Thin Lizzy - Bad Reputation
- FaceOff - עימות חזיתי
- 22 minutes ago
- 4 min read
Written By: Moti Kupfer
Release date - 02.09.1977
In the modern world, the "first impression" has taken on a place of great importance. Once you have been labeled as problematic, your chances of succeeding become significantly smaller.
The year was 1969, and in Ireland a band was formed that played hard rock, a relatively unusual style for the time. Its name was "Thin Lizzy", a band with tons of talent and an equally impressive tendency toward self-destruction, which occasionally earned them a reputation as troublemakers. A bad reputation, just like the title of their eighth studio album, "Bad Reputation", released on September 2, 1977.
"Thin Lizzy" was originally formed by Eric Bell on guitar and Eric Wrixon on keyboards, both of whom had connections to the Northern Irish rock band "Them", the band associated with Van Morrison, together with Phil Lynott on bass and vocals and Brian Downey on drums, who had previously played together in "Orphanage".
Lynott would become the undisputed leader of the band. Early in his career, while moving through several different groups, he struggled with his singing, something that was later linked to problems with his tonsils. During a period when Lynott was temporarily away because of illness, he was dismissed from "Skid Row" by his friend and bandmate Brush Shiels. Feeling uncomfortable about what he had done, Shiels later gave Lynott free bass guitar lessons, something that would prove enormously important to Lynott's future career.
Lynott, who greatly admired Jimi Hendrix, would eventually become something of a working-class hero, almost an Irish equivalent of Bruce Springsteen.
In his writing and playing, he combined Hendrix-like ambition with the poetry and streetwise intelligence associated with Van Morrison.
But Lynott was determined to lead, and anyone who could not move in the same direction often found himself somewhere else before long. Of course, the band's growing problems with alcohol and drugs did little to help maintain healthy relationships in the day-to-day life of "Thin Lizzy".
As mentioned, almost nothing came easily for "Thin Lizzy" during those early years, but their productivity was still impressive. After five albums in five years, the long-awaited breakthrough finally arrived with their sixth studio album, "Jailbreak", and its enormous hit "The Boys Are Back in Town". "Whiskey in the Jar" had already given them an earlier taste of success.
Armed with an impressive catalogue of albums and a major new hit, "Thin Lizzy" set out to conquer America. But, as happened so often throughout the band's history, just when the light at the end of the tunnel seemed to be shining brightly, another moment of self-destruction arrived.
Phil Lynott contracted hepatitis, forcing the band to interrupt its American campaign. Then, as if that were not enough, guitarist Brian "Robbo" Robertson, after drinking heavily, badly injured his hand when he became involved in a fight while defending his friend, musician Frankie Miller.
The band was forced to cancel further dates in the United States, including shows in which they were supposed to support Ritchie Blackmore's "Rainbow", and once again "Thin Lizzy" began developing a bad reputation across America.
While recovering from hepatitis, Lynott used the downtime to write much of what would become the band's seventh studio album, "Johnny the Fox".
Meanwhile, the members of "Thin Lizzy", and Lynott in particular, felt that a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to conquer America had slipped through their fingers. The man who ultimately paid the highest price was "Robbo". Robertson eventually returned to contribute lead guitar to three tracks on "Bad Reputation", "Opium Trail", "Killer Without a Cause", and "That Woman's Gonna Break Your Heart", but the album marked the beginning of the end of his time with the band and would become his final studio album with "Thin Lizzy".
Lynott and his bandmates understood the situation and knew that something had to change. They brought in producer Tony Visconti, who had previously worked extensively with David Bowie. Visconti reshaped the band's sound, placing greater emphasis on Lynott's bass while softening and expanding their rough-edged hard rock with strings, saxophone, clarinet, keyboards and synthesizers.
Visconti also tried to put an end to the late-night partying of the inseparable pair of Scott Gorham, who had joined "Thin Lizzy" in 1974, and Lynott.
The album lifted the band back off the canvas. "Bad Reputation" entered the Top 40 of the US album chart and climbed to No. 4 in the UK, restoring the band's momentum and strengthening them ahead of the albums that followed, including "Black Rose: A Rock Legend", regarded by many as one of the creative peaks of their career.
Beyond Visconti's production and Lynott's overflowing talent, special attention should also be given to the outstanding drumming of Brian Downey. Just listen to the title track, "Bad Reputation". Downey was, by any standard, one of rock's most underrated drummers, and his playing was one of the essential foundations of the "Thin Lizzy" sound.
The album cover also reflected the depth of the conflict between Robertson and Lynott. Instead of presenting "Thin Lizzy" as a four-piece, Sutton Cooper's front-cover artwork featured only Lynott, Scott Gorham and Brian Downey, with Robertson conspicuously absent. Robertson did, however, appear with the band in a photograph on the back cover.
For Listening: Spotify, Apple Music
Comments