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IVH: Thin Lizzy / Jailbreak [1]
['This Content Is Not Subject To Review Daily Kos Staff Prior To Publication.']
Date: 2025-01-30
Tonight’s selections from Thin Lizzy’s sixth album, 1976's Jailbreak.
Thin Lizzy was founded in 1969 in Dublin by two former members of Van Morrison’s Them and two members of the band Orphanage (which reminds me of Oscar Wilde’s quip about orphans, to wit: “To lose one parent is misfortune; to lose two parents is sheer carelessness.”). The band moved permanently to London in 1971, and recorded their eponymous debut LP that same year. Thin Lizzy’s first break came when their 1972 cover of the hoary Irish traditional “Whiskey in the Jar” scored big, even though the band itself was pissed by its release, believing it didn’t fit the band’s image. And it’s true; it didn’t. Thin Lizzy may well be the least Irish-sounding band in Irish history. Anyway, Thin Lizzy basically released an album per year until 1976, when Jailbreak (LP No. 6) became its big commercial breakthrough, thanks to the title cut and the ubiquitous “The Boys Are Back in Town.” [...] Jailbreak rawks thanks to Lynott’s great songwriting and the band’s stellar musicianship (especially the dual-guitar interplay of Scott Gorham and Brian Robertson). And speaking of the band, in addition to Gorham, Robertson, and Lynott (lead vocals, bass, and acoustic guitar), it included Brian Downey on drums and percussion. And let’s not forget (although he goes uncredited on the LP) Tim Hinkley, who plays keyboards on the song “Running Back,” which is NOT about American football running back Brian Piccolo of the Chicago Bears, whose life and death from embryonal cell carcinoma were turned into a 1971 TV movie, which still makes me cry when his bestest pal Gale Sayers says, “I love you, Brian Piccolo.” Editor, that’s one extraneous sentence, and feel free to take it out if you want. — The Vinyl District
Jailbreak
When people think of hard rock, chances are that some names come to mind first- Guns N Roses, and Deep Purple being two obvious choices. I, bluntly, find it shameful that Thin Lizzy does not receive the credit that they so richly deserve, for basically inventing the genre. If it weren’t for Thin Lizzy, guitar rock wouldn’t be what you think of it. Earning only an iota of fame, for two singles, “the boys” are possibly the most underrated band from the 70’s era. And it really is a shame, because Phil Lynott and company deserve far more respect. If there was an album that I could choose that just plain out rocked, it would be “Jailbreak”. Not only does it feature some awesome lead guitar playing, and flooring guitar solos, but the riffing and the songwriting just rock hard. That’s really the only word that can describe it well, at least. Churning out two hit singles that earned the band some airplay, the infamous “The Boys are Back in Town” and the gritty title song, as well as a master plan of pure rocking riffs. But Lizzy is much more than just some generic rock band. Front man Phil Lynott had a cunning plan for the album prior to its release, based solely on war. However, this plan folded, and the song meanings changed. “Boys are Back in Town” was originally a tale of Vietnam vets returning to their homeland, but was altered into a tale of bar hopping and heavy drinking. But not every song’s connotation was tampered with. For instance, “Warriors” remained an epic narrative about the bravery of killing a man, as did “Fight or Fall”. But Lynott delivers with full attack and his lyrics range from soft and poetic, to hard-shelled and dirty. A multi-talented man, Lynott was, and his basslines are not shabby, either. However, undoubtedly, the highlight, as well as main focus aspect of Thin Lizzy, were and always will be, guitar leads. The two guitarists, Scott Gorham and Brian Robertson, trade some pretty sweet leads, and use some special effects pedals to shape their tones. Both guitarists strut their stuff in very cool ways, as well as some incredible soloing skills. Songs like the hard rocking “Emerald”, which was written about Lynott’s home country, Ireland, and my personal album pick, ‘Warriors’ are two examples of fine guitar playing. The two dueling guitar riffs are one of a kind. — Sputnik Music
Angel From The Coast
Disclosure, social responsibility, idealism: These are not Jailbreak’s values. But the album does speak clearly about who Phil Lynott and Thin Lizzy were, what they desired, and how they felt. Put aside the swashbuckling lyric and the serrated guitars, and “The Boys Are Back in Town” is Jailbreak at its most tender. Downey serves up a soft shuffle in the verses, while Robertson and Gorham fill the song with minor-key chords that turn the action back in on itself, their regret and vulnerability complicating the good cheer of Lynott’s vocal. The lyrics obviously aren’t sincere in their violence, but the boys’ battle royale isn’t quite camp, either; yes, he sings like he knows he’ll be running off soon, but there’s something sad in the sundown way Lynott emphasizes the word “again” when he sings the chorus for the last time. It makes you wonder what life was like when the boys weren’t around. Lynott was attempting to write an American song—it started life as “Here in Dallas,” then became “G.I. Joe Is Back”—and he was struck by the bar and grills he saw