Thin Lizzy – PowerPop… An Eclectic Collection of Pop Culture

Thin Lizzy – Cowboy Song

This song starts off slow, and then it really kicks the door in. They had bigger hits such as The Boys Are Back in Town and Jailbreak, but this song is really good. It’s always been at the top of my Thin Lizzy song list. It has a cinematic feel to it. I like this one because of a great moment after the bass break, and Phil kicks it in full force. I love dynamics when they are done right, and this is.

What a groundbreaking band Thin Lizzy was at the time. You had a black Irish singer-bass player, Phil Lynott, who reminded people of Van Morrison singing and a little of Springsteen in some of his writing…all in a harder rock format. I always liked Thin Lizzy because of two things. The brilliant Phil Lynott and the dual guitar lead that this band made popular.

The song was written by Phil Lynott and drummer Brian Downey, tells the story of a drifting cowboy longing for love. It was released as a single in 1976 and peaked at #77 on the Billboard 100. The song was on their Jailbreak Album. The album peaked at #18 on the Billboard Album Charts, #5 in Canada, and #10 in the UK.

The members of Thin Lizzy were bassist and singer Phil Lynott, Drummer Brian Downey, guitarist Brian Robertson, and guitarist Scott Gorham. Gary Moore was a member for a few months and also Them’s keyboardist Erix Wrixon but Moore and Wrixon didn’t stay long.

I first heard the song on the Live and Dangerous album that was released two years later.

Scott Gorham: “Cowboy Song” originally began as a joke. During a writing session, Lynott half-seriously suggested they try to write a “cowboy song.” But as the ideas started flowing, it took on a life of its own… one of the best songs we ever did.

Phil Lynott biographer Mark Putterford: “a cross between Clint Eastwood and Rudolph Valentino, with a bit of George Best thrown in for good measure. Philip strode into the sunset of his own imagination and always, of course, lived to fight another day.”

Cowboy Song

I am just a cowboy, lonesome in the trail.
Starry night, campfire light, and the coyote calls where the howlin’ winds will.
So I ride out to the ol’ sundown. I am just a cowboy, lonesome on the trail.
Lord I’m just thinking about a certain female.
And the nights we spent together, riding on the range.
Looking back, it doesn’t seem so strange.

Roll me over and turn me around. Let me keep spinning ’til I hit the ground.
Roll me over and let me go, riding in the rodeo.

I was took in Texas, I did not know her name.
But Lord all these southern girls, they seem the same.
But down below the border, in a town in Mexico,
I got my job busting broncs for the rodeo.

Roll me over ans turn me around, let me keep spinnin till I hit the ground.
Roll me over and let me go, running free with the buffalo.

Roll me over, and I’ll turn around.
And I’ll move my fingers up and down.
Up and down.

It’s ok amigo, just let me go.
Riding in the rodeo.

Roll me over and turn me around, let me keep spinning till I hit the ground.
Roll me over and let me go, riding in the rodeo.
Roll me over and set me free, the cowboy’s life is the life for me.

Thin Lizzy – Bad Reputation

Happy Mother’s Day!

What a groundbreaking band Thin Lizzy was at the time. You had a black Irish singer, Phil Lynott, who reminded people of Van Morrison singing and a little of Springsteen in some of his writing…all in a harder rock format. Thin Lizzy revolutionized the dual synchronized guitar attack. Other bands that did the same in the future would use Thin Lizzy as a how-to guide.

The dual guitar is on display here…one playing lead and the other playing the same lead an octave higher. Other bands had two and sometimes three guitarists but they usually didn’t play in unison like Thin Lizzy. It made for a different sound. Now you can use a guitar effect to get close to that on one guitar. Brian May would do it with Queen at times on recordings.

The song was written by Brian Downey, Scott Gorham, and Phil Lynott. It was on the album Bad Reputation released in 1977. The album peaked at #4 in the UK, #39 on the Billboard Album Charts, and #44 in Canada. The album sold very well and went gold.

