Speaking of the group’s recording sessions, Bell said: ‘We were totally bombed for the duration of that record.’ In spite of this, ‘Thin Lizzy’ and their next album ‘Shades Of A Blue Orphanage’ were described as intriguing, quirky LPs that tended to defy easy categorisation. Signing to Decca Records, their first album ‘Thin Lizzy’ was released in 1971. My earliest memory of Thin Lizzy live was that it was just Eric going through his Jeff Beck and Jimi Hendrix routines.” Peter Eustace, the group’s roadie recalled: “Thin Lizzy was very much Eric’s band at the beginning, and Phil barely got a look-in. Soon after, Wrixon left the band and the remaining three members continued to play live most nights of the week. An inauspicious start maybe, but the band were destined for great things. It was an original composition of Lynott’s called ‘The Farmer’. Their first release, on Parlophone, came in July 1970. The newly formed Thin Lizzy saw Brian Downey on drums and Lynott playing bass and vocals. Prior to this Lynott and Downey had been playing together as ‘Orphanage’, along with Pat Quigley on bass and Joe Staunton on guitar. One of the defining rock groups of the 20th Century, Thin Lizzy began life in Dublin in 1969 when childhood friends Phil Lynott and Brian Downey were approached by two former members of Van Morrison’s band ‘Them’, Eric Wrixon (keyboards) and Eric Bell (guitar).

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