on tour the way an American in Ireland might be struck by the pubs. Though Thomson suggests it may have been influenced by the legitimate scumminess of the Rainbow Bar and Grill on the Sunset Strip, the reference to Dino’s Bar and Grill nevertheless makes it sound like this song takes place in a Chili’s. And that one quirk does make it feel American to its core, though not in the way that Lynott intended. Coupled with the guitarists’ trick chords, it softens the song, makes it more palatable. It lets us all in on the joke: that rebellion isn’t really rebellion when it’s this agreeable. It’s not a hard rock song; it’s simply pretending to be one. And in that way, “The Boys Are Back in Town” has become the kind of song that could be played ad nauseam in any suburban bar and grill in the U.S., just another small part of the American experience. [...] Jailbreak did prove that Lynott was right to think of himself as a superstar, at least for a little while. But the smoke and lightning and leather that got him there eventually overtook him. “He got wrapped up in the suit you’re supposed to wear as a rock star,” former bandmate Midge Ure said. In his finest moment, though, just before he was overtaken by the version of himself that had swelled in the spotlight, he and his boys managed to capture everything that’s beautiful and good about rock’n’roll, and none of its ugly truth. — Pitchfork
The Boys Are Back in Town
Apart from “Jailbreak,” there are two other Thin Lizzy essentials on this album. First and foremost, there’s “The Boys Are Back in Town,” a song heard everywhere from beer commercials to sporting events to high school reunions to Toy Story movie trailers. Originally conceived as a song about a Vietnam vet’s return from the war to be titled “G.I. Joe is Back in Town,” Lynott shirked the war theme and shifted the song’s center to a group of friends getting together to paint the town red. Gorham and Robertson’s melodic leads and fills saturate the song, Lynott’s bassline hopping and skipping around like an elated lush having a good time, its head-bopping rhythm all held together by Brian Downey’s drums. Then there’s “Cowboy Song,” which, if it weren’t so giddy, joyous, and well put together it would just be plain ridiculous. This tale of a lonely rodeo cowboy with a certain female on his mind initially recalls images from a John Ford movie or Winslow Homer painting. Yet “Cowboy Song” soon erupts into a southern rock anthem about bucking a bronco and spinning around till you hit the ground. When the crunch comes on and the trilling, soaring solo takes hold, the august Ford cowboy gives way to an image of Lynott in black and white cowhide chaps and a Stetson perched on his afro. I remember one last summer in San Jose before heading off to college, those last warm months driving around with my friends doing nothing of great consequence. After spending a night at the beach playing guitar around an expertly made fire, our clothes smelling of soot and our hair damp from the cool ocean spray, we popped in Jailbreak and headed home, huddled in a Civic hatchback with the heat on and the windows partially rolled down. Nodding along to “Jailbreak” and pumping our fists to “Warriors” in a manner that would earn the approval of that bad ass interdimensional savior, we were soon swept up in the good time feelings of “The Boys Are Back in Town.” I don’t know who started it or why we decided to do it, but we were overtaken by the uncontrollable urge to whistle along with the song. We didn’t coordinate it properly. Rather than assigning the guitar, vocal, and bass parts to different people, we just put our own lips together and blew with abandon. We never quite got past a few seconds of the song because, as we learned that night, five people whistling at once is hilarious. Try it some time and try not to laugh like a lunatic. It’s one of those moments I can look back on and say, “Yeah, those were the days”; it was the memory that, more than any other instance of listening to Thin Lizzy in the car, attached the band to my friends and even that entire summer before we went our separate ways. Even if I never see any of those boys ever again, which may sadly be the case for some of them, I still have those whistled minutes in a summer Civic ride, the wind in our faces from cracked windows, the heat shooting at us from the AC vents, and all of us unable to purse our lips for more than a few seconds before laughing long and loud over Lynott; tears rolling down our faces, cheeks tight and aching, our mouths straining to form an “O” so we could attempt whistling again. And I’ll remember that, and I’ll remember them, and I’ll remember Jailbreak as a part of us all. — Treblezine
Cowboy Song
Warriors
WHO’S TALKING TO WHO?
Jimmy Kimmel: Pamela Anderson, Will Sasso, the Weeknd
Jimmy Fallon: Pete Davidson, Sadie Sink, Olivia Tiedemann
Stephen Colbert: Nicole Kidman, Jacob Soboroff
Seth Meyers: Will Forte, Conner O'Malley
After Midnight: Jinkx Monsoon, BenDeLaCreme, Peaches Christ
Watch What Happens Live: Austen Kroll, Patricia Altschul
The Daily Show: Vince Beiser, host Michael Kosta
LAST WEEK'S POLL: IF YOU USE GPS/MAPS FOR DRIVING INSTRUCTIONS DO YOU…
Strictly follow GPS 0%
Follow GPS but use signs 31%
Look at the route then wing it 38%
Something else 23%
Pie 8%
[END]
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