Thin Lizzy | Phil Lynott

http://www.thinlizzy.org/phil.html
Today is the anniversary of the birth of Phil Lynott who was the front man for Thin Lizzy.
He had a troubled life because his father was a black airman and his mom was an Irish white woman in 1949 post-WWII-England where prejudice was rampant. Phil grew up in Ireland and as he grew he wanted to be known as the Black Irishman.
He was born on August 20, 1949 and "succumbed to the excesses of his lifestyle and died on 4th January 1986."
Rest in peace Phil Lynott

"Philip Parris Lynott was born on 20th August 1949 in West Bromwich, near Birmingham. The son of Philomena Lynott, a white Irish Catholic and Cecil Parris from Brazil, Phil was initially brought up in Moss Side, Manchester and moved to Ireland whilst still at school. He lived in Crumlin, Dublin with his grandparents.
His teenage years saw him join his first band, 'The Black Eagles', as the lead vocalist. The drummer of the band was Phil's old school friend, Brian Downey. Moving on, Phil then joined Brush Sheils' group, 'Skid Row' during which time he also began learning to play the bass. In 1968, 'Belfast kid' Gary Moore replaced the guitarist and a year later saw their first independently released single 'New Faces, Old Places'.
When Brush Sheils decided to reform the band as a 3-piece, Phil left to start his own group, 'Orphanage' with Brian Downey on drums, Pat Quigley on bass and guitarist Joe Staunton. They were now also performing original material and as Brian Downey said: “Quite a few of the melodies that ended up on the first Lizzy album were being thrown around in Orphange.”
By the end of 1969 they were approached by experienced musician Eric Bell who suggested forming a new band with Phil and Brian, and together with Eric Wrixon on keyboards, the first configuration of Thin Lizzy was created.
What followed has been well documented with Thin Lizzy finding international success through a series of hit singles, albums, tours and varied line-ups through the years.
Phil remained the leading creative force behind the group and his mixture of poetry and rock proved to be as distinctive and original as the twin-guitar sound they pioneered to deliver their work.

In 1979 he recorded a Christmas single, 'A Merry Jingle', under the name "The Greedies" (shortened from "The Greedy Bastards"). This featured other Lizzy members, along with Steve Jones and Paul Cook fo the 'Sex Pistols'.
The early 1980s saw Phil produce two widely acclaimed solo albums, 'Solo In Soho' and 'The Philip Lynott Album' and when the band eventually broke up in 1983, Phil started up 'Grand Slam' with Laurence Archer on guitars, Robbie Brennan on drums, Doish Nagle on rhythm guitar and Mark Stanway on keyboards. Debuting in London in June 1984, the band was well-received and continued to gig throughout that year ending with a show at the Marquee in London on December 4th.
Phil also worked with Gary Moore on Moore's tracks, 'Parisienne Walkways' which went to number 8 in 1979 and 'Out In The Fields' which reached number 5 on release in May 1985.
Although he had begun work on a new album, Phil finally succumbed to the excesses of his lifestyle and died on 4th January 1986. He left behind a legacy of work that continues to inspire and captivate audiences old and new, and carved out his well-deserved place among the greats of 20th century musicians."



Background from allmusic.com/artist/phil-lynott-mn [login to see] /biography?d8340ad24109e36bf85f6a48763bd2e4
"Artist Biography by Greg Prato
Jailbreak Along with Bob Dylan, Jim Morrison, Patti Smith and Bruce Springsteen, Thin Lizzy's Phil Lynott was one of the first to merge poetry with rock music. Philip Parris Lynott was born in 1949 (his father was Brazilian and his mother Irish), and was raised mostly by his grandmother, Sarah. After discovering rock n' roll as a teen, Phil began singing in his first band, the Black Eagles. It was around this time that Lynott met future Thin Lizzy drummer, Brian Downey. As the 60's wore on, such landmark artists as Van Morrison and Jimi Hendrix, which would help shape the sound of this next band, influenced Phil. Thin Lizzy was officially formed in the early-70's, and through a succession of guitarists, eventually became one of the world's top hard rock bands by the middle of the decade, especially on the strength of the hit anthem "The Boys are Back in Town" and a string of classic albums (Jailbreak, Bad Reputation, Live & Dangerous, Black Rose). In addition to the band's instantly recognizable (and infinitely copied) twin guitar attack - supplied by Scott Gorham and Brian Robertson - it was Lynott's storytelling lyric-writing that most focused on. While Lizzy was often lumped into the 'heavy metal' category, the band covered a lot of ground musically, while Lynott embraced the fledgling punk scene - forming a side project with ex-members of the Sex Pistols (the Greedy Bastards), becoming good friends with Boomtown Rats singer Bob Geldof, and guesting on Johnny Thunders' 1978 album, So Alone. Lynott also published several books of his poetry during the 70's and 80's, and released a pair of solo albums 1980's Solo in Soho and 82's the Phil Lynott Album. But like many rockers of the 70's, Lynott and most of his bandmates succumbed to the party hearty lifestyle of rock n' roll - indulging in hard drugs and alcohol. Not only did it affect the quality of the band's work by the early-80's (contributing to the band's break-up by 1983), it turned out to be detrimental to Phil Lynott's health. After Lizzy's break-up, Lynott attempted to form another band, Grand Slam, which ultimately failed. But a successful collaboration with old friend Gary Moore, "Out in the Fields," showed Phil still had what it took, but it wasn't enough for Phil to put his life back on track. Lynott died on January 4, 1986 - his body giving out from all the years of abuse and hard living. But Lynott's songwriting and spirit live on - Thin Lizzy's name continues to be named by band's as a major influence, namely Metallica, Def Leppard, Henry Rollins, and Smashing Pumpkins, as Phil's stature in the rock world reached legendary proportions immediately after his death."

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