Interview by: Mark Lacey
When Eric Bell came together with fellow Belfast musicians, Phil Lynott, Brian Downey, and Eric Wrixson in 1969 to form a new band, whose name would be inspired by the Dandy character ‘Tin Lizzie’, history was made. The band would quickly become a trio, with Eric Wrixson leaving just a few months later, and over the next few years the group would cement their reputation both on the Northern Irish music scene, and across parts of Europe. However, just 3 months after the release of their third album, ‘Vagabonds of the Western world’, Eric Bell would leave the band following a frustrated performance at Queen’s Hall, Belfast on New Years Eve 1973. The band’s increasingly hedonistic lifestyle, and Eric’s own worries about the effects on his health, had reaching a pivotal moment, and one that resulted in the founding line-up breaking up for good.
50 years later, a call from record company representatives, enticing Eric to revisit those early songs, has somewhat unexpectedly resulted in Thin Lizzy’s first commercial studio release since 1983’s ‘Thunder and Lightning’. Those sessions were spontaneous, and are now released to breathe fresh life into Thin Lizzy’s humble beginnings
MyGlobalMind.com talks to Eric Bell
MGM: Thin Lizzy has featured a number of different line-ups, and different musical styles over the years. It almost feels like 3 or 4 different bands. Would you agree?
Eric: Yeah. I would just say that there were two Thin Lizzy bands as far as I was concerned; the one that I was in, which was a three piece, and we experimented quite a bit, using acoustic guitars as well as electric. And, then the 2nd line-up was, Scott Gorham and Brian Robertson. They were excellent, but it was a completely different band. So, there were definitely two Thin Lizzy’s. But there were other people coming and going all the time. It’s a good thing in a way because it certainly has kept the name of the band right up front. There’re so many bands in the sixties and seventies that had loads of hit records, and you never hear from them again. Thin Lizzy is still there. And, it’s really weird because Vagabonds is 50 years old now.
MGM: Your own tenure with the band was maybe 3 or 4 years, right at the beginning. The band formed when you and your keyboard player, Eric, from Them, came together with Phil and Brian from Orphanage. Did it did it feel like you were creating something pioneering at the time?
Eric: I remember that 1st rehearsal with Eric Wrixson, who was with us for about 4 months or so. But the first rehearsal we had was a bit funny because Phil had recently taken up the bass guitar, and, he was getting lessons from a guy called Brush Shiels, who was a great bass player in Dublin. But the first rehearsal we had, we started off with a like a slow blues. And, halfway through it, Phil didn’t know where he was on the bass. And I sort of showed him a little bit, but there was something definitely there that we all picked up on. Whatever it was, who can say what it is. It’s like a sort of telepathy between the players. And even though mistakes are being made, there’s a definite thing there that should be worked on. And that’s what we did.
MGM: During that early period of the band, you created three albums that have gone on to become so widely respected by music audiences all over the world. But just at the point when it was hitting its first peak, around ‘Vagabonds’, you famously decided to move on, citing the need to maintain your health. What do you remember about that time, and the decision to move on.
Eric: I had a ball with Thin Lizzy. For a few years, it was amazing. Being in a 3-piece band, it was starting to make a little bit of a name for ourselves, and things were starting to open up. But, ours was like a lot of bands in the seventies. There were a lot of drugs and drink around, and the lifestyle wasn’t very healthy. I didn’t get much sleep. I was eating a lot of crap. I was drinking a lot, and I was taking this, that and the other. It was all quite fun for a while, and then just everything sort of started crumbling apart. My private life started going a bit weird. I started going a bit weird, and I just couldn’t stop. For instance, I’d be playing on stage and I’d be talking to myself, saying “after the gig, you’ll go into the changing room; you’ll have one drink, and then you go back to the hotel. I’m having a good night’s sleep”. That was the idea, but then you’d get off the stage, walk into the changing room, with girls and hangers-on and this, that, and the other. And, it starts all over again, and I couldn’t stop it. It was affecting me quite a bit. I just haven’t got the will power. Whenever you’re surrounded by people who are all into getting wrecked, it’s quite difficult to walk away, and that’s what was happening to me. I just started taking it seriously, and saying, OK Eric, you had a great time, but I think you’re gonna have to get out of here. And, that’s what I did.
MGM: It must have taken a lot of willpower to walk away from something that you were enjoying, but that was having such a detrimental effect on your lifestyle?
