Long after they had gone their separate ways, original Thin Lizzy guitarist Eric Bell encountered Phil Lynott shopping. “I was walking past a 7-Eleven in London”, Bell says today. “I could see this slim, tall guy with an Afro – but surely not, you know? I walk in and there’s Phillip holding a wire basket with some Domestos in it. I’m thinking: ‘Fuck, if your fans could see you now…’ He’s like: ‘Ah, Jesus! How are ya, Eric?’ We have the big hug, and Phil looks at me and says: ‘You know something? We created a monster. Every gig I play, somebody still shouts for Whiskey In The fucking Jar!’”
Lizzy’s fine reinvention of an ancient Irish folk song proved to be a double-edged sword for them. A stand-alone single in November 1972, Whiskey In The Jar was the group’s breakthrough UK No.6 hit, but it also prompted a directional quandary. Lizzy’s management wanted another folk remake as the follow-up – “It was: ‘You’re in the door, don’t blow it’”, Bell recalls – but Lizzy weren’t keen. Their upcoming third album, Vagabonds Of The Western World was a transitional, forward-looking record which showcased their versatility and vocalist, bassist and main writer Lynott’s burgeoning gift for sometimes poetic, sometimes macho songwriting. More folk covers would be a bad move. It would typecast them.
