Thin Lizzy overdubbed their live album for tax reasons, or did they?
Irish Thin Lizzy was formed in Dublin in 1969 by drummer Brian Downey and bass player/lead singer and songwriter Phil Lynott.
Their best-known tunes include Whiskey In The Jar, The Rocker, The Boys Are Back In Town, Jailbreak, Don’t Believe A Word, and Dancing In The Moonlight (It’s Caught Me in It’s Spotlight).
The band went through many member changes with Gary Moore joining and leaving the band three times, even recording a very successful single outside of Thin Lizzy with Phil, in Parisienne Walkways.
Three years after the band had formed, the record label released their version of the traditional Irish folk song Whiskey In The Jar. This was only the second single from the band and they were not happy.
The members felt the song didn’t represent them but chart success in Ireland, the U.K., and even Europe gave them a chance to appear on Top Of The Pops, giving them a taste of fame and what was to come.
Unfortunately, when they tried to follow it up, no one was interested. Single The Rocker didn’t do well outside of native Ireland. It would take several albums and modest releases until the band gained traction again.
In 1976, they dropped Jailbreak which had the title track as well as The Boys Are Back In Town as singles, this was enough to give the band the momentum it was craving.
With sales of half a million in the U.S., Thin Lizzy had finally broken into the public consciousness as a rock outfit.
The same year they also released Johnny the Fox, with the single, Don’t Believe A Word, this also helped to spread the word about the band.
The following year they released another album, Bad Reputation, where we got the single Dancing In The Moonlight (It’s Caught Me In It’s Spotlight), not to be confused with the Toploader/King Harvest hit Dancing In The Moonlight.
This would prove to be the last big tune from Thin Lizzy who had one more significant release up their sleeve.
In 1978, they released Live and Dangerous, produced by Toni Visconti, they claimed that they re-recorded many of the instruments for tax reasons, but in fact, hardly redid anything. If this was true or not has been debated for decades.
Since this live album, no significant singles have been released. Members came and went until the band finally broke up when their leader, Phil Lynott in 1986 died from internal organ failure, brought on by heavy drug and alcohol intake for many years.
In 2005, a life-sized bronze statue of Phil was raised on Harry Street in Dublin.
Thin Lizzy Tunes | Related Pages
Dancing In The Moonlight (It’s Caught Me In Its Spotlight)
Learn how to play Dancing In The Moonlight (It’s Caught Me In Its Spotlight) by Thin Lizzy using chords, lyrics, a chord chart, and the original recording.
| Em | D | C | G (Gsus4) |
When I passed you in the doorway, well, you took me with a glance…
Parisienne Walkways
Learn how to play Parisienne Walkways by Gary Moore/Phil Lynott using chords, lyrics, chord analysis, and a Spytunes video guitar lesson.
| Am | Dm7 |
I remember Paris in ’49…
Thin Lizzy on the web
About me | Dan Lundholm
This was an article about Thin Lizzy tunes, by Dan Lundholm. Discover more about him and how you can learn guitar with Spytunes.
Most importantly, find out why you should learn guitar through playing tunes, not by practising scales or studying theory in isolation.