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Thin Lizzy: Johnny the Fox

 A l b u m   D e t a i l s


Label: Vertigo Records
Released: 1976.10.16
Time:
 35:37
Category: Hard Rock, Blues Rock
Producer(s): John Alcock
Rating:
Media type: CD
Web address: www.thinlizzyband.com
Appears with:
Purchase date: 2012
Price in €: 1,00





 S o n g s ,   T r a c k s


[1] Johnny (Phil Lynott) - 4:18
[2] Rocky (Brian Downey, Scott Gorham, Phil Lynott) - 3:43
[3] Borderline (Phil Lynott, Brian Robertson) - 4:37
[4] Don't Believe a Word (Phil Lynott) - 2:18
[5] Fools Gold (Phil Lynott) - 3:53
[6] Johnny the Fox Meets Jimmy the Weed (Brian Downey, Scott Gorham, Phil Lynott) - 3:36
[7] Old Flame (Phil Lynott) - 3:05
[8] Massacre (Brian Downey, Scott Gorham, Lynott) - 3:01
[9] Sweet Marie (Scott Gorham, Phil Lynott) - 3:58
[10] Boogie Woogie Dance (Phil Lynott) - 3:06

 A r t i s t s ,   P e r s o n n e l


Phil Lynott - Bass Guitar, Vocals, Acoustic Guitar
Scott Gorham - Lead And Rhythm Guitar
Brian Robertson - Lead And Rhythm Guitar
Brian Downey - Drums, Percussion

Fiachra Trench - String Arrangements, Bass Guitar
Phil Collins - Percussion
Kim Beacon - Backing Vocals

John Alcock - Producer
Neil Hornby - Associate Producer
Will Reid Dick - Engineer
Will Reid-Dick - Engineer
Dennis Drake - Mastering

 C o m m e n t s ,   N o t e s


Jailbreak was such a peak that it was inevitable that its follow-up would fall short in some fashion and Johnny the Fox, delivered the same year as its predecessor, did indeed pale in comparison. What's interesting about Johnny the Fox is that it's interesting, hardly a rote repetition of Jailbreak but instead an odd, fitfully successful evolution forward. All the same strengths are still here - the band still sounds as thunderous as a force of nature, Phil Lynott's writing is still graced with elegant turns of phrase, his singing is still soulful and seductive - but the group ramped up the inherent drama in Lynott's songs by pushing them toward an odd, half-baked concept album. There may be a story within Johnny the Fox - characters are introduced and brought back, at the very least - but it's impossible to tell. If the album only had an undercooked narrative and immediate songs, such digressions would be excusable, but the music is also a bit elliptical in spots, sometimes sounding theatrical, sometimes relying on narration. None of this falls flat, but it's never quite as gripping as Jailbreak - or the best moments here, for that matter, because when Johnny the Fox is good, it's great, as on the surging "Don't Believe a Word" or the elegiac "Borderline." These are the reasons why Johnny the Fox is worth the extra effort, because it does pay off even if it isn't quite as good as what came immediately before - or immediately afterward, for that matter.

Stephen Thomas Erlewine - All Music Guide



Johnny the Fox is the seventh studio album by Irish band Thin Lizzy, released in 1976 (see 1976 in music). This album was written and recorded while bassist/vocalist Phil Lynott was recovering from a bout of hepatitis that put him off the road halfway through the previous Jailbreak tour. "Don't Believe a Word" was a British hit single.

Once Lynott had returned to the UK from the aborted US tour in June 1976, when they had been scheduled to support Rainbow, he spent time in hospital in Manchester recovering from hepatitis. He had an acoustic guitar with him and wrote the songs for Johnny the Fox during June and July, with one outing to play a gig at Hammersmith Odeon on 11 July. After his release from hospital, Lynott joined the other members of the band and travelled to Munich in August to record the album at Musicland Studios with producer John Alcock. Alcock has said that the decision to record outside the UK was for tax reasons.

Early in the recording process, it became clear that neither the band nor the production team were happy with the studios or the recording process, and they experienced particular trouble obtaining a satisfactory drum sound. Lynott was still finishing the songwriting and, according to Alcock, the band were arguing about musical direction. On 6 August, they abandoned the sessions and returned to Ramport Studios in Battersea (where the previous Jailbreak album had been recorded), and Olympic Studios in Barnes, London. Guitarist Brian Robertson has said that there was plenty of material from which to choose for the album, up to eight or nine tracks apart from the ten that appeared on the final album. However, Alcock claims that the album suffered because Lynott needed more time to finish the songs, and that some tracks, like "Boogie Woogie Dance", were not strong enough to make the album.

Stephen Thomas Erlewine of Allmusic stated that Johnny the Fox fell short in comparison to the previous album, Jailbreak, suggesting that the album veers towards "an odd, half-baked concept album", despite showing the same strengths as its predecessor, i.e. Lynott's lyrics and the group's musical power. Praising "Don't Believe a Word" and "Borderline" as great moments, he said that the album "never falls flat", but is "never quite as gripping as Jailbreak".

The track "Johnny the Fox Meets Jimmy the Weed" features on the Ultimate Breaks And Beats series.

Wikipedia.org
 

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