Eric Bell Band

Eric Bell Band - Irish Boy - 1998 - Barsa Promociones (Spain)

Eric Bell was a founder member of Thin Lizzy, one of the world's greatest rock bands. In 1969 he met Phil Lynott and drummer Brian Downey in Dublin, Ireland and they formed Thin Lizzy, one of the first Irish bands to be a huge success worldwide. Eric stayed with Thin Lizzy until 1973 and was part of the band's first three albums: "Thin Lizzy", "Shades of a Blue Orphanage", and "Vagabonds of the Western World". Some of Thin Lizzy's great songs were composed by Eric and Phil Lynott. The band’s first massive hit was "Whiskey in the Jar" which demonstrates Eric Bell's very distinctive guitar style. Before Thin Lizzy, Eric played in an Irish band called The Dreams. He also had his own band: Shades of Blue. Eric has worked with Van Morrison and Them, Noel Redding, Rory Gallagher, Bo Diddley, Henry McCullough, Dick Heckstall-Smith, Keith Tilman and Keef Hartley. He also has his own blues band, the Eric Bell Band, and has made four CDs: Live Tonite, Irish Boy, Live Tonite Plus and A Blues Night In Dublin

Irish Boy, Eric Bell's solo album was first released in Spain back in 1998. The Dublin born Bell has had a long and varied career, but he will forever be acclaimed as a founding member of Thin Lizzy, the man whose guitar put the fire in the band's first hit, "Whiskey in the Jar." For Irish Boy, Bell was joined by two long-time cohorts, co-vocalist/bassist Tony Williams and drummer Alan Golden. The recording was done quickly in just over a week, and Bell, for one, wasn't overly impressed with the results, as he states in the sleeve notes. At times one can see his point, the opening numbers "Days of Innocence" and "2 Ships" are lovely, glowing songs, but lack a touch of the excitement we've come to expect from Bell. But then the trio take up "Ballad by the Irish Sea," washed by waves of guitar that crest in a jubilant Irish jig. Bell's fingers seem to be literally smiling, so filled with joie de vivre is his playing. Similarly, "Just to Get By" is a blistering, foot-stomping, celebration of life, an Irish hoe-down that cries out for a club remix to rocket it into the dance charts. "You Smiled" sounds like its already spun on Top of the Pops, an irresistible British Invasion styled number with a decided Celtic tinge. A far purer R&B illuminates the strutting "Standing in the Middle," while Bell's debt to the blues is repaid on the surf-splashed "Newcastle Bay" and the magnificent "Just to Get By," on the latter the guitarist wrings the emotion out of every haunting note he plays. Coming out of left field,though,is "Priest of Love," a surprising stab at white reggae à la the Police, albeit with Bell's exquisite guitar winding through, and themed around the fate of a rejected visionary. It's not entirely successful, but the lyrics resonate; better is the funky ride through the "Wrong Side of Town." The album's apotheosis though, is the glorious title track — an epic ode of a young, homesick, ex-pat — that shimmers with beauty and emotional truth. Here the rhythm section is the solid rock from which Bell's guitar can embark on melancholy journeys, bittersweet treks through the past, and hopeful trips towards future happiness. Bell's guitar is the centerpiece for this set, but Williams and Golden's beautifully understated work throughout provides the fulcrum for this fabulous set. © Jo-Ann Greene © 2010 Rovi Corporation. All Rights Reserved http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=10:3vfrxzthldke

Eric Bell, Thin Lizzy's sometime's forgotten Irish guitar hero does what he does best on this album, and plays the blues! Eric has worked with many of the greats including Van Morrison, Noel Redding, Rory Gallagher, Bo Diddley, Keith Tilman, Dick Heckstall-Smith, Keef Hartley, and Henry McCullough, and for too long has been overshadowed by the big names around him. On this album, recorded at the El Dorado studios, Madrid, Spain, and dedicated to the late Rory Gallagher, Eric Bell displays his great talent. Eric, like many bluesmen was never a great vocalist, but he more than compensates for this on the album with some nice, subtle guitar work. His small back up band do a tremendous job on this recording. Not a groundbreaking album, but great to hear anything from Eric Bell, who plays the blues with a real understated Celtic touch. Check out Thin Lizzy's "Vagabonds Of The Western World" album, on which Eric played an important part. It is also worth hearing Bo Diddley's "Bo's The Man" album on which Eric Bell plays some fine guitar. The Eric Bell Band's "A Blues Night In Dublin" can be found @ EBELLBD/ABNID Eric Bell's "Live Tonite Plus" album can be found @ the Granazi Bar blog

