>> THIN LIZZY : BLACK ROSE

I am very proud of Black Rose. We already had two major hit albums under our belts, Bad Reputation and Live And Dangerous. We had learned a lot and we were an established team who had busted through many professional and personal obstacles. It was during this album that one of the biggest obstacles would be a portent of Phil's untimely death several years later.

We recorded most of Black Rose in France at EMI's Pathe Marconi studios. This was France's equivalent of Abbey Road. People in white lab coats walked the corridors under garish fluorescent lighting. It reeked of red tape and corporate comings and goings. But the Stones had recently recorded some tracks at this studio and on that recommendation we were ready to rock.

We stayed at a fairly prominent hotel in Paris. When we arrived we were greeted in courteous English. Later, when complaints of late night parties with loud music were lodged by other guests, the management singled me out of the entourage and berated me in rapid and furious French -- because I had a Latin surname and was the oldest! My three years of high school French was barely adequate to deal with this. But I managed to hold the fort. The album we were making was sounding very special and we had an absolute ball going to the best clubs in town, especially La Palace.

I remember one hilarious night when Phil and I took our wives (Caroline and Mary) to La Couple, a huge restaurant catering to showbiz and model types, but nevertheless serving great seafood. Phil ordered a triple platter of oysters and downed several bottles of champagne with us. After the meal the Irish linguist ordered a "gin orange, s'il vous plait.". In their best Franglais they tried to tell Phil that more alcohol after three trays of oysters and too much champagne could lead to death! Phil pooh-poohed them by saying that it couldn't happen to him, he was different. He won in the end. You can't argue with a 6-foot-3 Irishman!

During the recording, after a particularly long night at the disco, Phil collapsed in his hotel room. He told his personal assistant not to call a doctor, and said he just wanted chicken soup and juice. I was into holistic medicine at the time and was (still am) an advocate of the Bach Flower remedies. I knew which questions to ask to determine which remedy would work best, and I wanted desperately to help Phil, but he refused to see anyone. After two days I got really concerned. I had the special Bach Rescue Remedy with me, which works only as a desperate measure. I told Phil's P.A. to put a few drops into Phil's juice. The P.A. was willing to try anything at this point, since he had never seen Phil look so bad. He could hardly breathe and his eyes were glazed over. It is my opinion that Phil had pneumonia and possibly emphysema. The Rescue Remedy seemed to work because Phil reported back to work the next day.

But back to the album. "Do Anything You Want To" comes in chugging with a boogie beat, timpani drums, then the dual guitars of Gary Moore and Scott Gorham. Moore replaced a very disenchanted Brian Robertson, who was now pursuing a solo career. I was both impressed and moved when I saw Gary sit down and patiently teach Scott some very sophisticated lead harmonies on every song, when he could've easily overdubbed them himself. Whereas Robertson was introverted and covertly aggressive, Moore was open, friendly and upbeat. Both guitarists contributed greatly to Lizzy's legacy, but Moore was a pleasure to work with because he made himself so available.

At the end of "Do Anything You Want To" Phil muttered those chilling words: "Elvis is dead! The King of Rock and Roll is dead!" I remember the shock in the control room then. It was a sick joke, no? No! Phil said to keep it in.

For the first time I worked with Lizzy, the backing vocal chores were delegated to other members of the band. Both Moore and Gorham are singing on this album for the first time.

With "Toughest Street In Town", the album changes gear. This is a very upbeat rocker! Phil's voice is very aggressive and the guitar solos are classic! This track came together in no time!

"S&M" is quite an incredible track. The drums are played with incredible balls (not surprising since Brian Downey cowrote this track), and the drum sound is something I finally got right on this album! Phil's saying "Yeah" repeatedly, with his voice put through an Eventide Harmonizer dropping in pitch in the recirculation mode. It sounds like a talking tom-tom drum. I love this track. Too funky for its own good!

"Waiting For An Alibi" was a hit single for Lizzy. The video featuring the band as Mississippi gamblers is very funny. Scott steals the show.

"Sarah" is another side of Phil. His marriage to Caroline Crowther, daughter of television comedian and game show host Leslie Crowther, resulted in the birth of Sarah. Phil, always a ladies' man, fell totally in love with the most important little lady in his life and produced this song with Gary Moore, the only other Lizzy on this track (the drums were from a drum machine). I recall that this song was meant to be the start of a solo album for Phil, but he didn't continue with that, so the track found its way onto this Lizzy album.

"Got To Give It Up" is another cry for help in the guise of a song. I realized that after Phil died of complications aggravated by drug abuse. His autopsy revealed that he could've died from any of several diseases. The doctor said it was as if his immune system completely broke down.

"Get Out Of Here" is a mini rock operetta, another hard rocker with special effects galore. It opens with Phil having a dialogue with himself, saying something from one speaker and then responding from the other. With this album, Lizzy really learned how to make a studio album that had the power and impact of their live performances. Phil's longtime friend, Midge Ure of Ultravox, cowrote the song, although he didn't participate in the recording.

"With Love" is beautiful. What a heavy intro! I find the lyrics very optimistic and mournful at the same time.

The finale, "Black Rose", is certainly years ahead of its time. It is an unabashed tribute to Irish Celts, heroes past and present. This fabulous suite, with its Celtic pride, predates Riverdance by more than a decade. You can't resist getting up and doing a little jig when this is playing. I think that this suite is actually the first thing we recorded for the album. The rest was easy compared to the complexity of this track.

Black Rose, like Live And Dangerous, reached #2 on the British charts.

We had constant visitors during Lizzy albums. The other young Irish bands would drop in to pay homage to Phil, who (along with Van Morrison) really started it all! Bob Geldof (of the Boomtown Rats) and his new wife Paula Yates were frequent visitors.

This was the last time I would be in the studio with Phil, except for producing a duet with him and soul singer Junior (which never came to light, to my knowledge). I had a great time working with Phil. We spent a lot of studio/soul time together. We got high together, argued a lot, learned a lot from each other too -- and I have to go on record saying that I tried to help him quit drugs but it was too late. Of all the people I worked with, Phil was the most genuine rocker. He lived his life in that proverbial fast lane. Sadly, it killed him. I miss him. His name and his greatness always seem to come up in conversations I have with musicians I meet who revere him.