Phil Lynott : the Biography Portrait

music portrait explained quote print

Guess who just got back Today ?

If you only needed one quote to present Phil Lynott, it would be this one :

guess who just got back today

"Guess who Just got back Today ? " -  Phil Lynott

From the first verse of the song "The boys are back in Town" by Thin Lizzy, Phil really appreciated these boys who came back to Town to animate the night.

Through his legendary presence, he became a boy as he said and he liked to make the girl steamin' wherever he went. And if you look for it today, you can find it in two distinct places:

 

phil lynott statue off grafton street
  • At the intersection of Harry Street and Grafton Street in the city center of Dublin where you can admire his statue.
  • At Sutton Cemetery in North Dublin near Howth, where he is buried.
phil lynott poster quote art



1.Phil Lynott Statue

Phil Lynott is a famous Irishman who had his statue erected in a street in Dublin. An honor given to Irish heroes who marked their era like Oscar Wilde, Molly Malone and James Joyce.

 

phil lynott statue photos
He is shown standing, in his most beautiful, elegant clothes, a bit of a dandy with his vertical bass between the ground and his left hand. More in a pose from his Pop song "Old Town" with his collar up than Thin Lizzy's Rock concerts with the leather pants.

The statue was unveiled in 2005 by Philomena Lynott, Phil's mother.

 

phil lynott quote

 

2.Phil Lynott bass guitar

Jimmy Hendrix is ​​Phil Lynott's idol : an Afro who managed to make it in showbusiness in a White world. It forges him some character to become a musical icon.

He wants to become a singer, and will join the group Skidrow and play in Dublin. But he ends up getting kicked out of the group because he misses an opportunity to perform on stage due to tonsil surgery.

His colleagues took advantage of the opportunity to get rid of him, especially because he sang out of tune. Brendan "Brush" Shiels, the bassist of the group, became the singer.

 

phil lynott skidrow brendan shields

As a leaving gift, he received some money to buy a bass guitar and Brush even offered him bass lessons!

4 strings is easier to learn than 6 strings. Phil will really play bass, and even guitar on stage as can be seen in a 1973 live performance in which he plays and sings Whiskey in the Jar Live.

He will wait until the end of his tonsil surgery to start singing again and will develop this rare skill of bassist AND singer, which is quite a complex thing,

phil lynott frontman bassist singer



Phil  has little interested in the equipment, he still found a decent bass in 1970, a Fender Precision bass with a metallic pickguard as shiny as a mirror.

Phil is a rockstar, a frontman who likes to shine and after this he's a singer and bassist...

 

drawing phil lynott quote

 

3.Phil lynott and Gary Moore

The young Phil Lynott will meet the young Gary Moore for the first time in the group "Skidrow", in Dublin. Then for reasons of "out of tune" singing, Phil was kicked out of the group and found Thin Lizzy, a name which refers to the Ford T.

It's his group, with which he offers a flamboyant cover of a traditional Irish song "whiskey in the jar", later covered by Metallica in a Metal version!

thin lizzy whiskey in the jar


It was from 1980 that Phil began to run a solo career in parrallel with Thin Lizzy and began his solo albums and this collaboration with the very famous Man with the unlimited sustain guitar : Gary Moore and his famous Parisienne Walkways.

phil lynott gary moore out in the field

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The two Irishmen will produce a magic hit "Out in the fields", a magic irish potion with plenty of ingredients mixed:

  • two Irish music stars
  • The Northern Irish conflict
  • The natural site of the Giant Causeway in north Belfast
  • special effects on a green background like in Star Wars
  • Breathtaking costumes and guitars

In short, the result remains a song that left its mark and which sounds very 80s.
buy print phil lynott art quote drawing

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4.Phil lynott and Old Town Dublin

1982, Thin Lizzy is losing speed partly because Phil produces solo albums. It is his second and last solo album The Philip Lynott Album which will make him a musical celebrity.

Even if the album jailbreak and "Boys are back in town" is a phenomenal hit, Thin Lizzy is its creator. But this time, it's Phil Lynott written on the disc cover and it's him we want to interview.
phil lynott old town dublin

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The first hit from this album is "Old Town", a heartbroken man song on the Ha'penny bridge which spans over Dublin's Liffey. Ode to the old town, the Docklands, Grafton street, the South pier of Dublin harbour.

The second pearl of this disc is "Yellow Pearl", which will become the intro music of "Top of the Pop" for 5 years.
yellow pearl phil lynott

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5.Mcdaragh Lambe

McDaragh was born in Dublin in 1968, the son of a black musician trying to make it in Dublin. His parents cannot take care of him and raise him. Phil was only 19 at the time and abortion was banned in Ireland.

He was put up for adoption and adopted by Oliver and Martina Lambe, County Kildare.

It was during his childhood that everyone found an air of resemblance to the Black Irish singer Phil Lynott. And that's true.
phil lynott jimi hendrix

And the truth, he will find out much later in 2003. And a little detail that puts you in your ear: Phil Lynott's first group called "Orphanage" (Orphanage) will be dissolved in 1969 to make way for Thin Lizzy!

6.phil lynott and Caroline Crowther

Phil Lynott get married in 1980, his wife is Caroline Crowther, daughter of comedian and TV presenter Leslie Crowther.

Phil and Caroline met in the offices of Tony Brainsby's advertising agency, specializing in advertising for rock groups. She worked there and it was love at first sight between the rock star and the beautiful young woman.

They will have 2 daughters Sarah born in 1978 (credited by the song "sarah"), and Cathleen born in 1980.
phil lynott caroline crowther sarah cathleen
Phil's growing fame, the pressure of marriage, of being a father, his consumption of alcohol and drugs will precipitate him towards death in January 1986.

Despite his new group Grand Slam created in 1985 and all the publicity he did to promote his new group, he died of heart failure.

 

wall art phil lynott thin lizzy

7.Black and Irish

Phil was Irish, from an Irish mother and a father from British Guiana (not far from French Guiana).

Black skin but raised as a white-skinned Irishman, he will speak like the real Dubliners from poor neighborhoods by pronouncing Tin Lizzy rather than Sin Lizzy. He will be a real fighter with a lot of philosophy.

When once asked him what it feels like to be black and Irish, he replied: "like a pint of Guiness"
phil lynott black irish pint of guiness


This originality meant that people often asked him where he was from.

  • When he was in England, he said he was Irish
  • When he was in Ireland, he said he was from Dublin
  • When he was in Dublin he said he was from Crumlin
  • When he was in Crumlin he said he was from Leighlin road
  • When he was in Leighlin road, he said he was a Lynott!
phil lynott quote irish dublin crumlin leighlin road

 

drawing portrait phil lynott

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