Universal Music Recordings is proud to announce a new box set celebrating a phenomenal year in the life of one of the greatest rock bands of all time.
The 5CD/1Blu-Ray set contains the new stereo mixes and the original versions of the studio albums that the band released in 1976; ‘Jailbreak’ featuring the classic title track and the career- defining tune ‘The Boys Are Back In Town’ and ‘Johnny The Fox’, featuring hit ‘Don’t Believe A Word’. The other discs contain unreleased versions from the band’s vault, radio sessions, demos and an unreleased Cleveland, Ohio show recorded May 11th 1976. The Blu-Ray contains an Atmos mix of both albums as well as the new stereo mixes and remastered versions of the original albums. The new mixes have been undertaken by Richard Whittaker, overseen by legendary Lizzy Guitarist Scott Gorham and mastered by Andy Pearce.
THIN LIZZY 1976 is housed in a 10 x 10 box with a 40-page hard-backed book with sleeve notes by renowned music writer Mark Blake and packed with rare photos.
The tale of how Thin Lizzy came to produce two classic albums and tours that would result in the greatest live album of all time ‘Live And Dangerous’ starts with a life-threatening crisis for Thin Lizzy’s leader, singer, songwriter and bass player, Philip Lynott.
The ‘Jailbreak’ album was released in March 1976 and solidified the twin guitar sound of Californian Scott Gorham and Glaswegian Brian Robertson. It was seen as the band’s breakthrough album in America, reaching number 18 on the Billboard charts and the top ten record in the UK. While on tour in the US, disaster struck with Philip contracting hepatitis. The band were quarantined, and the rest of the tour was cancelled. Determined to keep the band’s momentum going, Lynott started writing songs in his hospital bed, which led to a month in The Who’s Ramport Studios. These sessions produced ‘Johnny The Fox’, a perfect companion piece to ‘Jailbreak’ but with a more funk rock feel than its predecessor.
October 76 saw ‘Johnny The Fox’ released to critical acclaim, and thanks to the hit ‘Don’t Believe A Word’, it reached #11 in the UK album charts. A month after its release, Thin Lizzy played three sold-out nights at the Hammersmith Odeon. The shows were recorded and marked the first step towards Thin Lizzy’s ground-breaking Live And Dangerous album. The rest is history.
‘Jailbreak’ and ‘Johnny the Fox’ are seen as the definitive Thin Lizzy studio albums, featuring hits and live favourites such as ‘The Boys Are Back In Town’, which now has over half a billion streams, ‘Jailbreak’, ‘Warriors’, ‘Emerald’, ‘Don’t Believe A Word’, ‘Massacre’, and ‘Cowboy Song’.
The last word goes to Scott Gorham, “The great thing was the writing, it was killer. I still don’t know if it was just something that happe
ned naturally or because the pressure was on. But there are songs on these records we still play now. Songs that will always be in the Thin Lizzy set.”
