THIN LIZZY – FIGHTING LP – Nr MINT US 1976

Thin Lizzy – Fighting
(Mercury Records  1976  SRM11108  US Press)

Sleeve in Nr MINT condition
– a little wear to corners and a little rubbing on the back – import cut on top right corner
Original Mercury Inner Sleeve

Vinyl in Nr MINT condition

Thin Lizzy are a rock band formed in Dublin, Ireland in 1969. Two of the founding members, drummer Brian Downey and bass guitarist and lead vocalist Phil Lynott, met while still in school. Lynott led the group throughout their recording career of twelve studio albums, writing most of the material. Thin Lizzy’s most successful songs, “Whiskey in the Jar” (a traditional Irish ballad), “Jailbreak” and “The Boys Are Back in Town”, were all major international hits. After Lynott’s death in 1986, various incarnations of the band emerged over the years based initially around guitarists Scott Gorham and John Sykes, though Sykes left the band in 2009. Gorham later continued with a new line-up including Downey.

Lynott, Thin Lizzy’s de facto leader, was composer or co-composer of almost all of the band’s songs, and the first black Irishman to achieve commercial success in the field of rock music. Thin Lizzy boasted some of the most critically acclaimed guitarists throughout their history, with Downey and Lynott as the rhythm section, on the drums and bass guitar. As well as being multiracial, the band drew their members not only from both sides of the Irish border but also from both the Catholic and Protestant communities during The Troubles. Their music reflects a wide range of influences, including blues, soul music, psychedelic rock, and traditional Irish folk music, but is generally classified as hard rock or sometimes heavy metal. Rolling Stone magazine describes the band as distinctly hard rock, “far apart from the braying mid-70s metal pack”.

AllMusic critic John Dougan has written that “As the band’s creative force, Lynott was a more insightful and intelligent writer than many of his ilk, preferring slice-of-life working-class dramas of love and hate influenced by Bob Dylan, Van Morrison, Bruce Springsteen, and virtually all of the Irish literary tradition.”^[2] Van Morrison, Jeff Beck and Jimi Hendrix were major influences during the early days of the band, and later influences included the pioneering twin lead guitars found in Wishbone Ash and American artists Little Feat and Bob Seger.

In 2012, Gorham and Downey decided against recording new material as Thin Lizzy so a new band, Black Star Riders, was formed to tour and produce new releases such as their debut album All Hell Breaks Loose. Thin Lizzy plan to reunite for occasional concerts.

Fighting is the fifth studio album by Irish rock band Thin Lizzy, released in 1975. After spending four albums trying to find their niche, the band finally forged an identifiable sound featuring the twin guitars of Scott Gorham and Brian Robertson. This sound draws from hard rock, folk, pop and rhythm and blues. It set the stage for the big commercial breakthrough of the follow-up album, Jailbreak. The album was also their first album to chart in the UK, hitting #60.

The track “Suicide” was originally performed by Thin Lizzy when guitarist Eric Bell was still in the band, including on a BBC broadcast recorded in July 1973. It was first performed with different lyrics under the title “Baby’s Been Messing”, and lacked the middle section that appears on Fighting. The non-album track “Half-Caste” was released on the B-Side of the original “Rosalie” single. Another track recorded at the Fighting sessions was “Try a Little Harder”, which was eventually released on the Vagabonds, Kings, Warriors, Angels boxed set in 2002.

Fighting is the only other Thin Lizzy album aside from their 1971 debut where band members other than Phil Lynott receive sole songwriting credits for certain tracks. Bell wrote “Ray Gun” on the debut, and Robertson and Gorham wrote “Silver Dollar” and “Ballad of a Hard Man”, respectively.

Europe guitarist John Norum covered “Wild One” on his 1987 album Total Control. Europe covered “Suicide” on their 2008 live album Almost Unplugged.

Track listing

1. “Rosalie” (Bob Seger) – 3:11
2. “For Those Who Love to Live” (Brian Downey, Phil Lynott) – 3:08
3. “Suicide” (Lynott) – 5:12
4. “Wild One” (Lynott) – 4:18
5. “Fighting My Way Back” (Lynott) – 3:12
6. “King’s Vengeance” (Scott Gorham, Lynott) – 4:08
7. “Spirit Slips Away” (Lynott) – 4:35
8. “Silver Dollar” (Brian Robertson) – 3:26
9. “Freedom Song” (Gorham, Lynott) – 3:32
10. “Ballad of a Hard Man” (Gorham) – 3:14

Personnel

• Phil Lynott – bass guitar, vocals, acoustic guitar on “Wild One”
• Scott Gorham – guitar
• Brian Robertson – guitar, backing vocals, piano on “Song for Jesse”
• Brian Downey – drums, percussion

Additional personnel

• Roger Chapman (from Family) – backing vocals on “Rosalie”
• Ian McLagan (from The Faces) – piano on “Silver Dollar”
• Jean Alain Roussel – Hammond