2023 saw the 50th anniversary of what is widely regarded as Thin Lizzy’s breakthrough album, Vagabonds Of The Western World. In a new interview with Hot Press, drummer Brian Downey discusses the making of the then-threepiece’s early masterpiece. An excerpt from the feature follows...
A stroke of luck occurred when manager Ted Carroll (name-checked on ‘The Rocker’) stumbled upon Lizzy jamming ‘Whiskey In The Jar’ and persuaded the band to record it.
“Phil wanted to record ‘Black Boys On The Corner’ as the single with ‘Whiskey In The Jar’ as the b-side,” Downey explains. “Everyone agreed. But upon hearing both songs, Decca’s Dick Rowe wanted ‘Whiskey’ as the a-side. Phil disagreed, but Rowe wasn’t for turning. He said, ‘Take it or leave it guys’, and lucky enough we did.
“It took ages to get into the charts. It was regarded as a sleeper, but it went top 20, then top 10, then we appeared on Top Of The Pops and it went to number 6. Tours started coming in. There were bigger venues, better money. We never looked back.”
Eric Bell left the band abruptly on NYE 1973, bringing to an end Thin Lizzy, Mark I. It was the incendiary trio of Lynott, Downey & Bell, whose apex is undoubtedly Vagabonds Of The Western World.
“It was a great album,” nods Brian. “The first album was a good record, everybody was happy with it, but for the second album, we had very little rehearsal and we were still writing the songs as we were recording. It just didn’t gel.
“For Vagabonds, most of the songs had been rehearsed and Phil’s songwriting really started coming into its own. ‘The Rocker’ is on that album, which was in Thin Lizzy’s set until we finished. Eric’s solo on it is unbelievable, still fresh even today. It only got into the lower regions of the top 50, but everybody started taking notice of Thin Lizzy after that album.”
Still, things were looking up.
“We were getting a reputation as a progressive sort of a band,” says Brian. “Even though ‘Whiskey In The Jar’ was a traditional Irish song, when people started listening to Vagabonds, they discovered another side of Thin Lizzy. The first two albums were chalk and cheese and Vagabonds was different again.
“Whether it was good to have that diversity is anybody’s guess, because people couldn’t decide whether we were soft-rock, folk-rock, heavy rock. People couldn’t really pin us down until later, when we got Brian Robertson and Scott Gorham in and became a hard-rock band. But up to that, nobody could really label us!”
Read the full feature at HotPress.com.
To celebrate Vagabonds Of The Western World’s golden anniversary, deluxe CD and LP sets featuring rarities, radio sessions, unreleased music, rare photos, extensive sleevenotes by Mark Blake, and memorabilia were released back in November. The reissue suite also includes the album remixed in Dolby Atmos, a first for any Thin Lizzy record.
Vagabonds Of The Western World was Thin Lizzy’s third studio album and was initially released on the 21st of September 1973. It was the first to feature artwork by Jim Fitzpatrick, the creator of the famous red and black portrait of Che Guevara, who would go on to work with the band on classic albums such as Nightlife, Jailbreak, Johnny The Fox, Black Rose and Chinatown.
The album was the band’s last roll of the dice, as they had been working for two years with limited success. After the band moved to London from Dublin, they played every gig they could to keep themselves afloat. While messing around in their rehearsal studio, Phil Lynott started busking the old Irish folk song "Whiskey In The Jar", which dates back to the 1700s. Their then manager remarked upon it and insisted that the band recorded, against their gut instincts. The single was released in November 1972 and rose to number 6 on the UK singles chart. However, the song didn’t sit well with the band, and despite its success, they left it off their forthcoming album.
Since then, the song, in arrangements influenced by The Lizzy version, has gone on to be covered by artists such as U2, Metallica, Belle & Sebastian, The Pogues, Pulp, Bryan Adams, Gary Moore and Simple Minds.
After a two-year struggle for recognition, Thin Lizzy had finally scored a breakthrough hit. It paved the way for the Vagabonds Of The Western World album, but it would be their last with original guitarist Eric Bell. After an unsuccessful New Year's Eve show in Belfast, Bell was no longer in the band, which paved the way for Lynott's idea about having twin lead guitarists. After a short spell with very young Gary Moore filling in, Phil & Brian recruited American Scott Gorham and 18-year-old Glaswegian Brian Robertson, and a new adventure started.
The 50th anniversary of Vagabonds Of The Western World is the sound of nascent Lizzy finally finding their feet and starting on their journey to be one of the greatest rock bands of the 70s and for Philip to be recognised as one of the best songwriters of his generation.
Order here.
Vagabonds Of The Western World 50th Anniversary Super Deluxe Edition tracklisting:
CD1 - Vagabonds Of The Western World
"Mama Nature Said"
"The Hero And The Madman"
"Slow Blues"
"The Rocker"
"Vagabond Of The Western World"
"Little Girl In Bloom"
"Gonna Creep Up On You"
"A Song For While I’m Away"
"Whiskey In The Jar"
"Black Boys On The Corner" (Single B-Side)
"Randolph’s Tango" (Single A-Side)
"Broken Dreams" (Single B-Side)
"The Rocker" (Single A-Side edit)
"Here I Go Again" (Single B-Side)
"A Ride In The Lizzymobile" (Single B- Side)
CD2 - Radio Sessions
John Peel Session November 28, 1972
"Whiskey In The Jar"
"Suicide"
"Black Boys On The Corner"
RTE Radio Eireann Session
"1969 Rock Suicide"
"Broken Dreams"
"Eddie’s Blues/Blue Shadows"
John Peel Session August 7, 1973
"Vagabond of the Western World"
"Gonna Creep Up On You"
"Little Girl in Bloom"
John Peel Session August 16, 1973
"Randolph’s Tango"
"The Rocker"
"Slow Blues"
Bob Harris Session September 17, 1973
"Randolph’s Tango"
"Little Girl in Bloom"
"The Rocker"
CD3 - Live, Rarities, Demos & Outtakes
Radio One In Concert Paris Theatre July 26, 1973
"The Rocker"
"Thing’s Ain’t Working Out Down At The Farm"
"Slow Blues"
"Gonna Creep Up On You"
"Suicide"
"The Rocker" (Take 1 Instrumental)
"Little Girl In Bloom" (Take 3)
"Gonna Creep Up On You" (Take 2 Instrumental)
"Slow Blues" (Take 2 Instrumental)
"Here I Go Again "(Extended Version)
"Suicide" (gtr Needles And Pins Jam) (Lynott)
"Whiskey In The Jar" (Alternate Mix Extended Version)
"Black Boys On The Corner" (Alternate Mix)
"Gonna Creep Up On You" (Acetate)
"Baby’s Been Messin’" (Acetate)
Blu-Ray: Vagabonds Of The Western World
Atmos Mix / 5.1 Mix / Stereo Mix
"Mama Nature Said"
"The Hero And The Madman"
"Slow Blues"
"The Rocker"
"Vagabond Of The Western World"
"Little Girl In Bloom"
"Gonna Creep Up On You"
"A Song For While I’m Away"
Bonus Atmos Mixes
"Whiskey In Jar" (Single A-Side)
"Black Boys On The Corner" (Single B-Side)
"Randolph’s Tango" (Single A-Side)
"Broken Dreams" (Single B-Side)
"The Rocker" (Single A-Side Edit)
"Here I Go Again" (Single B-Side)
"A Ride In The Lizzymobile" (Single B-Side)
"Whiskey In The Jar" (Full Version)
"The Rocker" (Single Edit):