The song was not a hit but it was played on FM radio stations at the time. It’s one of the songs they are remembered by like Whiskey In A Jar, The Boys Are Back In Town, Jailbreak, and my personal favorite The Cowboy Song.

Scott Gorham: “Well, I had the riff down. Phil came up and he says, ‘We need to do an off-time thing with this.’ He started to work with Brian Downey on that, and that’s when they came up with this strange timing that you don’t usually associate with Thin Lizzy. I listened to that and went, ‘Man, that is so fu–ing cool, it’s unbelievable,’ and I jumped in on it. Then it kind of developed itself from there.”

“‘Bad Reputation’ was one of those songs that came together really quickly, as soon as we had that off-timing tagline come in, everything just fell into place, all the harmony guitar work and all that, the lead guitar thing. Phil’s idea from it, from the riff itself, he just thought, you know, something along the lines of, ‘Man, this could give us a really bad reputation. That’s it. That’s what we’re going to call this song.’ And he started writing this song called ‘Bad Reputation.'”

Bad Reputation

You’ve got a bad reputationThat’s the word out on the townIt gives a certain fascinationBut it can only bring you down

You better turn yourself aroundTurn yourself aroundTurn it upside downTurn yourself around

You had bad breaks, well, that’s tough luckYou play too hard, too much rough stuffYou’re too sly, so coldThat bad reputation has made you old

Turn yourself aroundTurn yourself aroundTurn it upside downTurn yourself around

…

Thin Lizzy – Whiskey In The Jar

I could listen to this guitar tone all day long.

This is an old traditional Irish song that was spruced up by Thin Lizzy. What set Thin Lizzy apart from other rock groups was Phil Lynott’s writing, bass playing, and singing. In this song, the guitar solo sounds fantastic.

Although a massive first hit for Thin Lizzy, this was actually meant to be the B-side. The band recorded “Black Boys On The Corner” as the A-side and put the old traditional Irish Song “Whiskey In The Jar” on the B-side because they didn’t have anything else. It was the record company that decided to make “Whiskey in the Jar” the A-side.

Phil Lynott had known the song for years, having performed it many times during the 60s in his formative days on Ireland’s folk music circuit. With Thin Lizzy members Eric Bell and Brian Downey taking a breather between songs, Lynott picked up a guitar, singing bits of this song and pieces of that song until he launched into “Whiskey in the Jar.” As they were playing, their Irish co-manager Ted Carroll walked in, noting the song sounded like a potential hit single.

“Whiskey in the Jar is a song about a notorious Irish highwayman Patrick Fleming who was hanged in 1650. What was a highwayman? This is the definition I found. A highwayman was a robber who stole from travelers. This type of thief usually traveled and robbed by horse as compared to a footpad who traveled and robbed on foot; mounted highwaymen were widely considered to be socially superior to footpads.

Metallica recorded a popular cover of this song on their 1998 Garage, Inc. album an outlier for them as they rarely mention girls in their songs. Other notable versions are The Grateful Dead, The Pogues, The Dubliners, U2, Pulp, and Smokie. The lyrics of this song can vary from version to version, but most covers use the Thin Lizzy lyrics.

Whiskey in the Jar peaked at #6 in the UK charts in 1973.

Whiskey In The Jar

As I was goin’ over the Cork and Kerry mountains.
I saw Captain Farrell and his money he was countin’.
I first produced my pistol and then produced my rapier.
I said stand o’er and deliver or the devil he may take ya.

Musha ring dumb a do dumb a da.
Whack for my daddy-o,
Whack for my daddy-o.
There’s whiskey in the jar-o.

I took all of his money and it was a pretty penny.
I took all of his money and I brought it home to Molly.
She swore that she’d love me, never would she leave me.
But the devil take that woman for you know she tricked me easy.

Musha ring dumb a do dumb a da.
Whack for my daddy-o,
Whack for my daddy-o.
There’s whiskey in the jar-o.

