star-in-the-making that Phil Lynott was becoming. Besides his prolific songwriting, he had become the front man of the band that typically a guitarist would be in a power trio. He was unique as well insofar as he was born in West Bromwich, England to a white Irishwoman (Philomena Lynott) and a black man from British Guiana (Cecil Parris) - a combination one seldom sees in rock stars. The couple did not stay together, and he was raised by his grandmother in Ireland from age four.
His lyrics adapted some of the angst one sees in Bob Dylan, and his Irishness was present not only in his song lyrics but in subsequent poems he wrote and published. His childhood friend Brian Downey is a much under-appreciated drummer, and together they made for a solid rhythm section. It was in June, 1974 that the band auditioned for two guitarists to expand their sound - and they helped expand the band's heritage when Lynott and Downey chose a 23 year-old American named Scott Gorham and a not-quite 18 year-old Scotsman named Brian Robertson - and it was their ability to harmonize guitar riffs helped establish this as the "classic" Thin Lizzy lineup.
Classic band L-to-R: Brian Downey, Brian Robertson, Phil Lynott, Scott Gorham.After their album Nightlife they toured the USA for the first time, backing Bob Seger and Bachman-Turner Overdrive, paving the way for their 1975 album Fighting which saw some songs written by Gorham and Robertson and was their first charted album in the UK. It took the March, 1976 album Jailbreak to make them stars - including singles such as "Emerald", "Cowboy Song" and their now-classic The Boys Are Back in Town - which you can still hear on classic rock stations thirty-five years later (as well as commercials). When my divorced sister's ex-husband used to drive their two boys back to her home, I always wanted to have that song blaring when they were young (since they never walked in the door …. they burst through it).
Thin Lizzy opened for Aerosmith and Rush, and now were able to headline smaller tours themselves. A subsequent album Johnny the Fox had a #12 hit in Britain with Don't Believe a Word and their next album had their last charted hit in the US - Dancing in the Moonlight which reached #12. The band's pinnacle came with the 1978 release of Live and Dangerous - which is on many fans and critics' lists of the best double-live albums in rock history.
Then, several factors brought the band down: (a) Lynott and Robertson had a falling-out, and a revolving-door situation evolved on guitar (with Gary Moore adding two separate stints, along with Terence 'Snowy' White, Midge Ure of Ultravox and others), (b) hard drug use, fueled by their increasing popularity, (c) poor management and (d) the burgeoning punk/New Wave looked at their hard rock and large tours as part of 'dinosaur rock" which struck a chord with critics of the day. Although they still recorded some well-received albums, the band ground to a halt in 1984 after fifteen years.
Sadly, Phil Lynott died in January, 1986 (at only age thirty-five) of alcohol and heroin addiction. Various reunions have taken place over the years, with a steady band performing for much of the last fifteen years. Former members Eric Bell leads his own Eric Bell Band and Brian Robertson released a solo album in 2011.
Today's Thin Lizzy band features classic members Scott Gorham (USA) and Brian Downey (Republic of Ireland) and other veteran musicians: keyboardist Darren Wharton (England), guitarist Damon Johnson (USA, formerly with Alice Cooper), lead singer Ricky Warwick (Northern Ireland) and bassist Marco Mendoza (Mexican-American, formerly with Ted Nugent and Whitesnake).
They only perform sporadically now, but have an impressive legacy: being named #51 on VH1's 100 Greatest Artists Of Hard Rock.
Classic members Scott Gorham (2nd from left) and Brian Downey (2nd from right).Of all of their songs: it's the title track from the album Jailbreak that is my favorite. And below you can listen to it.
Tonight there's gonna be a jailbreak
Somewhere in this town See, me and the boys: we don't like it So we're getting up and going down
Hiding low looking right to left If you see us coming I think it's best To move away, do you hear what I say From under my breath?
Tonight there's gonna be a jailbreak Somewhere in the town Tonight there's gonna be a jailbreak So don't you be around
x YouTube Video