First Thin Lizzy album in 40-plus years features vocals from the late Phil Lynott
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(Credits: Alamy)
A new Thin Lizzy album has been announced. The compilation record, Acoustic Sessions, will be released on January 24th and will feature stripped-back versions of Thin Lizzy classics. The vocals will be provided by old vocal recordings of the late Phil Lynott.
The new record isn’t all taken from archived Thin Lizzy recordings. The band’s founding member, Eric Bell, has prepared new guitar work for the album. It will be released on CD and on a limited edition marble and clear vinyl run.
Among the songs on the new acoustic album is a stripped-back version of ‘Whiskey in the Jar’. It’s a song that Lynott notoriously grew sick of playing because of how much it rose in popularity; however, it remains a fan favourite. It was initially a traditional track that the band rearranged and made into a rock song. It has continued its life in music as further covers were done by U2, Metallica and The Pogues.
One of the other notable songs on the album is an acoustic version of ‘Eire’, a track featured on Thin Lizzy’s debut self-titled album. It’s an old song for the band to recount, but no doubt it still sounds as good today as it did in the ‘70s.
“I remember recording ‘Eire’ from our debut album Thin Lizzy in 1971,” said Bell, recalling the recording process, “I wrote the main guitar part first on acoustic and then we built it up from there. I played the 12-string acoustic throughout the track and introduced the electric on top.”
This kind of recording style helped when it came to converting the tracks to acoustic renditions. “By recreating those original acoustic parts and adding the vocals which Philip laid down on the day,” said Bell, “And those original drum parts which Brian came up with in the original recording sessions.”
The acoustic album is a big moment for Thin Lizzy, as it marks the first time Bell has played on an album for the band since 1973. He left the band in 1973, and various other line-ups continued, but the band fully broke up in 1983 following the release of their album Thunder and Lightning. Lynott passed away three years later, in 1986, at just 36 years old.
Ricky Warwick currently fronts the new version of Thin Lizzy, as the band was relaunched in 1996 by members Scott Gorham and Darren Wharton. While the current touring version still does well, hearing Lynott’s original vocals on the new acoustic album will be good.
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