Chords for Phil Lynott - Last TV interview, December 1985

ever television interview was conducted just a few weeks ago by Dante Benuto for Musicbox.
Dante
talked to Phil about his attempts to get a new career and a new band underway after the demise
of Thin Lizzy. _
_ _ _ When Thin Lizzy finally split up you put together a band called Grand Slam
who toured quite a bit and I did some demos I would imagine but never signed [Abm] a major record
deal and yet now you've gone solo from Grand Slam and the band don't exist you signed with
Polydor [G] why couldn't Grand Slam get a recording [Ab] contract?
I don't know I mean Grand Slam couldn't
get [Eb] a deal at all and then the [G] lads got bored and you know they left [N] so I was supposed to go solo
the minute I went solo people started to fund me deals I got [G] a deal with Polydor I got you know
[C] Gary asked me to do some stuff with him I was [N] working with Paul Hardcuff I've been writing
some stuff with Rick Parfitt from Status Quo _ you know and [Db] all these things that happened to [Ab] me
since I went solo but I think _ [G] maybe _ Grand Slam [N] suffered the backlash from the Thin Lizzy
support because obviously a band that [G] potentially could be good compared to you know a [Db] band that
had been around [N] like 12 years with a string of hits you know and _ doing completely opposite
venues because Lucy were playing major venues and [G] Grand Slam were doing smaller venues I just don't
think [E] Grand Slam won in [C] the comparison so.
[Db] Also you had the same formation as Thin Lizzy [Bb] with two
guitar players and [G] yourselves doing bass and vocals do you think maybe people couldn't accept
seeing you outside [B] of Thin Lizzy because they've become such an [G] institution?
_ I don't know you know
[E] like this is all supposition you know [Abm] all I'm saying is that Grand Slam couldn't get a [G] deal
you know when [E] the band maybe we were bad you know maybe people [Bm] just genuinely [N] didn't like it but
I mean I was in I was giving it 100 [G]% and then when it fell through like things started to happen
and I landed on my feet.
Well the [E] material sounds good because Military Man was from
Grand Slam and so was 19 I [F] understand with another Grand Slam [N] song.
Yeah.
Obviously the songs are
quite strong.
Yeah which I roast [G] you know but yeah [E] there you go and then we we were trying and we just
just didn't get a deal.
You know I have by my record. _
Do you think we'll ever see Thin Lizzy
back on the stage again or is that now something [N] completely in your past?
There was something in
the paper _ _ in the Daily Mirror yesterday I think saying that Thin Lizzy we're going to get back
together again.
There was a quote from the management saying that we might get a _ charity thing.
We are we are keeping [Db] um [B] close communication I mean I [N] was walking with Scott recently and
and Brian Downey is going to play.
See I'm going to get a band together for March and tour [Db] with me
[G] the album.
I have another single [Cm] coming out in January.
[G] I'm doing another single with Gary
Miller in January.
_ _ _ So I'm going to get a band together and Brian Downey has said he'll walk in.
Oh he's definitely going to be the drummer then?
Yeah so [C] he said he would.
[Abm] And will this be a band
featuring two guitarists again?
That was kind of the Lizzy trademark the two guitarists.
I may go
for [G] the two guitar [Ab] thing.
I don't know.
At the moment I'm just in the process of walking it out
you know like [Bm] [N] I'm checking out guitar players and keyboard players.
I really what I want to do is
finish the album.
When I get [G] the album _ finished then I'll know what the band what I need in the
band to promote the album.
Right.
And so really [N] _
but as far as Lizzy's getting back together again
I mean we haven't thought about getting back together again.
I'd like to establish like [Bm] a solo
career for us before [G] you know it's time to [C] live off Karl's glories you know.
You say you're putting
[G] together a band at the moment.
Will that be called [E] the Phil Lynott band or will there be another name
for it?
I don't know because I mean [Eb] the album's going to be [G] a Philip Lynott solo album.
_ Once I get
you know minor details like [N] what it's going to be called _ you know like I mean it [B] probably will be
Philip [C] Lynott band [B] you know.
I mean it [G] depends really.
When I'm in a band situation _ regardless
of who's up front I [F] like it to walk.
I [Ab] like it to be that's be given and take from all the [G] musicians
on the band.
I don't like a [C] dogmatic structure where I go you [B] play this [Ab] play the [N] same thing
every night.
I like people to give input.
Because the bass.
_ The bass is part of the rhythm section
so it plays behind the voice or the lead guitar.
So _ as a bass player I like to play with the
[Eb] musicians [G] and obviously as a singer you know frontage you know.
So _ _ when I do get a band together
[C] _ _
[N] I'll be working on that basis but probably it will be Philip Lynott. _ _
Whoever?
Mr.
X you know whatever yeah.
Is the album _ _ _ _ going to feature a stable set [Bb] of people on each
song or will there be special guest appearances [G] from different people?
_ I'd like to take advantage
of the fact that you know [Ab] I'm solo.
I'm free to work with whoever I want so I'll [Dbm] try and get special
guests so like [G] _
John Sykes or Brian Downey and [Gm] Gary and you know just various different people.
I'll try and get people that [B] suit the particular songs that are going to be on the [G] album.
What sort of [N] material will that be?
Will it be very varied or will it be more aggressive?
_ _ _ Well I like _ _ with the album the producers that I'm going to use on the album I'd like to go
off the material with each individual. _
For example they have [G] Tom Dowd who does like Phil Collins and
Eric Clapton and they did Ronnie _ Hatcher.
[Ab] _ _ He's been [N] around ages now.
He likes certain songs
that I've written because I've got _ because of you know it's two years since Lizzie broke up I do
have a lot of songs written so I'll go with the songs he likes if I like them and get them once
produced and the same say I got Peter Collins to finish off the rest of the production off.
[G]
I'll go with that but in general [Ab] it should be [Ebm] more balanced than say me other solo [G] albums because when
I had the other solo albums I was in Thin Lizzy and Thin Lizzy took all the heavy stuff [Ab] and
I got all the fish that John West rejects [E] and I [G] saw me solo albums were much softer than
I was whereas this time there should be a better balance [E] there should be more
upfront hard stuff and I think the balance [G] may be.
I understand you've done some writing with
Huey Lewis will any of that appear on the album?
[N] I've done some recording with Huey Lewis.
We haven't done we _ didn't write anything together he was producing some [C] stuff.
_ He wanted me to try
[N]
one of his songs _ [G] he liked one of the songs I'd written so we got [Db] together and did [C] that and did
that [G] and everybody seems to [E] like it so that may [Dbm] end up on [Ab] the album.
I'm not really sure at the
moment what I really want to do is get in and have it on tape and then pick the best from what I've [G] done.
_ _ That LP was never finished due to Lionett's death which may be attributed to his addiction problems.
He attended a drug rehabilitation center in 1982 for treatment but [N] was arrested.