Eric: It was ironic, because I left in Belfast, which is where I’m from. I shouldn’t have played that night. I got to the gig early, which was in Queen’s University. I went into our changing room, and Phil and Brian weren’t about, and the roadies weren’t there, and our equipment wasn’t there. I’m sitting in this dressing room that’s completely covered with alcohol on this table; every drink ever concocted by man was sitting in front of me. And, I said, right, you can have one small whiskey, and then you can have a Guinness, and that’s it. I couldn’t do it. Once I started getting into that, the whole thing started all over again. By the time we got on stage, I was totally pickled. I didn’t know what I was doing. I didn’t know what song I was playing. I didn’t know whether I’d played the guitar solo or not. And, I saw Phil looking over at me, sort of daggers. And this voice come into my head, and it said, listen, you gotta get out of here. And, that’s what I listened to.
MGM: How do you reflect on that decision 50 years later? And with the benefit of hindsight, would you do anything differently?
Eric: I would definitely do things differently. I would definitely look after my health, which I think is what it’s down to. The whole thing about musicians and about touring and about playing gigs and about recording; when you think about it, it’s all to do with your health. As you get on, I’ve known lots of great players, and they’ve got arthritis. They’ve got rheumatism. They’ve got this, that and the other. You can’t go out and play if you’re like that. You want to, but you physically can’t do it. So, if I was back there again, I would make sure that I was getting sleep, getting good food, not drinking too much, and not taking too much dope. And then I could have handled it, but when you’re 22, you look upon things differently. The list of casualties is endless. You just need to think about the casualties in the rock n roll business and even the film world. Most of them have a great time, and their career is taking off, and everything is great. And you start getting into that type of lifestyle; you wanna get more stoned, you wanna get more drunk, and unfortunately, that’s what happens. It’s happened to a lot of my friends.
MGM: The recent announcement of a new Thin Lizzy album, with reworked and revisited music, will have come as a really pleasant surprise for a lot of music fans. When did the idea for this ‘Acoustic Sessions’ album come about?
Eric: I think it started about 6 months ago. Two guys from Decca Universal Music came over to Dublin, and they got in touch, and they said that they were playing ‘Vagabonds in the Western world’. They had this pub just off Grafton Street in Dublin, ironically with Philip’s statue right outside. There were about 50-60 people there that night, and they were playing ‘Vagabonds of the Western World’ album all night. It was on a continual loop, playing through big speakers. I was on a panel of about six people. Each of us had a microphone, and the audience could ask us questions about the Vagabond’s album. These two guys were taking care of the whole thing, and they got in touch with me about 3 months ago, and they said that they were doing an acoustic session of some of Thin Lizzy’s early work, and would I be interested? I said, yeah, because it was a good challenge. I got to the studio, which was in Belfast, and they played me some of the tracks. There were a few acoustic guitars hanging about, and I just basically started playing along with the soundtrack. And, it was quite strange to say the least.
MGM: It looks like that chance meeting has created a unique moment for you and for Thin Lizzy enthusiasts. Why do you think this concept has come around now?
Eric: I have honestly no idea. Maybe it’s just a thing that bounced off the ‘Vagabonds of the Western World’ album that night about 6-7 months ago, and maybe they got the idea from that. It’s very strange because the first three Thin Lizzy albums that I’m on; you’re talking about 50 years ago. Sometimes I can’t believe it because, as I’ve said loads of times in the past, we couldn’t give those albums away at one point. Nobody was interested. We got some not great reviews from the music press. We thought the albums were pretty good, but seemingly nobody else did. And now 50 years later, they’re looked upon as good albums.
MGM: In approaching these sessions, how much of the recordings were completely newly constructed, versus repurposing of the old demos? There’s some really interesting use of orchestration in places.
Eric: They put on one of the tracks, like, ‘Dublin’, for instance. And, I would sit and listen to it in the studio with the cans on, and an acoustic guitar. I’m wondering, what am I gonna do? And I’m trying to forget what I did 50 years ago, which is still in my head, and trying to use a different approach. It really was a challenge for me because I didn’t know what to do at some points. I just played. I knew what key I was in, and that was about it. And some of it turned out quite nice.
MGM: There are ten songs on this album. Were you able to influence the choice of songs, or were they were chosen for you?
Eric: Not a thing. I was just given the titles, and then I would play that particular song. Sometimes I’d say, I needed to take a break because I didn’t know what to do. I would take a 15-minute break, and I’d try it again. It’s quite a bizarre thing to do. The only thing I can think of, really, is, Eric Clapton going unplugged. You know, all of his fans go and see him. And, one night, he walks out and there’s a chair on stage and an acoustic guitar, and he sits down and starts playing acoustic and calling it unplugged. That might have given these guys that idea.