Being drunk and weary I went to Molly’s chamber.
Takin’ my money with me and I never knew the danger.
For about six or maybe seven in walked Captain Farrell.
I jumped up, fired off my pistols and I shot him with both barrels.

Musha ring dumb a do dumb a da.
Whack for my daddy-o,
Whack for my daddy-o.
There’s whiskey in the jar-o.

Now some men like the fishin’ and some men like the fowlin’,
And some men like ta hear a cannon ball a roarin’.
Me? I like sleepin’ specially in my Molly’s chamber.
But here I am in prison, here I am with a ball and chain, yeah.

Musha ring dumb a do dumb a da.
Whack for my daddy-o,
Whack for my daddy-o.
There’s whiskey in the jar-o.

And I got drunk on whiskey-o
And I love, I love, I love, I love, I love, I love my Molly-o.

Max Picks …songs from 1976

1976

The bicentennial in America and everything that wasn’t nailed down was painted Red, White, and Blue. It was the first year I remember becoming aware of news and popular culture. In 1977 I would start watching the news and following baseball.

I always liked the imagery of this song.

When Phil Lynott was a kid his mother Philomena ran an illegal drinking den in Manchester, England. Phil was often with his mother in this den. Some of her most frequent returning customers were members of the Quality Street Gang (a group of criminals operating in Manchester, England, in the 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s).

He would spend his time observing the gang, their mannerisms, the way they talk, and the way they fight. All of this observation eventually inspired him to write a song about them called “The Boys Are Back In Town.”

I always liked this song by Seger. This song is a staple on classic radio and I still listen to it when it comes on. Seger has great imagery in this song.It took Seger around six months to write this song. Along with “Turn The Page,” this was one of just two songs Seger ever wrote on the road. Night Moves was a breakthrough hit for Seger, introducing the heartland rocker to a much wider audience. He had been very popular in Michigan ever since his first album in 1969… which had the hit Ramblin’ Gamblin’ Man. That song went to #17 on the Hot 100, but over the next few years, he struggled to make a national impact.

Lynyrd Skynyrd’s Freebird was originally released on the (Pronounced ‘Lĕh-‘nérd ‘Skin-‘nérd) in 1973 but the live version is what hit in 1976 with a single released off of One More From The Road. This is when the song became a legend. Personally, I like the studio version of it a lot but live it was unbeatable.

It’s become so ingrained that people will shout this out at concerts. In 2016 someone shouted this out at a Bob Dylan concert…guess what? Bob and his band went into the ending of the song where it rocks.

This is the band at Knebworth in 1976.

Punk was around in the UK and in America, we had the Ramones.

The Ramones were no frills and to the point. No long solos (or any) or instrumental breaks. Just 2-minute rock songs full of energy. This was the song that helped launch the Ramones.

The song never charted but is probably their best-known song because of the many movies, TV shows, and commercials it’s been in. The song was mainly written by drummer Tommy Ramone, while bassist Dee Dee Ramone came up with the title (the song was originally called “Animal Hop”). Dee Dee also changed one line: the original third verse had the line “shouting in the back now”, but Dee Dee changed it to “shoot ’em in the back now.”

This song still sounds fresh today. Got To Get You Into My Life was on Revolver released in 1966. It was not released as a single at the time. Any other band would have released it as a single.

In 1976 it was released as a single and peaked at #7 in the Billboard 100…not bad for a song that was 10 years old. It was released off of the horribly packaged compilation album Rock and Roll Music. Capital Records seemed to forget The Beatles represented the 60s, not the 50s that the album cover represented.

…

Thin Lizzy – Dancing in the Moonlight (It’s Caught Me in Its Spotlight)

I love listening to Phil Lynott sing. Thin Lizzy could give you a lot of different-sounding songs. In this song, it sounds like Phil was listening to the Moondance album by Van Morrison.

The record company added the (It’s Caught Me In It’s Spotlight) so people would not confuse this with the old AM hit Dancing In The Moonlight by King Harvest that I’ll be going over this week!

