PHIL LYNOTT - 6CD Treasure Trove Of Recordings From THIN LIZZY Vocalist’s Swan Song Project GRAND SLAM To Arrive In June; Video For Remixed “Nineteen” Streaming
I picked up the double CD sets that came out in the early 2000s, there were a few good songs. No record company wanted to touch Phil with his bad reputation, so the band fizzled out. It was originally meant to be Sykes, Downey, Stanway and Nagel, the lineup that did the shows that came out as the excellent “Live in Sweden” album around the same time. They’ve gone with Nineteen as the single which wasn’t even released as Grand Slam, it was released as a Phil solo song.
I've switched it to a forwarding service, so $6 to get it there and probably NZ$40 to get it to me. Brutal, but not as brutal as their rates!
Some live stuff in the meantime. What happened to Lawrence Archer? He was a hell of a player for a 19 year old kid.
Is this legit? Previous Lynott-era Grand Slam releases have been semi-bootleg affairs at best. I’ve always wanted Grand Slam to get more love so this is great news if it’s official!
To answer my own question - Having made some enquiries it seems this is another unofficial cash-grab, much like previous releases. Both Phil's estate and Lawrence Archer are apparently trying to block it's release. Do with that info what you will, but I shan't be buying.
The single is available on streaming services. Label: Cleopatra Records 2023 Publisher: Chappell & Co - OBO Warner Chappell Music Ltd
He's still playing with Grand Slam. Saw them live last year. Excellent in concert and the record is very good too. Sadly, even though he was with them when they initially reformed, Mark Stanway didn't stay involved for too long. He was in UFO too, for a while. He appeared on their High Stakes And Dangerous Minds album, from 1992.
Well that sure was depressing. They sound more like a Judas Priest tribute band than anything like Grand Slam.
I've long thought that it would behoove the Lynott estate to simply release whatever Grand Slam material it has in order to head off Stanway and releases like this from setting the narrative, but the estate seems very reluctant to do that. I understand that it's largely demo quality, and the songs aren't among Lynott's best work, but it's still a part of his legacy, and it's a bummer that cut-rate releases like this are all we have of this late period of his career.
Being in the room with them, they made a really enjoyable noise. Good songs, well played, at least for me. Melody & chops in equal measure. I do miss the keyboards though. I did actually catch the original band live, when I was a young 'un. Hard to compare them to the current band because Phil was struggling, bless him. In retrospect, though, I'm glad I'm able to say I saw him in concert. He was a rare talent.
I guess the question is what’s new here that has not been released before? Not sure what “incredible new mixes” can add to the source material.
It may well be, but as I said, Archer and Phil’s estate are attempting to block it. Seems it’s Mark Stanway putting out his poor-qualify tapes again without consulting or involving the rest of the band. It’s a shame because people in the know say there’s a good amount of professional-quality Phil Grand Slam stuff in the vaults, but cash-grab releases like this make it unlikely we’ll ever hear any of it.
As generally a fan of improvisational, more unconventional live music, I'm not sure I need it, and certainly not if it's unofficial. But of all the mainstream rock bands, Lizzy is one of my favorites, as they always delivered the goods.
Laurence Archer’s released a statement about this set, and he’s not happy. Log into Facebook | Facebook
I just commented in Dr. Mike's thread here: Grand Slam box set - Slam Anthems - 9 June 2023 That thread came up first in my search. But just saw this one....maybe we can get them merged.. Anyways, it does sound like this is more of the same Stanway stuff and disheartening to read above that Archer gets screwed out of his just dues. Nevertheless, as an insane Lizzy/Phil addict, if this is any previously unreleased material in halfway listenable sound (I already have the older Stanway releases) I'll pick it up anyway. That being said, when/if Archer releases his new album I'll pick that up as well.
i saw Grand Slam just the once in the Autumn of 1984 at a club in Preston called 'Clouds.'...Phil was looking a tad bloated but he put in a decent performance and the gig was good but nothing spectacular..the between songs banter from Phil was still there though, i remember him saying that if he had the chance he would liked to have bed Tina Turner and Kate Bush, lol..
I have often wondered if Lizzy hadn't split up and Phil could have sorted himself out, then what they would have been like if they had continued,,At the end of the day it was Gorham that ended it all, he wanted out so he could clean himself up..Lizzy could have carried on with Phil, Sykes and Downey and got another guitarist in to replace Scott..Sykes and Downey would have deffo continued with Lizzy, they both loved Phil and the band..Looking back, i reckon they could have got Laurence Archer or someone like John Norum in as their 2nd lead guitarist,but they would probably have had a more Metal sound to carry them thru the 80's., and personally i would have ditched Darren Wharton, no disrespect to Darren but Lizzy were always at their best as a 4 piece, plus the fact i don't really like keyboards in hard rock music, thats why i have never been a huge Deep Purple fan..Jon Lord magnificent keyboard player but there were too much of his keyboards in Purple's sound and it spoils it for me.
