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Thin Lizzy 1976

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What does it sound like?:

Here’s a great idea for a re-release; take the best calendar year for a band and put out everything they recorded, both official releases, alternate mixes and unreleased tracks.

So, the first cab off the Universal rank is Thin Lizzy 1976, five CDs and a Blu-ray or limited edition coloured LP sets.

You get brand new stereo and atmos mixes of the Jailbreak and Johnny the Fox albums, demos, radio sessions, outtakes, remastered original versions of the albums plus a previously unreleased live show.

By the beginning of 1976 the classic lineup of the band had been together for 18 months;Phil Lynott, Brian Downey, Scott Gorham and Brian Robertson; and the band’s distinctive take on the classic ‘Wishbone Ash twin-lead guitar’ attack had begun to cut through, on both sides of the Atlantic.

The Jailbreak album was recorded at The Who’s Ramport Studios in Battersea, London, between December ’75 and February ’76, with John Alcock producing. The band had worked up the songs in a small studio in Buckinghamshire in late ’75 so that the arrangements were really tight by the time they got to Ramport, (too tight for Robertson who later complained that he felt restricted by the lack of experimentation at Ramport.) Unknown outside of the band and their label at the time, however, was that this album was their last chance; they were about to be dropped by Vertigo if it didn’t make the charts.

Jailbreak came out on 26th March 1976 and went into the U.K Album Chart at No.60. It peaked at No.10 on its 22nd week and remained on the chart for a total of 50 weeks, 13 of those in the Top 20.

The first single from Jailbreak was The Boys are Back in Town c/w Emerald, released three weeks after the album, on 17th April. It didn’t break into the Singles Chart for nearly 6 weeks, reaching No.48 on 29th May. However, as soon as Radio One and Top of the Pops picked up on it, it rose to No.8 on 3rd July during that long hot summer.

The album’s title track was the next single, peaking at No.31. However, all was not well in the band. During a triumphant U.S tour, where the album had broken into the Billboard chart at No.18, Phil Lynott contracted Hepatitis which meant that the band and crew were quarantined and the tour was cancelled.

While he was ill, Lynott was determined to try and salvage some momentum from the situation and he wrote most of the next album, Johnny the Fox, in a Manchester hospital on an acoustic guitar. In August ’76, Thin Lizzy went back into Ramport with Alcock and recorded the new album in a few weeks, after an aborted attempt to record at Musicland Studios in Munich. While in Germany arguments about musical direction began to surface, mostly between Robertson and Lynott. The Ramport sessions were fraught with tension but they delivered the album on time and Vertigo put out Johnny the Fox in October ’76, just 7 months after Jailbreak. It went straight into the U.K Album Chart at No.11, staying on the chart for 23 weeks. The only U.K single was Don’t Believe a Word c/w Old Flame which was released on 26th November. It spent 7 weeks on the chart, peaking at No.11. In the U.S, the album suffered from that cancelled tour and the lost momentum, reaching No.52.

The band’s touring schedule during 1976, despite recording two albums and Lynott’s illness, was relentless. 65 gigs in the U.K, 14 in mainland Europe and 32 in the U.S meant almost a third of the year was spent on the road. However, as 1976 came to an end, Brian Robertson almost destroyed all of the progress and hard work that Thin Lizzy had made. The night before leaving London for the start of another U.S tour, the Glaswegian guitarist got into a fight and broke his hand. The tour had to be delayed while Gary Moore rejoined the band and the dates were all moved to Jan-March 1977 with Lizzy supporting Queen.

The new mixes here sound really strong, especially as they have improved the sound of the best musician in the band, drummer Brian Downey, whose light touch and dexterity always set the band apart from their contemporaries.

The demos and outtakes are fascinating, especially when you can hear a little of what Robertson moaned about; he is restricted by the production and arrangements, but without those Jailbreak may not have been a hit album and the band would have been dropped by the label.

There’s a gorgeous acoustic version of Romeo and the Lonely Girl, a few jams and some intriguing early versions of established tracks plus the radio sessions from the John Peel Show and other BBC shows.

The live show is from 11th May in Cleveland, Ohio and features a band at the peak of their powers. If you like, it’s the seeds of the later, triumphant Live & Dangerous album being sown as you listen. It’s fantastic.

This is a terrific package and, as a record of a momentous year in the life of Ireland’s finest band, it works really well.

The last words should go to guitarist Scott Gorham:

“The great thing was the writing, it was killer. I still don’t know if it was just something that happened naturally or because the pressure was on. But there are songs on these records we still play now. Songs that will always be in the Thin Lizzy set.”

What does it all *mean*?

Two great albums get ‘the treatment’ and lots more besides.

Goes well with…

Live & Dangerous

Release Date:

27th September 2024

Might suit people who like…

Seventies rock.

10

Comments

  1. I bought the SuperDeluxeEdition blu-ray audio, which does away with the bells & whistles of the box set and focuses on the two studio albums (albeit in five hi-res mixes of each). A bargain at 25 quid.

