Thin Lizzy Guitarist Recalls What Phil Lynott Was Like to Work With: ‘He and I Syncopated Really Well Together’
“I think I let the lead guitarist thing fall by the wayside a bit because I was really focused. I really wanted to write the songs.”
Scott Gorham, who’s now leading the current version of Thin Lizzy, discussed what Phil Lynott was really like to work with.
Of course, we could say that there’s no real Thin Lizzy without Lynott. Nonetheless, Gorham’s work was crucial for the band’s sound. Along with Brian Robertson, he helped define what dual lead guitars in rock music are, eventually paving the way for the 1980s metal bands.
Speaking to Music Radar in a recent interview, he looked back on working with Lynott as both a guitar player and a songwriter. Joining in 1974 and starting off work on his first album with Thin Lizzy, Scott did have some creative input on it, despite Lynott being the principal writer. Asked if there are any songs he’d like to revisit today, Gorham replied:
“Well, there’s probably several really, but there’s one in particular, it’s the the first song I ever wrote with Phil Lynott. It’s a song called ‘She Knows.’ And the way that came about was we were trying to write for the very first album [I appeared on] ‘Nightlife.'”
“I played him what I thought was going to be the chorus, and I had a bridge to it. The whole time he was nodding going, ‘Hey, do you mind if I write some lyrics to that?’ Hell no, man. Bring it on!”
Just having the privilege to work with a musician like Phil must have been something else. Staying in the band until the end in 1983, Scott spent a lot of time with the bassist and frontman. And this meant a lot to him. The guitarist continued:
“That was a great thing for me because I always thought Phil was a great songwriter, and now I’m getting a chance to work shoulder to shoulder with him on that first song, and then it became another song and another song and I really got into it.”
“Especially on those first three albums, I really got into the writing side. I think I let the lead guitarist thing fall by the wayside a bit because I was really focused. I really wanted to write the songs.”
Although the band started off with one guitar player, Eric Bell, Thin Lizzy is best known for the dual-guitar era. Scott’s and Brian’s guitars were complemented by Phil’s unique approach to bass, building this incredible rock trio
What was so special about the trio was the groove they made together. In a way, it was almost like funk music, but still with a strong punch of the ’70s hard rock. When reminded of Phil’s groove-oriented approach to playing and their partnership, Gorham offered:
“He and I syncopated really well together, and with Brian Downey, it was like a cool little triumvirate thing we had going on there. They used to call it the happy high hands because I was pretty good at getting the funk thing going. Phil loved that, and so did Downey.”
“I know it’s an old-fashioned term — but we wrote a couple of funk-type of songs that were actually pretty cool,” he added. “Then there were other sections that just had the funk thing and then they turned into more rock things. So there was a lot of nice blending going on there. Whether the production helped us out [on record]… that’s kind of another subject matter altogether so we won’t go there!”