TRACKS

1 Irish Boy
2 Days Of Innocence
3 You Were The One
4 Priest Of Love
5 You Smiled
6 Wrong Side Of Town
7 2 Ships
8 Standing In The Middle
9 Ballad By The Irish Sea
10 Just To Get By
11 Newcastle Bay
12 Sweet Mystery *

* Not included on some issues of this album

All songs composed by Eric Bell

BAND

Eric Bell - Lead Guitar, Lead Vocals, Backing Vocals
Tony Williams - Bass, Lead Vocals, Backing Vocals
Andy Golden - Drums

BIO

Eric Bell may not have been present for Thin Lizzy's best known and most successful era (the mid to late '70s), but he was there for the group's formation, as a founding member. Born on September 3, 1947 in Belfast, Ireland, Bell played guitar throughout the '60s for several local bands (including Them, and John Farrell & the Dreams), but paid the bills by working as a 'street gas lamp lighter,' and in both pickle and shirt factories. One night in 1969, Bell caught a gig by another local Irish outfit, Orphanage, which featured bassist/singer Phil Lynott and drummer Brian Downey. Soonafter, Bell relocated to Dublin, where he joined up with the others to form Thin Lizzy. Bell's bluesy, Hendrix-esque leads were perfect for the hard rock direction that both Lynott and Downey sought for their new outfit, which led to a recording contract with the Deram label. Three albums followed in as many years - 1971's self-titled debut, 1972's Shades of a Blue Orphanage, and 1973's Vagabonds of the Western World - the latter of which contained a pair of early Lizzy classics, "Whiskey in the Jar" and "The Rocker." Bell, Lynott, and Downey also issued an additional recording in 1973 under the alias of Funky Junction, the self-explanatory A Tribute to Deep Purple. But Bell became unhappy with Lizzy's current, more streamlined musical direction (he longed for the early days of free-form jamming). After single-handedly sabotaging an important hometown Dublin gig with unpredictable and drunken behavior, the guitarist was sacked. The fast paced life of being in a rock band had paid its toll on Bell, who had to take a break from being in a band for several years. But a few years later (by which time Lizzy had become a worldwide hit with a pair of replacement guitarists, Brian Robertson and Scott Gorham), Bell was ready to play music again. When ex-Jimi Hendrix Experience bassist Noel Redding launched a solo career during the middle of the decade, Bell signed on as the project's guitarist, playing on such releases as 1975's Clonakilty Cowboys and 1976's Blowin', before moving on. For the remainder of the '70s, Bell appeared on such obscure releases as a self-titled release by Brush Shiels and a Phil Lynott-produced single for Ron McQuinn. With his differences between his former Lizzy bandmates long settled, Bell reunited with Lynott and Downey for a one-off 'flexi-single' for a Euro magazine, "Song for Jimi," and even joined Lizzy on stage for a night during the group's final tour in 1983 (documented on double disc set, Life). The early '80s also saw Bell attempt to launch his own group, the Eric Bell Band. But aside from a four-track EP in 1981, the group failed to get off the ground. Bell then joined up with blues-rockers Mainsqueeze (playing on their 1983 release, International Blues Rock Revue), who also briefly backed Bo Diddley during a European tour in 1984, and appeared on the subsequent live Diddley recording, Hey..Bo Diddley In Concert (aka Bo Diddley/Screamin' Jay Hawkins). Bell began performing again under the name of the Eric Bell Band during the late '90s, issuing such recordings as Irish Boy and Live Tonite...Plus! (a previously unreleased album Bell recorded with Noel Redding 20 years earlier, The Missing Album, was also issued around this time, as well). © Greg Prato, All Music Guide © 2010 Answers Corporation http://www.answers.com/topic/eric-bell

BIO (Wikipedia)

Eric Bell (born Eric Robin Bell, 3 September 1947, Belfast, Northern Ireland is a rock musician and guitarist. He was the lead guitarist for Thin Lizzy, and played on the band's first three albums Thin Lizzy, Shades of a Blue Orphanage and Vagabonds of the Western World. Although Thin Lizzy were gaining in popularity, the pressures of recording, touring and the excesses of the rock-star lifestyle, began to take its toll. He left the band after a New Year's Eve concert in 1973, after throwing his guitar into the air in the middle of the concert, pushing the amplifiers into the audience and storming off, as he said on the Gary Moore and Friends DVD interviews. There was a brief reunion for Thin Lizzy's 1983 tour, but for the most part, Bell concentrated on a solo career with his group, the Eric Bell Band. He has subsequently worked extensively with ex-Jimi Hendrix sideman, Noel Redding and toured with Bo Diddley.