Thin Lizzy

Thin Lizzy is the debut studio album by Irish rock band Thin Lizzy, released on 30 April 1971. The album was followed by the EP New Day, produced and recorded by Nick Tauber at Decca Studios on 14–17 June 1971 and released on 20 August 1971. The songs from the EP were included in later editions of the album. Background and recording In the autumn of 1970, Brian Tuite and Peter Bardon took over the management of Thin Lizzy. Lynott told Tuite: "we've got twelve songs at the moment that we'd be happy enough to record". after listening to some of the songs Tuite tried to find a record deal for the band. Since he had a good friendship with Decca Records's A&R man, Frank Rodgers, tried to arrange a gig for Thin Lizzy and another of his acts, soul singer Ditch Cassidy. Cassidy lacked his regular band, and so Tuite put Thin Lizzy as his backing band. After watching Thin Lizzy's performance at the Zhivago Club on 12 November 1970, Frank Rodgers showed his interest in them rather than Cassidy, and offered them a record deal with Decca; however, Rodgers also suggested another showcase gig for other Decca personnel before signing a contract. This time the band performed their original material. "Look What The Wind Blew In" was one of the songs that caught Rodgers's attention. Afterward Tuite travelled to London to meet Decca's head of A & R, Dick Rowe. The paperwork was drawn up on 12 November 1970, and on the first day of December, Decca officially signed “Tin Lissy" to a one-year recording contract, with the option of extending the deal by two further periods of one year in September 1971 and September 1972. All going well, they were committed to delivering three albums to the company. The advance was £500, with a further £500 to be paid after the album had been completed. Thin Lizzy left Ireland after an afternoon gig on 3 January 1971 at the Afton Club in Dundalk, to start recording their first album in London's Decca Studios. On their way to London, Lynott met John Peel and introduced Thin Lizzy to him; within ten months Peel would be booking the group for a session on his Radio 1 show, on 12 October 1971. The band booked a guesthouse in Sussex Gardens in which to stay during the first album recording. The work began on the Monday morning and was done on Friday evening. Brian Downey says: "We got up at nine in the morning, [went] into the studio, played from about ten or half ten to eight or nine, then clocked off and went back to the guesthouse.