  3. Great review Niall. I’m a massive Lizzy fan and have been enjoying this set over the last week. The remixes are excellent and the outtakes really interesting. Lizzy fans have been spoiled over the last few years with the reissues and the Rock Legends box set and those involved should be commended for their efforts.

  4. Saw them 5 times from 1977 to 1979; corking stuff. All the best parts of hard rock without the annoying bits. Whereas, for me, the Scorpions were the opposite. So how delighted I wasn’t when Thin Lizzy at Reading in 1979 were replaced by … The Scorpions. Doubly-so when The Ramones were replaced by frigging Nils Lofgren.

    I saw Brian Downey and friends last year doing a Lizzy set. Bloody excellent.

  5. Oh, I love Jailbreak. That cover. Made teenage boys weep with excitement.

    The lead and rhythm guitars on Romeo and the Lonely Girl I’ve tried to copy for the past forty years. Ask me how it’s going.

    Yet the riff to Jailbreak is incredibly simple. But monumentally cool. That swagger.

    Oh, I love Jailbreak.

    I join you at the altar dedicated to Brian Downey. Himself and Ian Paice SWING. They find the pocket in amongst all the riffs.

    Unfortunately I only managed to see them once. At Newcastle City Hall on their final tour in ‘83. I was right at the back but they seemed huge on stage. Larger than life all of them. The Les Pauls and the mirrored Precision bass held high. What a front line to witness. Lynott, Gorham and Sykes (John. Not Eric)

  6. I saw them at Bracknell Sports Centre on 23rd October 1976 when I lived in Reading.

    My then girlfriend, current wife, was a big fan of Phil Lynott for some reason! I was happy to be there mainly for the support act, Clover, who were at that time very Zigzag friendly but I had no problem with Thin Lizzy.

    When they hit the stage, they forgot they were in a sports centre, not the RAH, and exploded 3 thunder-flashes front and centre. The smoke rose to the low roof and with nowhere to go descended onto the audience. My 50 year old memory is that the first 3 songs were enlivened by people at the back wafting the large load-in doors to encourage the smoke outside. Eventually the band could see us, we could see the band, and all went well.

    At the end of the performance The Lizzy left the stage, returned after a while to do an encore following which people started to leave via the smoke extractors. I said to my partner we’re not going till they do The Rocker and sure enough, after a while, back they came to finish the show properly!

  7. Did we ever find out where in the town the jailbreak was supposed to happen? 😉

    Only really familiar with TL singles, The Boys Are Back in Town being one of the greatest I ever heard.

    • @dai, there’s so much more to them than the singles. Phillo had a lovely romanticism to his writing on many songs and there are some real rockers like Emerald which sound amazing on this.

  8. Great review! You’ve really done your homework.

    I saw Thin Lizzy at Liverpool Stadium that year. My memory is playing tricks on me these days but I’m pretty sure Graham Parker & The Rumour were the support act. It was the first time I saw him, beaded with sweat, neck sinews stretched, banging out Don’t Ask Me Questions.

    I think I’ll buy this. See if the concert recording lives up to my recollection more than Live And Dangerous does.

        • The last gig staged there was Ultravox and Eddie and the Hot Rods in December of ’76. I wasn’t in attendance. Roger and Pete decamped in ’77 with Roger taking his booking contacts with him to set up Eric’s. The Stadium continued for a while still staging boxing and wrestling but no more gigs. Eventually it was demolished and the site became a car park for some time. I believe the site has now been built on but sadly absolutely no visual recognition of the venue and it’s place in Liverpool’s cultural life has been awarded to the site in the form of a plaque or the naming of a street has been deemed necessary. I think that’s a damn shame. It was a uniquely grotty place to take in some truly great/legendary bands/performers and not to mention Doreen’s hamburgers. It was a home away from home for me and many other “heads”.

            • Maybe they did. I had very long hair a full beard and smelled of weed and patchouli oil. Does that jog your memory? 😉
              I remember the criminally nasty business to which you allude. It did take place at that gig although it was some time after that night I was made aware of it. I remember it being reported as taking place after the gig was over and outside but in the vicinity of The Stadium. I may be misremembering it was a very long time ago.

          • My early gig going was at Liverpool Stadium – Traffic, Free, Rory Gallagher a couple of times, Wishbone Ash, Hawkwind, The Kinks, Bad Company and probably a few more.
            It had a certain ambience for sure – band start times were a bit anarchic. But most of my memories of the place were positive.

            • Our paths may have crossed as I was in attendance for most of those gigs. I didn’t see Bad Company. The first band I saw there was Mott The Hoople when I was a mere stripling of fifteen years and the last gig I attended was Gong which if I’m remembering this correctly was on the weekend after the aforementioned Thin Lizzy gig.
              I saw everyone from Beefheart to Roxy Music, David Bowie to Led Zepplin, The Faces to Gentle Giant there along with countless others. I have nothing but happy memories of the grotty dump.