It’s the way Lynott phrased his lyrics that added to the experience. Thin Lizzy also had some great twin harmony lead guitar parts that made their sound. They were unique, to say the least. You had a black Irish bass player fronting a rock band and singing like a cross between fellow Irishman Van Morrison and American Bruce Springsteen. They were not just a hard blues band. They mixed rock, country, blues, Celtic, and a little jazz in the mix.

The band’s name is a play on Tin Lizzie (“Thin” being pronounced “Tin” in an Irish accent). Tin Lizzie is either a reference to a robot character from The Dandy Comic or a nickname for the Model T Ford…

This song was on the Bad Reputation album released in 1977 and was written by Phil Lynott. It peaked #14 in the UK, #84 in Canada, and #4 in Ireland.

The album peaked at #39 in the Billboard Album Charts, #44 in Canada, and #4 in the UK in 1977.

Phil Lynott was the principal songwriter, but he encouraged the rest of the band to contribute their own material.

Scott Gorham (lead guitarist…one of them): “He taught us how to do this thing called ‘song writing.’ And until we got better and better at it and we could actually bring our own songs in, we brought in songs that were either partly finished or just ideas to put on one of his songs. We might bring in a song that was half finished, or a whole song minus the lyrics. And it was always minus the lyrics, because that was Phil Lynott’s domain. We knew that we weren’t ever going to touch or top his lyrics. So you just let him get on with it.”

Later on The Smashing Pumpkins covered “Dancing in the Moonlight (It’s Caught Me in Its Spotlight)” for various live performances.

Phil Lynott’s short life has been memorialized by a life-size bronze statue erected in central Dublin, just outside one of the famed bass player’s favorite pubs.

Thin Lizzy – Dancing in the Moonlight (It’s Caught Me in Its Spotlight)

When I passed you in the doorway
You took me with a glance
I should have took that last bus home
But I asked you for a dance

Now we go steady to the pictures
I always get chocolate stains on my pants
My father he’s going crazy
Say’s I’m living in a trance

But I’m dancing in the moonlight
It’s caught me in its spotlight
It’s alright, alright
Dancing in the moonlight
On the long hot summer night

It’s three o’clock in the morning
And I’m on the streets again
I disobeyed another warning
I should have been in by ten

Now I won’t get out until Sunday
I’ll have to say I stayed with friends
But it’s a habit worth forming
If it means to justify the end

…

Thin Lizzy – Jailbreak

Bruce Springsteen’s Born to Run was released a year before this and it was said to influence this album. The album was Jailbreak and was the bands sixth album. It was their breakthrough album.

The album peaked at #18 in the Billboard Album Charts, #5 in Canada, and #10 in the UK in 1976. The album had three well known Thin Lizzy songs…The Boys Are Back In Town, Cowboy Song, and the title track.

The title track didn’t chart in America but it did peak at #31 in the UK in 1976.

Thin Lizzy was founded in Dublin in 1969 when Lynott and drummer Brian Downey left their group Orphanage to form a new band with musicians formally from the last incarnation of Van Morrison’s Them.

Thin Lizzy’s sound was made of Phil Lynotts songwriting and voice…along with the dual-guitar interplay of Scott Gorham and Brian Robertson.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iC6Cgb8nHwk

Jailbreak

Tonight there’s gonna be a jailbreak
Somewhere in this town
See me and the boys we don’t like it
So were getting up and going down

Hiding low looking right to left
If you see us coming I think it’s best
To move away do you hear what I say
From under my breath

Tonight there’s gonna be a jailbreak
Somewhere in the town
Tonight there’s gonna be a jailbreak
So don’t you be around

Don’t you be around

Tonight there’s gonna be trouble
Some of us won’t survive
See the boys and me mean business
Bustin’ out dead or alive

I can hear the hound dogs on my trail
All hell breaks loose, alarm and sirens wail
Like the game if you lose
Go to jail

Tonight there’s gonna be a jailbreak
Somewhere in the town
Tonight there’s gonna be a jailbreak
So don’t you be around

Tonight there’s gonna trouble
I’m gonna find myself in
Tonight there’s gonna be a jailbreak
So woman stay with a friend

You know it’s safer

Breakout!

