CoronaVinyl Day 239 (St. Patrick's Day): Johnny the Fox by Thin Lizzy

 For an explanation of CoronaVinyl, click here.

I'm taking a one-day hiatus from the alphabetical order to celebrate St. Patrick's Day, and there's no better way to do that musically than by going with a selection from Ireland's greatest rock band ever, Thin Lizzy.  It's also a fitting one-year anniversary of CoronaVinyl.  A mere 365 days ago, I gave you the first installment of CoronaVinyl with Thin Lizzy's fantastic 1976 album Jailbreak.  That was the first day I was working from home because of COVID-related shut downs, and we all thought we'd be back in the office within a couple weeks.  Little did those of us who aren't epidemiologists know that an entire year later, many of us would still be working from home.  It's insane to think that I haven't stepped foot in my office in a year.

Thin Lizzy is one of my favorite bands, and Johnny the Fox was the band's follow-up to Jailbreak.  Also released in 1976, it was the band's seventh studio album, and it was written and recorded while lead singer and bassist Phil Lynott was recovering from hepatitis, which had forced the cancelation of half of the band's tour in support of Jailbreak (one of the many instances of bad luck the band would endure -- so much for the "luck of the Irish").

The album is the band's last full album of the band's four albums featuring their "classic" lineup of Lynott on vocals and bass, Brian Downey on drums, and Scott Gorham and Brian Robertson on those signature twin lead guitars -- 1974's Nightlife, 1975's Fighting, and Jailbreak being the other three albums.  Robertson would only play on a few tracks on the next album, 1977's Bad Reputation, before quitting the band in 1978.  Fun fact:  Phil Collins (then in Genesis), who was a friend of Lynott, played some of the percussion on a couple tracks, though he was uncredited on the album, and the band members can't remember which songs he played on.

As with many of Thin Lizzy's albums, Johnny the Fox features several songs with Irish themes or undertones.  "Massacre" was inspired by Protestant vs. Catholic religious prejudice (though its lyrics appear to be about the massacre of Native Americans).  "Fool's Gold" is about the migration of Irish immigrants to the U.S. as a result of the Great Famine in the 1840s.  The album cover -- by Jim Fitzpatrick, who designed many of the band's album covers -- has an intricate Celtic border.

Johnny the Fox is a great '70s rock album, with some Lizzy classics.  Lynott's lyrics were great as always, Gorham and Robertson's twin lead guitars shone, and Downey was always good for some delicious fills.  "Johnny," "Rocky," "Don't Believe a Word," "Fool's Gold," "Johnny the Fox Meets Jimmy the Weed," "Massacre," and "Boogie Woogie Dance" are all solid rockers, and there are a couple poppier and slower songs to show off Lynott's softer side, like "Borderline" (co-written by Robertson as a result of being rejected by a lady), "Old Flame," and "Sweet Marie."

The album went to #11 on the UK album charts -- the band's 2nd of what would eventually become 10 Top 20 albums on the UK charts (including studio, live, and compilation albums).  It also went to #52 on the Billboard album chart.  The only single from the album was "Don't Believe a Word," which went to #12 on the UK pop chart -- their 4th of what would be 15 Top 40 hits on the UK pop chart -- and #2 on the Irish pop chart -- their 3rd of what would be 7 Top 10 hits on the Irish pop chart.

I think it's criminal that Thin Lizzy doesn't get more recognition or more love from whoever does the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame nominations.  They influenced a hell of a lot of bands that came after them, from hard rock to metal to punk to grunge.  Lynott's songwriting is up there with the best of them, in my opinion.  Anyway, I hope you're enjoying a Guinness or a Smithwick's today while you listen to this Irish gem.  Sláinte!

Favorite Song on Side 1:  "Don't Believe a Word"
At barely over two minutes long, this song is short but sweet.  It's one of my favorite Thin Lizzy songs, and I first heard it as a cover on Def Leppard's excellent 2005 covers album Yeah!, which prompted me to get into Thin Lizzy.  Yet another reason Def Leppard is awesome.  Anywho, as originally written by Lynott, it a slower 12-bar bluesy song, but then Robertson and Downey reworked it, sped it up, and Robertson added the song's signature riff.  Lynott liked the reworking, and the results are great.  I've always been taken by Lynott's lyrics.  He's essentially telling a woman "don't believe anything I tell you, especially if I tell you that I love you."  He's pouring his heart out to her, but hedging his bets, giving both of them an out.  If he wants to ditch her, he can say, "I told you not to believe me when I told you I love you," or if she says she doesn't love him or isn't interested, he can say, "no big deal because, as I said, I was just kidding."  And if she wants to ditch him, he can't protest because then she'll say "you told me not to believe a word you said."

Favorite Song on Side 2:  "Massacre"
"Massacre" is a scorching hard rock song with echo effects on Lynott's vocals.  As I mentioned above, it's a rebuke of religious prejudice, focusing on the massacre of Native Americans at the hands of white Americans.  It was kind of a sequel to "Emerald" from Jailbreak, which was about the massacre of native Irish at the hands of presumably the British.  There's a great guitar solo, as well as some great drum work by Downey.