MGM: This album is being put out under the Thin Lizzy name. Brian Downey also played on those original three albums with you. And Scott has also talked in recent months about, revisiting his own version of Thin Lizzy in 2025 if he could find some musicians to perform with. Do you know if the record company consulted Brian Downey or Scott Gorham about this album, or asked them to be involved?
Eric: I don’t think they have. I’ll be coming to Dublin at some point soon. And if Brian is there, obviously, he’s heard about it, and probably Scott Gorham has as well because Dublin’s a very small place, and news gets about very quickly. But so far, they haven’t been asked to do anything.
MGM: There are some wonderful new versions on this album, but one particular highlight is ‘A song for while I’m away’, which is a beautiful rendition. What are your memories of that song, and revisiting it after so many years?
Eric: There were definitely two sides to Philip; one was a rock n roller, and the other side is very soft and romantic. When I was in the band, I noticed quite a bit that he had this this side to his nature and he wrote some lovely ballads and some slow songs, things like ‘Shades of the Blue Orphanage’ and ‘A song for while I’m away’. There wasn’t much guitar work that I could do on them. It didn’t lend itself to a lot of guitar type stuff in it, but I really appreciated the song itself and the lyrics. And he just had that romantic way of writing songs to his nature as well as the hard rock.
MGM: The song ‘Dublin’ also features on this album, and the riff in that is beautiful. There are a couple of elements to that song that feel familiar to the Animals, and that spiritual sixties vibe.
Eric: It came with those times that we were living in. I suppose each fashion, that comes and goes. 50 years ago, it was a different vibe; the bands, all those sorts of clothes, and all the new hairstyles. But it’s like that in rock n roll history. You look back to Jerry Lee Lewis, the early Elvis, then the Beatles, then the Rolling Stones, and then punk, and the New Romantics. Each one has its little day. That’s what happened to us as well. 50 years ago, was a different vibe completely to it is today.
MGM: The very last song on this album is a version of Slow Blues called ‘Slow blues GM’ – and references Gary Moore. Was that a tribute to him?
Eric: Well, that wasn’t Gary Moore. That was me. That was just a number off one of our albums. We all had different record collections. Philip would have Bob Marley. Brian Downey was very much into the blues and BB King. So, whenever we were travelling to gigs, we would have music on …. different cassettes … it could be Hendrix, it could be the Beatles, it could be the Chieftains, or Bob Marley, or BB. King. And something would click. We would be listening to a particular track, maybe off a BB King album, and that would feed our imagination. And with the next rehearsal, we’d probably try and do a slow blues. That’s the way things seemed to work out. There was a track that Gary did play on, but my name was on it. I can’t remember what it was, but I remember hearing it and saying, that’s not me. That’s Gary Moore. And they’re all going, what? I said, no. It’s not me.
I knew Gary from way back, when I was playing with a little pop group called the Deltones. Gary Moore’s dad ran a club in Hollywood, Northern Ireland. Gary would be been playing in our club. There was a thing where his dad would say, right, any band I book for my club, I want Gary to get up and play one song with you. So, that was the deal. I heard him that night, and he was 11 years of age. He was playing some great stuff. I was about 16 or something, and we became really good friends. I was very fond of him. Amazing musician, and a really nice guy. I got on with him very well.
MGM: As well as this new Thin Lizzy release, you’ve got a new Eric Bell album called ‘Authenticity’ coming out. Your career has spanned so many interesting projects from Thin Lizzy, the Eric Bell band, the Noel Redding band, and tenures in Skid Row, Them and Coliseum among many others. You’re still performing live too. When you think about all the different projects you’ve been involved with during your musical career, which do you look back on with the most fondness?
Eric: I’d say early Thin Lizzy. I was with the band roughly 4 years, and the first 2 years were my happiest. I always wanted a 3-piece band, ever since I saw Johnny Kidd & The Pirates, and The Big Three. There were lots of trios around in the sixties, and because of that particular lineup, just bass guitar, the lead guitar and drums; it was very raw, which is what I got off on. At one point, myself, Philip, and Brian; we were getting there. We were actually becoming that type of band that I’d always wanted. To see it taking off, was amazing. There were countless really good groups in Dublin in those days, and yet we got out and made it.
It’s totally changed now. There was a time when you would sell your granny to get a record contract. But now it doesn’t seem to matter. There’s just so many different types of music.
It’s just unbelievable. On the TV, I’ll hear some name that I’ve never heard of in my life, and the record is gold platinum. I just don’t know who they are anymore. I just practise, and I go out and I play. I still enjoy playing the guitar on stage to people. Thank God that hasn’t disappeared completely. There was a time I thought it was over when the New Romantics took over. I thought, right, that’s it. I’ll buy a keyboard.
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