Tonight there’s gonna be a breakout
Into the city zones
Don’t you dare to try and stop us
No one could for long

Searchlight on my trail
Tonight’s the night all systems fail
Hey you good lookin’ female
Come here!

Tonight there’s gonna be a jailbreak
Somewhere in the town
Tonight there’s gonna be a jailbreak
So don’t you be around

Tonight there’s gonna be trouble
I’m gonna find myself in
Tonight there’s gonna be trouble
So woman stay with a friend

Thin Lizzy – The Boys Are Back In Town

I always liked the imagery of this song.

The song was on the Jailbreak album. The album peaked at #18 in the Billboard Album Charts, #10 in the UK, and #5 in Canada.

The Boys Are Back In Town peaked at #12 in the Billboard 100, #8 in Canada, #8 in the UK, and of course, #1 in Ireland where the band originated in 1976.

A big part of Thin Lizzy’s sound came from Phil Lynott’s vocals and the dual-lead guitar interplay of guitarists Scott Gorham and Brian Robertson.

From Songfacts

This gave Thin Lizzy worldwide exposure. They were popular in their native Ireland, but unknown elsewhere until this came out.

This was Thin Lizzy’s only Top 40 hit in the US, but they had several other hits in the UK.

Everclear covered this for the 1999 film Detroit Rock City. Their version was later used in the movie A Knight’s Tale.

This was used in commercials for Wrangler.

Thin Lizzy were surprised when this became their breakthrough hit – because they hadn’t wanted it on their Jailbreak album. Guitarist Scott Gorham recalled to Classic Rock: “We were playing in some club in the US when our manager came in and said, ‘Well, looks like we’ve got a hit.’ We were like, ‘Which song?’ Seriously, we didn’t have any idea at all which song it was that had taken off for us.”

“To tell you the truth, we weren’t initially going to put ‘The Boys Are Back In Town’ on the Jailbreak album at all,” he continued. “Back then you picked 10 songs and went with those because of the time restrictions of vinyl.”

“We recorded 15 songs, and of the 10 we picked, that wasn’t one of them,” Gorham added. “But then the management heard it and said, ‘No, there’s something really good about this song.’ Although back then, it didn’t yet have the twin guitar parts on it.”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SGZqDzb__bw

The Boys Are Back In Town

Guess who just got back today
Them wild-eyed boys that had been away
Haven’t changed that much to say
But man, I still think them cats are crazy

They were askin’ if you were around
How you was, where you could be found
Told ’em you were livin’ downtown
Drivin’ all the old men crazy

The boys are back in town
(The boys are back in town)

The boys are back in town
(The boys are back in town again)

You know that chick that used to dance a lot
Every night she’d be on the floor, shakin’ what she got
When I say she was cool she was red hot
I mean, she was steamin’

And that time over at Johnny’s place,
Well, this chick got up and she slapped Johnny’s face
Man, we just fell about the place
If that chick don’t want to know, forget her

The boys are back in town
(The boys are back in town)

The boys are back in town
(The boys are back in town)
The boys are back in town
(The boys are back in town again)

Spread the word around
Guess who’s back in town

Just spread the word around

Friday night they’ll be dressed to kill
Down at Dino’s Bar ‘n’ Grill
The drink will flow and the blood will spill
And if the boys want to fight, you better let ’em

That jukebox in the corner blastin’ out my favorite song
The nights are getting warmer, it won’t be long
Won’t be long till the summer comes
Now that the boys are here again

The boys are back in town
(The boys are back in town)

The boys are back in town
(The boys are back in town)
Spread the word around
The boys are back in town
(The boys are back in town again)

The boys are back in town again
Been hangin’ down at Dino’s
The boys are back in town again