                • It must have been as I’m sure Queen weren’t the support the time I caught them. In all honesty I can’t remember who were the support when I saw them but I know it wasn’t Queen. In my defense it was fifty three years ago.

                  • @Pencilsqueezer I saw that Mott tour in November ’71, at Guildford Civic Hall. The support was a trio put together by Paul Rodgers when Free split up for the first time. They were called Peace. I was 15 and it was my first ever gig.

                    • I have absolutely no memory of Peace being part of the evening’s entertainment. Maybe they didn’t do The Stadium gig. I shall investigate.
                      Edit. I’ve just had a bit of a quick Google and yep it was Peace in support that night. I don’t remember a single note. Mind you that applies to a large chunk of the 70s as far as I’m concerned.

      • They gigged a lot. We booked them for a college hop in 1972 along with Arrival and a couple of other acts whose names escape me. They must have played Quaintways in Chester three or four times and maybe more than that during 1973. I caught them a couple of times there and once again that year at the Tivioli Buckley. Always a good live rock outfit.

        • That is indeed a brilliant photo, @Ducool.

          However the image that will haunt me from this thread is not from Phonix but from North Wales.

          Namely @pencisqueezer waxing lyrical on the vast flocks of “foxy, boho chicks” that keep him imprisoned in his own flat.

          It’s almost Hitchcockian.

          “They gather outside the flat like seagulls around a bag of chips.”

          I can imagine that Thin Lizzy would recognise that scenario.

  9. I always find it a bit irritating that extra material from previous reissues isn’t included in supposedly more comprehensive sets such as this – no Blues Boy which was on the 2011 2 cd reissue and none of the remixes Scott Gorham did with Joe Elliott of Def Leppard which were also on there.
    I found Johnny The Fox a bit of a let down after the mighty Jailbreak – maybe rushed to get another album out before they were really ready?

  10. That acoustic version of Romeo and the Lonely Girl sounds appealing. Jailbreak itself is flawless to me and the one that the Lizzy curious should get. I’ve never really found Live and Dangerous to be as good as the studio albums.

  11. I’ve liked Lizzy since mum and dad bought me, on my brother’s recommendation, a copy of Live and Dangerous on my first day starting high school. I’ve still got my copy of Jailbreak with the cut-out sleeve. This looks like a great package, another box to add to the groaning shelves.

    Saw them a couple of times. Renegade tour at the Dominion, then on their last gig in London at The Hammy (side 4 of the live album), all of them (except Downey) throwing every guitar shape you could possibly imagine.

  12. Bit of a non sequitur but I heard an interview with Sir Nick Lowe the other night and he mentioned that he ‘borrowed’ The Boys Are Back in Town as the template for his song So It Goes. Never struck me until I listened to it again and it’s pretty obvious. And why not it’s brilliant.

  13. I saw them on the “Johnny the Fox” tour at the Glasgow Apollo – 30th October 1976. Went with a friend from school (called Muttley, for reasons which now escape me), he was an even bigger Lizzy fan than me at the time. Amazing gig, of course – and a “hometown” gig for Brian Robertson, who I seem to remember tore the proverbial roof off.

    I think I’ve posted on an older thread how impressed we were by Brian Downey that night – he took a solo which was the shortest, most concentrated drum solo I’ve ever seen – and still the best to date.

    I would normally keep my ticket stub – but I’ve torn the attic apart and can’t find it.
    Ochone, ochone!
    However, I did find this:

    View post on imgur.com

    • @fitterstoke as an ex-drummer I have grown to hate drum solos with a passion. However, the one on this Cleveland gig is the exception. As you say, short, intense, still in time with the song and all killer, no filler.

      • You might be on to something there – although, as I recall, he used to smoke Camels which he cadged off his elder brother.

        As an aside, his brother was an Afghan-wearing long-haired beardie drummer, who eventually moved to That London© to join a band (“the next big thing”). We used to raid his LP collection – those listening sessions at Muttley’s were directly responsible for my current taste in progressive music and jazz-rock like RtF – his brother did like a good drummer…

    • What I learned yesterday: Graham Downey, son of Brian, played bass for The Frames from 1993 to ’96, which is when I saw them at the Portland Arms. They were ruddy fantastic.

      • Hmmm, not sure about that. I do remember an interview with Van where he was asked about being Irish and he said “I’m not Irish, I’m British”, I guess he had a choice

        • Van’s level of Irishness varies from album to album and interviewer to interviewer.

          He certainly makes a lot more references to Ireland than Britain in his songs

  16. Remember seeing TL in a tiny club in Athlone with my cousin Noel in the summer of 1972 or 73. There were only about 20 people there. Odd to think how a few short years later, they were one of the biggest live acts in the world.

    A guy called Gerry Jago who lives here in Roscommon used to roadie for Phil and the boys in the late 70s and early 80s and regularly gets invited along to conventions and anniversaries.

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